The Conclusion To My Flat Tire...

The mechanic up the road got my tire replaced yesterday, no problem... they came and picked me up afterwards, which was great.

I had asked the mechanic to see if he could figure out what happened with the tire, whether it had something in it or just what. His opinion is that it was a blow out. He could see no evidence of anything in the tire, though the sidewalls were pretty chewed up from having driven on it while slowing down on the highway when it happened. He said my experience is pretty consistant with a blow out (not feeling like you hit anything, etc). I thought a blow out always made a huge noise, but he says with some of the higher end tires, they try to minimize the noise factor in case of a blow out, so people don't get scared and panic.

There WAS a noise, but it wasn't a bang or anything... so I'm unsure. I suppose it doesn't matter, but in a way, I'd almost prefer that there was a concrete reason it happened, instead of some unknown malfunction. Oh well.

The final total... approx $135 for the tow... and another almost $200 for the tire replacement and disposal fees and all that. The oil change was on top of that. Super fun.

But I now have 4 ROUND tires again... at least for now! ;)
-- L