[Rick Lee]

Out west the highways have these grooves in them, like they ran a giant rake through the wet concrete. In my experience, when I'm riding on such a surface with pretty worn tires, those grooves in the road tend to track my bike and I don't feel like I'm as in control. I would imagine any kind of tire failure on such a surface would be a problem. I've only had to to deal with a flat on a long trip once, got it plugged and made it home from LA to Phoenix, though tire was pretty much done by then, totally corded.