Glass + Tires = Shredder

Some times people question why I buy Bontrager's kevlar belted road tires...I have some difficulty convincing them (or maybe they have difficulty believing me) that many of the roads down in this valley are lined with broken glass (typically beer bottles). There is no getting around the fact that at some point on any road ride that I will incur direct glass-to-tire contact. The Bontager kevlar tires have saved me from more flats than I can count...I'm always digging glass pieces out plus pieces of metal. The wear factor of these tires is also quite good since I typically get 4000-5000 miles from a set. However, on occasion a tire gets so shredded that it needs an early retirement...like this tire (after only 1800 miles) that sustained a direct impact with a rather large chunk of glass that I simply did not see in time to avoid (because I was looking around trying to enjoy a boring road ride).

I rode this tire home and 38-miles later it was still inflated...it was a bit annoying to ride.