Farewell old friends, I’ll miss our daily time together.
I had a lot of good times with you, but it is time to move on to bigger and better things. Don’t think of it as your fault, but we knew this day was coming sooner or later.
That’s right… after carrying me for over 3800km, my tires have finally packed it in. 
I had no idea they would last this long, but I definitely milked them for every last centimeter I could get. These were the original tires that came with my bike, so I don’t think they were anything fancy or special. They were just cheap rubber that goes on standard when you buy the bike, so I doubt they were supposed to last as long as they did. I had worn the tires down from knobby mountain bike tires to absolutely no grip whatsoever, and when I mentioned to the guys at the bike shop how far they had gone, both of them seemed suitably impressed with their durability.
Considering my new tires are a significant upgrade, I don’t expect to have to deal with the emotional trauma of separation for a long, long time. 
I have had 4 flats in the last 2 to 3 weeks (2 front, 2 back), and none of them were for obvious reasons. There weren’t any major holes, the leaks were slow (I could make it to / from work without it going completely flat, but by the end of work or the next morning the tire was a pancake), and in both cases I took the tire right off and checked for loose spokes, burrs on the rim that might be poking things.. I even turned the tires inside out to look for anything lodged in the tire itself that I might miss from an external once over. My roadside inspections would reveal nothing, but today at the bike shop the guy found a hole in the tire and said it was time to move on.
I should really take the bike out for a short spin tonight because this is a significant change in tire width and style. My old ones were 1.9, these are 1.5. Even though the old ones had no grip left, I expect starting with a slick will behave a bit differently. I was considering going with these instead, but if I am going to use these strictly for commuting I don’t really need to have the extra weight of side knobs and a raised center bead.
Commute info:
Ride #: 53 (52? I’ll check it tomorrow)
Odometer: 3845.6km
Distance this year: 1343.7km
I’ll update the map at some point soon, but I think I am almost through Alberta now, and as far as overall goes I think I am “in” Timmins.
From Nanaimo to Timmins before they finally packed it in. Enjoy retirement (re-tire-ment… ha!) old friends, you’ve earned it.
edit* in an effort to find a picture I stumbled across this site.. my tour is virtual, these guys did something way more impressive for real.