Roadkill

Riding on the shoulder, a cyclist sees more debris than the average motorist. This seems to consist largely of car parts and roadkill. Also lots of plastic bags.

Roadkill is a tasty treat for some.

For the cyclist, the biggist hazard is car debris, especially shredded tires. The cable in these disintegrates into pieces that go right through bicycle tires. This seems to be particularly true in Texas. Shortly after crossing the line from La. we started averaging two flats a day each, to the point where we were running out of tube patches. In most cases we pulled bits of steel wire out from the tires. The best defenses seem to be kevlar tires, kevlar tape, and reinforced inner tubes.