Short bike explanation

Why not buy a mountain bike or a hybrid, seems like I'd have fewer flats.

That's definitely true. But at home (aka my parents garage) I have a mountain bike, a hybrid bike and a road bike. (They are my most valuable possessions apart from that piece of paper written in Latin I have received yesterday.)
And therefore I can tell that having a right bike suitable for a particular surface makes a huge huge difference. If you don't try, you would not believe. I did not believe neither but they I tried a road bike instead of a hybrid on a road and was hooked.
So why I bought a road bike?
I have never had these tire problems before, this is the first time and I have not expected it.
I would like to try to do a triathlon or a duathlon, and therefore I need a road bike.
There are no mountains here, so no need for a mountain bike. And using mountain bike on a road is such a waste of energy. (although I probably wasted that energy on air tube changing)
It is difficult to find a cheap mountain bike fitting 6" person.
I originally wanted to buy a hybrid, but hybrids here are horrible. They are nothing like hybrids in Europe. USA lives still in Hybrid Bikes Middle Age.

I shall see how it goes using new tires. They are for hybrid bikes but for road usage mostly. They are few millimeters wider than my road tires so they might not fit on my bike unless I change brakes. I'll see.

Off to track.