Yikes!! That gave me the creeps! I'm glad to hear it didn't strike back-that would have been really freaky!
Uh-oh...i rode over....
a rattlesnake! 
i did not scream but i did let out an extended 'Aaaaa' and then an 'oh, sh!t!' the snake did not try to strike and i was quick enough to stop pedaling and got the cranks level. Whew. nothing like a good scare of the natural kind. btw, the snake was a western diamondback about 2 feet long. after my assault it slithered off the trail rattling all the way.
survived to ride another day.
Rita
i did not scream but i did let out an extended 'Aaaaa' and then an 'oh, sh!t!' the snake did not try to strike and i was quick enough to stop pedaling and got the cranks level. Whew. nothing like a good scare of the natural kind. btw, the snake was a western diamondback about 2 feet long. after my assault it slithered off the trail rattling all the way.
survived to ride another day.
Rita
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i had to laugh........AZtortoise said:a rattlesnake!
i did not scream but i did let out an extended 'Aaaaa' and then an 'oh, sh!t!' the snake did not try to strike and i was quick enough to stop pedaling and got the cranks level. Whew. nothing like a good scare of the natural kind. btw, the snake was a western diamondback about 2 feet long. after my assault it slithered off the trail rattling all the way.
survived to ride another day.
Rita
the last time i came up on a snake. i jumped off the bike and ran backwards about 6ft.
scared the livin' b-jesus out of me. the guy's following got a good laugh. they say " hey just bunny hop it" ya right........
3 short snake stories
last summer i went riding with some friends. i was in the lead then my friend dayna, then marc. i'm zipping along the trail when suddenly this big black snake zooms across the trail right in front of my front tire. "EEEEEEEEeeeeek!" i screamed (normally i'm not squeemish about snakes it just startled me). this caused my friend dayna to scream and when she screamed it caused my friend marc to yelp as well. poor snake probably died of fright from all of us screaming in the woods!
last fall i was out riding one of my favorite trails alone. i came around a blind curve to find a huge black snake (must have been at least 6' long and a good 2" in diameter) sprawled across the trail. "EEEEEEeeeeek!" i screamed (see a pattern here?). then i looked more closely and realized that someone had already run the poor thing over and it was dead - either that or they'd gone after it with a rock. i decided to move it off the trail so no one else would come flying around the curve and endo. i found the longest stick (more like a branch) i could with a fork at the end and went to move the snake. wouldn't you know it, the darn thing was still alive!!! "EEEEEEEEeeeeek!" i screamed. eventually i managed to move it off the trail.
this spring during a race i ran over a snake - no scream this time! i thought it was a branch and it wasn't until i'd already rolled over it that i realized that it was a snake. i guess i didn't do too much damage to it since when i came around for my next lap it was gone.
glad to hear you survived to ride another day!
rt
all of them involving innocuous eastern black snakes (though i did once step over an eastern diamond back while hiking).AZtortoise said:a rattlesnake!
i did not scream but i did let out an extended 'Aaaaa' and then an 'oh, sh!t!' the snake did not try to strike and i was quick enough to stop pedaling and got the cranks level. Whew. nothing like a good scare of the natural kind. btw, the snake was a western diamondback about 2 feet long. after my assault it slithered off the trail rattling all the way.
survived to ride another day.
Rita
last summer i went riding with some friends. i was in the lead then my friend dayna, then marc. i'm zipping along the trail when suddenly this big black snake zooms across the trail right in front of my front tire. "EEEEEEEEeeeeek!" i screamed (normally i'm not squeemish about snakes it just startled me). this caused my friend dayna to scream and when she screamed it caused my friend marc to yelp as well. poor snake probably died of fright from all of us screaming in the woods!
last fall i was out riding one of my favorite trails alone. i came around a blind curve to find a huge black snake (must have been at least 6' long and a good 2" in diameter) sprawled across the trail. "EEEEEEeeeeek!" i screamed (see a pattern here?). then i looked more closely and realized that someone had already run the poor thing over and it was dead - either that or they'd gone after it with a rock. i decided to move it off the trail so no one else would come flying around the curve and endo. i found the longest stick (more like a branch) i could with a fork at the end and went to move the snake. wouldn't you know it, the darn thing was still alive!!! "EEEEEEEEeeeeek!" i screamed. eventually i managed to move it off the trail.
this spring during a race i ran over a snake - no scream this time!
i thought it was a branch and it wasn't until i'd already rolled over it that i realized that it was a snake. i guess i didn't do too much damage to it since when i came around for my next lap it was gone.glad to hear you survived to ride another day!
rt
I saw two this weekend.
I squealed a little at the sight of both. I usually see about one a month but two in the same ride is unusual. I think they were both harmless....so my husband said when I described them later. One I think was the garden variety black snake and the other was a king snake, which eats rattlers (yeah). I would probably stroke out if I came up on a rattler while riding. I usually just see the black snakes around here (Georgia) though a fellow biker claims his tire was attacked a few weeks back by a rattler. This was at one of my favorite trails that has about a mile of connector trail that runs real flat and low by the creek. Even before hearing that story, I usually ride through that part much slower than I could, repeating some kind of "hope I don't see a snake" mantra. So far, it's worked.
I squealed a little at the sight of both. I usually see about one a month but two in the same ride is unusual. I think they were both harmless....so my husband said when I described them later. One I think was the garden variety black snake and the other was a king snake, which eats rattlers (yeah). I would probably stroke out if I came up on a rattler while riding.
I usually just see the black snakes around here (Georgia) though a fellow biker claims his tire was attacked a few weeks back by a rattler. This was at one of my favorite trails that has about a mile of connector trail that runs real flat and low by the creek. Even before hearing that story, I usually ride through that part much slower than I could, repeating some kind of "hope I don't see a snake" mantra. So far, it's worked.
Those things are enough to give you a heart attack - yesterday while hiking with my fiance, we encountered one...she went dancing off down the trail in front of me only to be shocked a few yards later by the sound of a hiss and rattle just off the trail. Talk about a shot of adrenaline to the system.AZtortoise said:a rattlesnake!
i did not scream but i did let out an extended 'Aaaaa' and then an 'oh, sh!t!' the snake did not try to strike and i was quick enough to stop pedaling and got the cranks level. Whew. nothing like a good scare of the natural kind. btw, the snake was a western diamondback about 2 feet long. after my assault it slithered off the trail rattling all the way.
survived to ride another day.
Rita
Two weeks ago I was riding with a couple of guys and heard this really loud "cricket" in the bushes...some cricket! it was coiled rattlesnake! Yeah, they're good fun...
But nothing like that black bear...
It is definitely snake season in southern Arizona. I have seen numerous "racers", and in the last four rides six western diamondback rattlers. Just this morning up at Black Mountain (the 24Hrs of Old Pueblo area) I came across a coral snake crossing the trail, which is a pretty rare sight.
Rattlesnakes are so common right now that I prefer to ride first in line, rather than second or third. The first rider almost always finds the rattler just as startled and unprepared as the rider. However, the snake is often mad as hell, coiled and ready for action when the second or third rider get to it!
Keep an eye peeled!
John W.
Rattlesnakes are so common right now that I prefer to ride first in line, rather than second or third. The first rider almost always finds the rattler just as startled and unprepared as the rider. However, the snake is often mad as hell, coiled and ready for action when the second or third rider get to it!
Keep an eye peeled!
John W.
LOL!!! i'm a master at the flailing spaz when startled.Impy said:
rt
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