Something of note: those cactus spines you see here (and chollas type as well) can and do punch right through the plastic of (my) handguards. It leaves the inside of the guards all prickly, the force of speed in contact with the ultra sharp points = punch through the plastic. These kind of things always amaze me. My guards are loaded with spines, will just continue to clip them off. my rad hose had some as well, just left it alone my lower hoses are double hosed with a split outer, you can see the ziptys holding the outer hose on.
I don't know about Robert, but surprisingly even though those cacti get snapped off and knocked into the trail where I have run over them numerous times, I have never gotten a flat tire from them yet. Sometimes a chunk gets caught up by the tire, goes flying and will have impaled the shock shroud and is just hanging there at the end of the ride. Other times, there are smaller pieces stuck in the tires themselves. In passing too close, I get them stuck in my boots, pants, handguards and on a rare occasion, my hands as well. But what're ya gonna do....the cactus grows literally all over the place out where the desert singletrack is the very best.
Riding West Tx while I was in the Army, I'd get Creosote thorns through my Handguards that were so hard, that you'd have to get wire dykes to cut the points off. Tank
The Chollas in Laughlin are bad too...at the Laughlin HS one year the were so bad we had to spot at the pit and break them off....they were scraping your fingers thru the handguards....dang
In a race last year I washed out at the end of this long whooped out straight and tackled one of those very same cactus. Was pulling out those spines for several days. My handguards were about the only thing they didn't poke through. Moral of the story is. Top of 4th gear is not a good time to step off and tackle the flora.
For us that don't ride the desert, it doesn't seem possible that those spines would go thru that thick of plastic. Not that I don't believe you but I would love to see a picture sometime. Out east we have thorns that occasionally give us flats & I have seen trees with 1" spikes on then but never hit one, thank goodness!
Oh yeah, plastic, leather boots, riding pants, leather gloves. some of the cactus is called jumping cactus, seems like you only have to get close to it and it whacks you. Not one spine but a whole bud. Some of the thorns are so small and needle sharp, you need a magnifying glass to see them to pick em out. Ohh and they have a little barb on the end to. Falling down and landing in one of those cactus plants, you will have thousands of those spines in you. Once Riding by one of those jumping cactus I had eight buds of spines embedded in my left leg, took an hour to get them all out, we had to use needle nose pliers to get them. I too never had a flat from them, maybe because the tire rotates so fast they get broke off before they can work their way in, they are real brittle. wish I was riding today instead of talking about cactus Mike
I will keep the poison oak and blackberries we have here. Yessiree i believe so. Just considering the possibilities brings to mind a dog and porcupine encounter and just hurts to think.
Yeah, & riding is about the only thing that will get yur mind off of itHas anyone heard of stingweed?
No. Is it anything like stinging nettle? We have that here, and while the effects aren't very long lasting, the immediate results are pretty terrible when you bump into the stuff. I haven't seen it along trails out here, but it will often be found growing near mid elevation reservoirs and lakes.
Demon nettle We have stinging nettle here. It usually grows in shaded and moist ground. You tend to find it mountain biking with shorts on. Ours' tingles madly for hours after. I think it leaves tiny hair-like stickers in you. Applying ammonia helps relieve the tingling some what. Every time i get them i experiment with another chemical remedy. Don't think iv'e tried octane boost yet.
Stinging nettles sounds like stingweed to me. My daughter when just starting out [about 10] fell in a bunch of it & actually cried because it stung or itched so much. Even a shower doesn't seem to help. It goes away but it takes it's own sweet time!
Was out helping a friend clear some new singletrack on their property today and we both managed to get stabbed in the hands by cactus. The spines on this species are so barbed that you have to yank on them fairly hard with pliers to get them out. I had some left in my glove that I couldn't seem to remove, so I rode back to the racing compound with one glove off and just threw the gloves away since they were kind of old and worn out anyway. Those spines can go in a half inch or better in just an instant....a lot faster than you can get them out.
Happened in the past, but usually a slow leak, and also when pulling tires and running a rag around the inside before re-tubing they can bite you. I don't like it (its a messy thing) but at the moment my tires are Slime filled running 4mm michelin air stops (UHD tubes), that was for the tecate race (dnf proofing). I will see to shoot a foto before I clip them off. they are tiny like surgical needles
"accupuncture trail"...a section of some BLM Trails, Su[rise Az. or thereabouts. every kind of cacti represented there in one terrifying section. decending side cut trail. gotta run the gauntlet. had knee cups and hands stuck to knees and grips through the old school acerbis clam shells. and those were tough. im a midget so i fared better than most. mikee got one in the sack. looked painful. no i aint pulling it out. woof- gave me the chills. never knew spines cold get that long! then there's the time i did like Clay, cept it was cholla. i hate cholla. no really. Az riders tape lice combs to the back of the front plate. for a reason.
as an original east coaster the catus thing was a new issue for me, over the years Ive seen some good ones from the spiny things. like PV said about the combs, at the AZ nat enduro many guys had Afro Picks on leashes around their necks, I had to ask and got my answer, to pick the cholla buds off (a great solution). And they even had pickers at the check points with tweezers and pliers to pluck cactus from your arms or wherever, that was a nice service!! For me, I have had them punch into my muscle sheath of my forearms and and basically pin your muscle from sliding inside, hurts like a bastage and demands stopping and pulling them. Also I have had my index finger knuckle pinned by a big spine, and that was a little scary, I just straightend it out with my other hand, I guess the thing is broken off somewhere in there still after a bunch of years. At speed they just can bullet right in. Its still better than beaning an oak tree at speed
i was suprised the first course i rode with atr and stuff that them things would go through my old shool acerbis clam-shells. i ended up doubling up the guards and that kept all but the biggest 16p nails from coming through at speed. first time i got my knee guard stuck to my knee cap was an immediate pull over and get it out type of deal. that was an eyeopener. what a great service- having help at the checks with pliers? that's awesome! dood- yer 450 is looking awesome! love the BRUX on the rad louvers man...excellent job.
