Today was a little more exciting than usual. I live in the desert and have many nice rocky mountains to ride on behind my house. This morning I was going down a very steep trail full of large rocks and deep holes (so I was going around 10mph, maybe slower) when out of nowhere a huge rattlesnake (6-8feet) flew accross the trail just in time for me to run it over. Part of it whipped up and hit me in the foot. It startled me so bad I jammed the accelerator which caused me to go off of the trail for a short and incredibly bumpy time.

Any of you guys have encounters with actual dangerous critters? I usually just see tons of lizzards, mice, rabbits, and really small hopping rodents (look like a brown tennis ball from all I can see when I whip by) that I have yet to get a real good look at.

 

Last fall while on our way home from a great day of riding I lost the right side suspension due to avoiding a deer. It was getting dark and it just jumped out of the woods, I swerved and ended up down a hill and into a big rock..didn't seem to phase the deer that much! lol..

 

Rattlesnakes every day in the hills behind my house! Just another great reason to wear high MX boots. This year and next will be especially bad, because we got so much rain. Thing is, I trail run and hike back there too. Got to watch where you put your foot!

 

You don't live to far from me, I am up past victorville (Apple Valley actually). This is the first rattlesnake I ever ran into, almost never see any snakes despite the hundreds of lizards and other creatures up here. I ride alone and so I would really rather not meet up with a Mojave Green if I don't have to (since they are 10x more potent than any other rattler, and they can kill in under 10 minutes).

 

Just another reason why I live in the frozen north.

 

Don't end up in the Loma Linda hospital!

 

A guy at my work was bit a couple weeks ago, they had to air lift him to Loma Linda because there was no antivenom in the high desert at the time (how stupid is that!?). At $1000 a mile I am sure that will be a nice little medical bill.

Also, in terms of boots, will a cheap mx boot (I have O'neal element boots) be enough to stop a bite from a rattlesnake?

 

No rattlesnakes in the pacific nw but I also had a 2 point, thats two on each side for you east of the great state of Washington(haha) folks. He ran out in front of me and couldn't exit for a little bit do to a rock cliff on one side and a drop off on the other. He was so close I could have smacked him on the hind quarters and said tag, like the guy in the comercal, but that would have been stupid and dangerous. Plus it would have made the news when would have wrecked because of reaching over the bars and loosing it. Besides there is enough idiots out there creating news about our sport that is negative. Do any of you guys carry the venom kit when your out and about or is that not possible?

 

At least you guys have the world's best rattlesnake doctor, Dr. Sean Bush at the hospital[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]


Hodr, Can't tell if you ran over it accidentally or not[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] But, that's one good size rattler[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] You would definately be in a world of hurt with that bite. I'm surprised a snake of that size[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] still crossed the road, would of thought the vibration of your quad would of stopped it in it's tracks.


I would say you are fine with the riding boots. I know, some of the places I ride in the Central Valley have them. When I go walking, I feel comfortable wearing my riding boots[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] And they are actually confortable enough to walk around in all day[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I have very sensitive knees, so I can't afford to hurt them in an accident. Besides boots I wear knee pads as well, which gives me an additional 6" of protection above my boots. A large snake can strike quite high and long, however!

When I trail run or hike, I only go down the middle of the very widest fire roads and I have to be alert every second! The ones that are easy to miss are the LITTLE ones that are out just after they hatch. They often do not rattle. Mostly the big ones just want to be left alone.