I was coming back towards Boulder on the 63rd rollers just south of nelson rd. Right when I crested one of the hills I thought I saw a stick in the road so I did a lean move and barely missed it. Wait that’s no stick it was a rattler. When I passed his head was only 5 inches from my foot. Scared the sh!t out of me. I’m not sure but I think that I may have bunny hopped while in my aerobars! After that I enjoyed about 10 miles of adrenaline which was kind of nice…
My evening commute home right now is like that with this nice sunny weather. There is usually one ‘bathing’ on the bike trail a week that I see.
I learned a few years ago, give those sticks on the trail a few extra inches.
Rattlesnakes are an annoyance.
Poor little guys are just trying to get a tan!
Harmless snakes really. Chances are they wont budge unless you hang around em, or if you step on em. Used to run with a bunch of dudes from Stony Brook on Long Island. They would FREAK if we saw a snake. The best was that they always thought that the bull snakes were rattlers. I would grab the snakes and push them around the trails. Dudes would just flip! so much fun.
I don’t know if I would call that “almost getting bitten.” If the snake didn’t actually strike at you, you didn’t almost get bitten. You just got really close to a potentially dangerous animal. I’ve had three rattlesnake encounters on rides myself. Once, I actually jumped off the bike and grabbed a big stick and helped usher the snake across the road before a car came along. I’m a reptile lover, and I go out of my way to make sure all reptiles – including the venomous ones – make it across the road safely. I once stopped while a buddy of mine and I were riding at a good tempo to move a kingsnake off the highway. He thought I was an idiot, though he did wait on me to catch back up.
Rattlesnakes aren’t an annoyance. Just give them space and the respect they command and you’ll be fine. Cats, now they’re another story. Cats are a major annoyance . . .
(Just kidding, Tom. Really. I am.)
RP
I don’t know if I would call that “almost getting bitten.” If the snake didn’t actually strike at you, you didn’t almost get bitten. You just got really close to a potentially dangerous animal.
Yeah, no strike. Still as close to the “biting end” as I care to get…
Well, I am scared of snakes so I probably should not have even looked at the thread, but the fact that you were riding on one of my regular routes makes me really wish I hadn’t looked. I am a complete freak when it comes to snakes. I guess I’ve gotten better of late, I no longer sprint like mad screaming and whimpering for 5 minutes after seeing one, but I still don’t like 'em much. Maybe I should train with LaWoof when he is no longer injured?
I did have an encounter with a mountain lion on the Boulder Creek path earlier in the year, around 8am on a run on a snowy day. Ran across Canyon and came within 2 feet of me, then turning away from me and continuing into the brush. A guy driving a dump truck on Canyon stopped and said something to the effect of ‘I thought that thing was gonna go after ya!’ Thanks, buddy. I didn’t know what else to do so I kept running.
Mountain lions I can handle, snakes are another story.
I always peed behind the tree at Neva and 36 on long rides, but now that I hear about snake encounters, I think I need a new plan!
Unless the snake was coiled, it’s unlikely it could have made a strike at you. If you want scary, this weekend I was trail running, I nearly got hit by a 12 inch boulder. I was on top of snow as well which made dodging difficult. The only thing I do was to jump behind a tree as I didn’t see the rock until it tumbled about 6ft away.
12 inch boulder? Are you kidding…? 12 inch. I don’t get it. Did you mean 12 Ft.?