Rattled

I took an unplanned ride this morning. I say unplanned because I just wasn't feeling it when I got back from the morning dog walk, and I wasn't sure I was going to ride at all. The weather was so idyllic, though, that I knew I'd regret it if I didn't go somewhere, anywhere.

I weighed going over to Starr Pass to punish myself on the babyheads or over to the Pima College/Greasewood Park fire roads, which is where I go when I'm either short on time or out of ideas, but I ended up falling back on what has become my favorite place to roll - the Sweetwater Trails. I probably should have called Veelz, for whom bicycling is now training, but again, I wasn't sure I was going until I loaded the bike into the truck.

Anyway, I arrived at the trailhead, geared up, and rode through the gate. I leaned my bike up against the fence and hiked over to a couple of well-vegetated piles of mining spoil to lighten the liquid load. I did my business and as I turned to head back to my bike, I got buzzed by a rattlesnake. The sound came from uncomfortably close to my feet, so I did an impromptu little jig and moved aside. Once I ensured that nobody had seen my ridiculous little dance move, I checked out the now-coiled snake. I do believe it was a sidewinder, the hornlike supraoculars having been very distinctive.

My first thought was that it was a good thing I'd already taken a leak, because I'd have wet my pants otherwise. But no, I didn't even really get a good adrenaline burst out of it. Perhaps my zoological curiosity had overridden my flight instinct, or maybe I don't have the proper amount of respect for our pit viper friends. Regardless, I'm going to need to be a lot more careful when relieving myself while afield which, as BeanSS and Veelz can confirm, is an all-too-frequent event. Or I could just hold it (the urge, not the rattler). For what it's worth, I made three additional pit stops during my 8-mile ride, and didn't see any other venomous reptiles.