All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Did a nice beach cruise ride with the wifey. Went from Redondo Beach Pier to Manhattan Beach near Rosecrans Ave. Great day to ride. Hope you all had a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend. God bless those who’ve served and paid the ultimate price with their lives. Spotted a couple Tacos on duty at the playa.

 

Cold water is a fun and brutal place. Bomb Dog is my favorite there. I’ve been there twice, was it your first time there?

 

I went there maybe 6 years ago when it first started getting popular. The trails are a lot of fun, it’s just hard to commit to a nine hour drive and not go to WNC.

 

Any recommendations on dealing with ticks? Been on 4 rides since mid-February (out of the country for work for almost 3 months) and pulled a tick off my legs twice now. Not really riding though any real underbrush or tall grass, just seems they are particularly bad. Thought about wearing long pants instead of shorts but that is probably going to be really warm over the summer. If pants are the answer, any suggestions on lightweight ones to help deal with the heat and humidity?

 

I would have been out in that in a second!!! That is my preferred riding conditions....screw the heat

 

The boy got a new bike yesterday stepping up to a Marlin 5 with liquid brakes and everything.

We celebrated today by going to a local park and doing a couple of trails called Star Gazer, Teepee Topper, and Creepy Teepee. Met a couple of leaders of the local NEMBA chapter who gave up some helpful tips.

The boy did really well and my bike did too. We will definitely be going back, and checking out other parts of the park.

Then finished the day with burgers and some IPA (I think it’s a MTB rule).

 

I made some temporary fittings to correct the seating position on my bike and it is much more enjoyable to ride now.

Also it is possible to do third and fourth gear wheelies from a rolling start.

My chain wasn’t long enough to run that huge bio-pace front sprocket, and I had to add several links to it to get into the top two gears.

it was quite an eye-opener when I jammed that derailer. I’ve never done such a thing before.

I got off the torch and extended the kickstand with this bit off an old air ratchet.

 

Nice to see Paul Teutul Sr. still making Choppers.

 

2 ticks in 4 rides is bad? LOL.

There are times here when I'll pick up 10 or 20 riding past a single bush. Look down and there they are. Rinse, repeat numerous times during the ride. This doesn't happen on all rides, usually just backcountry trails that see little traffic. Will pick them up occasionally on trails that see heavier traffic as well. It's actually worse when you only see them occasionally, since you don't check for them as much. More risk they'll crawl somewhere dark and out of sight without you noticing. When there are tons of ticks, you pay attention and brush them off right away; you also check thoroughly after the ride. I've only had 3 instances where the tick fully attached to me and gorged. Those were all outside of normal tick season so I wasn't expecting them and didn't check after the ride.

If you're concerned about them you can apply bug spray to your legs. That will help but won't deter them all. Permethren can be sprayed on clothing an is supposed to kill them, although I've found it pretty ineffective (the pants in the picture below had been sprayed with it recently). Tuck your jersey in to your shorts. Check thoroughly after the ride and again when you get home. Around here ticks are worst in April-May. You can still get them the rest of the year but much less often. I personally wouldn't wear pants for riding. If you do, tuck them into your socks, or the ticks can just crawl up under the pants where you won't see them. IMO that is worse.

 

Yikes…. May as well shave the head if I live there, that’s my fear is in my hair where I cant find them easy.

 

Crikeys!

They are not nearly that bad here. We do have tiny ones that really just look like a speck of dirt until you see it move.

Had one on the back of my knee yesterday that I even felt when it bit me. It was large enough to easily tell what it was. Not as large as the ones in your picture though.

Have tried bug spray, have heard similar results with the Permethrin, they are going straight onto the legs so don't think it would really help if it worked.

Sounds like the best answer is to just be super vigilant after each ride.

 

We're moving back down to Albuquerque next month, and it's been painful to see everything up in smoke and/or closed. Just about every trail outside of Las Cruces looks to be closed at this point...
Meanwhile the Front Range is still getting hammered with snow up at elevation

 

Received my Poseidon Flatbar X last Wednesday, put about 50 miles on it over the weekend and already upgraded some things I didn't like (grips, pedals, saddle). It sees 80% pavement but I wanted a gravel bike to do it all for the days I'm too lazy to drive out to the trails with my mtb. It's been a blast waking up and riding or coming home and riding. Fantastic value at $650 new.

 

Reasons I will not be moving back east:

 

I’m staying out west. Just snakes and scorpions

 

I don't have much hair left, so not much problem for me there. I've only found them on my neck or head a few times. Not often on arms or gloves even. Most of them start on my legs or shoes and crawl uphill from there and its pretty easy to spot them.

I've heard back east it's common to pick up ticks in their nymph stage where they are super tiny...like almost invisible...and by the dozens. Not sure I could go outside if I lived somewhere they were like that. Ours in Socal are all decent size. The pic makes them look bigger than they are. Maybe 3-4mm. In the last month I saw a few that were less than half that size but they were jet black and easy to spot on skin.

And yeah, just be vigilant. I glance down often while pedaling during tick season and thorough check back at the truck and again at home while showering.

 

I need to be saved lol.

Ticks arent a big worry in FL, but I think I got bit a bunch during the AL trip though. I have like 8 big itchy welts on back/arms/legs.

 

Chiggers my friend.

 

Seems a little early in the year for chiggers, but chiggers suck.

 

They’re out. Never too early for Mother Nature to try and kill a disease….spoiler, humans are the disease.