Ride for the Reptiles

It was supposed to be a ride just like any other ride...we'd bike our 50 miles, run and be done for the day. Nothing hard, just a long ride with some great ladies. We rode for about 20 miles before encountering our first snake. What appeared to be a stick in the road turned out to be a little more lively. No big deal, right? Right. It was ONE snake. We continued on our journey and eventually encounter 2 more snakes fairly soon after number one. Snake number 2 and 3 had already met their fate however. One was floating upside down in a puddle of water at a stop sign (still got a girly scream from a few); another had died coiled up and was providing a lunchtime feast for hungry bugs in the area of Eastover.

Snake number four...the real SAMMY NO SHOULDERS...let's just say initially appeared as if he was just a long crack in the road. However, having had so many previous spottings on the route, this warranted a premature scream followed by another scream from one of my supportive and equally spooked cycling buddies. He was going to the right so we decided to go left...then he changed his mind to go left and two other cyclists behind us decided to go right. He must have thought we had him trapped because he was not happy. Pedal, pedal, pedal...Of course, no doubt he could have outrun us had that been his goal for the afternoon. HR check...still beating at 262 BPM. We were like little girls on bikes...it made us laugh but it also made us much more alert. We'd see one more snake along the way. This one too was alive but not near the adventure Sammy had provided us.

Snakes 5; cyclists 4. Seems that we were a bit outnumbered today by them. Perhaps next time we'll cycle in snake boots. Afterall, 5 snakes in 50 miles was much like going through the snake exhibit at the zoo. The only difference was we didn't stick around to determine whether they were poisonous or not. Pedal, pedal, pedal :)

Good ride today otherwise. Rides are getting tougher as the temps get hotter. Training, training, training!