Originally Posted by DirtPedalerB
On a couple of recent rides I have apparently been the first one on the trail for a while and have encountered a TON or spiderwebs/spiders. One ride was at a state park on a weekday and the other was on some ATV trails. After stopping a multiple times to despider in the first mile, I just gave up and kept riding through them. At the end of the ride I had probably 5 -10 little black spiders with some white on their backs that repelled off my clothes back at the truck. My brake cables and helmet were full of webs and spiders as well.
My question is should I be concerned about these spiders biting me or should I just keep riding through them? nothing is more distracting then going fast and seeing a spider dangling off my helmet visor.
So what do you guys do on a webbed up trail?
I've learned to ignore them for the most part, but I happen to like spiders. I can't remember the last time I was bitten and I tend to be one of the first ones on the trail since I ride in the early morning. I use insect repellent, but I don't think it's meant to repel spiders. I'm more worried about mosquitos and ticks, actually. Most of the time the spiders jump off, hang out in the tangle of my cable housing or hide in my helmet vents until I get back to the trailhead. You shouldn't have anything too poisonous on a trail down there, spider-wise. Black widows and brown recluses aren't gonna hang out across a trail. I'd be more worried about venomous snakes, I think, not that I really mind snakes either. You probably have rattlers, cottonmouths and copperheads down there, as we do in Tennessee. Never seen any on the trails, tho. Last snake I saw, and almost ran over, was a chicken snake. So, anyway, just be aware of what you're getting on you and try not to panic. I find that going faster makes my worry about it less since it's the webbing that bothers me more than the spiders.