alo

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=604318840297142

Barry2 

Beware - What has been seen, cannot be unseen.

Ross520

Why is she dressed like a roller derby girl?

What a goofball.

Bill in VA

Good thing they were not cholla as the spines have sheath which has to come out also and it is barbed. The spine can come out and leave the sheath.

79pmooney

I'm not going to look. There is one positive aspect to this (way down the line). There is one misfortune that will never happen to that young lady again. Or her kids, Or her grandkids.

sdmc530

that would SUCK, but yeah riding where they are riding and not really wearing what I would wear for that type of riding.

Still....OUCH......OUCH!

texaspandj

Generally, I don't laugh at others misfortunes, but man that was Hilarious.

Gconan

The girl was in pain. It was not hilarious.

rumrunn6

ok so don't do that!

FiftySix

Makes me think she's a skater and not so much of a biker. The way she rolled off course into an uncontrolled stop, kinda supports that thought.

Pugs2xLove

Did she roll out of bed and decide to go riding at that moment? I'm probably more overdressed going to bed than her in the video.

Ross520

Cholla cacti are really not that painful. Often times you won't even notice you have one on you until someone else else points it out.

Run into a Saguaro on the other hand, and you'll be in a world of pain.

The women in the video was being quite dramatic about the whole thing. Like I said before... Goofball.
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Wileyrat

Cholla pods are much harder on my tubes ability to hold air than me, but I haven't ran into a Cholla, I've come close though.

I'm more worried about crashing into a Prickly Pear. Running into a Suguaro would be a very bad day.

cyccommute 

Those are cholla. There are tons of different varieties of cholla. As a class, cholla look like bushes and have “branches” that break off easily.

How much experience do you have with cholla? Here in the West we call them “jumping cactus” because of their tendency to just jump out and grab you seemingly from a distance. There’s even a kids book called “Jump!“ which is hilarious. That said, cholla spines hurt like hell. I’ve had several painful experiences with several varieties.

Yes, running into a saguaro would be painful but when you pull away, the cactus isn’t coming with you to remind you of the encounter. Same with prickly pear and barrel cactus. No bits of those cactus stick with you like cholla does.

Go ahead and jump into a cholla. Roll around in it so that you get good and covered. Then report back to us on how “painless” it is. Be sure to video the hilarity that ensues.

Ross520

Arizona native, my friend, been there, done that.

You do realize that the entire point of Cholla cacti "jumping" on the you is to use you for seed transportation without you knowing it, right? That would be difficult to do if the "transporter" noticed right-away. They're not meant to be painful. It's discomfort, that's it.

And regarding Saguaro cacti, there is no cactus more painful to run into... Period. I've been COVERED in cholla before, and it wasn't nearly as painful as the time I accidentally backed into one of the Saguaros in my front yard when I was puull weeds. Chollas are more annoying than anything.
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cyccommute 

A Colorado native here. We aren’t unfamiliar with cholla here. I’ve also had experience with them in Arizona.

The cactus may attach to animals to get transported but the whole point is to drop off at some time in the future so as to not have to take up residence on the animal that’s is doing the transportation. They become painful enough that the animal doing the transportation will try to get rid of them as soon as possible. Being transported miles and miles away from the parent plant isn’t necessarily conducive to finding the proper growing conditions.

And it’s not the seed pods that are jumping. Seed pods are usually enticement for an animal to eat the fruit and spread the seeds through poop.

The spines on saguaros are large but, for the most part, can be avoided. If you run over a shedded spine from a saguaro and it gets kicked up onto the rider, it’s not likely to even be noticed. I’ve had cholla spines kicked up onto me while riding and it’s like grabbing a handful of fishhooks. I never noticed it as being “painless”. Just the opposite. Hurts like hell.

I’d much rather encounter this kind of spine at speed

Untitled by Stuart Black, on Flickr

then this one

image by Stuart Black, on Flickr

OldTryGuy

MAN, I'm glad it was only a 150lb wild MAMA hog that ran into me 2 weeks ago tomorrow morning instead of a roaming cactus. She didn't hang around so no bacon but my cracked scapula, cracked ribs and punctured lung are reminding me of the too close of an encounter.

Ross520

You found the most harmless-looking Saguaro in the desert and used a far-away shot rather than the close-up you used for the cholla. Very objective.

Here's a "real" Saguaro...

SethAZ 

I'm personally more worried about the cholla when I MTB, but it's mainly because you can see saguaros from a mile away, but the chollas can be low, lurking around other stuff, and you might not notice them until it's too late. I've so far managed not to impale myself on any saguaro, but I've had some cholla experiences that were no fun. I did blow up a cholla one time with explosives during some military training out in the desert, and there was this one cholla that had encroached into the demolition training pit we were using. I thought of all the times I'd had to use a Leatherman to pull the spines out of my boots and uniform trousers, even when I'd tried to be very careful and keep an eye out for them. There's probably this fan-shaped arc of desert extending out from that demo pit now that's just crawling with cholla, lol.

Wileyrat

Yeah, I have several Suguaros in my yard, and none of them look like that old spineless snaggletooth looking thing in the upper picture. They're all well armed to the ground, as are most of the Suguaros where I usually ride.
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Wileyrat

I backed up into one working out in the desert, got an attitude deficiency over it and chopped it down with a machete.

I drove by it recently, and now it's a large cholla patch.

indyfabz

Let’s not forget about the poor TdF rider who got taken out my a press vehicle and ended up entangled in barbed wire. I’m not even going to post the photos.

GlennR

Gruesome to say the least.

JanMM

Prickly pear is the only cactus that grows in Indiana. Got rid of a small patch of it in our yard last year. That was fun. Nasty spiky spines. At the time, was thinking of future grand kids running around.

GeneO 

Gawd that was both painful and comical to watch. I felt sorry for her - as far as being a goofball, well yeah, she is young and inexperienced, so what. She will laugh about it soon enough.