Day 32 – Crikey a Rattler!

Day 32 – Crikey a Rattler!

Day 32 (Jun 2nd)

Distance 60.19 miles

Today is the second and final day up in the 130 mile dead zone.

I set off after a double chilli burger at 9am. The locals were up and already boozing, or maybe they just never went to bed.

I got pedalling through the barren landscape and was complaining to myself about the headwinds that had returned.

I was on autopilot daydreaming about having an engine but 1 hour in I was rudely brought back to reality. I heard a loud rattle and I looked down to see what it was, jeepers it was a coiled rattlesnake!! By the time I heard it I was already on top of it and I swerved missing it by much less than a foot!

It’s ironic that after the bloke in Rawlins told me about cyclists swerving into the road I did the exact same thing, luckily there were no trucks to run me over.

Thank god the “rattler” didn’t strike my leg. Those things have the worst venom and I was a whole day away from the next town, I would have definitely been brown bread. Damn I was so close to this snake and I clearly upset him!

I got off the bike and was full of adrenaline, I paced up and down for 5 minutes saying things like “ohhhhh fuck me” and then I got the camera out to document my encounter. The way it moved made me shiver, I guess we are evolved to be petrified of snakes.

For the rest of the day I panicked over any snake shape objects on the hard shoulder. The worst thing was seeing a sand coloured bungee cable as they are the most snake looking things.

After a lunch break I had calmed down but before the sun set I had an identical encounter with an even longer/fatter rattle snake!!

My nerves are now in tatters and I need to find somewhere that doesn’t have snakes. I finally made it to the end of the dead zone and didn’t die, oioi!

I set the tent up and checked three times that the door zip was done up fully, no snake sized gap.

Another day another dollar.

Yours in cycling,

Dan


One thought on “Day 32 – Crikey a Rattler!

  1. Try not to get eaten by a rattlesnake mate. Got Wilson’s stag do next year and wont be the same without you.

    Hope you’re having a great time!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *