santia90

So I am finally riding again, more on that later...I figure once I name it and take some pictures of it. Anyways, I went for a ride and as I have come to learn this town is blessed with some awesome bike trails...I mean if I were a kid I would have just a frakken ball all over the place.

I even made a friend:








Had I not stopped to wonder what a weird tree branch he was I think I would have inadvertently run over him, or her...

So anyways he (or she) was just laying, i'm guessing trying to soak up some sun and heat from the black top but wouldn't move and I didn't want anyone else inadvertently running it over, so I wanted him to move, but I'll be honest, I'm scared to death of snakes. I didn't know what type of snake it was (whether was poisonous, aggressive and what not). "Do I throw a rock at it to shoo it away?" I thought, so I threw a rock, but it didn't move. "Do I stomp the ground?" But all it did was stick out it's forked tongue. Feeling the blood rushing away from my face I stepped back some and at that moment this elderly gentleman came out of nowhere. "It's not poisonous, it won't hurt you," as if reading my mind. Not being in the habit of believing complete strangers right I away, all I could muster was "really?" I looked back up at him "I'm trying to get it to move so no one will accidentally run over it...but it won't move."

"It's a gopher snake, they are very common out here," and he walked over picking up a real tree branch and nonchalantly touched the snake with it and the snake simply slithered away into the brush.

"Nice weather to be out," is all he said as he continued on in the opposite direction. He was in his late seventies I think...

A guy in his late seventies saved me from a snake...

Oh yeah, no bruised ego there.