Here's Andy laughing it up after I rode through a huge web that made my helmet look like it was wearing a hair net.
The riding was great, the trail was perfect, but my arachnaphobia started to kick in after peeling off several webs and seeing Golden Orbs and some hard-shelled, red-legged spiders. Have you ever seen a Golden Orb? Well, here is one:
Now that you've seen how big some of these ladies (the females are the larger of the species) can be, I'm sure you can appreciate our heightened anxiety.The Land Bridge was just part of our destination. It's an overpass over I-75 that is earthen and landscaped on the top for trail-users...human or not.
So from our perspective, it felt like part of the trail.
But the viewing portals reminded us that we were riding over I-75.We continued along the singletrack on the eastern side of I-75, but after Andy came face-to-face with a Golden Orb we decided to turn around. Prior to this encounter, he had even picked up a large stick and was biking with one hand and waving this stick in front of him with the other trying to knock down all the webs. He missed this web with the stick and got a face full of sticky yellow web and when it hit him he saw this 5" spider, at eye-level, just inches away from his face.
Now, some of you might think I'm exaggerating, so click on this link for OMBA (Ocala Mtn Bike Assn) and you'll see their warnings!
So we turned around and still had to continue dodging webs and spiders. Oh, don't get us wrong - these critters are beautiful and fascinating to look at...but to have one touch me? No way!
And that's exactly what happened...to Andy. We were approaching the Trailhead when Andy felt something tickle his ear. As he was brushing it away he saw a Golden Orb fall to the ground. Here she is:
Our question is still, "How long had she been on him?" I still have shivers! That caused us to boycott the ride on Santos Trail - we no longer want to be the firsts on the trails.
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