Ticks --- How big of a disease problem are they in orange county?

i replaced "ticks" with "chix".

 

Everybody's probably sick of this thread but I have to add another note on tick avoidance, based on something I saw today. I was grinding up Stairstep in Aliso Woods this morning, enjoying the great dirt and the sun breaking through the clouds, when my wheel slid into a rut. I hopped off and straddled the trail. My right foot was in a thin patch of oatgrass. As I watched, a tick leaped from a blade of oatgrass near that foot, and made a perfect 8-point landing on the toe of my shoe. I flicked him off with a quick kick.

After that, I tried to blast through any grassy spots at maximum speed, thinking that I could blow right past the little buggers. But back at the car, as I checked my left sock and shoe, another tick came climbing up my sock, from inside my shoe. I flicked him, but he held tight to the sock, then I flicked again, and he grabbed onto my shoelace. Several flicks later, I managed to send him flying.

So look out for these grabby little arachnids. They can't hang onto a slick surface like a toe cap on a shoe, but they cling to the fabric in socks and shoelaces like nobody's business.

 

Took one of those blood sucking varmits off my leg last night after a ride at Schabarum.

 

You can always shave all over, cover yourself in fork oil, and ride naked.

 

That's an even better story. Yikes!

 

..

 

Sorry about leaving survivors behind. They'll probably end up on me again. Next time I pick up an eight-legged hitchhiker I will smash him good.