CrimsonEclipse

Not sure if this is a rant or a plea for help.
I've been riding earlier and earlier on MUP's and MTB trails to avoid the un ending heat.
Being the first person on the trail is cool(er), peaceful and quiet, and FULL OF SPIDERS!!
I'm not a phobia type of person but by the time I'm finished with the trail, my face AND bike look like cotton candy. Sure most spiders jump off after I ruin their hard work, just a few take up residence or decide to Tarzan across my field of view and the worst possible moment.
Little shiny ones, big fuzzy mamas, all sorts of 8 legged friends to join my ride.
Might consider a face mesh to limit the THPFFFFT-F-F-FTHFT moments.
(Already have a hair net to keep SOME of the critters out)
((some still enter through the front back and sides))

[at lease the mosquito population is greatly reduced]

Final note:
For everyone else who rides, runs, or hikes the trail after me:
You're Welcome.

skidder

It depends where you live. On a MUP I occasionally ride in the mornings there are swarms of very small flying insects, so small you don't see them until you're right in them. Getting a mouthful of them is no fun. When I get home its not unusual to have a collection of them on the front of my clothing. Fortunately, they're in predictable areas (shrubbery, isolated from breezes and wind) so you can somewhat predict where they will pop up.

noimagination

Sorry, no suggestions. Start your rides later?

The same thing happens hiking early in the morning. If you're the first one down the trail early in the morning, you get a face full of spider silk. (And, it's covered in dew, so you get a double dose, spider silk and wetness.) Silk in the face during hiking is a different order of magnitude, of course, since walking is slower than riding. Fortunately, trails are usually wide enough that you're just getting the silk the spiders trail after them, and not the full web. So, usually just strands of silk and not the spiders themselves.

seypat

At least they get rid of the other insects for you!

https://www.science.org/content/arti...w-you-parse-it

pdlamb

Sorry, no help here.

When we were younger, my wife always wanted me to be in front of her while hiking in the mornings just for the spider webs. A few times I persuaded her to go first (it's only fair!) just to find out she's sufficiently shorter than I am that I still got the spider webs from my nose up. After I figured that out, I sucked it up and led.

staehpj1

Yeah, no suggestions here. I have found that it is either put up with them of go out later. I like to get out early so I just live with them. One of the disadvantages of being an early riser...

cyccommute 

Just get someone to ride in front of you

katsup

Here's a solution something

You Tube

Broctoon

I have heard that many spider species are most active this time of year, as it's their mating season. In the desert where I live, they are reportedly thriving very well this year, because we had a particularly wet spring. Supposedly the migratory birds have a real feast waiting for them in the coming weeks. I haven't noticed them in the places where I ride, run, and walk. Perhaps its because I'm not the first one out each day.

Reflector Guy

That was a Steve Martin joke, if I remember right - make sure your wife is ahead of you to clear the way of spiders.

Chuck Naill

I used to hike a loop trail every weekend. If I met someone coming toward me, I'd tell them I had cleared out the trail for them. They would laugh and say they had done the same for me. If it was early and I didn't catch any webs, I would know that I wasn't alone on the trail. There are other signs like shoe treads on rocks if the humidly is high enough.

Reflector Guy

A friend of mine was riding in the twilight hours - I don't know if it was AM or PM - and he collided with a flying bat. They say bats eat spiders, so I suppose he couldn't complain too terribly much. If it ain't one, it's the other!

seypat

I run at night. Bats are definitely out there getting theirs.

AndreyT

Do a practice ride first, just to clear out the spider webs. Consider it a dry run, which "doesn't count". Just forget about it once you finish it. And then go and enjoy the actual ride, predominantly spider-free! This is basically the same advice as cyccommute's one above, except you are basically using yourself to ride in front of you.

(BTW, has anyone tried using Garmin's "Virtual Partner" feature for that purpose?)

cyccommute 

Daughter. But same idea. Columbia River Gorge spiders are huge and string industrial strength cables across everything on the river. We saw one anchor strands that was 6 feet long. My daughter loves spiders so I let her deal with them.

CrimsonEclipse

I cannot believe I'm considering this......

jaxgtr

When I was commuting to work, I got there between 2 and 3 am and where I had to lock up my bike, I had a 400 yard walk to my building. I had to cross over a swampy area every morning, and I carried a retractable pointer to sweep the cob webs from the banana spiders built across the bridge. It came in handy, that is for sure.

esasjl

Maybe we should appreciate what is left of insect/arachnid life while it is still here. We might miss it when it's gone.

indyfabz

Among other things, they are food for birds. Riding across the country I saw plenty of them get eaten in mid-flight by birds, especially in open areas like ND. Really cool to see.

datlas 

More likely WE will be gone and these critters will inherit the earth.

indyfabz

Back in '97 I dated a woman whose mother got re-married to a man who had a penthouse apartment on Lower Whacker Drive in Chicago. I went to visit one august week. One side of the apartment was all tall windows. Spiders got carried by the lake breezes and would land on the windows. In the summer, the windows seemed to be covered with hundreds of them of varying sizes. Fascinating to watch them become more and more animated as the temperature rose during the morning. Every once in a while, the larger ones would get into little territorial spats over window space. I was told that every couple of months in season, building maintenance would sweep them away. Definitely not the best living arrangement for arachnophobes.

VegasTriker

Good thing tarantulas don't spin webs across your bike trail. They would really freak you out. They can get several inches in size. I've very rarely found them in the desert where I live. When it is mating time, that's the best time to see them in rural areas.
If you ever happen to be on the U of WI Madison campus look at some of the buildings along the lake like the Limnology lab. The spiders hanging from the building are pretty, well fed from lake insects, and numerous. Definitely not for those who fear spiders. I used to regularly find black widow spiders in my landscaping adjacent to the house. You can always tell a black widow web because it is disorganized, not the geometric webs spun by most spiders. They are very common in the desert.

Bald Paul

Spiders freak me out. I reached into my mailbox one day to retrieve my mail and noticed something moving - a black dot over the white envelopes. Good thing, it turned out to be a Black Widow. After a generous dose of chemical warfare, and verified removal of the 8 legged corpse, I removed the mailbox and sealed every tiny little opening I could find.

Pop N Wood

The morning cobwebs don't hurt anything. Bit annoying but can't say I've ever seen the spider, just the webs, in all the years I rode in the early morning.

If nothing else just think about how the poor siders feel

Aardwolf

I'm wondering what a bicycle would look like if it was desgned for use by a spider.

But then I'm a little bit odd and I have got flu.