[Red Rider]

I'd had a good day in Reno and Virginia city, met up with SK for a greet & gab, but kept a weather eye to the east as things were darkening up, and I had to go through it. Nevada dust storms are as bad as any, as the alkali dust gives blinding white-outs like snow, but also chokes the crap out of ya. The wind was kicking up and I knew it was time for me & Red to get on the road. And then.........

Out in the high desert near Stagecoach, something stirred. It shaked and quaked with the rising storm, awaiting the fiercest gale to make it's move. The greatest of it's kind, it was Tumblesweedus Rex - King of the Tumbleweeds!

As tall as a bus and nearly as long, the great weed held to the earth against the roaring wind until the distant drone of a rider on a red Road King crested the hill. Prey. The mighty, thorned growth ripped from the ground, tearing at the lesser shrubs around it as it sped toward the lone rider. Catching the wind with its bulk, it soon gained speed to over 30 miles an hour. With perfect timing, it raced to a rise by the roadside and became airborne.

Speeding into the 40-60mph headwind at 70 mph, the rider had no real options when the massive, spined monstrosity lept from the roadside. Still, his mind reached for a way out. The Thing was too enormous to dodge, appearing too intent on fully enveloping the rider and his ride. But the rider knew something the weed didn't (well, hopefully more than just one something than a friggin' bush) - steel is stonger than stalk.

The collision was horrific to witness. A cage driver would later state "that big f__kin' weed f__kin' ate him, man" - (over his 12th beer at Jerry Lee's in Silver Springs). The explosion of spined branches showered the roadway with blinding, dessicated cellulose carnage. Still, the behemoth bush held on - but still, the rider held on, too. The almagamated freak of weed, bike and rider continued for hundreds of yards until the relative windspeed of over 100 miles an hour shredded the weed-beast away, again revealing a lone rider on a red Road King.

Tumbleweedus Rex was no more. Only some small portions of the carcass wedged in the front of the bike - and some minor scratches on the flesh of the rider - remained as evidence of it's brief reign as the giant of it's kind.

The Weed King of the desert was no match for the Road King on HWY 50...

[Tomflhrci98]

Nice!

I can feel your pain. Thank God you won the battle.

[Red Rider]

Yeah, it was actually pretty fun! Thank the Lord that I'd hit enough in my Jeep that I knew it wasn't a lay-down when I giant tumbleweed jumped me!

Ya'll learn, and ride safe.....

[Slimjim]

You spin a pretty good yarn, Red . While we don't have many tumbleweeds down here, it's good to know they can be beaten.

[bdfin]

I've run into those things before with the car when in CO. and WY. Its amazing how those things linger on the sides of the road and then move in for the impact. You'd think they had some reasoning for making the attack.

[voodoochild]

That is a good story. Sounds like the making of a short story book!

[Hot01]

I'm glad I didn't run into any of those. Was it really as big as a bus?

[mwelych]

I want a dozen of what you're on Red!!! Haaa, Haaa, Haaa.

[Red Rider]

Abby - close to it, but not quite....a small bus, maybe

mwelych - uh,

voodoochild - Abby's the future famous author

bdfin - yeah, ya have to wonder how they can appear so directed sometimes

[chucktx]

great story red.....and your yarn does spin rather well!!!!

[cowboy]

red good story & good to here you made it out , it's been a few years but when I lived in NM we use to have them attack us from time to time & I have seen them as big as a small bus , One year comming from NM back to TX (in My pick-up 8ft bad ) I had one jump on the truck & try to wrestle it down had to stop & put it in the bed & brought it home for the kid's to see filled the whole bed & then some & that's after it lost to the truck's front end

[chucktx]

i had no idea they got that big......biggest i have seen is about 3ft across....

[SK]

Great story Red. Had a friend hit one head-on a few years ago..just stuck to his front end until he pulled over. Could hardly see. Dodged many on US50 before..danged radar capable if you ask me.

[Red Rider]

chucktx - 3ft around? That size weed ain't even worth bending over and pulling in Nevada. Guess that "bigger in Texas" stuff is nonsense, eh?

[mwelych]

Red... Just a joke... Hope I didn't offend ya...

[Red Rider]

mwelych - - no offense tacken -