Devils thorn ? Ouch! What are these things?

[TempeAZnative]

We call them satan heads and they are everywhere this time of years especially because of all the rain.

[Crazy4Chickens]

We call them goatheads back when we lived in California, they punctured many tires back in my bike riding days. Then when my kids were little they called them pufferfish, or puffers for short. We'd track them in on our shoes from the backyard and inevitability one of us would step on it barefoot. Hate those things, I'm hoping they don't grow in our part of Wyoming.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Crazy4Chickens

We call them goatheads back when we lived in California, they punctured many tires back in my bike riding days. Then when my kids were little they called them pufferfish, or puffers for short. We'd track them in on our shoes from the backyard and inevitability one of us would step on it barefoot. Hate those things, I'm hoping they don't grow in our part of Wyoming.

One of many reasons we take our shoes off outside.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by Crazy4Chickens

We call them goatheads back when we lived in California, they punctured many tires back in my bike riding days. Then when my kids were little they called them pufferfish, or puffers for short. We'd track them in on our shoes from the backyard and inevitability one of us would step on it barefoot. Hate those things, I'm hoping they don't grow in our part of Wyoming.

Tough to beat the pain / agony from stepping on a tracked in Goat-Head while barefooted and walking on a tile floor.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Ill take those any day over jumping cholla. Any day.

Cholla you can at least generally see. These things are the size of small thumbtacks and are the color of dirt and really blend in on gravel. You don't see them until they stab you! I had them all over my driveway last year and had no idea where they were coming from. I would come inside and pull them out of the bottom of my flip flops with pliers.

Now I know what the plants look like thanks to this thread and I can get rid of them before the drop those damn thumbtacks

[ABQConvict]

For bicycles:

Continental Gatorskins
Mr. Tuffy's tire liners
puncture resistant/slimed innertubes

It is an expensive and heavy setup, but the closest thing to a bombproof tire system in goathead country. If you ride long distances (further than you would want to walk and you are not a fan of carrying at least a couple of spare tubes and doing roadside innertube changes) then you would be wise to make the investment.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Cholla you can at least generally see. These things are the size of small thumbtacks and are the color of dirt and really blend in on gravel. You don't see them until they stab you! I had them all over my driveway last year and had no idea where they were coming from. I would come inside and pull them out of the bottom of my flip flops with pliers.

Now I know what the plants look like thanks to this thread and I can get rid of them before the drop those damn thumbtacks

I know what they look like, I was just stating that goatheads are easier to deal with than jumping cholla. And no, jumping cholla aren't always easy to see. After they fall off, they turn brown and blend in with the rocks quite well, and theyre still equally as dangerous.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

I lost so many bike tires to them that I eventually switched to the airless tubes

[auto camper]

This nasty weed is found along canal bike paths. After a rain paved low spots may have hundreds grouped in clusters.
Service vehicles will introduce them (they momentarily stick to their vehicle tires) when they re-enter the paths. Have punctured in tony areas of Arcadia. Seems they were scattered into the roadway by lawn maintenance people.
Suffered an annual flat due to this pointed sticker in 21 years of road riding in Silicon Valley and just one, for 16 years of
bicycling in rural, central Florida.
Greater Phoenix has its issues. My solution is to avoid the canal pavement and ride where there are dedicated lanes for
two wheelers. Have gone 15 months flat free (approx. 120 miles a week). Concessions have to be made, of course.