Ticks

[Bodhbh]

Well just returned from a long weekend touring around Exmoor. Not really mountainbiking, but taking the tourers off-road wherever we saw fit. Anyhow, I've ended up pretty well caked in ticks which I've been pulling out for the last couple of days. It's not really a revalation, but I suppose I mainly associated the problem with rambling rather than getting them in the saddle.

Just wondered how people manage the situation? Cover up all flesh? cake themselves in repellent? (which tends to eat technical fabrics). Or ignore and just keep pulling them out?

 

[Gareth]

Eat plenty of Garlic, and/or blend a 3 drops of Tea Tree oil and 3 drops of Lavender into about 30 drops of Almond or Grapeseed oil and rub a little into the exposed flesh on your arms and legs ....it works for me

 

[Red Light]

Take care with ticks. Its rare but they do carry Lymes Disease in the UK especially in the South and you don't want to get Lymes Disease

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Eat plenty of Garlic, and/or blend a 3 drops of Tea Tree oil and 3 drops of Lavender into about 30 drops of Almond or Grapeseed oil and rub a little into the exposed flesh on your arms and legs ....it works for me

That sounds more like a self-basting marinade than a deterrent.


GC

 

[Cubist]

If you have pulled out as many as you say you have you really need to go and see your GP. Lymes disease is really debilitating and a real risk.

 

[Bodhbh]

If you have pulled out as many as you say you have you really need to go and see your GP. Lymes disease is really debilitating and a real risk.

I pulled out 7 or 8, so 'caked' is probably getting melodramatic. They were all pull out fairly early tho, none had any chance to start filling up. Lucky I was carrying a tick remover which is party of the kit from touring anyhow. But I think if I was regulary riding Exmoor it would put me off, at least area's where there is much in the way of undergrowth to ride thru.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Take care with ticks. Its rare but they do carry Lymes Disease in the UK especially in the South and you don't want to get Lymes Disease

Lyme Disease (no 's') can be very serious. It's only spread by particular species of tick - people used to think it was associated only with deer, but that's not the case anymore. The symptoms include a 'bullseye' rash around the tick bite, painful joints, headaches, swollen lymph glands and a number of other things - but you may not get any of these symptoms at all yet still have it. One growing problem is that there seem to be some persistent, chronic effects including neurological problems, which a lot of doctors don't understand are connected to Lyme Disease and are still being researched. This Canadian government fact sheet is pretty good. I think it's still a lot less common in the UK than North America. (Just adding all this because my wife is a Public Health Development Worker and has just been doing a lot of work on raising awareness of Lyme Disease over here).