16.4mi

Tonight’s ride was really a big ol’ reminder of last year’s rides. The first few miles were horrid, full of self-doubt and a huge desire to turn tail and head for home. But, just like last year, I broke through the 3-4mi wall, and found the rest of the ride to be pleasant.

Along with a good ride though, I also got to see a bunch of snakes on the trail. I’ve seen more snakes this month on the trail than I did all of last year. I dunno if that’s because the water’s so high, or from some other kind of natural influence.

So, I haven’t entirely identified what I’ve seen. The state has a site showing the snakes of Missouri, and I’ve been trying to do some comparisons.

I know I saw a rough green snake tonight, along with an osage copperhead (poisonous). The big black one might’ve been a western cottonmouth (water moccasin), but I haven’t been able to tell from the single photo on the site. Another site makes my coiled up mystery snake appear to be a cottonmouth, but it’s still hard to tell. And I think the big black wavy snake is yet another species, but I can’t tell for sure.

Any ideas?