Headbanger is one of my new favorite local trails and I always skip the off shoots so I thought I'd do them today. My plan was to do multiple laps to do all the variations but after the first time on Headbanger's Ball #1, I realized I preferred Headbanger. The start of Headbanger's Ball #1 doesn't seem like it gets a lot of use and then the part that I'm familiar with and is more used just isn't as fun. I didn't want to end the ride so quickly and have it be so short so I decided to do Cracker as well. The north side seems to be more overgrown and way more overgrown with Italian Thistle. And with all the non-consensual touching by the vegetation, I was worried about getting an STI, a Shithead Tick Interloper. On Cracker, going through one of the flowier, fun, parts, I was brushing past a lot of stuff. I had to stop for three kids, each walking their own dog. While I waited for them, I found TWO TICKS on my left arm. I probably shouldn't have done this but I flicked both of them off. I actually think they may have been a male and a female Western blacklegged tick. Maybe I was the interloper, interrupting them. 🤣 As far as I can tell, I flicked them before they settled in to bite. Not sure if it's a good idea to ride through there given the overgrowth. There were a lot of walkers, half of them with dogs so I was surprised they didn't clear the ticks for me. So many punchy climbs, it ended up being a bit of a power/interval workout.