[Closed] Nettles - why so violent after rain?

Maybe because fresh new plant growth accelerates after rainful which in turn attracts hungry animals, so nettles crank up their defences?

Just a guess but nature has it's reasons.

The water washes the Immac cream off the leaves so they actually feel like they should...or something to do with the water making the hairs on the leaves stand proud and therefore causing more irritation?

No idea!

I always find nettles worse when there has been a prolonged dry spell which i assumed was to stop any animal eating them.

Try whipping yourself with raw horse radish rather than nettles and you won't sit down for a week!

Just realised which forum I was on. You probably rode you bike through them didn't you.

When it rains they bend over with the weight of the water, and the previously upright nettles that you just cycled past are now sticking out into the trail.

i second davey clayton's motion.

I'm sure I read somewhere that nettle stings are good for relieving joint pains.....

I don't mind a light nettling - not too keen on 'fizzy' legs when trying to sleep though..

[opens a can of worms]

Do worms take away the fizz?

Nettle stings always remind me of the first race of the year at Beastway, as the undergrowth wouldn't have been beaten into submission by hundreds of bikers. Any overtaking on the narrow stuff would inevitably mean through the brambles and nettles, to the point that it'd be difficult to sleep that night!

Sorry, has the STW forum turned into metrosexual central or something?

MTFU, they're only nettles ya big Jessie.

I have the morning after tingley legs too this morning, my regular hampshire bridleways are getting rather overgrown in places

I was thinking just the same thing (as the OP). Rode some of the Ridgeway last night & my legs are still singing a merry tune from the mutant super-nettles up there. Kept me awake & everything last night, which was ironic considering our 8-week old baby actually slept for 6 hours.

Nettle: the plant that hates.

The great thing about nettles is you are enjoying the benefits of your ride hours later 🙂

Who puts Immac cream on the nettle leaves? Is it the Brazilian Pixies?

It's because of your age Votchy,simple 🙄

Surely it'd be because more water = more venom production in the leaves (more raw materials to inject) and therefore greater quantity of pain-inducing materials.

I once got nettled over my entire body, accidentally rolled down a hillside covered in them wearing only a pair of small shorts. I cried. But I was 6.

So when are you little girls off to get your first bras then? Whilst you're there pick up some support stockings to protect your ickle, fairy soft leggy weggies why don't ya?

So thats what shin pads are for then....

sootyandjim - Member
Whilst you're there pick up some support stockings to protect your ickle, fairy soft leggy weggies why don't ya?

It sounds like you speak from experence 😉

sootyandjim yesterday :

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Don't think anyone has actually said that the pain is too much to bear, the question was why the sting is more severe after ran than they normally are, personally I quite enjoy a good nettling but that's another story

lol at shinsplints

Try whipping yourself with raw horse radish rather than nettles and you won't sit down for a week!

so can we assume flagellation will feature at the [url= http://www.bigbikebash.co.uk/ ]Big Bike Bash[/url] WCA ??

Is it not that they're just fresh? New nettles are always more potent.

They were nothing compared to how painful this type of sting is

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hey I'm no shandy-pants jesse, but I'm sitting here nearly 24 hours later and my legs are still whistling. Those nettles are mutants I tell you. I blame all that ozone...or something.

"Surely it'd be because more water = more venom production in the leaves"

Conversely since the sting is an acid, more water might mean more diluted and less potent acid. I'm not a plant scientist or anything.

My comment above is based on my experience, which is not the potency of the sting, but that I only get stung when it's wet.

Another theory - maybe if your leg hair is wet and flat on your skin, the hair will offer less protection....

@davey_clayton - Your comment about the leg hair - not likely.Votchy is a proper xc jey boy shaven legged streamlined whippet of a "lad" (well,a lad until Friday... 😉 ) 😆

I always thought it was because there is less friction so the stings can penetrate the skin better. Also works the same with punctures,as in more likely to have a puncture in the wet.

I expect the rain has just made them grow more so you got stung more, fresh growth is more appetising to the herbivores so needs more stingyness to protect it.

they make lovely tea

Didn't they used to treat depression by throwing people into nettles?

Certainly takes your mind off all of life's little woes for a while!

shinsplints, have you been on the cider again?

**HIC** 😆