Nettles or brambles?

After a stingy _and_ scratchy ride out yesterday with my sister and her husband, I got to wondering which I would rather land in if I fell off my bike, a patch of nettles, or a patch of brambles.

I’m thinking nettles myself because my clothing _might_ protect me from some of it.

What about everyone else?

I’d rather you fell in a patch of brambles. No real reason.

I’m going to vote for the brambles. You’d probably jump out of the nettles pretty quick so it’d be far funnier to see you trying to extract yourself from the brambles

Not sure, but boy they were bad this weekend. Arms and legs still covered in scratches and cuts and only just stopped stinging now. Fell into brambles twice on Saturday plus lots of the usual trapped brambles in crease of the elbow. OUCH

Done both a fair few times

Nettles all day long.
Its much easier to climb out and no infected scratches to worry about.

Brambles.
Nettle stings seem to last 24 hours on my legs and can be rather uncomfortable. At least with bramble scratches you get the bonus of scab picking a few days later!

having landed in a patch of nettles, and having my entire back stung – though a teeshirt, I can tell you it friggin hurts. for about 3 days. I felt like i was vibrating. I think id take brambles

Brambles for the fact that they don’t sting

Nettles for the fact that you’ll probably tear something expensive falling into brambles and one of the “advantages” of hayfever is the need to take anti-histamine tabs regularly so nettle sting doesn’t last that long.

Nettles ftw!
And you get the bonus after-buzz later as well.

Brambles just leave you in a cut-up bleeding mess.

Brumbles for me, I hate nettles if I get too many stings I get all sweaty and dizzy, brambles barely register.

Brambles, I hate nettles. I take the secateurs out and cut the brambles back on some of the local trails, but at this time of the year it’s amazing how quickly they grow.

Nettles any day – those thick (10mm) brambles do nearly as much damage as barbed wire. Horrible things.

lets face it, you are probably going to fall where there is first a load of tall juicy nettles into a load of overgrown brambles and then probably put your hand down on some nice sharp thistles when you are climbing out.

Having landed in both before, I’ll take the nettles everyday. Brambles were no fun whatsoever, the nettle stings were mildly pleasurable once you got used to it.

Brambles. Blood and scratches look like battle scars. Nettles just f’in sting for the next day.

At the moment I think nettles are just about bearable. But the old tough ones at the end of Summer are pretty nasty.

The last time I properly fell in some brambles it actually wasn’t too bad. It was dark, and I thought I knew where the path was, and confidently cycled straight into a drainage ditch.

It was dark, and I thought I knew where the path was, and confidently cycled straight into a drainage ditch.

Did this other day as entered the woods after being in bright sunlight was like entering another world,n track was well overgrown since my last visit there earlier in may .

Brambles n bracken not good.

I once rolled around in a big nettle patch in just shorts (as a drunk student), never again. My whole body was throbbing for a couple of days

Gorse.

I quite like the battle scars on your ankles and forearms after riding at this time of year.

Just me?

Brambles all day!
Last year we had one particularly bad day, scratches and stings galore, the scratches were dramatic in effect, blood poring everywhere, soon to stop and a cool looking scab to show off…. No pain! As for the nettles, stinging itchy blisters, throbbing for three days with barely any sleep!
Brambles for me!!! However for you odd ones out there, refer back to a post a year or two ago about nettle thrashing, ouch!

Couple of rides ago, just started barrelling along the track when it turned into slimey, muddy, deep ruts from where motorbikes had been down there. Front wheel goes right, I go left.. into a patch of nettles. Yes, I would much rather it had been brambles as I probably would’ve got some sleep that night!

Nettles every day for the tinglies….brambles are just organic barb wire….

I can put up with the tingling from nettles, but being ripped to shreds by what is just organic razor wire is not on. And nettles don’t rip your clothes to pieces either.

+1

nasty stuff, picking out needles forever

I’d rather stay on my bike and avoid both.

If I had to choose though I’d go bramble. I hate the day or two of ‘aftershock’ from bad nettle stings.

Brambles for sure. Like others , nettle stings last two or three days for me and an after ride bath or shower makes it worse.

Brambles definitely! I was ill for the rest of the day after being stung all over my arms and legs once.

yeh, gorse is a bastard – though a nice bramble in the crook of your elbow always raises a laugh, too

Gorse smells lovely though

After having a ride above oxenhope on Saturday can we add handlebar height thistles to the equation, stuck in a few deep tractor tracks they seemed unavoidable and hands got battered by them, had to stop at the bottom of the hill to
Take of gloves and remove thistles, covered in them

ridgelines FTW

Nettles.

Brambles can potentially blind you

Gorse (flowers) taste nice.

This week I av bin mostly eatin, pennywort.

bramble in the crook of the elbow when you’ve got a sweat on is an exquisite sort of pleasure.

Nettles stop me sleeping at night, like a million tiny electric shocks that go on and on.

Nettles – There’s nothing like the rush of adrenaline after being stung up your legs and arms to make you attack that trail or climb 🙂

I had an “OFF” into nettles a few weeks back…stung all down one side and back and chest…not a comfortable experience I can tell you… so I’ll try the Brambles next time !!!

Nettles for me. I’ve had a couple of unbelievably powerful nettle experiences (though not as unbelievable as the pants one that was posted on here a few years ago), but skin heals better than clothing, and I’ve got a few tops that are past their best because of brambles.

I usually find the worst brambles shortly after I’ve committed to some steep, rocky chute, where stopping or changing line isn’t an option. And they’re always at elbow height too, where they do the most damage…

Riding along I’d rather get slashed by a bramble.

Landing in them probably nettles.

The year I graduated from uni we went on a weekend riding in the Brecon Beacons.

Going up the first hill of the weekend I fell off and rolled down a 5ft high bank completely covered in waist high nettles. **** Me that hurt but the thought of picking my way out of a bramble patch after getting shredded hands and legs just clearing a small patch in the garden last weekend seems far worse.

Picture time…