Its July! And although the heat of July hasn’t come (yet), Goatheads are surely popping up and growing up to the monsters we know them to be. Whether your a bicycling newbie, seasoned rider, or fair-weather roller, we all know how overwhelmingly sucky the goatheads are to our bicycling life. In fact, you may find the efforts we put into collecting goatheads every year to be pointless. (unlike goathead nutlets….)

I am here to tell you that the efforts are worth it, and I was lucky to get a first-hand glimpse into why they are worth it!

Two weeks ago, Christa and the Mobile Fix-It crew went to Brentwood Apartments in South East Boise. The apartments parallel a walking path along Ridenbaugh canal, the path side is sand that’s hard to ride, and the other side is a hard dirt path that some of the kids at Brentwood ride along.

BBP volunteer Karen and I picked goatheads along the canal while the Mobile Fix-It crew was knee-deep in tube repairs and replacements. After we picked 20lbs in the area, we checked in on the Mobile Fix It, where we got to experience our impact in action in two different ways.

Meet Menase.

Menase was seeking a tube replacement on his bike after getting a flat. Take one look at his tire and you can guess how he got a flat….

GOATHEADS! I talked with Menase about his bike and where he rides, and he frequents the path that we were pulling goatheads on. While we pulled a lot, there were so many small sprouts and even more goathead nutlets from previous years. While we didn’t completely rid them, we learned how needed the efforts were to help the kids keep rollin’ in Boise.

Have you picked goatheads this year? Looking for places to go? Check out boisegoatheadfest.com to find some hotspots, and after picking, don’t forget to record your weight and properly dispose them at North End Organic Nursery!