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I considered myself lucky, too. It's been about 40 years since I had poison ivy (same oil), but my uncovered knees got it on Lower Monroe a few weeks ago. I was wearing sun sleeves, and didn't get any on the arms.

I now have a couple pair of sun covers for the legs...

In reading about poison oak, there is some evidence that a person's immunity can change from year to year... And it is possible to build up immunity. There are some brave souls who ingest tiny portions at the start of the season each year. Of course, there are also many documented cases of people with severe reactions in their mouths after trying this...

 

Common belief is that the more exposure to PO you'd develop an immunity to it but it's the other way around.
The more you're exposed to it or in contact with, you're sking will start reacting to it.

 

Oh yeah! The backside of Mt Wilson has some of the most dense PO I have ever encountered. @Luis and I just rode through a forest or two on the Rim trail.
I just ignore it. Don't get it, never have. Must be a mutant.

 

Given...

 

If I look at PO I get it. Have it the come hither look at Noble and it held my glove hand and then broke out on my junk. Peeing is hazardous when you don't know where your hands have been. I am jealous of people who aren't allergic.

 

MDO is covered is PO this year and i meet a huge bush of it two yesrs ago on the Oates Peak Trail.

 

When I was a kid in the MidWest, there was an annoying girl at my bus stop (out in the woods) who always used to brag about how she wasn't allergic to poison ivy. One year there was a big growth of it right next to the bus stop and we were standing looking at it describing the suffering you would feel if you tumbled in. The girl says "it wouldn't matter to me because I would never get it." So I reached down, broke off a branch with a few leaves on it, and brushed it in her face. She got the worse poison ivy reaction ever - and I felt horrific after the fact. Took her weeks to get over it.

So be cautious if you "think" you are immune to poison oak... unless you have truly taken leaves, crushed them, and rubbed them on thin skin with no reaction. I have yet to find a person on the planet who can do this and not get a reaction, but they may exist somewhere

And for what it's worth - if you burn poison oak and breathe in the smoke, you can get a potentially life-threatening reaction in your lungs. Not an issue here in California, but back east where they allow burning of scrub... you had to be aware of what you were burning.

 

Poison Oak has its benefits for the lonesome MTBer. Go ahead and engage in trail maintenance! Remove poison oak from the trail while wearing your gloves! Then...and this is key...take a piss! After a few days, the sensitivity will blow your mind.

 

Glad to hear it (pats self on back)!

 

I am a plant and animal nut. I know what it looks like, sir. The problem is, I am allergic to everything in this world, including life itself. Heck, I even get a small rash from Sumac every now and again. The fumes coming off of the plant (poison oak) can infect you if you are allergic to it. You don't even have to make contact!

What I didn't report in my crash over the weekend was that I fell into poison oak and rolled around in it a bit so now I have it in unmentionable places.

Oh, and that f@#kin' Scorpion weed, my God that stuff is awful to deal with.

Hate Poodle Dog as well!

 

Maybe...just maybe....you should rethink your choice of routes.

And where the heck was the PO on MTT?

 

The question is where wasn't it.....it's everywhere.

 

To avoid poison oak? Say goodbye to lots of good single track riding in California if that's the case. Better to just take the proper precautions after riding: a quick wash down with technu after the ride on exposed skin, and washing all my riding clothes (without touching the outside of them) has been effective for me, and I get it just by looking at it.

Correct. No such thing as immunity to poison oak.

 

I just rub jalapeño juice on my arms and legs beforehand. Scares away the PO

Fast Orange waterless hand soap available at most auto parts stores. I scrub down with that after rides where I know there was PO contact.

 

LOL @Runs with Scissors! If I had a buck for every PO plant we passed by between the moment the ST starts on the descent to the very end of the trail on GMR...

Thanks for knocking down my immunity idea guys, lol (again). Wishful thinking is sometimes all that a desperate soul has left to fall on.

If I could just get home in a timely manor and cleanse the suspected areas of contact. That method has worked well before for me. But it's a lot of work. I do believe that there has been stretches in my life where the plant did not bother me. I wish those days would return.

 

84 degrees Fahrenheit in Barstow, and all's well.

 

Ah Barstow! An awesome vacation destination.

 

The oldest running Del Taco is nice to visit. I even pick up souvenir tshirts from there when passing through for a stop for "gas." Still got the Bun Tacos on the menu!

 

You are forcing me to laugh... (with you, not at you!)
I have plowed through plenty of poodle as well, up on Strawberry with @rossage and @Voodoo Tom . I mean TONS of it. My gosh! I must be the luckiest mountain biker on the planet. Or, I'm superman and just don't know it. No wait, I've done plenty of superman's over my bars, yeah, that's it.

 

Yes, you have not fully experienced PO until this.

One surefire way to have this happen to you is to laugh at your buddy that befell the fate. DO NOT LAUGH. Be caring and concerned. Or...laugh it up, take what's due, and laugh all you want later.

 

I think everyone should experience a "Bun Taco"...

 

Why didn't they just call it a Sloppy Jose?

 

That's funny on too many levels...

 

Or a Dirty Sanchez!

 

I've heard that Naugles is making a comeback.

Naugles, Del Taco, Taco Tia, and Bakers all came about from the Taco Bell guy, who was inspired by the McDonalds guys.

A very good read: http://www.pe.com/2015/01/12/fast-food-how-inland-entrepreneurs-helped-launch-the-industry/

Mitla Cafe is where Glen Bell leaned about tacos. It's still there and is quite a cool place to check out!

 

@ MountainPass and all's well...

 

Did you stop for a Sloppy Jose... AKA Dirty Sanchez... AKA Bun Taco?

 

AKA Bell Burger? So many items on the menu these days, why not include a classic?

 

Breaking: @kioti posted!

 

This just in.. @kioti was off-the-grid for the last 3 weeks, working on a hundred-year-old ranch on the New Mexico/Texas line. Pulling out dead trees, resurrecting an abandoned Hudson, painting the ranch house in hostile weather conditions, and herding the occasional rattlesnake. Accompanied by my old dog Rufus and a porch full of baby swallows. Generally saw at least one person a day, but sometimes more, as they drove by to tend their cattle or when I went to town for supplies. Some days it was just me and my dog.

Long days, dark nights, old houses caving in on themselves, brand new windmills spinning slowly on the horizon, but otherwise nearly unobstructed views of the high prairie, as far as the eye could see. It was like being at sea in an endless field of grass.

Stayed off the interstate most of the way back, and the odometer on my diligent little Tacoma rolled over 300,000 on the way through Phoenix.