Picture of the snake

He's just a baby. I recently learned that they're protected and you're not allowed to kill them. I tried to get him off the road. He was absolutely motionless until I made contact with him with a branch and even then not very aggressive. I failed getting him off the road as it's a very steep incline behind the church and the curb, which is made of marble stone, it's about double height...

Regarding their aggression, once about 30 years ago I encountered one that I saw on the side of a footpath and he seemed far more bold than the one in the video. Granted I was a teenager at the time and startled.

https://youtu.be/TjjFa_YRpfw?si=46KtSd-BIQV-zvpE

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipera_ammodytes

Shoe failure picture

A picture of my shoe after the failure...

First Tinos ride cut short due to shoe failure and viper "attack" ;)

I've not been able to ride while here due to a pulled muscle in my mid back caused from hauling luggage at the start of our trip. It healed up within about 1.5 weeks but I took it easy because it kept flaring up. Another reason our hikes on the island were somewhat delayed until this last week...

In any case this morning I set out and rode a few miles.

On one of my loops I noticed a tiny baby viper (local Ochia - horned nosed viper, very poisonous) along the side of the road. I was riding pretty much on the white side line and he tried to take a nip at my tire. Obviously completely ineffective but I rode up a bit further before I got off to investigate. In the process of taking a few photos of the snake, the sole of my shoe completely detached from the shoe, cleat and all... Probably best that it was detached while I was _off_ the bike than while I was riding say uphill. I can apparently only attach one photo to a blog post so I'm attaching a small photo of the snake and bike. I'll try to attach more, if not to a follow-on blog...

In the photo that I've attached you can see this tiny snake right on the white line of the road.