My brother-in-law, Shawn (a seasoned mountain biker & all around nice guy) ran into one mean Cholla Cactus during a mountain biking trip in Arizona. He was riding a borrowed bike which didn't fit him properly, and ran into the cactus at a very sharp turn. This type of cactus is nasty since the ends are like fish hooks. Some of the thorns went into his skin and out the other side so pulling those out did the most damage. It took 45 minutes to pull the thorns out one by one. Good thing Shawn brought his Swiss army knife; the pliers came in handy.
Here's a video of Shawn smiling through the pain. Tough guy!
