The West Texas Goathead: Tiny, Spiky, and Built for Interplanetary Domination

If you’ve ever cruised the wide, dusty streets of Marfa on one of our trusty beach cruisers and suddenly found yourself… not cruising, chances are you’ve met the local menace: the goathead.

Not a rattlesnake. Not a cactus. Just a tiny, demonic burr that looks like it rolled straight out of a Mad Max desert—because it did.

Known formally as Tribulus terrestris, but known informally as “the reason we’ve replaced more tubes than a Tour de France mechanic,” the goathead is nature’s way of saying, “I don’t care how cute your cruiser is.”

These little guys don’t mess around. Barely bigger than a popcorn kernel, a single goathead burr has multiple spines sharp enough to pierce through flesh, rubber, and your will to live. And somehow, they always find their way to the exact center of a bike tire, like heat-seeking missiles for spokes.

At The Milky WayFarer, we’ve gone to battle. We started with hope (and regular tubes), quickly escalated to slime-filled tubes (messy), and eventually moved to a combination of Kevlar-lined tubes and slime. We even experimented with dense foam inserts that turned our tires into donuts of defiance. Still… the goatheads persist.

And here’s the thing: if you look closely—like, really closely—these evil little thorns are actually smiling. That’s right. You’ll find a smug grin etched into their devilish little forms. Are they mocking us? Absolutely. Should you look too close? Definitely not. That’s how they get you.

Honestly, if humanity ever needs to bring seeds to Mars, goatheads should be at the top of the list. They’ll survive the trip, colonize the planet, and probably flatten Elon’s rover tires within a week. They’re that resilient.

So if you’re biking around Marfa and wondering why your tires feel like they’ve been wrapped in armor… they have. You’re not just riding a bike — you’re riding a post-apocalyptic goathead survival rig.

And if you happen to find a goathead stuck to your shoe or lodged in your sandal, don’t panic. Just know you’ve encountered one of West Texas’ most determined life forms. Probably already plotting its Mars debut.

Until next time!

Rob & Becca