Advocacy & Safety - Nuts

Well, it's that time of year again--Fall. Time for everything that's up in the trees to fall down into the bike lanes. Like nuts.

You know, they go "Pop!" or, "Poing!" as they rocket out from under your tire and bounce of the paintjobs of vehicles of the unsuspecting. It's bad enough that some drunk pedestrian cussed me out one morning because I startled him, (I would have said, "On your left!" but I was in the middle of the street and he was on the sidewalk) but now I've got to look out for angry Yuppies with damaged paintjobs, too.

Guess I'll stay in the street until the nuts are gone, which will probably be when the squirrels finish them off. The city really should pay the squirrels for doing their job, but unless the squirrels complain, I guess the city will just keep taking advantage of them. :)

Maybe they should unionize...

(Disclaimer: this is only a test of the Emergency Humor System. I don't claim it to be 100% true or accurate, or even funny...)

Sure, the squirrels will take care of the nuts, and the doves will take care of the soybeans. I want to know who the hell is going to clean up all these corn cobs.

got tp?

We have been having a bumper crop of conkers in London this year, or so it would seem. A double dose of danger if ever there was. The soft outer casing splits away quickly and degrades into slipper mugh whilst the kernel if often a golf ball sized piece of hard shinyness.

With tires pumped right up they have tendency of canoning out from under you and bouncing of things like windows, cars and little children.

On our group rides...you get points for sending an acorn into the side of a motor vehicle....

double points if the vehicle you hit an expensive sports car, SUV or touring sedan...

On last Sunday's ride I almost got hit twice by falling nuts. I think the squirrels are aiming for me. One stretch of trail was entirely covered with acorns, walnuts and beechnuts. It was like riding on loose gravel, except the gravel part of the trail was easier cause it didn't roll like ball bearings.

That said, I like to aim for acorns. Hit them a little off center and send them flying. Go for distance. But never if there is the likelyhood of hitting a real target.

You think nuts are bad... how about pine cones. We had a good wind here yesterday and along with the wet leaves, there are pine cones all over... those babies don't exactly shoot out from under the tire.

You think nuts are bad... how about pine cones. We had a good wind here yesterday and along with the wet leaves, there are pine cones all over... those babies don't exactly shoot out from under the tire.

or road apples...

I did get hit by a acorn while sitting on a park bench last week. Last weekend I found an acorn "spout" so they must be nearing the end. Thought that I'd share a little happy acorn with you all.
http://www.acornsnursery.org.uk/prospectus.jpg
Soon it'll be time for Silly Sicamore leaf
http://www.iloveny.com/fall/graphics/bigLeaves/american%20sycamore.jpg

we have a HUGE chestnut tree in front of our complex (the semi-poisionous type). When all the nuts were falling (I'd say at least 5 a minute... and there was a car parked under that tree much of that time), on bike I'd either take the long way around the block to avoid that tree, or while walking I'll sheild myself with a hardcover book (I was going through a harry potter binge at the time).

It was pretty funny... especially when we'd hear the car get pelted. Amazingly enough, it escaped without any dents.

I think it's still parked in that same spot to this day. :P

There was a little nutfall along the very steep little ramp + hairpin I often use to get on and off the Hudson Greenway at 72nd St. (depending on how far I have / want to ride on Riverside Drive). Very tricky! It seems to have mostly passed, though. Also, putting the much fatter Marathon tires on my folder has helped me deal with little obstructions like that in the dark (lights can only do so much on a budget!).

The squirrels and chipmunks do have their own way of cleaning up after all the nuts have fallen. Yes indeed, they gather them up and hide them away in various caches for winter food. These caches are located wherever and in whatever is handy to them.

On one fall day, I went out to take a fairly long bicycle ride. Before starting out, I needed to pack my bicycle with what I needed. As I opened my panier, I noticed someone had been there before me.

I found that a squirrel had filled my panier with acorns!

Based on the thread title I expected this to be another VC debate.

As far as things falling from trees goes, just plain old ordinary leaves can be fun. Even dry leaves can be really slippery.

Anybody old enough to remember when it was common for people to burn leaves in the street in front of their houses? What fun we used to have riding through the piles of leaves! Shoot, we'd even sometimes ride through them when they were on fire, although that was a very advanced skill.

One my favorite hazards has always been seed balls, like those of the Sycamore tree (those fall in the spring, not the fall). My family lived in 3 different houses that had Sycamores in the yard. One of the great tests of cycling skills was to ride across a yard covered in seed balls. Ah, those were the days.

Don't ride on the smelly Gingko berries. You will take the smell with you.......

The squirrels going after the nuts can be worse than the nuts themselves. They are pretty quick. If one is on a bridge, he will run ahead of you to the end of the bridge so he can jump off. I always wished I could see one go over the edge of the bridge right into the river.

I had a squirrel comi-kosi me last sunday. I got road rash on right elbow and knee, he got terminated by my front wheel. Poor fella! Little buggers are slick!

If stuff falling from the sky isn't your thing, avoid Savannah in the fall. We have oaks, pines, and magnolias: acorns, cones, and these big magnolia pods.

There aren't too many squirrels though, as one of my pedicab passengers pointed out last week.

Maybe it's because there's so many cats.

Don't ride on the smelly Gingko berries. You will take the smell with you.......
I thought that they only stunk if there was a male and a female plant around.

Pineapples. Coconuts. Stop complaining.

oh man... have you ever been to coconut grove on molokai?? Man, that's a scary walk to the beach. It's really pretty, tho :P you can almost walk through slowly if you smoke enough pot...-

http://www.paniolo-hale.com/grove.jpg

I <3 molokai.

LBM, you must be in Stone Mountain. Do you ever ride the Freedom Pkwy. Trail to the city?

On Sunday I was chatting with my neighbours who have a huge oak tree in their front yard. While we were talking we watched a squirrel couple 'harvesting'. They throw a lot of acorns to the ground and then scramble down to 'squirrel' them away. During our chat, both I and she were hit on the head with acorns. At one point an acorn hit their Lab on the head.
One startled dog.

A crow dropped a big mussel almost on me the other day. They steal them from the coots and drop them on the paths to break them open, they do break too. Mmmmm mussel guts.

The nuts could be eat by humans? i mean Why don't put a nut company (or a car paint company) :D

LBM, you must be in Stone Mountain. Do you ever ride the Freedom Pkwy. Trail to the city?
Yes, I ride it many times coming home. It's really very nice.

On the way in from Stone Mountain, I get onto Covington Hwy. at the Kensington MARTA Station and follow it through Avondale Estates and Decatur. Around Decatur I cross the RR tracks to Dekalb Ave., then on Edgewood Ave. at the Inman Park MARTA Station, which takes me downtown.

On the way back, I change up a lot. It depends on my mood. :)

The nuts could be eat by humans? i mean Why don't put a nut company (or a car paint company) :D
My daughter likes cracking open acorn nuts (from oak trees.) She asked me if she could eat one, I told her I wasn't sure (so she didn't eat it.) :) I need to clean the nuts from my driveway...

A crow dropped a big mussel almost on me the other day. They steal them from the coots and drop them on the paths to break them open, they do break too. Mmmmm mussel guts.
Crows are pretty smart...little thieves! :D (Probably related to squirrels...)

Pineapples. Coconuts. Stop complaining.

oh btw, pineapples don't grow on trees.

*me = guilty of following up on threads WAY TOO LATE* <3