Road Cycling - RoadKill? Hit anything while riding?

Finished a 26 miler this p/m. @ mile 17, going down an incline I had several small racoons run out in front of me. I was doing 28mph, tried to avoid them but ran over one. Luckily it didn't throw me. I looked back and the racoon was running back into the weeds. Bike looks ok. A friend of mine hit a deer earlier this year, no broken bones but heavy bruises. I do notice that Deer are EXTREMELY afraid of bikes so I'm very careful when I see one. Ever hit anything while riding??

I know this is a road biking forum but I almost hit a deer last week while offroad. Sun was setting and I was racing it back to the trailhead because I didn't expect to be out so long and hadn't thought to take my lights with me. I was on a fast doubletrack/fireroad and doing around 20MPH+ at the time when the thing darted out right in front of me. I instinctively shifted my line and passed about a foot behind it. Hitting it would probably have hurt.

My friend hit a cat the other day, he fell and cracked a bone in his wrist. This fool who was walking his dog came over to observe my friend crawling up from off the ground and was like “you know what, I think the cat is going to be ok, they have 9 lives.” We just stood there staring at him – it was like a mental slap in the forehead stare, the type where you know what the person said but you can’t believe that they are stupid enough to say something like that.

Ha! That's pretty humorous....

A couple of days ago, I was out doing my early morning ride- it was like 5am, so it was still dark, and although I have lights on my bike, I didn't see the dead rat in the bike path. I ran it over.

Uuuuugh, rats creep me out, but feeling that thing under my tire just grossed me out to the extreme. I just called 311 today and reported the increase in rats that I've been seeing lately along the bike path, especially at North Avenue Beach. They claim they're going to send exterminators, but we'll see.

I'm afraid it's just a matter of time before I hit a live rat- there are times when I can see up to six big, fat rats scampering across the bike path at the same time at North Avenue Beach.

Brrrrrrrrrrr....


Koff

Yeah... running over roadkill is kinda icky. I ran over some last Sunday. It was splattered all over the shoulder and I didn't have anywhere to go as there was traffic in the lane to my left so I just went right through it and hoped for the best. Luckily, nothing got flung up.

I'm not sure if that rat was roadkill or what... it was just laying there on it's back, legs up. I was grossed out. I'm STILL grossed out. I hate rats and mice-I don't even like squirrels cause they look too much like rats with tails!

Something about those critters makes me shudder...

I almost ran over a spider last Saturday. Talk about creepy. I have no idea why something smaller than a quarter makes me scream like a girl :P I had this terrible image of the spider somehow surviving and being flung on my back, crawling up on its last four legs and then sucking my blood until I fell over dead *shudder*

Um, now that image is back. Uh, feet off the floor. Stand on the table!! Where's my wife when I need her? Aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee

Call Dale Gribble, The Exterminator: shuh shuh SHAH!

A small rattlesnake a couple of weeks ago. I was edging off the side of the road to clear room for the car approaching behind because there was a car in the oncoming lane, and glanced down just as my front tire went over the snake's head. I didn't stop to see if it was okay.

A couple of times I've had to stop and watch skunks cross the road. It's easy to see why they get hit by cars so often. Kinda like the Dead Skunk song: 'didn't look left and he didn't look right ...'

Thank god nothing major for me. Just bugs, hitting my helmet at 20+, I love the sound...... Did I mention I killed one by almost swallowing it?

Originally posted by Chuvak
Thank god nothing major for me. Just bugs, hitting my helmet at 20+, I love the sound...... Did I mention I killed one by almost swallowing it?

Only one? BTW... shhh.... Koffee has an aversion to the bug stories. :D

Yes just one in my mouth but believe me it was enough. From that moment I try to keep it shut as much as possible

Originally posted by Chuvak
Yes just one in my mouth but believe me it was enough. From that moment I try to keep it shut as much as possible

Yeah but they'll still find their way to your nostrils. :(

...........and ears......

Just some ants (those big ones with wings yet can't seem to fly) and wasps.

A guy in my town was decending (rather quick I guess) and hit a deer last year. Unfortunately, he (the cyclist) died.

The only thing I've hit was already dead. :-) Was riding with a buddy and we were rounding a wide corner next to each other, and as I came around the corner, there was a dead squirrel.

Teski

I've ran over snakes...but they were already dead.

I've been lucky..avoided other roadkill such as squirrels and raccoons. That's pretty much it.

Quite a few dead animals on the side of the roads some weeks. I nearly hit a dead racoon when drafting a friend and he failed to point it out.

I hit a seagull last year. The damn thing flew right into the front triangle of my MTB at like 20kph. Stupid bird! :irritated

I hit a squirrel once on my mt. bike. I was on the pavement and he came running out of the woods from my left. I ran over him and looked back to see he had changed directions and went back into the brush. I would imagine from the thud I felt that he had to have had internal bleeding and probably died later. Who knows:confused:

Personally have not hit anything bigger than grasshoppers or bees, but have a peer at work who hit a dog in a life-changing wreck several years ago.

He was training for triathalons and while on one of his training rides hit a dog while going downhill at over 35 mph. Destroyed the bike, killed the dog and worst off all, seriously injured him. Broken bones weren't bad but the head injuries (he was wearing a helmet) caused permanent loss of almost all of his hearing in both ears. He wears hearing aides in both ears and even with those has difficulty hearing.

In the 15+ years since that accident, he probably has not logged more than 500 miles on his bike. Now runs only on a limited basis. He would never say it, but I think he may be scared to risk the injuries again and thus has not returned.

I was riding on a cycle path and I could see geese ahead, they were on the left side of the grass so I moved to the right of the path and just as I got close to them one started running parallel to be for about 30 feet then took to flight, swung a mid flight right, right in front of me (thats a lot of rights) I just closed my eyes and felt its wings flap in my face and then it was gone. phew, I slow down when I come up to birds now :-**

The squirrels worry me because they do that stupid darting back & forth thing like they do right before they run right under the wheel of your car. :rolleyes: The only other thing that made me jump a little was at Kiawah Island riding down the path and glancing over as I flew right by an alligator directly beside the path. He could have had me for a snack quite easily. :eek:

only suicidal wasps and dragonflies that seem strangely
attracted to my spokes.
a few dead snakes on the roads but not much else more.


Marty

soon it will be frog and turtle season. frogs are icky to squash.

Around here we get slugs all year round... moreso in the wet season of course. They're also pretty icky when squashed because they slime and stick.

I just thought of something that's on the roads in my neighborhood all the time -- not exactly an animal, reptile or insect, though. It's doggie poo! Half the neighbors have these signs that are shaped like dogs pooing with a big red circle with "No!" written on them that are stuck down into their yards. Of course, the neighborhood dogs can't read :D but their owners let them crap in the road instead. Yuck! I'm always having to avoid poo because I sure don't want it on my tires or flipping up on me! Double Yuck!

The teenagers that live around here are always stealing the little dog signs and putting them in crazy places throughout the neighborhood. It is too funny!

SNAKES - near misses or hits regularly. I generally see 2-3 each time I ride. Sometimes, coming around a corner I see them too late. I don't think it is too good for snakes to have a 700x23 cm tire with a 220 pound rider roll over their bodies!!

Originally posted by hibiscus09
I just thought of something that's on the roads in my neighborhood all the time -- not exactly an animal, reptile or insect, though. It's doggie poo!

Riding out in the country, I also encounter the much larger version... horsie-poo. Also, they're everywhere on the mountain bike trails. I once hit a jump only to realise that my landing zone was going to be right in the middle of the stuff. I closed my mouth and hoped for the best. Luckily, not much stuck to my tyres and as they shed themselves, all the clumps got flung either over my head or away from me. I hosed myself off at the ranger station in the parking lot nevertheless.

bump.

I've seen a lot of Deer on S. Gate Road in Diablo while descending. It's funny how they like to jump out right as you are about to pass them. Luckily my 29er ninja skills help me to evade collision.