General Cycling Discussion - Mother Nature's crap on the road

Season of mists and mellow fruifulness.

And leaves, and sticks and acorns and chestnuts and dead squirrels (really - its carnage out there at nut-gathering time) all combine to make a nasty mixture of death-cookies on the road verges.

The old bike is is popping and a-hopping thru the detritus of organic gunge. And the bits that don't bump your wheels up and sideways conspire to cover the holes in the road!

Bloody countryside! I wish I lived in the city and only had to worry about cans ad dog-sh*t. :D

Stew

I always hate it when I come home from a ride and there is this "stew" of worms leaves mud and other bugs and guts on my bike. A lot of fun to clean off.

The dog seems to like the mess I maid.

Autumn eh....who would be without it???

:thumbup:

Rich :)

Lately, I've been getting beaned on the head a lot by acorns. Seems that there is always an oak tree at an intersection where I have to stop for traffic.

Are you sure it's not just the squirrels having a crack at you D*Alex....?

Rich

it's just that they do at me...mmm, sometimes....yes....

originally posted by Stew
I wish I lived in the city and only had to worry about cans and dog-sh*t.

Stew,
I live in the city and see plenty of what you describe.
I guess fall is a bad time for animals everywhere. :(

Yeah, I have to say that here in the chicago area, I see plenty of organic detrius. Squirrels are definitely an urban critter. Actually, there are a surprising number of "wild critters" that live in my area. Racoons. Possums. Last time I rode through a forest preserve I saw eight deer.

Wow Hills,

that sounds pretty cool...I live in the countryside, and haven't seen a thing...maybe I should change my aftershave...hmmmm.

Rich

Originally posted by stewartp
Bloody countryside! I wish I lived in the city and only had to worry about cans ad dog-sh*t. :D

Stew

I do a lot of riding in both, and I much prefer the countryside. Smashing glass bottles seems to be a popular recreational activity among those whose brains have undergone S.M.E.F. (spontaneous massive existence failure). You've also gotta contend with nails, vomit etc. Even the magpies seem to be worse there.

Of course, in the country we see a lot of dead canetoads, but they really are the best kind! :D And actually, I quite like getting close to the kangaroos and so on. Just leave your vanity at home, out here you're liable to get laughed at by a kookaburra while sweating it out on a climb!

Originally posted by D*Alex
Lately, I've been getting beaned on the head a lot by acorns. Seems that there is always an oak tree at an intersection where I have to stop for traffic.
Aerial superiority. Once in a while, I hear this, "smack!" of an acorn (or other "nut") colliding with the pavement.

Above sits a squirrel uttering a clumsy, "oops!"

Around my house, the squirrels wait for me. I've been fattening them up with peanuts for a couple of years now, and I'm already feeding the grand-sqirrlettes of my original favourites.
since peanuts aren't free, I've been carrying a spare bag, in order to carry acorns home. There isn't an oak tree anywhere in my immediate neighbourhood, and the squirrels really love them. I'm probably doing a favour for other cyclists by removing the &#$%^$ing things from the road, too!

Above sits a squirrel uttering a clumsy, "oops!"
Yeah right. we have hostile rodents here in ohio who love to chuck things at you...

I had the $hit scared out of me last weekend- I was riding through a hunting area whan *!crack!* an acorn nails the hard plastic on my helmet right above my ear. I thought I'd been shot at, and has to stop to clean my shorts...

Sadly almost all the wildlife I saw this morning was roadkills, including a beautiful young fox...

Richard

Originally posted by latakiahaze
Sadly almost all the wildlife I saw this morning was roadkills, including a beautiful young fox...

Richard

One place that I ride has such a deer population I have become hesitant to blast through some of the downhill sections because of past near collisions. They seem to have gotten much more active with the advent of the cooler weather. This ride is always an early ride, usually on the trail by 6:30 AM. It is nice though to see them frolicking around the woods with the morning fog still on. It has become somewhat of a game to see who can spot the most deer and who sees them first. Have also seen many squirrels but they haven't resorted to throwing things at us to make us leave.

They seem to have gotten much more active with the advent of the cooler weather. This ride is always an early ride, usually on the trail by 6:30 AM. It is nice though to see them frolicking around the woods with the morning fog still on.

heh, heh, heh, heh... Welcome to mating season.

Um, yeah; frolicking is certainly the right word.