General Cycling Discussion - Your Strangest Ride...

What's been your most bizarre ride, and what happened?

For me it was yesterday. A buddy and I were riding a trail approaching a hill. He's to my left and slightly behind when, out of the corner of my eye, I see this small brown blur moving fast toward the trail. I figured correctly that it was a squirrel and it passed behind me. Then I hear a "THUNK" and my friend saying "what the...? I think I just hit a squirrel!" We stop and look back and - sure enough - there's a bloody, dead squirrel lying in the middle of the trail! WTF? Well, evidently, the little guy tried to go THROUGH THE SPOKES of my buddy's moving rear wheel (as you can see from the picture below)! Anyway, what are the odds of that ever happening? That's been my strangest ride to date...

I got hit in the head by a birt once! Fortunatly I was wearing a helmet. Bird lived too...

What's been your most bizarre ride, and what happened?

For me it was yesterday. A buddy and I were riding a trail approaching a hill. He's to my left and slightly behind when, out of the corner of my eye, I see this small brown blur moving fast toward the trail. I figured correctly that it was a squirrel and it passed behind me. Then I hear a "THUNK" and my friend saying "what the...? I think I just hit a squirrel!" We stop and look back and - sure enough - there's a bloody, dead squirrel lying in the middle of the trail! WTF? Well, evidently, the little guy tried to go THROUGH THE SPOKES of my buddy's moving rear wheel (as you can see from the picture below)! Anyway, what are the odds of that ever happening? That's been my strangest ride to date...

lol.. i can't believe it. it is indeed the strangest ride ever! :eek:

I ran over a squirrel's tail once. Those boogers get in the road and just can't seem to make up their mind sometimes.

Hmmm... I don't know if it's the strangest thing that's happened to me on a ride but I once got hit on the helmet by a pop-fly baseball while riding near a park.

At the Hilly Hundred in Indiana last season, I almost hit a chicken. I guess he had to get to the other side of the road. Really, though, from hearing people talk, the chicken had a death wish because almost everyone saw it in the road.

I hope the chicken made it, if for no other reason than it was big enough to cause a serious endo.

At the Hilly Hundred in Indiana last season, I almost hit a chicken. I guess he had to get to the other side of the road. Really, though, from hearing people talk, the chicken had a death wish because almost everyone saw it in the road.

I hope the chicken made it, if for no other reason than it was big enough to cause a serious endo.

In the Seattle area, along the Burke-Gilman Trail near Bothell Landing there are wild chickens and roosters. They can be aggressive at times too. What you really have to watch out for are the little kids whos parents think it's cute for them to go wander aimlessly along the trail feeding the fowl.

Wow, it's a wonder that he didn't wreck! How lucky he was

While riding trails with a friend a few years ago, I saw a small copperhead strike at my friend's heel as he pedalled by.

And when we turned to look at the snake, the little bugger struck a defiant pose and refused to leave.

I ran over a snake a few weeks ago. It was stretched out next to a crack in the road and I didn't see it until it was too late. Guess it was trying to warm up in the sun.

A friend had squirrel go through the spokes on his bike. He crashed but he was okay, bike a little messed up, squirrel died.

On my ride this weekend I think I saw everything. I've been chased by dogs, attack geese and now an attack llama.

I've been chased by dogs, attack geese and now an attack llama.

Tell us more about the attack llama!

I was visiting some friends in Ottawa and they told me to check out some trails they knew of in Gataneau Park. Turns out the trail led to a gay nudist beach. That was strange.

I once rode thru an in-the-street frisbee game and caught the disc as it went past, hardly slowing down (the guy wasn't trying to hit me; he had just tossed it before he saw me approaching).

Yesterday I became an impromptu pall bearer (sort of); a hearse driver didn't have any other assistance moving a casket (yes, with a dead person in it) into a church in preparation for a viewing. I happened to be stashing my 'bent in the church's parking rack. So there's this guy in a formal black trenchcoat and white gloves, a pearly silver casket, and a guy in a fluorescent yellow jacket and snot-smeared Planet Bike gloves. Out of respect, I doffed my helmet...

Last summer I came within inches of hitting a woodchuck. Going down a tiny farm road, downhill, on my go-fast bike at about 25 MPH. I'm looking to my side for a driveway. Just as I turn my head forward, there's Woodrow, deciding to take that moment to cross the road. I'm pretty d@mn sure he went between my front and rear wheels. This is a 50cm Cannondale with a VERY short wheelbase (serious toe overlap).

Coupla years ago we found a possum stuck in a window well. Coupla blocks from the Capitol building. Went home and got the live-trap we use for feral cats, and strapped it to the Blackburn. Set it up, but he wasn't budging. So I used the pump and nudged him into the trap, and tripped the door. Rode him back home, about a mile, on the rack. Released him in the back yard. Okay, maybe it was a "she".

I can see how that squirrel met his maker in your spokes. When the bike is moving, the spoke area looks like open space. Not being known for their prowess with physics, a squirrel is not gonna conceptualize that there has to be something solid between the circle on the outside and the solid thing on the inside.

What's been your most bizarre ride, and what happened?


I had a bird fly through my front wheel once! He didn't make it totally unscathed but he did continue to fly away. I had a pretty wicked shimmy for a few seconds but I managed to stay upright.

when i mow lawns for money to buy bike crap i run over dead rodents.

Strangest ride? Her down the shop with leather fettish...erm, did I just say that out loud? :D
Had my cat jump onto the handlebars once while doing about 20mph past my house, strangest thing was she balanced perfectly, jumpied into my lap and went to sleep! While still riding.

Strangest ride? Her down the shop with leather fettish...erm, did I just say that out loud? :D
Had my cat jump onto the handlebars once while doing about 20mph past my house, strangest thing was she balanced perfectly, jumpied into my lap and went to sleep! While still riding.

Okay.. maybe you should have bolded "cat" because the first time I read it through my eyes skipped over that part and while it still made sense (in a sort of twisted way), I'm sure it was not the meaning your were shooting for. ;)

American River bike path, 1991. Cruising at 20+ mph and a antlered buck comes bounding out of the brush at 90 degrees. I figure to speed up and hope he swerves. No luck. He hits the pavement and does a "Bambi on ice" leg splatter 10 feet in front of me. I hit him square in the gut and roll over the top of him. By the time I look up, he's running off into the woods. I however, was unable to continue.

55/Rad

I can see how that squirrel met his maker in your spokes. When the bike is moving, the spoke area looks like open space. Not being known for their prowess with physics, a squirrel is not gonna conceptualize that there has to be something solid between the circle on the outside and the solid thing on the inside.
I think that's exactly what happened - and you're right - squirrels aren't the smartest creatures.

These stories are great (in a morose sort of way)! :D I had no idea cycling oddities occured so often. I guess if you ride often enough, you're bound to run into a great many interesting things, so to speak...

I saw a picture of a guy on a litespeed who had run over a dead possum. It sure got a lot of folks talking!

About 3 weeks ago, I was tearing down a local bike path(Chehalis Western Trail) about 25 MPH when I saw a blur in my right periphal vision, to quick to react. Another biker was following about 20' behind & told me later a chipmunk came from the side underbrush at full speed & ran right in between my front & rear wheels. Perfect timing I guess.

I ended up playing touch football the other night. Was riding down the street and came upon a group of guys playing nerf ball. As I rode through one of the guys started yelling defender, defender and threw the ball. Didn't realize he was talking about me til I had ridden through. When I figured it out I turned around and rode back through. This time when the guy threw the ball I stood on my pedals somehow managed to catch the ball(can't usually do that off wheels) and kept on riding. I turned back a gave em back the ball after a couple blocks. Maybe that could be a new game. bike footbal.

Maybe that could be a new game. bike footbal.

Wouldn't that be just BikeBall? Or how about Ultimate Frisbee on Bikes? I have a feeling that's been done already though.

On a day we still refer to as The Dolittle Ride, a sheep bolted out of the bar ditch as we passed. It shied away as we yelled, but a guinea fowl was drafting on the sheep (imagine that, a sheep domestique!). The guinea went right into the chainring of the point guy. We were all picking feathers out of our chains & gears.

The climb of Mt Lyell through the moonscape near Queenstown, Tasmania was pretty bizarre.

American River bike path, 1991. Cruising at 20+ mph and a antlered buck comes bounding out of the brush at 90 degrees. I figure to speed up and hope he swerves. No luck. He hits the pavement and does a "Bambi on ice" leg splatter 10 feet in front of me. I hit him square in the gut and roll over the top of him. By the time I look up, he's running off into the woods. I however, was unable to continue.

55/Rad
Man, that is one of my biggest fears riding ART, especially at night.

Oh, yeah. Buddy and I on my tandem on a local rail-trail. I'm usually the pilot but we switched. Trail is ALWAYS busy with chipmunks. We're doing about 20 when one darts out, bangs right into the sidewall of the front tire and bounces off. I look back and he continues at full speed across the trail.

when i was a kid i almost fishtailed it into a black bear. he stood up and looked at me like wondering if he should be offended or not so i just talked to him and appologised for disturbing him. he went down on all 4's and just wobbled off after that. i think if i hadn't seen him in time or had stopped closer to him he would have desided i was deffinetly an offence to his greater sensibilities and would have put a hurting on me, i'm sure.

last year i think i had a badger run at me... i think it was a badger. was rather dark out and i didn't see quite what it was but it screamed at me while it charged and went right in front of me. i missed it by a whole 2 inches. was either a badger or a small bear, whatever it was it was very large and low to the ground. (they have badgers in england?) well it's scream sure did shake me up as i think i screamed too. we pretty much scared the hebie-jebies out of each other. thankfull i didn't connect w/ the guy cause i think he'd have torn me a new one if i had.

cheers
kat

Strangest ride.... well considering all the mtn biking I have done, it was cruising back to my house from the local LBS. I was coming up to what looked like a dirty rag in the street. Then I heard someone yell "Watchout". I was just about on top of the "pile" to find it to really be a curled up rattlesnake. I put all I could into the bunny hop, and cleared it. Stopped and turned around. Stopped and walked close enough to get a good look. About that time the animal control people showed up. It was a ten footer, and lucky for me it was about to molt, which answered my question of what it had not tried to strike me.

Some of yall have mentioned birds hitting yall.... I had one split itself in half on the door fram of my truck while going down the road. I had the window rolled down, and all of a sudden I hear a thud, and see blood and feathers going all over me and my cab.;

On a day we still refer to as The Dolittle Ride, a sheep bolted out of the bar ditch as we passed. It shied away as we yelled, but a guinea fowl was drafting on the sheep (imagine that, a sheep domestique!). The guinea went right into the chainring of the point guy. We were all picking feathers out of our chains & gears.

Did you have barbeque guinea for your after-ride repast?


:p

Did you have barbeque guinea for your after-ride repast?


:p
Nope. That ole bird just rolled with it and ran off.

Nope. That ole bird just rolled with it and ran off.

And you didn't give chase? Shame on you! You let the breakaway succeed! :D

Hmmm... I don't know if it's the strangest thing that's happened to me on a ride but I once got hit on the helmet by a pop-fly baseball while riding near a park.

Same thing happened to me but on the trail by the golf course.

At the Hilly Hundred in Indiana last season, I almost hit a chicken. I guess he had to get to the other side of the road. Really, though, from hearing people talk, the chicken had a death wish because almost everyone saw it in the road.

Where do you think they get the chickens for Saturdays lunch at the Hilly? :D

On a trans-Portugal rally in a peloton of about 300 riders, we were going through a valley with pastures to either side. On the hill to the right was a herd of about 30 sheep. I guess they liked the look of the ram's horn handlebars 'cause they charged down the hill hight at us, split the peloton in two and ran with us. Half of us were running behind the sheep and half in front of them. It was very, very strange...

It wasn't "Strange" but it was exciting. I posted this before but it deserves repeating.

Sunday, August 4, 2002 I had an incredible experience while on my morning bike ride.

I’m coming down a long incline, going 20 – 25 mph. On my right is a field of soybeans with a flock of small sparrow-like birds in it. On the left side of the road is a corn field. As I come up on the birds they startle and fly across the road, at an angle moving more or less with me. Suddenly a large Hawk swoops down and is right behind one of the little sparrows. The two of them are about 30 feet from me, going across the road, but at an angle that keeps them ahead of me.

The sparrow is squeaking and flapping like crazy to get away. The hawk has opened his wings, going from a dive to a fast glide. I can see his talons stretched out, reaching for the sparrow who is now only inches from his grasp. They’re half way across the road, right in front of me. I see the hawk’s wings dip slightly as he makes a slight correction for the cross winds. That gives the sparrow a few more inches of life between him and the large talons, desperately outstretched behind him. The hawk makes a little dip in his flight path to gain speed and is almost touching the sparrows tail feathers. They’re now only 4 feet of the ground as the sparrow flys right between the cornstalks. The hawk looks up to see the corn rushing at him and his 3 foot wingspan and his whole life goal suddenly changes. At the last minute he drastically pulls up, and his wings just clear the tops of the corn stalks as I wiz past him and the whole scene is behind me.

WOW what a 7 second rush!

Well I had a red winged blackbird which used to dive-bomb me on a regular basis. One time he actually hit my helmet. I figure it because I was wearing an old Avenier (sp?) helmet which was black with red sides.

I had a squirrel jump out of some heavy grass right next to the road, hit my shoe and disappear.

Once on a rural road with corn over eight feet tall on either side, a bull (YES, A REAL DAMN BULL, WITH BIG HORNS AND EVERYTHING) came out of the corn and looked at me coming toward him. I turned around and went the other way. Then two guys on horses came out of the corn chasing the bull.

I was once charged by a really aggressive goose. You wouldn’t think they’d be scary, but it was big and white and loud, and it almost made me wet my pants.

Dogs are another subject.

I forgot about this one: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=29179

"It will be a cold day in hell before it's a cold day in Queensland". So when did Satan start shovelling snow?

I had a squirell make a mad run for my front spokes while I was doing over 25mph downhill. He got within an couple inches and changed his mind. I thought I was going down.

I had to bunnyhop a copperhead once.

I had to swerve on an offroad climb to miss a tarantula. Yuck. I had these images of him getting flicked up by my rear tire and being on my back. Creepy.

While touring in England, I usually stick to the minor roads, because they are almost free of automobile traffic. Unfortunately, the four legged traffic is thick sometimes. As I am a city boy, a heard of anything makes me a bit nervous. I always stand my ground when it comes to sheep, but when cows started ambling towards me once, I turned and high-tailed it. What if the beasts finally figure out that they have huge advantages in size and number? I wasn't going to be the first victim in their quest toward world domination! Back in the states, when I told my country girl wife about my experience, she laughed till she was sobbing.

Last summer I decide to take my dog to one of the local riding areas. The area is surrounded by farms, but up until this point I had never came across any cows in the valley. Anyways, I'm leading my dog down this one twisty single track in the trees that leads out into the open prairie. I come out of the trees and mash the peddles hard to clear a short steep rise in the trail. I crest the hill and slam on the brakes hard, just about going over the front. Standing in front of me blocking the trail are about a dozen cows. The cow directly in front of me gives me a look as if to say, 'no way I'm moving for you pip-squeek!'. Then from behind me comes my dog Kaidy who has (as far as I know) never seen a cow in her life. Instantly the Border Collie genes whisper to her... HEARD! With a bark and some nipping at the heels she moves the gaggle of cows off of the trail and into the open prairie. I continue on my way, joined about 30 seconds later by my little buddy.

Unfortanately that day's riding was cut short when I had to cross the river on foot and my dog was too scared to join me... :rolleyes:

Backgroud: my dog is a Border Collie/German Sheapard cross.

Instantly the Border Collie genes whisper to her... HEARD! With a bark and some nipping at the heels she moves the gaggle of cows off of the trail and into the open prairie. I continue on my way, joined about 30 seconds later by my little buddy.

Thats so funny! I thought that at the time of my adventure, I should have brought Alfreda, the Basset Hound, with me to England. She would have protected me!

The "bull" story reminds me of the ride last year,
Our club was riding through one of our western suburbs. As we are heading north on this particular road, on the other side heading south, a Brahma Bull. Now he wasn't just wandering around, he was running south on the road, looking like he had a specific destination in mind. The REALLY odd thing is, there really arent any pasture areas anywhere near there. It really is a suburban neighborhood. It was very surreal. I had to check with my wife to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

Rode through a dip in the road about 50 feet long that was so thick with small flies that it looked like diesel smoke. Spat flies for the next mile

I was on a "normal" ride to the store when all the sudden, out of nowhere, I feel something hit my back wheel. I slammed both brakes hard and looked behind me to see a skateboard stuck in my spokes and a kid (maybe 15-16 years old) laying on the ground. I helped him up and pulled the skateboard free of my spokes (which surprisingly weren't TOO damaged). I ended up with a couple slightly bent spokes and the kid had skinned his right knee and the palm of his left hand, no serious injuries or damages so it was cool. The most surprising part was the kid apologized.

I was visiting some friends in Ottawa and they told me to check out some trails they knew of in Gataneau Park. Turns out the trail led to a gay nudist beach. That was strange.


That's a trick we always play on people from out of town (especially people from Toronto). "Oh yea, this trail is really good! You have to ride it!" and then don't tell them about the gay nudist beach.

My strangest(and coolest)ride was on a trail in my hometown. I was cruising along the trail, and I saw a deer coming along to the side of the trail. I slowed to a stop and, making no abrupt movements, moved towards the deer. I was about 10 feet away from the deer, locked into a stare with it. It had not seen a bicycle before, so it did not know to be afraid of it. We stared at each other for about 5 minutes, then a hiker came up from behind me, and the deer bolted. It was an awesome ride afterwards too.

My strangest ride occured a few years ago when I noticed pages torn from a adult magazine, lying next to the road. They were about 100m apart, and all of them showing the same women in various stages of undress. What was an ordinary, slightly boring ride, quickly became a lot more interesting. ;)

My strangest ride occured a few years ago when I noticed pages torn from a adult magazine, lying next to the road. They were about 100m apart, and all of them showing the same women in various stages of undress. What was an ordinary, slightly boring ride, quickly became a lot more interesting. ;)

were they in sequence so that if you rode by them at just the right speed, they'd "play back" a scene at about 30fps? ;)