Road Cycling - I hit a duck!

There's a 1/2 mile strip of my regular bike path route that's alongside a river, and there's this one spot where there's always a large group of ducks. I think they're used to bikes and people (it IS a city park), but I think I found the "new guy" who wasn't used to how things operate...

I'm riding along, NO ducks in the path (but plenty on each side)...and one goes waddling out in front of me at the last possible second...and I nailed him! I hit the brakes, but the front wheel went right over the guy. Rear wheel slid to the side and I wiped out - minor scrapes on me, duck didn't fare so well. The duck didn't look like he was in good shape, so I tossed him into the bushes so no kids had to see him.

Ducks aren't fast creatures on the ground...I think this guy had a death wish (or some evil duck pushed him). I'm always wary around that spot, but this duck just shot out in front of me.

I get back on my bike, and there's a guy walking his dog walking towards me on the path. He asks "did...uh...did what I think just happen actually happen???" I said "Yep! Now I have to home and change my shorts" and I left.

Weirdest ride ever. I wish someone would have been videotaping, because it plays out pretty funny in my head.

well I think oyu should at least contact the city and let then know a duck was hit
so they can maybe send someone out to pick it up
I mean gesss
you tossed it in the bushes so kids couldnt see it
what it is craws out and they see it

Was it an adult duck or a duckling? Dunno what to tell you... sometimes these things happen.

I think you should have picked it up and carried it to the nearest Chinese restaurant. :D

what you don't know how to duck hop ???

what you don't know how to duck hop ???


roflmao

I have hit two dogs in my riding. No fun at all.

Did you kill it on impact or just hurt it? Because if you didn't kill it and then you threw it into some bushes, that's pretty messed up.

Broke it's neck. It was too small to eat, or I would have had duck fillet for lunch. This spot is along the woods and river, so it'll get eaten...even if not by me.

I have hit two dogs in my riding. No fun at all.

Dealing with the owners was probably a nightmare I assume.

So i'm tooling along test riding my pa's new dualpurpose moto when I see a small cat hanging out neer the white line so I slowed way down like 5-10mph. Instead of ducking into the bushes the cat freaks just when I get passed him, outruns the bike and dodges straight under the front tire(then rear tire). Now the bike still had it's way-to-soft stock suspention at the time and the cat was well enough that he ran off into the bushes before I could check him out, but 400lbs(200per tire) of rider and bike has got to do something bad.
I hit a dog on that same block too but that was in my car and he was chaseing a bicycle. I was going along real slow (I don't know why) and this dog is running full bore from somones backyard on my right in a beeline for a bicycle going the other way, I hit the brakes but my car came to a stop 6 inches late, just enough to knock the stupid mutt off his feet, not enough to do any damage served him right, but he just jumped up and ran off after the cycle anyway.

This creature appeared right at the bottom of a 40MPH descent... good thing he decided to stick to the edge of the road.

http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/albums/20040711-everett-laconner/PICT0019.jpg

Was it an adult duck or a duckling? Dunno what to tell you... sometimes these things happen.

I think you should have picked it up and carried it to the nearest Chinese restaurant. :D

khuon.. lol... i was thinking about the same thing! roasted duck would taste good about now~

but yea, i think you should at least contacted the city or the park ranger (if there is one) about the duck. then if they don't care or didn't come out to take care of the duck, then take it to the nearest chinese resturant for roast duck. ;)

I would have taken the duck home, and made Canard a l'orange for dinner.

If you hit an animal you should at least have the respect to make sure it's okay (or dead)... After all it's the animals territory we build roads through and ride our bicycles and that's the least we should do!
So bring it to a wildlife conservancy / animal protection center next time (hopefully there is no next time) or let them know where it happened. So that it does not have to suffer and die an agonizing death in the bushes.

I believe it was Chico Marx who said: "Why a duck? Why not a goose??"

If you hit an animal you should at least have the respect to make sure it's okay (or dead)... After all it's the animals territory we build roads through and ride our bicycles and that's the least we should do!
So bring it to a wildlife conservancy / animal protection center next time (hopefully there is no next time) or let them know where it happened. So that it does not have to suffer and die an agonizing death in the bushes.
Who you talkin to me or the duckman? Either way I couldn't catch the cat and he said the duck was dead upon placement in the bush.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Around here ducks have been run off, its a $250 fine if you get caught feeding them at the local park. :eek:

So bring it to a wildlife conservancy / animal protection center next time (hopefully there is no next time) or let them know where it happened. So that it does not have to suffer and die an agonizing death in the bushes.

Yea in a perfect world, if you are driving a car and hit something, but don't forget he was on a bike...a distance from his home, was he supposed to stuff the duck (no pun intended) into his wedge bag and go looking for a animal hospital?

Not to minimize the unlawful killing of a duck, but how many times do we hit squirrels or other small animals (no I don't mean dogs or cats) while driving and not stop? My golden retriever just caught a squirrel in the backyard this week, and I had to deal with the remains (his 4th this year) should I be reporting each one?

I dunno, sounds like everyone is getting a bit too worked up over a duck. I suppose calling the wildlife park and letting them know where to look for it if it indeed is dead is one thing, but taking it home and trying to find a wildlife conservancy place??? I wouldn't even know where to start. :(

A duck is a duck. If it is dead, there are some scavengers near the bush that will eat it. I would of put it in the bush, or in the lake.

Yea in a perfect world, if you are driving a car and hit something, but don't forget he was on a bike...a distance from his home, was he supposed to stuff the duck (no pun intended) into his wedge bag and go looking for a animal hospital?


yeah, I know, you're right.
but when I was a kid we had some cats and it's not really funny for a seven year old seeing its cat crawling home of what's left of its legs because it got hit by a car who didn't even stop.
:(
sorry, didn't want to moralize, just really like animals (outside the frying pan!!!) :p

Sucks to be the duck I guess. I almost (two inches tops) hit a squirrel on my ride the other day so I can imagine the shock.

However, he said it was dead so he discarded it. I think you should have caled the park manager and sued the city for unsafe bicycle paths or something. I mean come on, you were riding on a city path and got knocked to the ground because of their negligence- they should have prevented the duck from crossing, maybe using little signs or a "duckwalk."

Pj
I'm kidding about the lawsuit.

In the lake! It would just be a floating corpse, and either become a purree when a motor boat came by or else some kids would find the wet corpse and prod the hell out of it

"Duck Crossing" signs everywhere in the parks LOL

if it was dead put it in a trash can

My daughter and I were riding on a bike path in Davis. They have these little ground squirrels or something we just call 'fence sitters' - we were riding along, and this group runs across right in front of us. My daughter ran over one. But since she was small and light, she kept going, the creature kept going! Must've been those big soft tires on her Schwinn...

overthere, ur post reminded me of the time when my buddies and i went golfing and my friend drove over a squirrel with a golf cart. then we stood there and call the golf marshal. when he arrived, the old man asked us if something was wrong with the cart, but instead we told him we had accidently ran over a squirrel and need to take him to a vet or something. instead, the marshal looked at us and said "it's ok, today you guys are the 5th group that ran over a squirrel". we were like.. what the :eek:

he said it happens all the time here and it's really hard for them to keep the squirrels from jumping out into the cart path.

The duck is nothing, my brother was riding his bmx home one evening from his friends house. He was going really fast when he was passing the local comunity center, which is on the outskirts of a forest. He said he was riding along, looking straight ahead when all of a sudden, a huge buck jumped out (with a very large set of antlers) in front of him. He crashed right into the deer!! My brother jumped up and bolted, the opposite direction the deer was running. Now THAT would have been a funny site!!
Kid hits deer, they both get scared and run away, leaving the bike lying on the sidewalk. hahaha

My brother had a rabbit jump out and actually get caught inbetween the tires of his bike. It was keeping up with him and kept trying to dart out but it kept running into the pedals. The rabbit was only there for 4 or 5 seconds and eventually squeezed out and took off. Now that would have been a site.

I ran over a squirrel the other day. I stopped and checked to see if he was alright. He had a little scrape on him but other than that he was fine. He apologized for darting out in front of me. Clearly it was his fault. I told him that he needed to be more careful. I bandaged him up and gave him a couple of Advil and told him to take it easy the next couple of days, he might be a little sore. He thanked me and wanted to know if I wanted to come over to his place for a beer. I told him I really had to get going, but I would take a rain check.

I know this is horrible, and I have been contemplating asking all day now, but I must. Did the duck make any sound when you ran over it? Was there a quack or anything? I was trying to picture the scene in my mind (and how awful it must have been), and I was thinking of how much worse it would have been if the duck made some kind of terrible noise. I would personally be having nightmares of duckies coming after me making a terrible quack sound.