rschleicher

At nearby Mt. Diablo State Park (East Bay, San Francisco Bay Area) the tarantula mating season is in late September to early October. There can be a lot of tarantulas trying to "cross the road", so to speak. It is easy enough to avoid them on a bike if you are paying attention, but with a car they can be hard to avoid. During the peak time they shut down the road to give the spiders some mating room...

LACamper

Shouldn't they be hosting stomping festivals? Those things bite! I mean they're not like the brown recluses we get down here, but still... Not something I want joining me in my sleeping bag!

freighttraininguphill

I ran over a bird on the ARBT (local bike trail) once. I was going about 20 mph on my road bike and the bird darted out in front of me. There was no way I could stop in time. Luckily for him, it was instant. I felt horrible for the rest of the ride though

Dewey Oxberger

Hit a snake once - on a road bike - right on his head. Killed the poor thing.

That was nothing compared to the sink hole I hit. Riding along, early morning, hot summer day. Dark shadows from big trees cut the road into light/dark bands. It was hard to see anything on the road. I thought I was looking at a shadow but as I passed through it I looked down at my wheel and noticed the shadow was pealing away - moving downward. It felt like I was riding in mud. The roadway gave way behind me. A hole about 4 feet across and 6 feet deep had opened up next to a storm drain.

I still can't believe I made it across.