Banzai

So there I was...

Clipping along at 0530 for a pleasant commute in. Empty roads, just the noise of my wheels...riding along in my new shorts and jersey that I got for my birthday.

A little way into the ride, opposite direction on the opposite side of the street is a skunk ambling along the curb. I've seen a couple of skunks before (never pedaled faster!) but they normally just ducked out of sight. This one, as I get closer, turns around and raises its tail to defend itself. I'm likely out of range, and moving too fast, so it moves on its way again.

Then, one mile later...

Another skunk is crossing the road. As I get closer he decides he's not going to make it in time, and abruptly stops and turns in the road to defend himself...right in my path of travel, with no way to charge past. I SLAM my brakes (BB7s, don't fail me now!) and quickly unclip as the bike skids to a stop. I'm still very concerned that I'm going to penetrate the skunk's effective engagement zone, so I violently swerve the bike and lay it and myself down, gouging up the back of one ankle on the front of a pedal.

I see the skunk brace, and I swear I see those glands back there swell...and I swear I heard a brief hissing noise. I cover my face just in case I'm in range, though I'm certain I managed to keep myself far enough away. The skunk ambles away, and I stand back up, shaking a little, and furtively scan the darkness for his whereabouts.

I only smell the briefest hint of that stench. If he did release any, it wasn't much...and it didn't get on me. I waited a few moments and it cleared pretty quickly in the mild breeze.

I was honestly a little bit shaken for the rest of the ride. And I bled on my sock.

dalmore

LOL!

Sorry - but that there is funny.

Hope your road rash heals up quickly.

And no bike damage to speak of??

jyossarian

I'm so glad we don't have this problem in NYC usually.

Banzai

No bike damage that I've seen. I need to go inspect in daylight...but it appeared that I and my panniers prevented my bike from even really contacting the ground. I might have chewed my handlebar tape, but I'll go check at some point here now that the sun is up.

In retrospect it is a bit funny...but my heart was pounding at the time!

dalmore

Yea, I have critter encounters daily but no skunks. Perhaps I wouldn't have found it funny if I did. I hope you didn't mess up that pretty new bike you built.

apocalypse

'tis the season for squirrels to act squirrelly and skunks to skunk people.

My wife got skunked the other day, bottom bracket and right foot got sprayed. The smell washed off the bike just fine, and the Mythbusters get-rid-of-skunk-odor homebrew got the smell out of her shoe and riding pants.

Once you know the smell can be removed you don't risk bodily harm, just another fragrance to be smelled whilst biking!

jonathan180iq

I ran right over an opossum the other morning. Once I hit, I looked down. It had been dead for several days. Thank god it was already semi-hardened. That could have been a gooshy mess to clean up.

yeah. It was dark and I was only running one headlight.

apocalypse

What's worse is if you hit a live animal and just cripple or maim it. At that point it is the cyclist's responsibility to find a rock and bash its head in so it doesn't suffer (your method of euthanasia may differ).

AlmostTrick

Wow, that stinks in more ways than one!

jmeier

thats fin funny!! thanks for the pick me up at the office...

sorry about the wreck tho... ouch

Banzai

For the post even update...

The cuts on the back of my calf/ankle sting a little, but it's just superficial abrasions. To whine even more, my knee and hip were a little tender last night, but no big deal.

Now for the most important part: No lasting damage to the bike. Some gouges to the handlebar wrap, some scuffs and scrapes to the brifter. Between myself and my panniers very little of the bike contacted the pavement.

This whole incident was WAY more thrilling than when that deer almost ran me over a few months back.

fordfasterr

when skunks attack !!!

Beware the black and whites !