Gunnyhq75

As I am returning from work on my commute home, the night was clear, dark and cold. I am pedaling thru the night with a smile on my face because I am burning calories, not giving the oil companies a penny, not polluting my world and the largest meteor fireball I have ever seen plummets thru the night sky, this fireball was big! What a great night.

chefisaac

those times are special. I really love my commute to work at 4:15 AM. Love it. Peaceful.

Digital_Cowboy

Shh, be careful or you'll have the "bicycle police" from Miami telling you why you shouldn't be riding your bike on the road when the sun isn't out.

chefisaac

ha. i get that every day at work. and it is the SAME guy telling me that.

Spld cyclist

Sounds wonderful! Sometimes I see deer and wild turkeys wander across the road, but nothing that compares with a meteor.

dynodonn 

I had the same experience on a clear moonless night, some years back, the afterglow of the meteor's trail lasted for several seconds.

The most memorable sight came around sunset a few years later , when a piece of space junk made reentry, seeing all the blue, green, yellow, red, and orange flames, which lasted for a few minutes before passing over the horizon.

nashcommguy

A little off topic as this transpired on a pleasure ride. It was late...about 10:30 or 11PM late October and I was out on a night ride on the Natchez Trace Parkway here in Mid-TN. I'm rolling along enjoying the solitude and sound of my tires on the asphalt when I see what I think is a dog up ahead on the right. I brace myself, get out my pepper spray and notice the dark shape is moving more like a skunk than a dog. As I roll past maybe 25-30 ft away this brown/gold trim creature looks up at me. Eye to eye w/o an ounce of fear. As soon as I'm by him/her it goes back to 'snuffling' along. Thought it was a badger until I got home and it was the wrong color, so I googled 'wolverine'. The picture that came up on Wikipedia was exactly what I'd seen. Contacted the Gulo Society and they said it must've been an escapee from someplace nearby as they don't go this far south on their own.

As the NTP is a part of my daily commute to the tune of 12 miles of my 42.2 miles rt I see all kinds of deer, turkeys, skunks, ground hogs, rabbits, in the AM and PM legs. Some of the deer are to the point where they don't even run from me, anymore. It's gratifying to be able to watch a small herd w/a buck, 2-3 does and fawns all just being deer doing what deer do.

Sometimes, I have to stop while a gang of turkeys walks across the road w/poults, hens and a dominant Tom...who's pretty easy to pick out. I think most of the gangs that have the NTP as part of their range are used to cyclists and don't see us as a threat. So, they take their sweet time about the process of crossing.

Mark Stone