SparkyGA

Found just a couple things:

Brand new iPhone 4 (returned to owner), several smashed Android Smartphones (usually with a Micro SD inside, thank you very much), 5 beers on the side of road near the Canadian/US border (very tasty), many pairs of sunglasses, plenty of porn magazines, sex toys and a freshly caught salmon.

RickBlane

I found God right after a truck almost ran me off the road. No damage to me or the bike. I figure God must like me.

gif4445

A couple months ago, while touring SE of Yellowstone, I found an Ipad mini. Great shape, but unable to find the owner due to password protection. I've found a checkbook (returned), numerous tools, clothes that blew out of a pickup while people were moving (able to return due to their name being on several t-shirts. And thongs. Not the foot kind. The other kind. There were probably 20 or so of them strung out over a 2-3 mile stretch. I was unable to find the owner however.

Leebo

Lots of tools, $ 85.00 once blowing around the side of the road. And comfortable solitude.

Yan 

A porn VCD on some random road in rural China. These weren't widespread in North America but had replaced VHS in the rest of the world from the mid 90s until the introduction of DVDs. Since each CD only held 650MB of data, for the typical movie you had to get off the couch and put a second disk into your VCD player. Pretty interesting. Anyway, pornography is illegal in China so it was definitely a surprise to turn the CD over and see the image of an erotically posed woman. The disk had been run over a few times and was pretty scratched up, but being a man half way through a four month solo tour, I threw that thing into my saddle bag. About a week later I popped into an internet cafe and what do you know, about half the content was still viewable. Let me just say that it was pretty different from the typcal stuff you see on the internet, more like old school 70s porn, but without the crazy haircuts and jazz music.

Also while on tour in China, I once rode past a pantless homeless guy, passed out sitting in the emergency lane against the barrier. He had a jacket on his torso, but below, his junk was hanging out. This was in the middle of nowhere, no idea.

Not on tour this time, but on a weekend in Shanghai. I saw a large crowed gathered at the bank of a canal, watching a policeman on a boat trying to hook a dead body out of the water.

DeadGrandpa

On my Natchez Trace ride I found a black balaclava head and face warmer, later discovering it belonged to my new friend Pierre from Montreal, who had passed that way an hour or so before me while. He was very happy to have it back, as his mother had given it to him years before.

hilltowner

Bungie cords, sunglasses, a pair of pliers, a screw driver and once, while commuting, a manure bucket:

Oh, and on this summer's tour, a Toyota truck emblem

veganbikes

I found a decent Bontrager wheel once while out riding. I wasn't touring but it was still an interesting find.

valygrl

Yan, you are not making me want to tour in china.

I found a husband.

Jseis 

A favorite hat embroidered with "Bow River Drilling" somewhere in Alberta, (lost that in the San Juans years later), a big heavy log chain binder (that I could've used back on the farm) and I hung it on a highway sign somewhere on the U.P., several complete sets of motorcycle tools (metric!) that evidentially slid out of their metal compartments, a baby shoe and wooden heart that became my "protection" totems. Nowadays it has to be really weird to get me to stop unless it's a shiny bright tool like the recent finds of a Snap-On combo wrench, Stanley breaker bar, etc. I'm just a sucker for shiny bright objects.

Erick L

Tim Horton's cups.

arfer1

I love a good love story--you win!

shipwreck

A couple of logging chains with binders and some BIG ratchet straps from some sort of flatbed truck. Lots of porn mags, those don't get touched, just noted as I pass, kind of like all the pale yellow gatoraid bottles and thousands of five hour energy drink bottles.

Once an ax head, found on the first day of an overnighter, I stashed it and came back for it later, after the trip. On the same trip I found a camera someone must have left on their car, road back down the mountain to the campground on the off chance they were still there, then back up the mountain and on my way. they were not there, and not enough pictures on the card to find the owners. so I still have the camera.
Tons of wrenches, mostly 3/8" for some reason, some metric, mostly 11mm. And on my first tour, I kept picking up bungee cords, and finally stopped when it became apparent that I was going to be tripling my mass within a couple days if I kept it up.
Once on a roadie style ride I found a 15" crescent wrench, totally covered in thick grease, but in fantastic shape. I always carry one quick release strap with me in case I find something to strap to the frame, so I made a loop through the hole in the handle and carried it 12 miles home messenger bag style. got some neat grease stains on my jersey, but it was worth it.

And once, on the last day of a trip coming home I passed a junk shop with an old trek 560 leaning against the wall. Stopped, picked it up and it seemed so light it was like magic. Drove back the next day and bought it, and realized that you cannot judge the weight of a bicycle when you have been riding one with a load for a week. Its still a sweet little bike for 20 bucks.

saddlesores

eeeww! yuck!

(tim horton the footballer or the ice hockey dude?)

Erick L

The Hockey Dude, of course. Canada's highways are lined with his cups.

(nice to see I didn't remove "coffee" from my post for nothing. )