Yes, I've seen a butterfly do that; the key is he has to go through the wheel pretty close to the ground. The forward motion of the spokes is directly proportional to the distance from the ground at the point of measurement; the patch of tire that touches the road, after all, is stationary; the top of the tire is going twice the speed of the bicycle.
I've also seen butterflies do that with predictably messy outcome. Oops.
Originally Posted by
thinktubes
Had a chipmunk do that - once is enough.
I saw a squirrel do that once. No, wait, that's not quite right. My father in law, who was riding immediately behind me, is the one who saw it. I only saw the squirrel fly up into the air just to the left side of my front wheel, where he was subsequently booted by my left foot and pedal as it continued its circular path around the crank. The squirrel landed a few feet in front of my wheel and continued its path across the road, to the sound of uproarious laughter from the bicycle behind me.