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What have you found on the ground while riding?

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Old 07-23-17 | 10:50 PM
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Just found a 12lb dead blow hammer on the way home Friday... was fun carrying it back home, doesn't balance well
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Old 07-24-17 | 09:28 AM
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This



In the driveway of a Target, rather smashed. Price tag says Clearance: $3.98. I think of the little boy or girl who had their heart set on a collectible Imperial Ground Crew figurine, with runway-waving lights and, um, a leafblower-backpack? and I cry a little.
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Old 07-24-17 | 10:29 AM
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Originally Posted by Joe Minton
[B]korina:[/B

I dream about "Brio" ---- the absolutely best pastry I have ever enjoyed !

Wish they were down here as well.

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I'd say "neener neener neener", but that would be rude.
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Old 07-24-17 | 02:23 PM
  #529  
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Originally Posted by RoderWrench
What are some of the things you have found while riding?
Mostly money and various tools. The most unusual thing I have ever found was not while riding a bike: an upper plate from a set of false teeth.
If I lose things myself I have to look at it philosophically because I've found much more that I've lost.
But somewhere on earth or in another dimension there is a black hole containing all of the little things I have dropped on the floor which have disappeared forever.
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Old 07-24-17 | 09:34 PM
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Saw a drive shaft on the shoulder yesterday. It looked like the short front shaft from a Jeep Wrangler. I bet someone is missing it right now.

Looked like the silver section of this one:



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Old 07-24-17 | 11:05 PM
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Originally Posted by High Fist Shin
Saw a drive shaft on the shoulder yesterday. It looked like the short front shaft from a Jeep Wrangler. I bet someone is missing it right now.

Looked like the silver section of this one:



-Shin
Is it a Front shaft for a rear wheel drive vehicle?
So, one wouldn't notice it until one is stuck somewhere in the woods, and threw it into 4WD.... and got NOTHING.

Still, it would be hard to imagine that one could lose a drive shaft without noticing it unless the vehicle was being towed or hauled.

Years ago I blew out a U-Joint (RWD). It felt like I had a blowout. The whole vehicle shook until I removed the shaft and coasted downhill into the nearest town.

I could imagine a farmer losing a PTO shaft, then realizing their mistake when they get out into a field.
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Old 07-24-17 | 11:08 PM
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Originally Posted by elocs
Mostly money and various tools. The most unusual thing I have ever found was not while riding a bike: an upper plate from a set of false teeth.
If I lose things myself I have to look at it philosophically because I've found much more that I've lost.
But somewhere on earth or in another dimension there is a black hole containing all of the little things I have dropped on the floor which have disappeared forever.
The problem is to lose half a pair of socks or half a pair of gloves.

Every once in a while I'll find a pair of gloves.... sometimes separated by as much as 1/4 mile, but more often gloves come in singles.

I try to buy multiple pairs of matching socks
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Old 07-24-17 | 11:19 PM
  #533  
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My latest find, a root that caught mt front wheel, high sided me , and I found another root on my way to the ground which bruised my patella tendon...its roots, roots and roots.
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Old 07-25-17 | 10:19 AM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
Is it a Front shaft for a rear wheel drive vehicle?
So, one wouldn't notice it until one is stuck somewhere in the woods, and threw it into 4WD.... and got NOTHING.

Still, it would be hard to imagine that one could lose a drive shaft without noticing it unless the vehicle was being towed or hauled.

Years ago I blew out a U-Joint (RWD). It felt like I had a blowout. The whole vehicle shook until I removed the shaft and coasted downhill into the nearest town.

I could imagine a farmer losing a PTO shaft, then realizing their mistake when they get out into a field.
Some of those parts fell off of trucks that get parts like that from repair shops and then sell them for scrap.
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Old 07-28-17 | 06:15 PM
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good timing

A few weeks ago I found a long handled crescent wrench on the side of an on ramp on my way back from the bike shop where I had just purchased a freewheel tool. I had planned a trip to the hardware store to buy a crescent wrench afterwards so that I could hulk the rusty thing off. Voila! One man's trash is another man's treasure!
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Old 07-29-17 | 06:14 AM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
This has been my "Good Samaritan" year for roadside finds.

ONE:
First, this spring I found a really nice Felt Carbon Fiber road bike laying beside the road. Apparently it had been there for at least an hour, probably overnight as it had some mud on it and a few fresh sprinkles. I yelled and nobody answered.

So, about a mile from home, I was walking my bike and the Felt home, when a neighbor pulled out of the driveway in her SUV, looked at me funny, and said it was her bike. She seemed to fit on it. We rode back to where I picked it up. Then left it with her. There appeared to be another road bike in the garage, so I'm inclined to believe her.

I had been contemplating how to place a "Found" ad on Craigslist without giving too much away. And, also calling two local PDs and the Sheriff's office. At least finding the neighbor was easier.

That reminds me, I saw another neighbor riding a nice road bike with two young kids near there... I've been meaning to ask if he was the one, and ask if he wished to borrow a Fuji Ace 24 which needs to be passed on.
TWO:
About a month ago, I decided to stop buy the local LBS to pick up some rim tape for Mom's bike. But, I decided to try a different store than usual which included an extra hill climb. So, at the base of the hill, I saw a woman and a kid around 10 or so. She yelled across a 4-lane road asking if I had seen something, and seemed to indicate a square, and I finally heard the word envelope. I was thinking a large manila envelope. I replied NO. But, while I do glance at some roadside debris, I wasn't quite sure if I would have noticed an envelope among other roadside trash. Nonetheless, I kept my eyes open for large envelope shaped objects as I headed up the hill. And, about 1/2 mile up the hill, I found a small white sealed envelope with a name scrawled on it and no stamp. Somehow I knew that was the one. So, I turned around and headed back down the hill. She wasn't where I saw her earlier, but I did find that she had crossed the road (and I had crossed the road, again on opposite sides). Anyway, I whistled, and she yelled, and I made out the word KIETH. Which turned out to resemble the nearly indecipherable scribble on the envelope, so I gave her a , and made may way back across the road. It turns out the envelope was full of cash. She offered me $20 out of it (which I didn't take), but obviously enough to be out searching for it, and the $20 was just a fraction of it.

At least with that one, I'd have ignored it if I hadn't been specifically looking for it. But, she was looking quite far from where it actually was found.
THREE (Today):
Out again today. On my way back home, I saw a really nice pocket knife on the side of the road, a yard or so past a driveway, but on the road shoulder. Not battered like many of them. A genuine Leatherman Skeletool. I stood and thought about it for a moment. Then put it in the pocket and headed on. Then 1/4 mile away, I decided to turn around and knock on the door of the house it was in front of. First a woman answered, the said she'd ask her BF/Husband, and he came out and said he had been working on removing some roadkill from in front of the house. He offered me a bottle of wine or beer (I don't drink). Well, anyway, he was quite happy to get his knife back.
So... just my luck, all the really good finds... and I found the owners.
Nope..you actually found a lot friends!!!! And God found you!
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Old 07-29-17 | 07:45 AM
  #537  
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Originally Posted by elocs
Mostly money and various tools. The most unusual thing I have ever found was not while riding a bike: an upper plate from a set of false teeth.
If I lose things myself I have to look at it philosophically because I've found much more that I've lost.
But somewhere on earth or in another dimension there is a black hole containing all of the little things I have dropped on the floor which have disappeared forever.
Yeah, July 2014 I found $80 in an envelope in the gutter. And I only found it because I picked my bike up and crossed the street because of traffic. I usually cross about 50 feet further up the street.
Otherwise a crew comes through and pics up larger things.
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Old 07-30-17 | 07:01 PM
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Saturday, found a set of keys. Not car keys, but John Deere, Cat, and something else. Also a Cat padlock.

Picked them up, as they were rather hidden. Half mile up the road, saw a house with multiple construction vehicles in the yard, with various projects being done. Stopped, asked if anyone had lost some keys.

One guy said, not me, but I know who's they are. He described them, sight unseen, so I handed them over.
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Old 07-30-17 | 07:50 PM
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Oddly enough, I found asphalt.
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Old 07-30-17 | 07:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Rollfast
Oddly enough, I found asphalt.
My asphalt on the ground just last week.
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Old 07-31-17 | 09:28 AM
  #541  
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Originally Posted by sickmick
A few weeks ago I found a long handled crescent wrench on the side of an on ramp on my way back from the bike shop where I had just purchased a freewheel tool. I had planned a trip to the hardware store to buy a crescent wrench afterwards so that I could hulk the rusty thing off. Voila! One man's trash is another man's treasure!
Once on a business trip I was driving in my rental car, and saw a nice 10" crescent wrench in the middle of the road. It was a quiet residential neighborhood, so I backed up, opened the door, and scooped it up. In the airport though, I showed the TSA guard the wrench and he said it was too big, so I surrendered it to him, rather than check my bag.
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Old 08-01-17 | 04:53 PM
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Yesterday I found a dead cow in the pasture next to the highway. She was surrounded by a dozen or so distressed cattle. Very sad.

Then I found a dirty towel on the shoulder, stopped and kicked it onto the grass. A mile later I was passed by a large group of vehicles, and a towel flew out of a pickup. I took the hint and left it.
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Old 08-01-17 | 05:23 PM
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!! If you took the hint you would have kept the fresh towel. Universe is trying to give you a towel! (I wonder if the Vogon fleet is nearby, getting ready for the hyperspace bypass...)
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Old 08-02-17 | 07:10 AM
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Originally Posted by RubeRad
!! If you took the hint you would have kept the fresh towel. Universe is trying to give you a towel! (I wonder if the Vogon fleet is nearby, getting ready for the hyperspace bypass...)
Don't listen to their poetry!
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Old 08-02-17 | 08:54 AM
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once found a cell phone. called the last # dialed & it was the owners girlfriend. met her for coffee & to exchange the phone. she was cute. end of story
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Old 08-02-17 | 09:16 AM
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aw, just when the story was getting good! Lemme finish it for you... "She said, 'I'm so frustrated with that ****, always losing his phone and stuff. If only I could meet a real man, the kind of man that is so opposite that instead of losing phones he FINDS them.' Beginning of story..."
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Old 08-02-17 | 10:11 AM
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
once found a cell phone. called the last # dialed & it was the owners girlfriend. met her for coffee & to exchange the phone. she was cute. end of story
I love it when that happens.
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Old 08-02-17 | 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
once found a cell phone. called the last # dialed & it was the owners girlfriend. met her for coffee & to exchange the phone. she was cute. end of story
This happened to me recently. Put my cell on a ledge while I was fixing my pantleg and I accidentally left it

It must have been 10 minutes later, my girlfriend gets a call from a guy who's cleaning lady handed it to him. The phone traveled 100 blocks and through at least three people in 10 minutes.
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Old 08-02-17 | 12:51 PM
  #549  
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Originally Posted by RubeRad
!! If you took the hint you would have kept the fresh towel. Universe is trying to give you a towel! (I wonder if the Vogon fleet is nearby, getting ready for the hyperspace bypass...)
You're assuming the fresh towel was clean. It wasn't. My towel is a bandana, and I always know where it is.
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Old 08-07-17 | 09:14 AM
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Gloves, cycling, always singles. Waterbottles. Lights.

I had about five single gloves at one point. I seem to have three headlamps I don't remember buying.
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