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-   -   What have you found on the ground while riding? (https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/1020272-what-have-you-found-ground-while-riding.html)

Digital_Cowboy 01-16-16 10:28 AM

I've found money in various denominations up to $20.00, small tools, stray articles of clothing, found a waterbottle once, empty GU packs, spent CO2 or Nitrous cartridges.

missinglink 01-16-16 10:31 AM

Found a baby white winged dove in the middle of a busy street just before dark. Fed and raised it for about 6 weeks, then released it back into the wild.

Sprecher919 02-19-16 09:53 AM

Lots and lots and lots of road kill.

coggy 02-19-16 10:33 AM

The most valuable things I've ever found were my own gloves. A pair of wool liners and a pair of winter cycling gloves.

When I got home from my commute, I absentmindedly set them on top of our Subaru and then drove it to get our daughter from daycare (I don't subject her to the bike trailer in the winter :p).

When I geared up for the commute the next day, I slowly put together what must have happened to them. Rode the streets to our daycare, and, sure enough, I found them on the way.

ret3 02-19-16 01:03 PM

On my way past the commuter rail stop one Saturday morning, I spied a pair of strappy gold high heels that must have looked good at the club, hurt like hell on the walk to the train, resumed hurting upon disembarking, but looked supremely trashy in the harsh light of day.

Shimagnolo 02-19-16 03:56 PM

A new one today: garage door remote control

jdswitters 02-19-16 04:22 PM

one fuzzy purple slipper has been hanging out at the entrance to the office parking lot for a week since the snow melted.

rocks in head 02-19-16 04:25 PM

I found a 1981 Soma Competition in a dumpster one commute... along with a complete set of Harry Potter books, an extension ladder, and a wheel barrow. I came back with the car. Also, a 70's Ross 3-spd cruiser one Spring Cleanup day.

Spring Clean Up is a thing here, one day a year everyone empties out their garage, but instead of going to charity it goes to whoever drives around and picks it up. Last year we picked up a Saris Bones 3 rack and a Trek 800 mountain bike, both donated to the local non-profit bike shop/charity. I wasn't able to throw in the Burley trailer with UV-degraded fabric.

oddjob2 02-20-16 10:28 PM


Originally Posted by ret3 (Post 18549478)
On my way past the commuter rail stop one Saturday morning, I spied a pair of strappy gold high heels that must have looked good at the club, hurt like hell on the walk to the train, resumed hurting upon disembarking, but looked supremely trashy in the harsh light of day.

All part of "the morning after walk of shame."

essiemyra 02-21-16 06:46 AM

I found ten dollar bill on my way home from work Friday!

bobwysiwyg 02-21-16 07:34 AM


Originally Posted by Sprecher919 (Post 18548877)
Lots and lots and lots of road kill.

Likewise, including deer. Years ago the road commission sent crews out to pick them up. Now, they just drag them off the road surface and let Mother Nature do her thing.

GSJon 02-21-16 11:39 AM

I've found a bunch of assorted tools over the years and now keep seeing bits of discarded clothing on the roads. My commute takes me down a road that has a number of clubs around a few different blocks and I'm sure that they have come from patrons leaving.

The best was one day I was coming home from work on my motorcycle and on the expressway was a perfectly nice pair of women's panties and matching bra! Traffic was going about 5 mph, slow enough to see them and too fast to get a picture.

Tundra_Man 02-22-16 08:49 AM

Lost my pant leg strap on the ride to work this morning. I'm hoping I find it on the ground during the ride home.

PatrickGSR94 02-22-16 09:37 AM

Saturday I was out on a muddy trail that passes under a bridge of an arterial road near a creek, and saw a smashed cell phone Blackberry looking thingy. If the microSD card had been more than 2 GB I might have tried to salvage the card.

https://scontent-dfw1-1.cdninstagram...08185085_n.jpg

aERonAUtical96 02-26-16 09:36 AM

So I didn't stop to pick it up... but I saw a black bra today on the side of the road. And I would have to say it belonged to someone who is "well endowed" :)

Also a pair of tin snips/shears on the road. I did not stop to pick them up since I own a couple of sets already.

RubeRad 02-26-16 04:31 PM


Originally Posted by PatrickGSR94 (Post 18555086)
Saturday I was out on a muddy trail that passes under a bridge of an arterial road near a creek, and saw a smashed cell phone Blackberry looking thingy. If the microSD card had been more than 2 GB I might have tried to salvage the card.

I found a smashed iphone once, I have kept it around with the idea that maybe the battery would be useful to somebody or something. I also once found a non-broken smartphone, Verizon I think, I dropped it off at a Verizon store to give back to their customer. And once I found an iPod in the gutter, on and playing music (I forget what it was, something classic rock). I was able to get into the email (it wasn't password-protected) and contact the owner and give it back.

HBxRider 02-26-16 08:49 PM

Found an iPad. Except it was as shamed up and damaged as it could possibly be while still technically being in one piece. Amazingly I still got $20 for it on eBay. One thing you can't deny about Apple products is their strong resale value.

PatrickGSR94 02-29-16 08:51 AM


Originally Posted by RubeRad (Post 18567058)
I found a smashed iphone once, I have kept it around with the idea that maybe the battery would be useful to somebody or something. I also once found a non-broken smartphone, Verizon I think, I dropped it off at a Verizon store to give back to their customer. And once I found an iPod in the gutter, on and playing music (I forget what it was, something classic rock). I was able to get into the email (it wasn't password-protected) and contact the owner and give it back.

I took my old 3GS out of the drawer last year and charged it up just to see if it would work. It did, but within 1-2 weeks the entire phone busted apart. I guess the battery being dead for so long and then being charged up caused some kind of weird reaction that made the battery expand and destroy the entire phone from the inside.

rmfnla 02-29-16 10:49 AM


Originally Posted by noglider (Post 18398711)
A red fox in town!? What town?


Originally Posted by RubeRad (Post 18398839)
I think I saw a red fox once (can't be sure, it didn't last long) in La Mesa, CA (part of San Diego)

We get lots of coyotes in my area Brentwood/Santa Monica)...

noglider 02-29-16 12:57 PM


Originally Posted by rmfnla (Post 18573091)
We get lots of coyotes in my area Brentwood/Santa Monica)...

I would love to see a coyote in the wild. I haven't seen one once yet, but near our country home, I have heard a pack of them howling in the night. It's intensely inspiring.

tjspiel 02-29-16 01:21 PM


Originally Posted by noglider (Post 18573522)
I would love to see a coyote in the wild. I haven't seen one once yet, but near our country home, I have heard a pack of them howling in the night. It's intensely inspiring.

I've seen one casually stroll through a park not far from me and I know they roam the golf course that's about a block away. They look like small german shepherds to me.

I've heard you should chase them off rather than let them get too comfortable around people.

joeyduck 02-29-16 01:57 PM

2 Attachment(s)

Originally Posted by tjspiel (Post 18573588)
I've seen one casually stroll through a park not far from me and I know they roam the golf course that's about a block away. They look like small german shepherds to me.

I've heard you should chase them off rather than let them get too comfortable around people.

You should, they begin to get too used to people if you don't scare them off. And I can imagine a small child or animal would be tempting to a hungry one.

We had a park across from our last place and in the fall especially they would be active in the park. This was 30 yards from a playground in October 2014 and it is a busy park. I lived in the house on the far right of the first photo.


http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=507166http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=507167

noglider 02-29-16 03:04 PM

That sounds like a good tip. I'll make loud noises and sudden movements if I face one. They sure are beautiful, though.

no motor? 02-29-16 03:08 PM


Originally Posted by rmfnla (Post 18573091)
We get lots of coyotes in my area Brentwood/Santa Monica)...

I had a pair of them run in front of my car one night in the swirling snow and it was pretty impressive.

RandomEncounter 02-29-16 03:13 PM

For a few weeks last year I kept seeing single shoes on the trail and main arterial in my neighborhood. Just one shoe, half of a pair, sitting by the side of the trail, on a business's sign, the sidewalk, etc. I saw probably four pairs! The rash of shoe-losing seems to have stopped but I still wonder what that was about.


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