Strange things found on your commute
#102
Member
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: Reading, PA
#103
Member
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: Reading, PA
#104
Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
From: Waterbury, CT
Bikes: Mongoose Alta 21 speed, NEXT Power X 18 speed, Royce Union 12 speed (Not sure what model)
I found a Harley Davidson Keychain with a metal canister on it...looked like one of those pill containers.
It wasn't, it was someone's ashes...
It wasn't, it was someone's ashes...
#106
Galveston County Texas
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 33,335
Likes: 1,285
From: In The Wind
Bikes: 02 GTO, 2011 Magnum
#107
#108
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 124
Likes: 1
Bikes: '96 Tommasini Tecno, '02 Lemond Victoire, '13 All City Nature Boy, '22 Specialized Fuse
A set of brand new socks still in the package today.
Golf balls, tennis balls and various tools are usually the norm. I stopped picking them up after awhile, unless the tool is something I don't have/ an upgrade.
Golf balls, tennis balls and various tools are usually the norm. I stopped picking them up after awhile, unless the tool is something I don't have/ an upgrade.
#109
Bikus Commuterus
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 224
Likes: 0
From: Jacksonville, Fl
Bikes: Trek 820, Specialized Allez Sport
and this...
#110
This last week I passed by a childs black leather shoe, It looked absolutely pristine and I actually would have grabbed them up but there was just one ..Just one.....Daily for a week I passed by that same shoe watching it get dirtier and dirtier till one day it's absolutley pristine mate turns up with it.. .. WTF !!
and this...

and this...

#111
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 633
Likes: 1
From: Pittsfield, MA
Bikes: Motobecane Fantom Cross 2008 Schwinn Super Sport 1972 SS. Surly Pacer Rando bike
Plugs are the holes made in coins, which is then filled with a cheaper metal. Coins so tampered with are no longer legal tender and are thus worthless if spotted. The phrase is, of course, American. Before 'plugged nickels' there were 'plugged quarters' and 'plugged dimes'. The various versions of the phrase appear in the 1880s. The nickel, being a lower denomination coin, lends itself better than quarters and dimes to a phrase expressing worthlessness. Oddly though, the lowest denomination coin is the cent and the phrase 'not worth a plugged cent' doesn't appear until later. The earliest I've found for that is 1908.
#112
I've got a work bench full of sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers, utility knives, etc. that I've found while riding. However, I think that the most surprising thing I found was my bicycle that had been stolen three months previously. It was being ridden by a young man and after a brief discussion we decided that it needed to go home with me. I didn't ask if he had found anything on his ride but he would be a good candidate for a thread about things lost on a ride.
#113
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 591
Likes: 0
From: Long Beach, Ca.
Bikes: Raleigh Sojourn, '67 Raleigh Super Course, old Gary Fisher Mamba, and a generic Chinese folder
I seem to find a lot of "tightie whiteys". Who wears these any more, and where do they buy them???
#114
Support JDRF
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 925
Likes: 3
From: Arkansas
Bikes: Specialized Sirrus, Specialized Roubaix Elite
I found a pickup truck with a trailer attached to it the other day. I tried to tow it with a bungy tied to the bumper and my trunk rack, but I guess they left it in gear.
#115
genec
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 27,072
Likes: 4,533
From: West Coast
Bikes: custom built, sannino, beachbike, giant trance x2
#117
Senior Member


Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,465
Likes: 4,547
From: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0
- a waiter's corkscrew, yikes!
- a nifty Japanese pocketknife which my dad identified and quickly shipped to the manufacturer for resharpening an cleaning free of charge! (go knife collectors)
- a cell phone, and I got to meet the girlfriend of the guy who lost it when i called the last number dialed. she bought me coffee but never saw her again. yeah she was cute.
- a nifty Japanese pocketknife which my dad identified and quickly shipped to the manufacturer for resharpening an cleaning free of charge! (go knife collectors)
- a cell phone, and I got to meet the girlfriend of the guy who lost it when i called the last number dialed. she bought me coffee but never saw her again. yeah she was cute.
Last edited by rumrunn6; 04-13-11 at 08:49 AM.
#118
genec
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 27,072
Likes: 4,533
From: West Coast
Bikes: custom built, sannino, beachbike, giant trance x2
From phrases.org
Plugs are the holes made in coins, which is then filled with a cheaper metal. Coins so tampered with are no longer legal tender and are thus worthless if spotted. The phrase is, of course, American. Before 'plugged nickels' there were 'plugged quarters' and 'plugged dimes'. The various versions of the phrase appear in the 1880s. The nickel, being a lower denomination coin, lends itself better than quarters and dimes to a phrase expressing worthlessness. Oddly though, the lowest denomination coin is the cent and the phrase 'not worth a plugged cent' doesn't appear until later. The earliest I've found for that is 1908.
Plugs are the holes made in coins, which is then filled with a cheaper metal. Coins so tampered with are no longer legal tender and are thus worthless if spotted. The phrase is, of course, American. Before 'plugged nickels' there were 'plugged quarters' and 'plugged dimes'. The various versions of the phrase appear in the 1880s. The nickel, being a lower denomination coin, lends itself better than quarters and dimes to a phrase expressing worthlessness. Oddly though, the lowest denomination coin is the cent and the phrase 'not worth a plugged cent' doesn't appear until later. The earliest I've found for that is 1908.
#119
#121
Senior Member


Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 11,478
Likes: 4,884
From: San Jose (Willow Glen) Ca
Bikes: Kirk Custom JK Special, 86 De Rosa Pro, '84 Team Miyata,(dura ace old school) 80?? SR Semi-Pro 600 Arabesque
Well once upon a time in the past a nickel would get you a coke from a vending machine..........so in perspective of the value at the time it could be significant. I do not remember nickel cokes, but do remember dime cokes, which then jumped to a quarter.
__________________
Life is too short not to ride the best bike you have, as much as you can.
Life is too short not to ride the best bike you have, as much as you can.
#122
Seņior Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 13,748
Likes: 10
From: Michigan
Bikes: Windsor Fens, Giant Seek 0 (2014, Alfine 8 + discs)
Back when the phrase originated, the coins were made of silver, including nickels. Heck, it used to be worth the time to shave silver and gold off the edges of coins. That's apparently why coins have edge decoration now (the ridges) - to show when they've been tampered with.
__________________
Work: the 8 hours that separates bike rides.
Work: the 8 hours that separates bike rides.
#123
Intrepid Bicycle Commuter
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 819
Likes: 95
From: Upstate New York
Bikes: 1976 Motobecane Grand Jubile, Austro Daimler 'Ultima', 2012 Salsa Vaya, 2009 Trek 4300, Fyxation Eastside, State Matte Black 6, '97 Trek 930 SHX, '93 Specialized Rockhopper, 1990 Trek 950
I found a Pelican box on my way home last year. It contained one of those depth finders used for testing the depth of water in wells. It was too darned big and heavy for me to fit on my rack, with my panniers already full. It sat for 3 days before disappearing.
#125
I saw a very young bird running along the MUP. It was too young to have wings and was running as fast as it's little feet could carry it. A little brown, fuzzy ball of panic that tripped and rolled right as I passed. Poor little fella. I think between the cats, foxes and coyotes in that area, it probably was breakfast before long.






