The weather was perfect this morning, not too hot and not too cool and it wasn't raining! It was 05:30 a.m. and I was heading home from work. The MUP seemed abandoned and I was in Nirvana.......until I was suddenly passed with no advance warning what-so-ever. This Speed Demon blew right by me like I was standing still!

Lucky thing for me I had my handy-dandy camera at the ready. That's right! I got a couple of pictures of the offending culprit. Now we can all recognise him. Be carefull as he is very quiet, and boy oh boy is he ever fast!















Add to this one deer sighting and a few rabbits...all in all a good 14 mile ride home.

Where did you get those pictures? I was nowhere near your MUP this morning!

Good job he had his head up-If he had run into the back of you there could have been a bit of a mess on the Mup



And this was a fact---Darwin Discovered the Giant Tortoise on his travels and sent a few back to the UK as live specimens. Problem was that it took several shipments of "Live" specimens before one arrived safely. It was not the dangers of the Voyage that killed off the Tortoise----It was the chefs cleaver. Apparantly they taste superb.

Great thread! You caught me by surprise....I am not a speed demon when it comes to jokes sometimes.

Hey, what is "MUP"?

I believe it stands for multi-use-path

You might be right. Thanx!

I noticed how streamlined and well-faired that SD was...I don't think Cavendish could have caught him!

That snapper is totally aero front AND back.

Lenny,

They have been all over our MUP, they come out this time of year. But those he's are really shes - they are laying their eggs by the warm pavement.

But are yours as fast as ours? Huh?

We've got tons of these down along the ponds, and I see pieces of them scattered about the roadways every year. I've actually heard of instances where traffic on the Lake Ontario State Parkway comes to a standstill waiting for a whole line of turtles to safely get across the road.

This is the first time I've actually seen one along this particular MUP (the 390 trail, just about 20 yards south of Greece Olympia sports fields for you local folks). Must be I've slowed down so much in my old age that I've entered a much slower universe!!

Lenny,

When climbing lake desolation I usually like to sneak up behind one and draft it on the way up, they usually don't mind.

Hey cranky,

Thanks for the photo and the nice little anecdote. I've always had a soft spot for turtles (except the snapping turtles which can take your finger off).

I saw a few of them attempting to cross the highway (Hwy 28) on the way back from my cottage up north. I've also seen the odd one sunning themselves on the pavement right in the middle of the road from time to time. It's a wonder that more of them don't get crushed.

I've seen more turtles in the last week on the roads then I have all year. Not any snappers, but the softball sized tarpons (sp?). I almost ran over one a few days back. It would have sent me on a toss for sure!

It's gopher tortoise nesting season around here, and for the last few weeks I've seen two or three on each long ride I've had. Those things will smoke you if you're not careful.

Yep! A jogger and I watched one dropping her eggs alongside the Erie Canal trail early this morning. As it was raining at the time I left my camera safely packed away in my pannier though.

In Florida, by the Gulf, they are everywhere. We get both land and sea turtles. The sea turtles are protected and running over one with a car can get you a hefty fine, especially if the LEO saw you and you made no attempt to avoid hitting it. The MUP trail at the park I ride in is in a wilderness area and you really have to be careful because there are so many of them that you sometimes have to get off an walk your bike around them to keep from hitting them.