So I got off work around 0530 this morning while it was still dark. Did my usual routine; checking my tires, strapping on my backpack and turning on the lights. Headed out the gate onto the remote 4-lane hwy that is surrounded by woods and clicked up to about 20 mph. I had no sooner clicked-up to that higher gear when I noticed something big and black come out of the woods about 50 ft. in front of me, running my way like he was going to head me off. I mean, I've dealt with dogs doing crap like that, but a wild hog?? Hell, this was the first time I ever even seen a wild hog when riding a bike! How do you even deal with something like that??.......What do you do, hit him with a frame pump??......Squirt him with a water bottle??

Man I was scared. That hog had to weighed over 300 lbs, and he was big and black, and blended well with the early morning darkness. I have to give credit though to my home made 20-watt halogen light I built, because it lit up the road well beyond him, giving me a chance to track his actions and evade him. I was already doing about 20, so with that kind of momentum I 'clicked' up another gear, swinging wide across both lanes and dropped the hammer. I guess it was just sheer dumb luck there wasn't any traffic out, because I would've surely been nailed. It was crazy though, because I had no idea how fast a hog could run, so with that on my mind I really had to crank up the proverbial 400 watts to... "GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE!!" Maximum speed on bike computer said 31.1, and I always wondered how fast I could sprint, given my age and weight!.......So I guessed I found out, huh!! (sheesh)

Did he give chase?

What a way to find out how hard you could sprint!

hello, adrenaline rush! That would be startling. Glad you weren't on the news, "Commuter eaten by monster hog..."

WOW!!!

In florida they're probably a protected species with more rights than you. Seriously, don't mess with them, you did the right thing. They're mean and tough. Check your states hunting laws or try animal control. That thing could do serious damage to a car and driver.

Does Florida do animal control on wild hogs that endanger people?

I knew this was Florida, before I even opened the thread!

I had the same thing happen to me (it was a sow with a few piglets) while I was trail riding thru the palmettos west of 95 (near Cocoa)

Scared the livin' crap out of me, because she came perpendicular out of the brush just as I was passing her!

Hilarious (in retrospect only, of course )

I'm glad you escaped intact. And I thought we cyclists didn't have a care in the world when there are no cars around. Are there many wild hogs in Florida?

Yes.

To be honest, now that I've had time to reflect on it, I dont know for sure if he did or not. All I know is when he come out of the woods, I was right on him. He zeroed in on my headlight, fore legs apart with his head low, like he was ready to attack. I kept wondering if he was rabid or something. It was crazy man! when I dropped that hammer and swung out wide, I was really cranking on it and didn't look back until I was about a mile away. I remembered I kept trying to hear heavy animal panting or a wild squealing, anything to indicate his proximity to me.

This topped the list man!!

Wow, that just triggered a memory of something I had completely forgotten about. Once, back in either the 70s or 80s, I was riding along a country road, and I glanced to my side, off the road, and a wild pig was running there alongside me, in the brush, at my speed.

Chased or in the way? A hog's escape route is, normally, back the way it came. If the one you saw had just crossed the road and you came along and spooked it, it might have seemed to be charging when it was actually trying to get away. Edit-Your headlight might have confused it, too.

300 lbs is good size, but not prticularly big.
https://www.breitbart.com/article.php...=1&image=large
This is the biggest I've heard of, but it wasn't in FL. Up in AL.

Are there many in FL? In some areas they're almost as bad as mosquitos. Want some?

I know some guys that catch them live. Bay them up with catahoulas or blackmouth curs, sometimes they use a catch dog, sometimes they don't. One guy got bit on the hand by a hog a little bit back. The hog didn't just bite and let go, it bit and ground down. He said the could feel the hog's teeth grinding on his bones. Messed him up pretty good. Did some permanent tendon damage.

In FL all free roaming swine are considered feral. Not native, if they're on private property they are considered to be property of the landowner. On public access property they are considered game, with seasons and bag limits.

A young wild sow is some of the finest eatin' there is.

Oh yeah! Especially if you can pick them off with a clean head shot before they know you're there. The meat is definitely not as tender if they've been running around agitated before the kill.

They prefer to run away so I'm sure CommuterRun is right, but if you didn't know that at the time then 300lb of angry bacon would definitely inspire some involuntary sphinxter clenching.

I thought this thread was going to be about some guy talkin' about his wife. The stories are great in this forum!

That just made my day!

On a favorite stretch of single track (between Purify Bay and Skipper Bay) I rode up on a sow and pigs at about 17-18mph. I stopped so suddenly that my left foot, the one I always unclip and put down (SPD) first was in the 12:00 position. I fell in a heap ten feet from them with much noise. The sow sprinted across a ditch of water and the piglets ran right to me passing on either side as they ran past. I screamed (in a manly manner of course ) while I thought of being found knawed to death still clipped to the damn bike. Wild hogs are almost as common as deer around here.

hahaha, that would suck. im glad i dont have to worry about pigs around here. mean coons, ground hogs, and the occasional pissed off coyote is all i have to deal with in ohio.

Best clipped-in fall story ever.


(Glad you're ok )

Plenty of experts on the forums, pick one (hell pick three)

that said, I know I wasn't going to hang around long enough tp prove anyone's theory. The big guy mainly just startled me.....(you know...Dead of night..Pitch black dark...Riding out in the boonies...that sort of stuff)

I'm not so naive to think he would attack me (wild hogs aren't known for it, except in defense) but given the circumstances, and the possibility he could've been rabid was what "pucker kissed" my Brooks saddle.

0.357 to the head. Mmmmm bacon.

Still a lot better than hearing banjo's playing behind you!!!

400W = what in mph/kph? This story is funny seeing as the OP was not hurt but I can understand the fear of the chase when the moment was there. Hope you did not have bacon that morning. Who knows, the hog may have been peeved you eat thier brother/sister and wanted to take what they thought was an easy target.

hahahahahaha, wow

You could make a hog repellent from two slices of bread (one with a layer of mayo, the other with mustard) and some bits of lettuce. Swine fear bread because they know that it makes them yummy. Fried eggs and hash browns also make a good repellent as well as pineapple slices and syrup. Beware of apples, especially Macintosh, as hogs are attracted to them like moths to a flame. Better to have a bigger apple like a red delicious which is too big for hogs to swallow and get stuck in their mouths, thus disarming them.