Guy951 wrote:I was riding a local bridleway some time ago, along a stretch by a deep ditch, when there was a loud whooshy-clattery sort of noise and this huge grey thing exploded out of the ditch right into me. As I picked myself up I watched it disappear across the field.
No, I haven't run over any wildlife, but I was knocked down by a heron!
Excellent! Nice to know that I'm not the only one to be knocked off by avian wildlife - an owl in my case!
I had a cat run out from behind a parked car and go straight underneath my car. All I saw was a ginger tail run out and disappear as it reached the middle of the bonnet followed by a clunk from underneath the handbreak area. Looked in the mirror fearing the worst to see it flailing around on its back, then it just got up and ran off. Never saw any lost cat posters so presume it just fell over and was ok, but sometimes animals have internal damage and die even after scarpering at high speed. Still it makes you think what if that was a small child, I was going slowly but there was no room to swerve and no time to even think about braking, unlike cats I don't think kids pass underneath cars without injury.
I have several times seen trains pull into the station with a pigion or seagull wedged into the front of the train.
I have also seen pictures on the internet of front wheel and fork damage caused by squirrels running through the spokes, this has been one of those cycling "urban myths" that float around but there is documented examples of them getting jammed and throwing people off their bikes.
When I lived in Vancouver it was reported in the news about a guy who hit a moose whilst decending a hill and died from the impact. Apparently it was very early in the morning and the moose had strayed into the suburbs (as they do!!!) and he went splat into it at some speed. Police only worked out what happened after finding moose hair in his handlebars as the accident was unwitnessed and the moose walked off unharmed... but then they did used to film the x-files up there so mystery dead guy with no obvious cause in the road would be something to get mulder and scully on to.
Whilst out riding today I stopped in a laybye to switch my lights on as the sun was getting low,when a brand new Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter pulled up beside me the chap got off and was hopping mad.Pointing to the windscreen, which had big diagonal crack across it,he told me he'd just picked up the bike and ridden less than 10miles on it when Pheasant had flown into the screen and broke it! he reckoned atleast £100 for a new one.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
In the Lakes earlier this year, l was returning to camp very late and the road was littered with thousands of frogs. The squelching underneath my wheels was amplified by the deathly night-time silence. Thankfully l have full length mud - frog guts - guards! Bleuurgh!!
David, Tigger says that she knows it was an accident and that on behalf of all cats, you are forgiven. Your penance is to make a donation to the Cats Protection League,
Had a chicken playing...er, chicken. Went right under the front wheel and carried on across the road. Also had a Bluetit fly into the spokes, poor little thing.
A fellow club member now in his 80's relates a storey to us about his exploits years earlier when he was on a chain gang training ride. He passed a farmyard and hit what he thought was a short wooden branch in the road. It flicked up and landed on his shoe. He looked down and it was stuck on his foot. As he is maintaining his place in the chain he is still pedalling hard but now notices that the "stick" is climbing up his leg . He now realises that it is a rat and is trying to reach down to brush it off but the rat thinks this is not a good idea at 25mph so is trying to hang on and climb higher to what he thinks is a safe perch. Eventually it reaches his thigh and he manages to brush it off much to the amusement of his training partners.
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway X2, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840
I guessed I wasn't going to be alone (unfortunately of course).
Interesting to read everyone else's incidents.
Alan D wrote:David, Tigger says that she knows it was an accident and that on behalf of all cats, you are forgiven. Your penance is to make a donation to the Cats Protection League, Alan, Tiggers keeper
rjb wrote:A fellow club member now in his 80's relates a storey to us about his exploits years earlier when he was on a chain gang training ride. He passed a farmyard and hit what he thought was a short wooden branch in the road. It flicked up and landed on his shoe. He looked down and it was stuck on his foot. As he is maintaining his place in the chain he is still pedalling hard but now notices that the "stick" is climbing up his leg . He now realises that it is a rat and is trying to reach down to brush it off but the rat thinks this is not a good idea at 25mph so is trying to hang on and climb higher to what he thinks is a safe perch. Eventually it reaches his thigh and he manages to brush it off much to the amusement of his training partners.
WOW!
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
I had the experience of going over the same dog twice (but not intentionally). A Jack Russell ran from the pavement and went under my front wheel then ran around the front of my bike then back under the bottom bracket and my back wheel went over it as well. the dog then ran back to the pavement and sat beside a man I assume was its owner and neither seemed too bothered about it.