I was riding in Central Park over the weekend and a squirrel ran out in front of me, got startled by another cyclist and darted right into my rear wheel. He did damage to my spokes, rear deraileur and knocked the chain off the cassette. I managed to stay on the bike and the squirrel ran off seemingly unharmed. Whats the craziest thing anyof you guys have ever hit??
Anyone ever hit a squirrel??
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Almost it a ground hog the other day. Wandered out into the road on one of my descents, and it would have been an ugly meeting considering he was the size of a small dog. To be honest, I don't know how I missed him, it was a bit of a bunny hop with me almost eating it at the end.
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I was riding side by side with my wife when a SKUNK ran in front of us, then kinda got trapped between us. The skunk started spinning around and spraying!! That spray crap stained the anodized finish on my chain ring, and I had to throw my cycling pants out!
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I've never hit one, but one did manage to cross my path right between the front and rear wheel. Scared the hell out of me.
Three or four. So far, they've only managed to trash one front fender (a little advertised benefit of fenders: they make great squirrel-scaper-offers so the critturs don't get stuck in your fork and cause an endo). Haven't gone down due to the evil little rodents, yet.
A couple of skunk encounters, so far without any spraying.
Two deer ran parallel to me, then darted across in front of me (drivers aren't the only ones who will right-hook you), but knowing how dumb deer are I was ready for that little maneuver.
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A couple of skunk encounters, so far without any spraying.
Two deer ran parallel to me, then darted across in front of me (drivers aren't the only ones who will right-hook you), but knowing how dumb deer are I was ready for that little maneuver.
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A squirrel, once. Both wheels, bump bump. Critter ran off apparently unharmed.
I had 2 chipmunks run at me simultaneously from opposite sides of the road once; it looked like I'd hit them, but they timed it perfectly, and crossed paths right under the bottom bracket. The Blue Angels couldn't have done it more smoothly.
A dog once chased me, and was both fast enough and had the angle to look like he'd bite my leg. I sprinted to get away, but the dumb thing tried to cross the road in front of me, and I hit him, hard. He bounced off, I barely recovered (would have been an ugly crash). Dog ran off and never made a sound.
I had 2 chipmunks run at me simultaneously from opposite sides of the road once; it looked like I'd hit them, but they timed it perfectly, and crossed paths right under the bottom bracket. The Blue Angels couldn't have done it more smoothly.
A dog once chased me, and was both fast enough and had the angle to look like he'd bite my leg. I sprinted to get away, but the dumb thing tried to cross the road in front of me, and I hit him, hard. He bounced off, I barely recovered (would have been an ugly crash). Dog ran off and never made a sound.
It may appear unharmed but who knows what the condition was in a long run. It could have suffered internal bleeding and died later... :skep:
I once had an encounter with a full grown Labrador running across the bike trail about a year ago. I lost. Scrapes (on me & bike), sprained wrist, knocked the wheel out of true. I tracked down the owner's (he watched the whole thing from 10 yards away) phone number and he paid me for the damage a week later. The dog was still fine.
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Indeed; that's why I employed the adverb. It may indeed, as a result of this encounter, have become food for something a year or two earlier than it might have otherwise.
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Yeah, I kilt one many years ago. Ran out right in front of me, so fast, I didn't have a change to swerve. Ran over it with both front and back wheels, and musta busted his back, cuz it started spinning around for half a minute before it stopped moving and died.
After it died, I.....
A) Cried for a minute or two, and then stopped my ride to bury the critter. This made some of the wimmin' on the ride want to have secks wit' me.
B) Laughed out loud at the tree rat, and then used a stick to flick the carcass off the road. This caused all of the wimmin' on the ride to give me dirty looks.
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After it died, I.....
A) Cried for a minute or two, and then stopped my ride to bury the critter. This made some of the wimmin' on the ride want to have secks wit' me.
B) Laughed out loud at the tree rat, and then used a stick to flick the carcass off the road. This caused all of the wimmin' on the ride to give me dirty looks.
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A) Sounds like much more fun lol
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A few years ago a rabbit decided to run in front of me as I was riding along at a fairly fast clip. I didn't see him coming and didn't have time to react, and ended up riding right over him. I swear I heard a "snap" when my front wheel hit him and after I realized I was going to remain upright and not crash, I looked behind me and saw the bunny on the road, motionless. I think the "snap" was his spine breaking. 
Anyway, it was most likely a quick death for him and I came out of the experience unscathed, so it was a win-win for everyone involved. (Not counting the rabbit's demise, of course.)
Anyway, it was most likely a quick death for him and I came out of the experience unscathed, so it was a win-win for everyone involved. (Not counting the rabbit's demise, of course.)
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I have had quite a few close calls with squirrels but no collisions.
I did hit a turkey full on. There were three of them in front of me, two on one side of the road and another on the other side. There was plenty of space for me to go between but one of them decided at the last second to get right in front of my wheel.
It felt like a large bump but I didn't crash. There was a very loud squawk and an explosion of feathers. I looked back to the see the victim looking very unsteady on its feet. No damage to my bike.
I did hit a turkey full on. There were three of them in front of me, two on one side of the road and another on the other side. There was plenty of space for me to go between but one of them decided at the last second to get right in front of my wheel.
It felt like a large bump but I didn't crash. There was a very loud squawk and an explosion of feathers. I looked back to the see the victim looking very unsteady on its feet. No damage to my bike.
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Do we count people?
I remember in a road race, when the bunch rounded a corner at speed and a section of pavement was dug up--some moreons in the front hit their brakes and it was carnage...
Some poor guy was already down in front of me, and I bunny-hopped and rode over his rib cage with my back wheel and stayed up.
Come to think of it, I guess this doesn't really count because he was already more or less motionless...
I remember in a road race, when the bunch rounded a corner at speed and a section of pavement was dug up--some moreons in the front hit their brakes and it was carnage...
Some poor guy was already down in front of me, and I bunny-hopped and rode over his rib cage with my back wheel and stayed up.
Come to think of it, I guess this doesn't really count because he was already more or less motionless...
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Hit a Hare Krishna once and didn't even broke a spoke, just his ego.
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Oddly enough, I've never hit anything. Goals included. Maybe if I rode more I'd have a better chance at hitting things.
I missed a deer by about 15' feet at 22mph in pitch dark on Friday (work went 7 hours late). Would not have been pretty.
I missed a deer by about 15' feet at 22mph in pitch dark on Friday (work went 7 hours late). Would not have been pretty.
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My wife had one catch the side of the front wheel and get thrown into the frame near the BB. It went around a couple of times as she pedaled and screamed. I yelled for her to stop pedaling (she couldn't figure out what the heck was going on) and the rodent fell to the ground. Didn't stop to see if the bugger was OK and couldn't care less. They're just rats with big bushy tails.
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