Your strangest (or best) cycling experience ... to date.

[benborp]

Two experiences climbing mountains in Taiwan. One, similar to others' however I had two butterflies spiraling around each other and flitting backwards and forwards through the spokes of my front wheel.
The second was during the first big downpour of the season - within seconds the huge drainage channel had filled and the road itself was under several inches of water. All spectacular enough and then the fruit arrived - every form of tropical fruit grown in the mountains was being washed off the trees, out of the forest and then bobbing along the road.

[Ian H]

There was the time a bat briefly entangled itself in my half-opened rain jacket.

[Adam]

I've had a close encounter of the bat kind.  About 7 years ago when I was leading a FNRttC to Brighton on a new route, we cut across the A25 at Bletchingley and then dropped down a lovely downhill stretch.  I was probably doing about 25 mph when a bat suddenly reared up in front of me, doing an emergency stop in mid air with its wings outstretched and its body hanging vertically, all illuminated by my bike lights, before it flapped upwards and out of the way.

[IanDG]

I was once attacked by a vicious man-eating rabbit.

It was on a 600, around dawn, when a group of rabbits ran across the road. One of them attempted the between-the-wheels manoevre, but decided to do this via my foot (which was at the bottom of the pedal stroke). As it was lifted, it started scrabbling frantically. exiting through the main triangle and via my other foot. Explaining the mass of scratches across my shins at the end of the event was entertaining, to say the least.

With big pointy teeth?

[IanDG]

Early morning when I lived in Stornoway. Heading across the moor and thought I saw a man and a dog walking up the hill ahead. When I got to place there was no one around. A trick of the light?

[Jaded]

Some weird bloke texted me and said get out here on your bike.

With flashing lights.

In the snow.

So I did, and well, it was amazing.

[Basil]

Two experiences similar to posts above.
1. Riding down the lanes to Llandysul from our old place 5 miles out. A long downhill tree tunnel, when a buzzard dropped out of the canopy and accompanied me for quite some distance. Absolutely awesome.
2. That 'Air speed zero' thing when you match the speed of a tail wind and hear the silence at night.

Strangest reaction.
During one of my earlier rides from Brum to Llandysul, I called in to a pub for a pie and a pint with only 15 miles left to go. The barman, noticing my kit, bleary dusty eyed, ridden all night eyes, asked me where I'd come from.
I told him, but not a flicker of surprise or reaction from him.
"And where are you going to?" He asked as he continued to pull my pint.
"Llandysul"
He stopped mid pull. "WHAT?  You're bloody mad"

For months afterwards I searched maps for somewhere near to that pub that sounded a bit like 'Birmingham'.

[IanDG]

Two experiences similar to posts above.
1. Riding down the lanes to Llandysul from our old place 5 miles out. A long downhill tree tunnel, when a buzzard dropped out of the canopy and accompanied me for quite some distance. Absolutely awesome.
2. That 'Air speed zero' thing when you match the speed of a tail wind and hear the silence at night.

Strangest reaction.
During one of my earlier rides from Brum to Llandysul, I called in to a pub for a pie and a pint with only 15 miles left to go. The barman, noticing my kit, bleary dusty eyed, ridden all night eyes, asked me where I'd come from.
I told him, but not a flicker of surprise or reaction from him.
"And where are you going to?" He asked as he continued to pull my pint.
"Llandysul"
He stopped mid pull. "WHAT?  You're bloody mad"

For months afterwards I searched maps for somewhere near to that pub that sounded a bit like 'Birmingham'.

Was riding north from Corsock a few years ago and something bashed my helmet (the plastic thing on my head). Looked up to see a buzzard flying away. Year or so later I was talking to someone and he told me that it's the only route he wears a helmet due to a buzzard that likes attacking cyclists.

[T42]

Buzzard attacks are common enough here in the vicinity of nests.  They go mostly for the folk in bright colours.  The councils even put up warning signs about it:

[Cudzoziemiec]

Gosh. Buzzards regularly used to fly in front of me from tree to tree in the aforementioned Polish forest but they never attacked. I've never been shadowed by an owl or tangled with a bat. I'm quite jealous! The most I've had is having to duck to avoid a late take-off by a pigeon!

[The Family Cyclist]

One I vividly don't remember is when I used to do the same 8 mile commute each day, a large part on unlit roads. I remember leaving one lit village and was then in the next one. No recollection of the couple of miles in between.

Wasn't overly tired and not under any influences I think due to doing it so often brain switched to thinking about other things

[smileydave]

...only to be suddenly unsure of where we were...

On my weekly commute home a few weeks ago, on the regular route, a single footpath sign pointing in the wrong direction was enough to convince me I'd missed my turn, and the general saminess of north london architecture did nothing to disabuse me of the notion. It took a good 20 minutes until recognition dawned and I snapped back to normality

[HTFB]

Buses ou bendybuses? Il faut en choisir un.

[Ian H]

The infamous Devon buzzard attacked riders on my Kernow 600.  I was at the control in Bude (in Bude with the spirit of audax) and several riders came in having been attacked.  Drew Buck had his hat stolen.  A following cyclist retrieved it after the bird discarded it, and a happy Drew and his headgear were reunited.

One magical afternoon in North Devon there was a commotion in the ditch beside me and a buzzard emerged flapping heavily, dragging some largish prey which was too heavy to get easily airborne.  I vividly remember making eye-contact as it flapped alongside.

Not much later a barn owl kept silent pace just ahead of me, scanning the verges first one side then the other, before veering off into woods.

Riding the first Crackpot 1000, I was first on the road for a while, heading south over the moors from Minehead as dawn broke.  The dew was steaming off the land, rabbits were darting about.  I followed a stag clip-clopping along the lane before it turned off towards a huddle of steaming deer.  I followed a hare or two, and probably other animals (if I could remember).  Birds were singing everywhere.

[redshift]

It's a long time ago now, but this ride report is still both the strangest and the best I can currently recall.  Not done anything quite that epic since.

[Basil]

I was at the control in Bude (in Bude with the spirit of audax)

 
Very good 👍

[Jasmine]

I had a bird (blackbird I think) fly full speed head-on into my face. I was travelling over 20mph at the time in a race so couldn't stop to have the WTF moment

On a randonnee in Washington state I thought I'd hallucinated a moose standing in the middle of the road on a long steep descent in the middle of the night. I found out at the next control that it was a real moose, as one of the volunteers was about 2 minutes behind me in their car.

[rr]

My brother had a chaffinch commit suicide by flying into his front wheel quite a few years ago. He thought it may have been attracted by the flashing of the spoke reflectors.

I had a pheasant do this.

[sam]

It's a long time ago now, but this ride report is still both the strangest and the best I can currently recall.  Not done anything quite that epic since.

Ride reports don't get much better than that.

[rafletcher]

I think the most memorable moment was one morning in September a several of years ago, climbing up onto the Causse Noir, possibly from Meyrueis. Once at the top, the air had that blissful autumnal stillness with a promise of warmth to come, and it was absolutely silent. Wonderful.

[Pedal Castro]

 On the way home from work on a very dark night and my light died a mere 4 miles from home so my strategy was listen carefully and if I heard a crunching gravelly sound as I was moving into the curb area I would pull sharply on the bars to the right back onto the tarmac but when that action was required I found out I was on a completely the wrong side of the road.... however the verge was nice and soft.

[T42]

On a sleep-deprived 600 years ago my eyes began to cross on a fast descent, with the effect of making the broken white line in the middle of the road stand up out of it in 3D, giving a fair impression of concrete blocks.  I made it to the bottom intact, found a picnic spot and stretched out on a table for 15-20 minutes.  Made it to the finish without incident.

[matthew]

I can think of two events that stand out:

Best. I had spent a week in the Forest of Galloway, cycling around from a base at a camp site all the while looking out for a red squirrel without seeing any, then on the last day as I was leaving to ride back to Dumfries and the train home I was riding through the Wood of Cree and looking into the forest when movement in front of me on the road caught my attention. There was a red squirrel running across the road. 

Luckiest. commuting to a summer job as a poor student oaf. I was entering a mini roundabout to go straight on when two cars came from my left, the first went across in front of me, the second followed blindly and went behind me. Some how on a damp road where I couldn't change my line I had hit the gap between the two cars. I had to stop at the roadside to let the adrenalin flush from my system and acknowledge the pedestrian I had scared something silly. To this day I don't know what the drivers saw as neither of them stopped.

[rower40]

It's a long time ago now, but this ride report is still both the strangest and the best I can currently recall.  Not done anything quite that epic since.

Ride reports don't get much better than that.

Agreed.  I was going to post a reference to the Three Recumbents Of The Apocalypse ride but it can't compare (and I can't find it in Ride Reports!).  Kim & Charlotte, take a (second) bow please.
Edit to add - Here it is.

[Peter]

The Abergwesyn road on Yr Elenydd.  Those who have done it will know.  No animals or birds were involved in making that memory.