Author Topic: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?  (Read 19773 times)

Mrs Pingu

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #50 on: 13 October, 2014, 06:21:41 pm »
A bee bounced off my head once when I was cycling to work. It hurt quite a lot. I wish I'd been wearing a helmet.

There's a surprising amount of mv2 in a bee.

They always seem to hit me in the face on 30mph descents.  Suspect a degree of target fixation involved.

My father had a tale of a pre-war motor cyclist colliding with a bee and just managing to stop at the roadside before he keeled over.

The most painful insect collisions I've had (apart from a wasp with sting deployed) were just below the summit of Mt. Ventoux ten years ago: the wind was whipping beetles like pebbles off the top and across the initial 10% bit of the downgrade to Malaucène. Between that and steering shimmy I had an interesting time.

Just at the start of the climb up Ventoux out of Malaucene this year I got stung by an unidentified stingy thing, about 1 cm down from the crease where my thigh meets my lady garden, and it chafed against the saddle every time I pedalled. (Yes, I know, I've got fat thighs). I've still got the scar. Still, once upon a time I would have spat my dummy out, thrown the bike into a bush and gone off in a strop, I'm obviously slightly more bad ass these days.... :P
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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #51 on: 13 October, 2014, 06:52:10 pm »
I ran over a badger on the Carlisle-Newcastle night ride last month, but it was already dead. (I was looking at a signpost, and didn't notice the badger until it was too late to avoid it. It was quite large, so I was surprised I didn't fall off!).

mcshroom

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #52 on: 13 October, 2014, 07:05:00 pm »
Not sure hitting dead animals counts :P
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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #53 on: 13 October, 2014, 09:05:16 pm »
I was going down a 1-10 hill near Slough when tufty the squirrel did not look right left and right again and run into my path. He saw me coming and stopped so my front wheels would miss him. No one had told him about trike's. There was a bump and when I stopped and looked round there was no tufty. I bet he had a headache  ::-) :)
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T42

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #54 on: 13 October, 2014, 09:29:47 pm »
A fw years ago I was hit by a roe-deer on a 400 through the Jura at dead of night in the fog. We were climbing at the time so I wasn't going fast. They're quite small so I didn't fall off, and it staggered away before I could see it other than with peripheral vision; to me it was white and I thought it was a sheep until chum following told me.  I had a bit of a cut on my shin - nothing much.
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Wascally Weasel

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #55 on: 14 October, 2014, 03:54:46 pm »
One of the times I was riding up and down Box Hill this summer, I was riding along past the Cafe, heading for the viewpoint and saw a family walking along the adjacent path with kids in tow kicking a ball along – I felt a slight thump on my rear wheel and looked back for the offending ball to see that a squirrel had run through my rear wheel.  I evidently was going pretty slowly!

Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #56 on: 15 October, 2014, 10:56:24 am »
I had a near miss with a squirrel on Sunday. It decided to run across a cyclepath just in front of me.
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Aunt Maud

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #57 on: 15 October, 2014, 01:51:31 pm »
I did a double Belgian Badger slalom at 50kph in the middle of the night in......erm.....Belgium. So watch out if you're there they come in pairs.

Wowbagger

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #58 on: 15 October, 2014, 02:23:29 pm »
Were they carrying goalposts?
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Mr Larrington

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #59 on: 28 October, 2014, 10:57:25 am »
Were they carrying goalposts?

Or jumpers?

My mate Mr Sheen once murdered a sparrow with a fully-faired Windcheetah on the back straight at Eastway.
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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #60 on: 28 October, 2014, 10:30:40 pm »
a couple of years ago I got a fat lip from a bat, the fluffy flappy sort not the gray nicholls type :) and before that I did have a run in with a pig admittedly I was on the "pub bike" and on the return journey, safely negotiated the cattle grid but the pig got the better of me!! ;) 

Pingu

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #61 on: 29 October, 2014, 12:25:27 pm »
I was hit in the chest by a bat a couple of years ago near Lix Toll.

Mr Larrington

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #62 on: 29 October, 2014, 11:56:01 pm »
I think it was 2006 when I was chased by a wolf on the Invicta 400.  Normal dogs don't makes noises like that thing did :o
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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #63 on: 08 October, 2020, 11:19:41 pm »
Of course there's a thread for this.

Squirrel on a perpendicular approach across the port bow.
Mutual swerving, some braking, squirrel makes it to the right hand side of my front wheel.
Out of my peripheral vision I see it looping back around to dart back from whence it came.
Rear end of the bike lifts up a little bit...

It was able to make it back into the verge with some speed, but knowing how heavy both my pannier and I are, I'm not confident of a full and speedy recovery.

Kim

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #64 on: 08 October, 2020, 11:45:51 pm »
Of course there's a thread for this.

I should have thought of that after the wabbit incident.

Ben T

Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #65 on: 09 October, 2020, 12:05:51 am »
Of course there's a thread for this.

Squirrel on a perpendicular approach across the port bow.
Mutual swerving, some braking, squirrel makes it to the right hand side of my front wheel.
Out of my peripheral vision I see it looping back around to dart back from whence it came.
Rear end of the bike lifts up a little bit...

It was able to make it back into the verge with some speed, but knowing how heavy both my pannier and I are, I'm not confident of a full and speedy recovery.

I once did the exact same as that but with a dog.

Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #66 on: 09 October, 2020, 12:40:34 pm »
Of course there's a thread for this.

Squirrel on a perpendicular approach across the port bow.
Mutual swerving, some braking, squirrel makes it to the right hand side of my front wheel.
Out of my peripheral vision I see it looping back around to dart back from whence it came.
Rear end of the bike lifts up a little bit...

It was able to make it back into the verge with some speed, but knowing how heavy both my pannier and I are, I'm not confident of a full and speedy recovery.

I had exactly the same earlier this year. Reminded me of that apocryphal car insurance quote: "He was all over the road. I had to swerve several times before I hit him." Squirrel did crawl off, but I think a full recovery unlikely.

Squirrels' survival instincts definitely need an upgrade.

ElyDave

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #67 on: 09 October, 2020, 02:32:36 pm »
1) three peasantspheasants took off from the verge to my left and headed across the road in front of me - I swear one of them went between my wheels
b) riding up the 2-mile stretch from the roundabout to my village I saw a shimmering haze in the distance.  It was summer.  Shimmering haze turns out to be a swarm of bees, into which riding at 20mph is not a good idea. I came out the other side with about a dozen confused bees stuck to jersey, shorts and socks by the spiky bits of their feet and legs. Realising this I swatted them off, still at about 20mph as a white van man came the other way with eyes like saucers. I counted about half a dozen stings when I got home.
iii) squirrel, they're too bloody agile. I had one run alongside me for about 50yds before ducking back into the verge
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CrazyEnglishTriathlete

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #68 on: 09 October, 2020, 09:38:09 pm »
I bunny hopped a squirrel on a club run once, or at least I think I managed to bunny hop it.  It was quite an impressive feat as normally I'm not coordinated enough to bunny hop.
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Wowbagger

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #69 on: 09 October, 2020, 09:40:00 pm »
Would that not by definition be a squirrel hop?
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CrazyEnglishTriathlete

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #70 on: 10 October, 2020, 05:49:21 am »
Would that not by definition be a squirrel hop?

That sounds like some new form of dance to watch out for on Strictly.  Or possible an obscure Devonian form of beer flavouring?
Eddington Numbers 130 (imperial), 182 (metric) 571 (furlongs)  114 (nautical miles)

Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #71 on: 03 February, 2021, 01:55:55 pm »
While I was cycling along a road in suburban Edinburgh, a rat decided it would be a good idea to run across the road from a garden towards the park on the other side. The obvious route was through my front wheel rather than, say, waiting a couple of seconds and strolling across the otherwise-abandoned road. I'm convinced that it did about 1.5 circuits trapped in the spokes before being flipped out at the top (gaining decent altitude in the process) and scampering off, seemingly unharmed. [I'm well aware it's unlikely it did more than half a loop, since I didn't go over the handlebars. Maybe time did that slowing down thing when you are sure you're about to crash.]

I also had a small bird fly out of a hedge just as I was passing. It hit my rear wheel and was pinged forward past me before bouncing up the road. It didn't look very alive after that.  :'(

Lastly, I (got) hit (by) a bird while moving in excess of R17* along the Solar System Way in York. It decided that the safest way to negotiate a cyclist was to fly directly into his thigh. I think it was alright, but probably had a bit of a headache.

* I don't know what that actually means, or if I got it right, but I'm trying to fit in. I was going pretty fast, anyway.

Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #72 on: 03 February, 2021, 01:58:15 pm »
Not while cycling, but in a car (mentioned in the 'Wild things' thread).

Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #73 on: 13 February, 2021, 11:26:33 am »
Wasn't a squirrel and didn't run over them, but had a moment when a mother and kit Pine Marten were crossing the road in front of me and then having realised I was coming turned and ran back the way they came which ended up being closer to the wheel that I would have liked!

Wowbagger

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Re: Who's run over a squirrel while cycling?
« Reply #74 on: 14 February, 2021, 02:06:37 pm »
That's exciting! I assume that was in Scotland...?
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