Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => On The Road => Topic started by: tonycollinet on 17 October, 2017, 07:12:57 am
-
Does it make a sound?
Or - as I was cycling home last night looking nervously% at the trees as I passed*, I was wondering - if one falls does it crack and fall slowly as it tears apart giving a vulnerable cyclist time to take evasive action - or does it just thud down like 10 tons of bricks?
Does anyone know?
*one section being particularly nervous under 1/2 mile of tree tunnel.
%I know - an irrational fear of falling trees compared to the (probably) much higher risk of bad drivers that I no longer worry about.
-
[IME]
Yes, they make an almighty noise... But a decent woolly hat can mask this.
If you hear a cracking sound you have time to take evasive action. If you don't hear it, the next thing you know is pain. Wind direction influences which air ambulance you'll get and which side of the country you go to hospital.
Trees do fall. This is not an irrational fear - but vigilance is your friend.
[/IME]
-
I was on a golf course once, no wind to speak of, when I heard a cracking/ splintering noise where this tree almost instantaneously split in two. I think if I have been anywhere near it I wouldn't have been able to outrun it as it happened so quickly.
Gibbo.
-
You need to think this through, you could run from the tree straight into the grip of a bear.
-
Or a bear could be hanging onto the branch and both could fall right on top of you. This is my big fear.
-
Knowing where it's going to fall is the hard bit. After the initial crack - if there is one, since rather than snapping off it might just be pushed over - the crackling echoes around quite a bit. You can tell the general direction but that's about all, so you might put a spurt on and ride in under it.
-
You need to think this through, you could run from the tree straight into the grip of a bear.
Heck! I didn't think of that. Wasn't there a film documentary recently about Sharknados. What if the tree is full of sharks?
-
Bears push down trees to get at the ripe sharks.
-
In which case you should be OK as sharks taste better, to bears at least, than cyclists
-
In which case you should be OK as sharks taste better, to bears at least, than cyclists
If there haven't been ranodomized blind control trials then I'm sorry, but I cannot be swayed by this statement.
-
You need to think this through, you could run from the tree straight into the grip of a bear.
Heck! I didn't think of that. Wasn't there a film documentary recently about Sharknados. What if the tree is full of sharks?
Bears are better than sharks on dry land. So no need to worry about sharks in trees.
-
All this talk of bears and sharks is missing the real danger. Killer squirrels.
-
In which case you should be OK as sharks taste better, to bears at least, than cyclists
If there haven't been ranodomized blind control trials then I'm sorry, but I cannot be swayed by this statement.
Come on! That sort of talk undermines the whole fabric of the internet. If we can't allow unsubstantiated statements to be accepted as fact then the whole thing will collapse
-
Windblown sharks are the main reason Americans believe so sincerely in the right to arm bears. All that punching them on the snout (the sharks, not for the love of god, the bears) doesn't work, not in a tree - save that for the squirrels. That said, there's no guarantee that will dissuade a killer squirrel in a blood rage either. Sometimes you just have to use PowerPoint, it's the only way to be sure.
-
Windblown sharks are the main reason Americans believe so sincerely in the right to arm bears. All that punching them on the snout (the sharks, not for the love of god, the bears) doesn't work, not in a tree - save that for the squirrels. That said, there's no guarantee that will dissuade a killer squirrel in a blood rage either.
I assume from the last sentence that the advice is to save one's punching of the w/b sharks so there are enough punches to punch the k. squirrel(s) rather than not to waste punches on w/b sharks because the k.squirrels will do it for you. But I'd like clarification, and rather urgently please.
-
If a tree (or possibly a squirrel) chucks a conker at a passing recumbentist's shin, it makes a sound that shouldn't be repeated in polite company.
-
You need to think this through, you could run from the tree straight into the grip of a bear.
Heck! I didn't think of that. Wasn't there a film documentary recently about Sharknados. What if the tree is full of sharks?
I think it's something to do with footprints in the custard.
-
If a tree (or possibly a squirrel) chucks a conker at a passing recumbentist's shin, it makes a sound that shouldn't be repeated in polite company.
Those k. squirrels should be careful, if the sharks are nesting they may accidently throw a shark egg and environmentalists will be furious. Not to mention the sharks.
-
Windblown sharks are the main reason Americans believe so sincerely in the right to arm bears. All that punching them on the snout (the sharks, not for the love of god, the bears) doesn't work, not in a tree - save that for the squirrels. That said, there's no guarantee that will dissuade a killer squirrel in a blood rage either.
I assume from the last sentence that the advice is to save one's punching of the w/b sharks so there are enough punches to punch the k. squirrel(s) rather than not to waste punches on w/b sharks because the k.squirrels will do it for you. But I'd like clarification, and rather urgently please.
k.squirrels have evolved to punch w/b.sharks, of course. It's been a vital strategy given that both species are widely prevalent in our woodlands and leads to a balance. This is why, as you stroll through the woods, you only notice the occasional shark in the trees. This is useful, as you can save your attention for the bears.
-
Ta
-
Trees, eh? You can't trust 'em. Never mind the BEARs and the sharks and the sqrls with guns, trees get made into wardrobes and wardrobes are, as any fule kno, the natural habitat of dildo clowns.
-
Sharks DGAF about bears, they're more concerned about alligators. ;)
https://gizmodo.com/scientists-document-opportunistic-alligators-eating-sha-1819517272
-
OK from serious to surreal in 3 posts. What have I learned?
1 - if a tree is going to land on you, there's pretty much nothing you can do, and you are screwed.
2 - trees are less of a worry than the bears inside them.
3 - bears are almost certainly less of a worry than flying sharks.
4 - which are in turn less of a worry than squirrels
5 - YACF is pathologically incapable of taking anything seriously - including imminent DETH from rampaging flocks of killer trees.
That about it? :D
-
Sharks DGAF about bears, they're more concerned about alligators. ;)
https://gizmodo.com/scientists-document-opportunistic-alligators-eating-sha-1819517272
$h!t!
If the 'gators have guns and get organised, we're in serious trouble.
Punch-on-nose-no-helpee.
-
OK from serious to surreal in 3 posts. What have I learned?
1 - if a tree is going to land on you, there's pretty much nothing you can do, and you are screwed.
2 - trees are less of a worry than the bears inside them.
3 - bears are almost certainly less of a worry than flying sharks.
4 - which are in turn less of a worry than squirrels
5 - YACF is pathologically incapable of taking anything seriously - including imminent DETH from rampaging flocks of killer trees.
That about it? :D
You were serious? You're on the wrong forum.
-
Sharks DGAF about bears, they're more concerned about alligators. ;)
https://gizmodo.com/scientists-document-opportunistic-alligators-eating-sha-1819517272
$h!t!
If the 'gators have guns and get organised, we're in serious trouble.
Punch-on-nose-no-helpee.
It’s the bears who are armed not the ‘gators.
Please try to keep up ;D
-
Several years ago we were riding the tandem between Wedmore and Cheddar when a squall line crossed. We continued through the stinging rain and wind to discover a tree which had come down in the last few minutes blocking the road. I think there were only 1-2 cars ahead of us blocked by the tree, so it had only just come down.
Just a matter of timing - we could have been under it.
We've also been knocked off that tandem by a badger. Life is dangerous.
-
especially for badgers
-
especially for badgers
Is that why some people sew them onto their saddlebag? To keep them out harms way?
-
Wrong thread! (I just realised what I did, there, as the street says.)
-
Holy hell: Trees, bears, sharks, squirrels, and now badgers. Is there no end to the number of things trying to kill us? ;D
-
Holy hell: Trees, bears, sharks, squirrels, and now badgers. Is there no end to the number of things trying to kill us? ;D
Got a glancing blow from a deer on the KSW 600 back in 13. So deer as well!
-
At least one Aussie audaxer has been killed on a descent in a collision with a kangaroo.
-
Apart from dog entanglements on shared paths, I have had a glancing blow (bruised knee, broken light) from a deer; a couple of near misses from wowbadgers; a feathery collision with a suicide pheasant[1] and countless tauntings by squirrels. Also several target-fixation incidents with large insects. (There's a surprising amount of mv2 in a bumble bee.) Oh, and I once piloted a tandem while my stoker - who shall remain nameless for legal reasons - kicked a low-flying pigeon.
I've also been held hostage by the Aston ASBO Geese, but that doesn't count, as I wasn't actually riding my bike at the time (I couldn't, there were geese in the way).
While we're on the subject of birds, they seem particularly keen to shit on my tourer. Often when I'm riding it. Bastards.
[1] On Watership Down no less. The rabbits must have been having the day off.
-
At least one Aussie audaxer has been killed on a descent in a collision with a kangaroo.
If that was on a UK event, he was very very unlucky.
-
An Aussie mate was lucky to get away with it after a wallaby landed in his lap while doing 50 mph down a hill. Serious road rash and a totalled bike.
-
Was the wallaby okay?
-
There are wallabies loose in the UK...
-
Trees don't even have to fall on you themselves, they can simply ambush an unwary rider by shedding leaves onto the road. mcshroom ... gws.
-
There are wallabies loose in the UK...
There are indeed. A few miles away.
-
Cyclists have been killed by stags in Richmond Park
-
You have to ask yourself, what does Richmond have over Prague?
-
If a man speaks and a woman doesn't hear him is he still wrong?
-
<Gary Larson> What you all need are sacrificial mime artists for the trees to fall on/wildlife to savage (https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IJpWeSLAy70/V3NDwUL_47I/AAAAAAAAGdg/X-TaB70PElMqffcp0O6uyC3frwqCklApwCLcB/s1600/Ifatreefalls.jpg). </Gary Larson> :demon:
-
I've been hit by a bat (the flying mammal type).
-
I've been hit by a bat (the flying mammal type).
That's happened to me too. I've also been stung by a bee while riding (on the leg).
-
Chased by farm dogs several times
but only nipped on the ankle once.
Taken out by kamikaze pheasants
Gently rear ended a large white van which had done a smoking tyre emergency stop as a deer leapt the hedge into the road.
Several Mexican stand offs with asbo geese.
Two wowbadger near misses.
Attacked by conkers waiting for me to pass under on my morning commute
Several occasions of escaped livestock in the road
Mobbed by jackdaws for some unknown reason
-
Does it make a sound?
A friend of mine was once fired because he pretended that when a tree falls in the middle of a forest and no one is around to hear, the falling tree doesn't make any noise. Of course he was referring to the definition of noise as an annoying sound. A sound can not be annoying if no one is there to be annoyed. It seems that his boss was not ready to accept that kind of reasonings.
-
Was the wallaby okay?
Glenn wanted to Have Words with it, but it was nowhere to be found, so one has to prseume so.
-
The badger made a sharp exit as well.
I think we both still have visible scars from that incident. It was in 2012, and is entirely the fault of railway engineering works.
-
The badger made a sharp exit as well.
I think we both still have visible scars from that incident. It was in 2012, and is entirely the fault of railway engineering works.
Wrong kind of badgers on the line?
-
squirrels are really really good at running away towards the verge until you are right alongside - and then making a dive for your spokes.
-
squirrels are really really good at running away towards the verge until you are right alongside - and then making a dive for your spokes.
They're employing classic sniper-avoidance tactics. I've concluded that The Red Baron needs a front machine gun.
-
Does it make a sound?
Or - as I was cycling home last night looking nervously% at the trees as I passed*, I was wondering - if one falls does it crack and fall slowly as it tears apart giving a vulnerable cyclist time to take evasive action - or does it just thud down like 10 tons of bricks?
Does anyone know?
*one section being particularly nervous under 1/2 mile of tree tunnel.
%I know - an irrational fear of falling trees compared to the (probably) much higher risk of bad drivers that I no longer worry about.
Speaking as an Arborist, I would say that it depends. Both on the condition of the tree, and the species of the tree.
Beech trees (Fagus sylvatica), have a documented predisposition for throwing limbs. Infact among some woodspeople there is a superstition not to say nasty things or swear under a beech tree lest it may here you and throw a branch at you. The conditions under which the limbs tend to fall off are due to rain levels and related conditions, which for the life of me I can't remember right now. If one falls, chances are you will hear the crack and then notice the large lump of wood landing shortly after.
However, where this gets blurry is that the branch may have gone crack long ago, fallen a bit, and had it's fall broken by a lower limb. Here it then sits until such time as the movement of the tree in the wind puts it in a position where that final gentle shove pushes it off the side and *splat*. This will be silent, apart from any small branches it hits on the way past.
As for if a tree falling makes a sound. Oh yes. for a tree to fall typically the ground needs to be saturated such that the roots are loosed, even so there's likely to be tearing of smaller roots and creeking noises as the root plate tilts up. It makes a horrible noise that you don't want to hear.
For a tree to break and not lift up with it's root plate is very rare, and usually implies that there has been some structural weakness (such as included bark at a fork), but this is going to require substantial inputs of energy (read wind) to make it go split.
So to summaries, parts of tree (tho large in scope) can fall relatively silently. But a whole tree is likely to make a horrendous noise giving you just enough time to turn and face your doom before it squashes you.
HTH.
J
-
The badger made a sharp exit as well.
I think we both still have visible scars from that incident. It was in 2012, and is entirely the fault of railway engineering works.
Wrong kind of badgers on the line?
Rail replacement badgers?
-
The badger made a sharp exit as well.
I think we both still have visible scars from that incident. It was in 2012, and is entirely the fault of railway engineering works.
Wrong kind of badgers on the line?
Rail replacement badgers?
Blame Beeching since it was on a disused railway line cycle path.
Blame ECML upgrades at Hitchin for us being there at 11pm instead of much earlier.
-
Does no one else have regular very near misses with , necessitating slamming the anchors on for , rabbits?
-
I thought sheep attacks would be more prevalent.
-
I thought sheep attacks would be more prevalent.
Hmm. Usually they're running away, with varying degrees of competence. I've occasionally had to stop when they've failed to get out of the way in a timely manner.
I once had a hairy (wooly?) moment when a sheep dropped into the road in front of me while I was driving a car, thobut.
-
I thought sheep attacks would be more prevalent.
Sheep are only a risk when on the opposite side of the road to other sheep. They are fairly likely to decide that being on the same side of the road as their mates is more important than not being run over.
-
Anecdotally, I've found that the botheredness of sheep is inversely proportional to the speed of the passing cyclist. Once you're doing 20mph or more they presumably categorise you as a motor vehicle, which they're used to ignoring as they stand at the side of the road. Puff your way up a hill at 5mph, on the other hand, and sheep will scatter in spite of there being a fence and a ditch between you.
-
It's the puffing that scares them. A genetic memory of the first steam train, when great-grandaddy sheepy got muttoned by a Rocket.
-
Does no one else have regular very near misses with , necessitating slamming the anchors on for , rabbits?
Yep!
Riding home from work in an evening on the cycle path round the back of Alcuin college (University of York) is like heading through a live action remake of "Watership Down!"
If there hasn't been a dog emptier round recently, there's hundreds of the little blighters scattering in front of you.
Mind you, they're still better than fighting your way through the <expletive> geese!! :-O
-
I encounter rabbits regularly enough, but they usually have the sense to run *away* from the road. Unless they're too far gone with myxomatosis and just sit there. Either way, not particularly hazardous.
-
Sadly, the rabbits on that part of campus are nowhere near a road and only used to pedestrians, dog emptiers and the occasional cyclist, so tend to scatter all over the place when the aforementioned occasional cyclist appears.
-
Many prey when chased will zigzag to try and put off the predator. Alas your average bunny is unable to deal with the fact the predator (bike) isn't actually chasing it, and with a narrow field, such as a country lane, it zig zaps while the cyclist continues straight on... alas the stopping distance is insufficient to stop before the wheel spinning away in front of it. Stupid rabbits.
Makes a hell of a mdss...
J
-
I've had a rabbit zig-zag in front of me when I was on a motorbike. It zigged right, I moved left, and it zagged left into my rear wheel.
It's been many bunny generations since then. I wonder if their tactics have evolved at all.
-
If a tree is overloaded with snow and ice, and the top portion of it decides that gravity has a point, it is definitely audible with an 'Oh $#!^, where is that?' thought to make sure you are not underneath an icy javelin of deth.
-
I don't think the zig zagging is entirely a prey species thing, as cats do it too.
-
And another thing...
Trees tend to attract sky electricity. I don't think there is time to escape an exploding tree if it is hit by lightning. Hot burning wooden daggers of death. Riding a carbon bike through an electrical storm at 2am when the only object taller than you is a tree can be nerve-wracking. In my experience.
-
In rowing, you hear a thunder clap, you get off the water ASAP.
30 minutes after the last thunder clap, you can go out again.
-
Not so easy on a boat at sea, with a tall sticky-up metal thing.
-
Not so easy on a boat at sea, with a tall sticky-up metal thing.
You need a short length of chain which you attach to the appropriately named chain-plates and dangle said chain into the water. Job done.
-
I had an encounter with a kamikaze rabbit. It ran straight at my front wheel, which was a bloody good aim coz I was doing about 30 at the time. I didn't realise what it was at first; I just saw something out of the corner of my eye, felt a small bump, and realised there appeared to be something in my front wheel.
It had done a good job on itself. Headbutted the spokes which forced its head under and between the wheel and the lower mudguard stay, promptly broke said stay which caused it to rise upwards whereupon the Coney head came out of the other side to finish garotting itself on the upper mudguard stay.
A very successful suicide attempt all around.
And before you ask I only had one pannier which was already loaded with work clothes and laptop; so I left it for the foxes
-
I was offed by a heron once. The silly bugger burst out of a ditch right into me. I don't know who was more frightened, me or him?
Them things is BIG
-
..and rather sharp too:o It can be difficult to distinguish them from a handsaw.
-
.....
I once had a hairy (wooly?) moment when a sheep dropped into the road in front of me while I was driving a car, thobut.
Presumably from the lesser known but still very effective sheep parachute regiment. Famed for their tactic of dispatching the enemy by following each other onto his head.