So I killed a squirrel today. On my bike.

[HardDrive]

Bright sunny fall day, I take off for a ride. I'm in my first mile, so I roll up the speed a bit to get the blood flowing.

Suddenly, a squirrel, being chased by another one darts out into the street, and stops right under my front tire. I was probably going 18mph-ish, I had zero time to react. *bump* *bump*
My front wheel gets a bit off kilter and I have to recover. I stop, stunned at what had just happened. I look back, and the squirrel is moving its tail a bit, and I though perhaps it was just stunned. Nope. I walked back, and it was DOA by the time I got there.

Crazy. My dad is 72, and has been a rider since his early 30s. I asked him if he had every hit one, and he just laughed at me and said no. It's certainly not on par with nostatic taking out a coyote at 70mph, but a surprising moment none the less.

EDIT to be clear, I was on my bicycle, not moto

[vash]

hahah..

same thing happened to me three days ago..but i missed. i was so close i stopped to look back to check out the carnage. i dont know how that thing survived..i admit, i did close my eyes..

roadbike?

and your dad..i've seen his pics. pretty sure the sonic boom from his super hero legs warns the woodland creatures ahead to stay clear.

[bivenator]

At least the squirrel died doing what it loved.


Story is making me laugh and I'm not sure why?

[herr_oberst]

I sideswiped a rooster while out cycling this summer. He ran off before I could see if he was ok..the feathers in the spokes let me know it was a close shave!

[jyl]

That was a clean kill, congrats. The dirty kill is when the squirrel gets into your spokes and then pureed by the spokes and fork.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

I had zero time to react. *bump* *bump*

Nice. No snapping noises?

Squirrel killer.

Mid Ohio death dealer.

[Otter74]

Last fall I was on a ride along the I&M Canal trail moving at a pretty good clip when something like a hedgehog bolted out from some brush and into my path (like you, no time to react) and I rolled him right over and went down. I saw just enough of a glimpse of him to see him scurry into brush by the canal bank. No idea how to he came out; I was on gravel and came out sore but OK.

[wdfifteen]

A righteous kill dude. Send a report to IAD, get your mandatory 3 days admin leave, and try to put it behind you. Unless of course you got off your bike and threw it at the squirrel. Then yer screwed.

[DanielDudley]

It was his time. You couldn't hit another for money.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Around here are stories of a rider who got hit by a deer.
A friend came and picked him up.
While driving home in the car, they hit another deer.
After recovering from the initial deer hit, he went riding again.
He hit a bear.
The guy quit riding.

[widgeon13]

Good thing he didn't get in the spokes!

[Bill Verburg]

Lots of close calls w/ squirrels but no hits, chipmunks on the other hand.....

[on2wheels52]

It's been a while but I've clipped a few, not on a push bike of course. They certainly have a difficult time deciding which way to go. I just maintain course and slow down, I'm not going in the ditch to avoid a critter.
Jim

[GH85Carrera]

One of the guys in our local PCA region was on a group drive to see the fall foliage a coupe of years ago. As he was driving along in the middle of the pack a beaver ran out in front of him. He nailed it and it tore up his spoiler and embedded hair in the crack of broken parts. He kept that part with the embedded hair and had to get a new spoiler.

On a rural road trip up to Enid, OK my wife mentioned a lifetime goal was to see a live armadillo on the side of the road. We drove past one shortly after that. On the way home in that same area a dillo decided to cross the road right in front of my El Camino. I got him on the front cross member.

[johnco]

I hit an armadillo one night on a pitch black road. over the handlebars I go onto the blacktop. never saw it until right before the hit and it was gone after I got back up.

[David]

Never hit one myself but a couple weeks ago I almost hit a rat. I was clipping along pretty good with a tailwind and he ran across at full speed right in front of me. What made it especially funny was he did sort of a superman leap for the last 3 feet of road crossing right before I would have hit him.

It would really suck to get one in the spokes but you have to wonder if the bladed spokes would make a clean slice.

[Tobra]

I ran over a rattle snake on my bike when I was a kid, pulled my feet up so he could not get me, went back, finished him with my pocket knife and took his rattle. Hit a duck one time on my bike when I was going to college, knocked the wind out of both of us, but no significant injuries on either side.

Armadillos carry leprosy, and a number of other nasty diseases.

[911boost]

I ran into a big root on my mountain bike and ate dirt, resulting in a broken hand.

The next time I rode to class, with a cast on my hand, I ran into a lesabre, of the Buick variety that ran a stop sign. I monkey rolled like Sniper over the hood and ended up on my feet. I wasn't hurt, but almost pulled out my cold steel katanna and finished the driver off.

Ok, maybe I didn't almost show my mall ninja skills, but I did walk to class because my front wheel was taco'ed.

[sleepy911]

Ok here's a good one.
My father in law works at a huge company and rides his bike to work. One day on his way to work he sees a dead cat and picks it up. When he gets to work he sticks it in the spokes of his friends bike. When he come out after work the bike is gone. The next day he sees his friend at the bike rack and says "did you find anything special on your bike yesterday?" His friend responded "I didn't work yesterday".

[intakexhaust]

Never ran over a chipmunk or squirrel but have come close. A few snakes, yes. Most recent while cycling was to witness a silent predator hawk swoop down maybe 15 ft. from me and pick up a rat! The hawk then carried it up to a low hanging branch, securely holding the rat in one claw and balancing on the other. I briefly stopped to observe and it just sort of stared at me. Really cool to see.

Also while on a recent ride, I was carrying my bright colored hydra / backpack and wasn't sure if a hawk was checking it out, thinking perhaps it was some carcass or game. I don't know but it cruised with me for a short distance and very low altitude. Low enough to where it spooked me.