Opossum!

[cawright1375]

Here is an interesting scenario and a question to follow...

This morning on my commute to work I was descending a small hill and at the bottom of this hill I noticed something in the road to my immediate left, like less than a foot from my left shoe. The snarling face I saw was that of a Opossum. Now at the point at which I noticed him I was doing about 25-30 and was about to start a short but steep climb.

So given the speed I was going what do you think would have happened? Would I have gone down, would the Opossum have been sliced in half by my wheels (Race X Lite fyi).

Oh and lest I forget to mention it a skunk had only moments earlier crossed or rather meandered in front of me. Ah New Hampshire.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

Here is an interesting scenario and a question to follow...

This morning on my commute to work I was descending a small hill and at the bottom of this hill I noticed something in the road to my immediate left, like less than a foot from my left shoe. The snarling face I saw was that of a Opossum. Now at the point at which I noticed him I was doing about 25-30 and was about to start a short but steep climb.

So given the speed I was going what do you think would have happened? Would I have gone down, would the Opossum have been sliced in half by my wheels (Race X Lite fyi).

Oh and lest I forget to mention it a skunk had only moments earlier crossed or rather meandered in front of me. Ah New Hampshire.

Haha you would broken the poor things ribs and rode right over him, not slicing him in half and maybe going down after losing your balance.

I hit a small snake once whilst mountain biking. The knobs in my tires grabbed and pulled him into the fork which managed to break the little guy in half. I was doing about a 17-20 at that point.

 

[David Suro]

Riding through rural Florida provided many encounters with different critters.

'Possums, armadillos, racoons, gators, snakes, frogs, and well as domesticaded pets crowd the roadsides. The most common type of critter was roadkill critter.

Learning to "bunny hop" was a crucial skill since some of the roads were crowded with cars as well as roadkill and swerving to miss something in the road would have been too dangerous. "Bunny hopping" roadkill and living critters is a lot of fun.

 

[scribe]

The natural instinct should be to bunny hop. Anyone riding on two wheels since childhood would at the very least get some momentum going upward.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

Riding through rural Florida provided many encounters with different critters.

'Possums, armadillos, racoons, gators, snakes, frogs, and well as domesticaded pets crowd the roadsides. The most common type of critter was roadkill critter.

Learning to "bunny hop" was a crucial skill since some of the roads were crowded with cars as well as roadkill and swerving to miss something in the road would have been too dangerous. "Bunny hopping" roadkill and living critters is a lot of fun.

So true. My first time on a group ride in florida we passed a dead squirrel. Everybody pointed and went around it. I just hopped over it. Coming to road cycling from a mountain bike background, my first instinct is to always jump the darn thing.

 

[forty four]

i was on mulholland and a squirell fed up with his furry existence thought suicide by bike was a good idea. i was doing about 30mph on a mild corner the squirell was unavoidable collision imminent anyways hit the ****er felt like a lively wet rag or something. i did not go down the squirell was killed though not cut in half.

 

[4bidon]

OK, everyone cue the squirrel stories.

Northern California, taking a bike path home after a ride. Slowed down to squeeze through the posts at a street crossing. Something rustles in the dry leaves next to the path, and POW, a squirrel leaps straight into my front wheel. Guess he didn't see the black spokes. He gets pulled right through the fork and flops out dead. I feel a fine sprinkling on my shins, and don't want to look down.

Luckily we were going at a walking pace -- I've seen the pictures of endos and snapped forks. OK, I guess I have to look at my legs sometime. Nothing! My friend looks at the carcass and says it's intact (even w/ flat spokes) but missing a lot of hair. So that was the sprinkling feeling. I really didn't want to wash squirrel blood off my legs with Cytomax.

The front wheel -- not even a trace of incident. The fork however: the poor thing's teeth scored one of the blades from back to front, right through the top carbon layers. New fork ASAP. Now I see why squirrel attack snaps them sometimes. Thankful to be unharmed, but RIP squirrel.

 

[scribe]

I am not getting a squirrel-induced endo. Granted, a little ****** lacing your spokes can be potentially very bad, but I don't see 200lbs of speeding bike/rider yielding in the least to a squirrel, even at dead-on t-bone.

 

[usedtobefast]

i bunny hopped a crashed rider in road race in Fontana,Ca.
does that count?

 

[scribe]

i bunny hopped a crashed rider in road race in Fontana,Ca.
does that count?

Depends on if you left some tread tracks on his body.

 

[usedtobefast]

Depends on if you left some tread tracks on his body.

my rear wheel just touched him,so maybe...

 

[scribe]

btw: I think the mistake some cyclist make is trying to swerve to miss these critters. Many of them can change directions on a dime. If you check one at a bad angle, it's lights out. Best angle to one of those critters is a right angle with good position.

The one that really worries me is deer.

 

[usedtobefast]

as my brother used to say "hit 'em, i hate 'em"
a deer...yikes!

 

[STODRR]

a deer...yikes!

I have been hit by a deer. I saw standing on the side of the road ready to cross. What she did was wait for two cars to pass by then bolted right into the side of me. she never saw me I guess because she was paying attention to the cars. I challenge anybody to try and bunny hope her.

 

[karlboss]

I have been hit by a deer. I saw standing on the side of the road ready to cross. What she did was wait for two cars to pass by then bolted right into the side of me. she never saw me I guess because she was paying attention to the cars. I challenge anybody to try and bunny hope her.

You would be amazed at the height trials riders get...

 

[scribe]

Uh. At that point, I'd rather just smash into it like the furry pillow it is.