What have you run over?

[Steampunk]

The asphalt in front of me started to crack open, right down the yellow line in the middle of the road. I hugged the right side as close as I could, but the crack widened in front of me. From inside the crack, I could hear sounds the like of which I had never heard before. The guteral screams of a thousand lost sould poured from the abyss that had formed in the road.

I was getting amped up for a Jens Voigt reference...

 

[Rex789]

One dark morning I was starting my commute and a mother raccoon and several youngsters ran out in front of me. I missed mom and the first little one but clocked the second one with my back tire. Kind of startling to say the least.

On several long rides I've hit the wall but probably not same thing as what this thread is looking for.

 

[Oldman]

Lots of squirrels lately - up until then it was dogs and unfortunatley other riders.

I did have a teammate a while ago who managed to have a collision with a cow!! Needless to say he came off second best.

Riding the King's Ridge/Cazdero ride with some Mercury guys, years ago. The road is serpentine with missing pavement and 20%+ climbs and descents. I hit the descent section first and noticed much cow **** and became wary. Coming around a very tight corkscrew descent I split a 1,000 lb cow from her 400 lb calf, narrowly missing both on the 10' wide road. I stopped and yelled uphill just in time to see a Mercury jersey broadside the calf; knocking it over! JP (his real initials) got up, unscathed just in time to be chased by the angry cow.

Another ride had a feisty Jack Russell terrier come bounding up an incline and run under my bottom bracket. I hit it with the rear wheel. The little demon wheeled around and ran in front of a guy 10 riders back, taking him down; then ran away like he was on fire. Resilient little devil.

 

[TheDude]

A car door, bird, and a drunk. Only the bird wasn't at fault, as they are too dumb to know any better. I kind of saw the drunk coming, and was able to slow down and avoid to more of a graze than run-over.

 

[TheDude]

For some reason, I can never get anyone to believe that story.

Sure, I'll bite. I read about it in the Weekly World News anyway, so it has to be true.

 

[valentius borealis]

I once ran over a toddler when I was a kid. Maybe there's a reason that I haven't ridden a bike at all since I was about 12.

 

[ladyvader]

The only thing I've ran over is a gecko. I have been chased by several dogs that my foot came very close to the dogs head.

 

[Oldman]

A car door, bird, and a drunk. Only the bird wasn't at fault, as they are too dumb to know any better. I kind of saw the drunk coming, and was able to slow down and avoid to more of a graze than run-over.

Hey, you've all seen a version of this one: imagine a very fast crit in a small country burg with a wide downtown boulevard. The race is going full gas at 2pm; apparently the time real hard drinkers need a smoke break. Walking to the center of the street right at the start/finish line the local guy, swerving and blinking at the sunlight; heard the loud caution from the announcer and the fans. He froze in the middle of the street holding his pack of Lucky Strikes in the air like a vampire-repellent cross. The entire 80 rider pack split around him at 35 mph with nary a strike. I'm sure he needed a change of shorts after that.

 

[Fourier]

Out on a rainy ride with a friend, right on the descent we were trailing close to a relatively slow car trying to pass it. Because we were really close to it we couldn't see so far ahead. Suddenly my friend ahead of me tried to avoid some roadkill, neither him nor I were successfull and ran over it.
I asked: was that a rat?
He replied: No, Racoon!!!

Poor little fury bandit

 

[TRDean]

Out on a rainy ride with a friend, right on the descent we were trailing close to a relatively slow car trying to pass it. Because we were really close to it we couldn't see so far ahead. Suddenly my friend ahead of me tried to avoid some roadkill, neither him nor I were successfull and ran over it.
I asked: was that a rat?
He replied: No, Racoon!!!

Poor little fury bandit

I have a similar story...I was about 13 at the time. I rode with an older kid (18-19 years old). He always bunny hopped over roadkill. Well one hot summer day we were going down a hill and there was a raccoon at the bottom. He was dead a while and all swelled up. I thought I would impress my older friend and ride over the **** and "pop" it!! Well, didn't go as planned. That thing was hard as a rock and I went head over heals over bicycle onto the ground. I was not hurt physically, but my pride was a little bruised.

 

[Angliru]

2007 Summer, group recovery ride through suburbia trailing an attractive woman with a foreign accent on a nice looking Wilier. Suddenly she hits a manhole cover and begins falling across the road in front of me. There's a rider to my right and my only option is to veer left but she keeps rolling across the road until next thing I know I'm riding over her. I fall and my friend who was trailing behind me rides over my now sprawled rear wheel, bending it
beyond repair. He subsequently is knocked unconscious and is breathing sporadically. Luckily a medical professional was present to assist my friend who ended having to be sent via EMS to emergency. Ultimately his injuries were a mild concussion and a badly bruised shoulder. The attractive lady that I ran over was fine aside from the imprint from my chainring in her back.
I've yet to seen her again since the accident. My injuries were limited to minor abrasions and my taco'd rear wheel.

 

[Ripper]

A team mate. Hey, he went down in front of me ... I kind of rolled over/stepped on him (and kept going)

 

[Ripper]

Out on a rainy ride with a friend, right on the descent we were trailing close to a relatively slow car trying to pass it. Because we were really close to it we couldn't see so far ahead. Suddenly my friend ahead of me tried to avoid some roadkill, neither him nor I were successfull and ran over it.
I asked: was that a rat?
He replied: No, Racoon!!!

Poor little fury bandit

Racoon's are nasty little things, you did the world a favour.

 

[biker9]

what have you run over

i have run over snakes,dead kangaroo guts(phew),hail stones the size of marbles,a bike and lots of things the get stuck in your tyres.that includes pop rivets and razor blades,which incidently lead to me burning my feet on the road,i took off my shoes to walk home only about 400 metres.

 

[rhubroma]

A wild boar.

 

[MrContador]

I've seen a badger twice (once dead, once alive), some squirrels and a fox.

 

[Boeing]

I had a squirrel run into my front wheel. the spokes launched him in the air and he was eye to eye. kind of freaky

Then of course there is that dislodged manhole cover at 45mpg on my roadie in a tuck woke up in ER for 9 days with a broken L1, L2, scapula, collarbone. hyper extended neck. unconscious, concussion head to *** and a ton of skin. lucky for everyone I was at the back trying to latch on

I hit the front brake too hard once on a big shuttle run with my first disc brake set. still have gravel in my elbows

I went for a ride with my now wife and hit it in the back country once

 

[himesh]

road riding is interesting

click here to know more

 

[skippy254]

I've run over all manner of road kill, my wiener dogs head (she is still alive 8 years later), a large part of a tree in the roadway in the dark when I was riding with no hands (very painful), a few people in mtb races, a bike, bull snakes and one rattler.

I've nearly hit cows, a fox, birds, a coyote and was knocked over by a car backing up. Amazingly I semi landed on my feet when I was hit by the car and received very little in the way of injuries.

Interesting thread.