Strangest things you've encountered while riding

I admit to stealing this thread idea from Bike Journal.

Last Sunday, I headed out at 5:00am and as I'm coming up a hill on the trail, I saw what I thought was a pile of clothes in the trail. As I got closer, my "mother of all headlights" shined on a passed out drunk fella--older gent wearing a wifebeater t-shirt and khaki shorts--lying across the right lane of the trail. I was tempted to stop to see if he was OK but didn't want to risk waking him up if he were a psycho or something. I figured he had one too many and simply decided the warm trail was a good place to snooze (it was during our heatwave here in DC). He looked rather peaceful--no signs of blood, bruises, etc.

Hmmm.

I commute through a shady neighborhood, which has given me some great road items to pass by:

An unwrapped condom (didn't check if it was used or not)

A rather large rat, flattened like a pancake. Perhaps a rat rug.

A diaper (again didn't look to see if it was used)

I've seen the oddest things in Eugene...
multiple unwrapped condoms (the way they're wrapped, I assume when they're unwrapped, they're used...) all over campus
bumcamps (sleeping bags laid out, but no one home)
shopping carts in the Millrace (a new one every year)
random car accidents

In Hillsboro, it's pretty much limited to
People who aren't home letting their dogs loose
novelty roadkill
yuppies sans helmets
poor folks sans helmets
(ever notice how it's either the yuppies who are 'too cool' for head sweat/helmet head, or the poor/homeless people on walmart bikes (or possibly stolen bikes) who never wear helmets? Do they ever look at each other and then at the helmet-donning community and 'get it'?)
Groundscores (t-shirts, etc that I throw in my bag and wash the heck out of when I get home)
.... uh... that's it. =P

What fun!
Dead skunks-a-plenty along a rural road. There were 3 dead ones in about a quarter mile stretch. A family out for a walk? Just coincidence? Perhaps the county should invest in one of those yellow diamond deer crossing signs with a skunk on it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kitsune06

(ever notice how it's either the yuppies who are 'too cool' for head sweat/helmet head, or the poor/homeless people on walmart bikes (or possibly stolen bikes) who never wear helmets? Do they ever look at each other and then at the helmet-donning community and 'get it'?)
P

---

I've wondered that myself....
Hmm...is a head/brain not worth a $15 dollar minimum investment. So foolish...

Turkeys standing in the road. Saw one on my commute a couple weeks ago - luckily on the other side of the street. Last year there was a turkey that hung out at the major intersection in town and would run up and down the double yellow line during rush hour. For strange objects on the road, spring is the best time because you can see stuff melting out of the snowbanks that has been there all winter - mostly mittens and other clothing.

While riding over the Willamette River Bridge a few summers ago my friend and I saw a hot air balloon with the basket skimming along the river. The scary thing is that the car coming the other way slowed to gawk (it was a spectacular sight, really!) and the car behind it wasn't paying attention and swerved into our lane. Not good on that bridge!

Later, my family came for a visit and we booked a flight with the same hot air balloon company (Vista Balloons, out of Newberg, OR) and they do skim the surface of the river. Amazing the control they have with those things! We had a blast helping set up the balloons and break them down, then off to a nice champagne brunch. It was delish!

The strangest things I've encountered while riding were a baby rattlesnake and a dead body. Not together. Actually, we saw several baby rattlesnakes on the same ride; my advice is that if you are riding with a partner, you not ever shout back at her to be careful going around that pole because there's a rattlesnake coiled around it. That's just going to make her fall, okay?

The dead body turned up while we were stopped and eating lunch. It was an elderly woman who had drowned in the river, but we had to sit around for over an hour waiting for the cops to get there, and then we had to be interviewed, and it was sad and awful and I don't really recommend it any more than I recommend riding over baby rattlesnakes.

My husband encountered a young mountain lion once, and a full size rattler. He carries a cell phone so he took pictures.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by xeney

The strangest things I've encountered while riding were a baby rattlesnake and a dead body. Not together. Actually, we saw several baby rattlesnakes on the same ride; my advice is that if you are riding with a partner, you not ever shout back at her to be careful going around that pole because there's a rattlesnake coiled around it. That's just going to make her fall, okay?

The dead body turned up while we were stopped and eating lunch. It was an elderly woman who had drowned in the river, but we had to sit around for over an hour waiting for the cops to get there, and then we had to be interviewed, and it was sad and awful and I don't really recommend it any more than I recommend riding over baby rattlesnakes.

My husband encountered a young mountain lion once, and a full size rattler. He carries a cell phone so he took pictures.

---

WOW! I hope not to encounter any of those things, ever.

Well, I don't want to see any dead bodies, but the other day I was out riding before dawn and it was still dark. Up ahead, I saw an dark animal shape crossing the road. I thought it might be a skunk so I slowed down and stopped (didn't want to spook the beastie and get sprayed).
Under a streetlamp, I looked closer and discovered it was a large opossum, complete with a score of young 'uns clinging onto her back. Momssum trundled along slowly, completely ignoring me. As she passed by my front tire, the little possumettes all stared up at me with their beady little eyes. It reminded me of a mini double-decker bus with all the tourists sitting on top, taking in the sights!

http://tinyurl.com/q2rw6

Today on my century ride I passed by a wrought iron mailbox post shaped like underdog in this pose:

http://i.xanga.com/lionne/underdog.jpg

I was several miles into a XC ride and came across a rather torn up pair of shorts with a chamois. Wonder how he/she made it home.

Now that's what I call commando!:eek:

I was once riding on a local bike path and passed this guy in a rather remote section all dressed up in full clown suit, make up and all, sitting back a little bit in the woods. I could not for the life of me figure out what he was doing there.

I am forever finding bungee cords on my commute. They seem to reproduce at night I swear, because there are a couple more the next day. I have also found one new work glove, but no mate and one sneaker without a mate. How can people just lose one article of clothing and not miss it?