Interesting stuff on the streets

[whippetgirl]

I'm a new rider and I ride on the bike lane on the streets around here.
I am so amazed at what I have seen scattered, discarded and lost!

I've noticed things when I run, but riding on the streets is sure more interesting!

Other than the usual detritus and trash, I have seen dead animals (squirrels, skunks and cats), money, clothing, tools, toys and food. Sometimes I wonder about the owners of the lost objects and of course I am sad about the dead critters (but not the skunks, sorry).
I'm sure other riders have seen a lot more strange stuff on their rides!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yes it is a fascinating subject.
I see mostly either trash or roadkill.

One thing I notice about the trash is that it seems the people throwing all this trash out of their cars are all consuming beer, cigarettes, soda, gas station coffee, fastfoodburger boxes, donut boxes, and chip bags. I NEVER see empty containers for such things as milk, real juice, yogurt, trail mix, sports beans, gator aid, banana peels, granola bars, or anything else even remotely nutricious. Do you think eating junk food turns people into slobs who throw garbage out their windows?

As to the roadkill...I live in the country, and there is a lOT of it. Very sad.
Now the cold weather is setting in, and all the dead frogs, snakes, birds, turtles, worms, and bugs are disappearing. Now it's more squirrels, possoms, racoon, deer, skunks, rabbit, mice, chipmunks. Riding my daily route, it's like an ongoing macabre piece of performance art watching new characters appear and the old ones slowly disintegrate and become mere stains on the asphalt.
Well, with the cold, at least my brakes aren't getting covered with flattened earthworm "ribbons" anymore!

[suzieqtwa]

I live in Suburbia. The only thing I see is broken glass which I'm always dodging (as I don't think I would know how to change a flat). An occasional squirrel ,or raccoon (I try not to look). My problem is mostly the wet leaves that get stuck to my bike ,and chain all the time.

[mimitabby]

I love "road kill" hunting have seen nice towels, lots of tools, of course various dead creatures (I don't like that part of it) I've seen books, cut up credit cards,but my recent favorite.. we were going up hill on a residential street right where it cuts by the power line, and on the ground about 20 feet apart we saw two stuffed animals, a moose and a dog. they were small enough that they lived on our tandem for about 2 years.

we see lots of shoe and gloves too. Usually left gloves.

[SalsaMTB]

The other day I saw a dead pit bull in the woods sad

Normally, I see trash, glass, squirrels, and birds.

[Eden]

I've always wondered how one loses only one shoe out on the streets, but very rarely do I ever see a pair.....

I've founds lots of tools, some that were nice enough to stop and pick up - still have several pairs of vice grips, a blinky light, I've found two wallets - both of which I managed to return to their owners and I've of course seen plenty of things that I wouldn't have wanted to pick up. I ran over a $10 bill once, but traffic was such that picking it up would have been impossible.

[mimitabby]

I've always wondered how one loses only one shoe out on the streets, but very rarely do I ever see a pair.....

I've founds lots of tools, some that were nice enough to stop and pick up - still have several pairs of vice grips, a blinky light, I've found two wallets - both of which I managed to return to their owners and I've of course seen plenty of things that I wouldn't have wanted to pick up. I ran over a $10 bill once, but traffic was such that picking it up would have been impossible.

omigosh I would still be obsessing about that 10 dollar bill if i were you!
btw, got your bike all ready to ride... now... for an hour or two when i am not working when the weather PERMITS me to ride!

[7rider]

I've seen loads of banana peels, apple cores, Cliff Shot etc wrappers. Dang cyclists! A bunch of hoodlums that don't belong on the road!!! (Just kidding! But I have seen that afore mentioned food items).
I've picked up a nice set of vice grips, an adjustable wrench, screw drivers, and more for the tool box. My DH and I have rescued 3 cell phones (and counting). Two went back to their rightful owner. One got run over by one too many cars, and ended up in the trash. It's amazing how many people put their phone on the roof of the car while loading groceries or whatever, and then forget about it and drive off.
Oh, and DH and I found a reeeeally big honkin' leather-bound bible. There was info about a local Baptist church in it, so we brought it over to them. The folks there were looking at us pretty funny - we in our lycra on a Sunday a.m., them in their Sunday best on their way to service! Oops.

[Aint Doody]

Bungee cords--lots of them. I don't know what this says about their reliability. Maybe it's just people don't know to put them on fairly tight.

[Eden]

Bungee cords--lots of them. I don't know what this says about their reliability. Maybe it's just people don't know to put them on fairly tight.

HA - yeah my husband once wondered if you could start a second hand bungee store with all of the lost ones along the side of the road. On another note though I have worried about running one over going fast and having it tangle up in my wheel...... that would be a nasty fast stop.

[IFjane]

Televisions - there are two in the woods beside one of the roads I ride regularly. I'll have to agree - I'd love to pitch mine, too! I just wish they could have made it to the recycling station.

One of the best "lost" things I see is a wrench that dropped off a car or truck into the middle of the road - about 2/3 of the way up a really steep hill I have to climb to get back home. It dropped in the summer because the road (tar & chip) was soft & the wrench settled down into the tar. It has become my marker as I grind my way up & say to myself, "If I can just make it to the wrench....if I can just make it to the wrench..."

[GLC1968]

I see all the normal stuff (road kill, trash, food, etc) but some of the odder or sadder items:

appliances/mattresses
dogs (way too many...I can't handle it)
underwear

[mimitabby]

and the bottles with yellow "drinks" in them.

[Eden]

and the bottles with yellow "drinks" in them.

eeeewwwww!

[Velobambina]

This summer, I was riding before sunrise and came across a passed out drunk fella, snoozing on the trail. Not even my "mother of all bright headlights" could rouse him. Once I ascertained that he wasn't injured/dead, I pedaled on by. He was gone by the time I returned.