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Me & some mates followed a Badger along the trail at Penmachno for about 10 minutes a few years ago ... that was quite cool!
Man in full highland dress walking whilst playing the bagpipes on a coastal footpath near Bournemouth.
Bears...much more scary than reindeer.
I've also ridden more than one trail which was routed through or over an abandoned vehicle which was in the process of being re-claimed by the forest
I don't want to bring down the tone of this thread,but lets just say,they both looked like 'consenting adults'.
They were consenting so hard they didn't hear us......
I was riding a stretch of bridleway near Kirkby Stephen a few weeks ago through a herd of cows, which was fine as they generally don’t bother me and they gave me a wide berth, but as I came upon the last two cows they parted to reveal a Hereford bull stood right in the middle of the path. It was as startled as I was, but as it was just before a steep descent I went round it without stopping and bolted and thankfully it didn’t follow me.
On my commute to work, last week, I encountered a leopard,taking a husky for a walk.
(Ok, it was a woman in a leopard onesie)
I met a wallaby in the Woburn woods once.
I don’t want to bring down the tone of this thread,but lets just say,they both looked like ‘consenting adults’.
One evening in Rivelin there was a car blocking the trail, with a couple of folk seemingly up to a version of CPR inside. One of our riding buddies (a GP) tapped on the steamed up window to see if they were ok or if they needed a hand... Aprently they too were 'consenting' and were surprised by 5 cyclists...😂😂😂
I once met two men exiting an enclosure in the New Forest, each with a can of Tenants Extra in one hand, and a goat on a rope in the other.
I didn't hang around to find out whether either party were 'consenting'.
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">A few years ago me and my then 14 yo son set out on the camasunary path from sligachan, his first big MTB adventure. About 100yds from the road, we came across a set of bagpipes lying on the trail. We stopped, wondering what to do with them, and then noticed five yards away a bloke with his kilt hitched up, squatting having a crap. It was the sligachan busking piper, looking sheepish.</p>
Small remote 4x4 coming towards me on a trail centre trail, operator walking beside the trail not far behind.
Large snake on rail trail making rattling sound.
Up in the OP's home turf,I almost rode over a salmon that was across a trail.
A good distance from any loch or river ,it must have been dropped by an osprey,Eagle or 🛸
This summer? Clouds of dust
Dead squirrel, dropped by a buzzard - a near miss.
Head of a woodpigeon on The Wrekin one time, nothing else, just the head, I assume it was the remains of a peregrine's dinner. (OK, not exactly a trail-blocking obstacle, but a little bit out of the ordinary)
On my commute to work, last week, I encountered a leopard,taking a husky for a walk.
(Ok, it was a woman in a leopard onesie)
Surely a cougar?
Sorry 😛
On my commute to work, last week, I encountered a leopard,taking a husky for a walk.
(Ok, it was a woman in a leopard onesie)
This was not on the South Loch Tay road was it? There was a local character who retired back to her family farm after a lifetime of raving, alcohol and drugs in Glasgow. I had a regular chats with her on my commute - usually her dressed in leopard print tops, heels, leather skirts or some such similar clubbing outfit....!
Swarm of bees or wasps or hornets, didn't stick around to verify the species, oh and the beast with two backs in a secluded area, not as secluded as they hoped, obviously, I won't go into details.
Had a full on rave once at Swinley, DJ under the underpass and more than one chemically confused person lying down on the trails...
Had to stop completely as two badgers were having a full on scrap in front of us and have had large red deer jump over hedge and miss mate in front by inches, not sure who was more shocked..
A mate turned up to ride at Thetford saying he'd stopped in layby a few miles away to check start point of ride, and a guy in an Audi stopped, got out of his car and proceeded to drop his trousers and do a little dance for my mate waving his meat and two veg about, apparently a well known dogging spot!
Had multiple run ins with deer and boar here in the FOD. Luckily they're both spooked easily so run away but still it's pretty cool to see!
Surely a cougar?
As he's already made quite clear, he's not a middle aged predatory woman.
1. Black bear - Function BC. I looked at the bear, it looked at me, it may have been 20ft away...It wandered off into the undergrowth, I cycled back to the car - I may have been going quite a bit faster than previously. The Sea to Sky bike ride was on, and there was a bored looking cop on traffic duty, I wasn't sure about whether or not I needed to tell anyone that I saw a bear in a pretty busy tourist area, so I thought it best to check with the cop. I told him my wee story and looking me up and down said;
"You know you're in Canada, right?"
He did admit that had it been a Grizzly that I'd seen, he 'd have reacted differently
2. Woods nr. Huntercombe, The Chilterns - two old chaps (Think Uncle Monty) in full fairy costume (complete with wings and wands. hooped tights, little green jackets, hats, bells; the whole nine yards) skipping "gayly" through the bluebells, frankly, they looked to be having an ace time.
Once riding at Tunnel Hill, Shortcut was in the lead and hit a trip wire which triggered a flash/flare/bangy thing which went off right in front of me.
Not sure who was more afraid in those seconds, us or the squaddies in their hole who were going to have to explain how a bazillion lumens of mountainbikers made it into their encampment they were presumably supposed to be defending unchallenged!
Had a full on rave once at Swinley, DJ under the underpass and more than one chemically confused person lying down on the trails…
That's almost annoyingly common at that spot.
Emu, the same one, relatively regularly.
A couple of mating goannas (large monitor lizards)
A ‘dismembered’ mannequin
brush turkeys, echidna, snakes, a guy with a damaged spine laying in the dark after having crashed earlier in the day.
Not all on the same ride.
Seen in our local woods...
- Kamikaze Squirrels
- Kamikaze Cats
- Muntjacs
- Big, BIG Deer leaping out of hedges at night on a road section... it felt like they were about a foot off my front wheel. Amazing how they just came from *nowhere*
- Drug Dealers/Wrong 'uns. Always funny to see them spot the lead rider and start squaring up to mug someone of their bike with a bit of "aye, aye - here's some chap on an expensive looking bike" body language. That's swiftly put to a stop when 5+ other riders come charging behind rider #1
- Rumour has it that the off Nun has been seen walking the woods at night... freaky deaky!
(there is a very small abbey nearby)
I nearly ran over a naked man (all but a pair of trainers) as he was running up the path - not sure who was more surprised.
A friend ran into a badger - they're quite solid and immobile when they want to be - the badger not the friend.
Someone practicing poll dancing in the middle of a field.
A moose?
Stood next to the trail (within arms reach) at the bottom of an steep curved series of drops. I couldn't see it as i went over the top, and couldn't stop by the time i could see it... They are massive, and stink.
Deer, everywhere, even had to stop once so they could all run past me.
Badgers, check. Wild Boar, check. Owls, check. Humping couples, multiples thereof, check. Defecating hikers, check. Discarded 4x4s, once or twice. Mopeds, check. Forest fire, check.
Me & some mates followed a Badger along the trail at Penmachno for about 10 minutes a few years ago … that was quite cool!
Me and a group of mates call a bit of Dalby "badger corner" after a badger jumped out the undergrowth and proceeded to run along a section of trail we were riding. Must have been at least 20 years ago that and we still call it that...
Ah I forgot the pair of emus on the Mary Townley loop, above Walsden. They spent a summer roaming the moors, and often had to be encouraged off the trail. Quite intimidating beasts..
Swat-type black-jumpsuit & helmeted copper with a big gun and even bigger Alsatian, near Chequers Bucks. Although having said that, it wasn’t that uncommon.
Had a full on rave once at Swinley, DJ under the underpass
One of the early Mountain Mayhems had a Boy George DJ gig happening in the next field over. You'd pop out of the darkness of the woods into something similar to a rave, ride around the edge and disappear back into the dark and silence again. It felt surreal at the time, and today I'm not sure it actually happened!
Not an MTB ride, but did a 250 mile in 24 hour event from Manchester to London a few years ago, going through Coventry about 2am, a very "refreshed" (read... absolutely f*cked off her head) young lady, staggered in to the road and pointed at the group and said "why have you got wheels on..." then fell over...
Bloke with a semi-automatic hand gun or what look like a very authentic copy of a semi-automatic handgun,on the Way For The Millennium, just outside Stafford.
TBF, I gave him a cheery "Halllooooo!" before I saw the firearm and he did politely step aside to let me pass.
I stopped (not too) shortly after: "police are aware and on their way".
Never hurts to be polite.
Warthogs, elephants, buffalo and monkeys with bright blue bollocks, staying with mates in Vic Falls Zimbabwe and he had to fly that day so I borrowed a ramshackle mtb from his garage, went out for long ride, came back that night rather excited regarding my excursion and was told in no uncertain terms never to do that again as a few weeks earlier a couple were killed by buffalo just outside the town.
Armed coppers in the woods protecting Charlie-boy when he visits his pet project (Dumfries House) here in Ayrshire.
Just remembered - an older man having his "trouser zip examined" by a much younger man up at Cathkin Braes when trying out the newly completed bike trails a few years back. Daylight and right on the bike trail.
Several full size lifeless mannequins in military atire hanging from parachutes that were snagged on nearby fir trees. Gave me quite a shock as its military land (Minley Manor) and I initially thought that a training exercise had gone horribly wrong until I came across signs of a film set being prepped. Film was called Overlord if you like your WW2 zombie films...........
Big ol' black tortoise, miles from anywhere 🙂
Local woods are lousy for naked men, and the occasional man in corset and fisnets, followed by men only wearing a vest... that new trail I was investigating was not a trail I wanted to be on.
I’ve also ridden more than one trail which was routed through or over an abandoned vehicle which was in the process of being re-claimed by the forest
Local trail used to be the Corsa run, now it's the Corsa-less run, as they eventually pulled the car out
probably the most traffic those trails will see. They look awful.
been stopped in the woods by police a couple of times now. once was in daylight, some human remains had been found. And another was on a night ride, lovely bit of singletrack then someone shone a bloody great torch in my face and started asking questions aboue where we were going etc.
Once we'd established it was a copper, not some random, we calmed down a bit. until we learned that they'd stopped and diverted us because a woman had killed herself by setting herself on fire just the other side of the ridge.
:-/
Snake about 4ft long and fat in the middle on the Taff trail in Cardiff by the big Tesco.
On my commute to work, last week, I encountered a leopard,taking a husky for a walk.
(Ok, it was a woman in a leopard onesie)
Surely a cougar?
Sorry 😛
Nope - she was much younger than me (just a cub, really)
Bears…much more scary than reindeer.
I'll raise you swans and Canada Geese, either can break your arm!
A large (prob 12" or so) pink rubber dick laying near an uncomfortable looking gent in a Vauxhall Corsa in Castell Coch's Forest Fawr car park. Both had gone when we came back through ten minutes later.
Kangaroos, emus, and occasionally a mid sized child pushing up the trail. Kangaroos being the most hazardous as they never hang around as evidence for your riding mates to witness once you’ve hit them!
Burnt out APC
Riding on the path past Charlie's summer residence in the Cairngorms, we were surprised when a red deer ran out of the undergrowth and tried to jump the fence. The jump didn't work but it did get the armed policeman out of his sentry box pointing his gun at the deer and therefore us as we were behind the deer.
On Porridgepot, just descending into Watership Down and our way was blocked by a fabulously sweary old lady and her dog. And her mobility scooter. She'd been trying to go up it (reasonably tricky on a bike) and had managed to roll it on one of the corners. She'd got it back upright but it was now facing the wrong way so we had to turn it round for her and send her back down.
"I suppose you're going to put that on fackin' facebook now" was her gratitude.... "already is, love" was the answer.
A massive Stag, full on antlers and about 7ft tall.
Not away in the highlands, just past the cafe at the Devils Punchbowl, Hindhead, Surrey.
On Porridgepot, just descending into Watership Down and our way was blocked by a fabulously sweary old lady and her dog
This just reminded me of a ride, with only the tenuous connection of a grumpy old woman. We were dropping off a ridge that is popular with walkers on sunny days - it's a fast, rocky, wide descent with plenty of room for everyone. An old woman stood glaring at us from the side, while we hooliganned it down the far side. She may even have harumphed. A bit further down there was a family, young kids and parents, walking up, so we slowed again. The father stopped, watched us and said out loud, 'That looks brilliant!' 😀
No trail obstacles involved sorry, although I once saw a guinea pig in the middle of nowhere, have ridden over a peacock's tail, made a horse physically jump with surprise, ridden past people having sex, past people dressed to explore a dungeon, caught a £20 note randomly flying past me in the wind, been told to be careful of the bomb squad defusing a bomb during a bike race. There is plenty more...
Met a fella and his wee lad half way down the last descent y Y Wal a while back, grabbed the anchors and missed him by inches. He thought he was walking up a footpath, Same as the group of old ladies I met at Afan one of whom declared she'd been walking the path since she was a girl, when I pointed out the trail she was on had only been built in the last couple of years she started to argue but was pulled away by her apologising friends!
Boar 'tother day but it didn't run away. I backed off.
Years ago when motorcycle green laning in mid Wales, we found a lane blocked with at least one whopping big trailer load of carrots. We did our best not to do too much damage but there were too many to move. Several found their way into people bum bags (unknow to them) and at least one went up a tail pipe.
Not an MTB ride, but did a 250 mile in 24 hour event from Manchester to London a few years ago, going through Coventry about 2am, a very “refreshed” (read… absolutely f*cked off her head) young lady, staggered in to the road and pointed at the group and said “why have you got wheels on…” then fell over…
Was probably Lady Godiva...
had a crash at porridge pots, cut my knee open and turned out to be due a flute sticking out of the ground...
