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On a bridleway yesterday and a horse rider heading towards me and another rider. We stopped and let it pass, rider said the mare was scared of everything today and went past. All cool.
Minutes later, coming straight past us from behind a terrified horse at full tilt and riderless, my god how fast, how big, and off it went. The path was ony about 2m wide. Talk about Thunder.
We turned around and went back to where the rider would be, expecting a scene from a heli med tv programme. Thankfully, she was OK.
Next, my Apache tracking skills kicked in and we started looking for the horse. Hoove marks were generally heading towards the stables and you guessed it ran straight back home.
Few... still see it running past me know. It was like scene from John Wayne movie.
Tru Dat!
PS Tell us your animal bike close encounter stories.
I've ridden over an adder on the trail in Dalbeattie quarry back in the day - apparently struck at me but far too fast. Dude behind had more of a fright as he saw it, and then had to avoid a p*ssed off snake...
In the last handful of years:-
I've come round a downhill corner to find a Moose stood in a clearing a metre or two from the trail. Unfortunately i was unable to stop in time, so i rode straight past it.
A) they stink.
B) they are bloody huge.
C) them spiky things on their heads are massive.
Been chased along a dirt road by a wild boar, thankfully it was approaching the top of a long and fast descent, boar can move quickly, but not 50kph+ quickly.
Plenty of small deer running around on the trails mostly Roe and Fallow i think, only ever hit one though.
Ex has a couple of photos of a Lynx she found sunning itself in the forest when she was out running, so that probably doesn't count.
Quite a while back I was out riding with a mate and were decending down a grassy bank at speed when my mate who was in front of me gave out a scream. He jumped off his bike and started dry wretching. When he turned round I realized that he'd ridden through a great pile of dog diahrrhoea and it the front wheel had sprayed it up the middle of his shirt, up his neck and up the middle of his face! It absolutely stank! How I laughed at his expense!! 🙂
Couple of others for me:
Owl flying in front of me at height down a trail for a while. So Cool!
Badger running alongside at night, scary as hell.
Random sheep who wanted to be scratched on the head. Human trapped in a sheeps body there.
Many deer, squirells, rabbits (ate the rabbit) etc.
Also a snake, but missed that one.
I had a barn owl fly into my face.
Was quite nice really
I gained thirty places in a trail race after coming across a fat pony standing across a narrow path. Everyone in front of me was stuck. A couple of people were trying to tempt it out of the way with handfuls of grass. I just ducked under its stomach ninja-warrior style.
Helps if you've grown up working around fifty of the things, I suppose.
Owls are cool, couple of times I've had one fly in front of me.
Not bike related, but spooked horse related - went to see Bon Jovi (flame me already!) think it was the Crossroads tour at Don Valley in 95.
Was parked a fair bit away so left as they started the encore to get ahead of the crowd. Went out and passed the Police cordon which included several mounted officers. As I walked away up the Attercliffe Road dual carriageway the show finished with quite an impressive sounding fireworks show.
About a minute later I heard something behind me - one of the Police horses was galloping down the dual carriageway having thrown it's rider, followed at a distance by 2 patrol cars with blue lights going, presumably praying it didn't cross into oncoming traffic. I'd love to have heard the radio chatter on that.
-owls are a cool experience
-a kamikaze squirrel at cannock, dived across my front wheel, a millisecond from decapitation.
-a crazy horse, in a field near staveley, charged at us, wouldnt let us pass without giving it the banana it had spotted poking out my bag. horses love bananas with or without skin
Riding with a friend, she was descending a local bridleway, I watched as she flew up into the air and landed in a heap. Quickly I rode up to her and she had been hit by a badger, who had ambled across her path, looking for its nightly feed from a local resident. This was a night ride, so I didn't see the badger. My friend ended up having physiotherapy for her shoulder.
My own tales of woe have been with dogs chasing me.
Currently there are two families of geese and their young and one set of Swans and young along the towpath on the way to work.
Very often they're stood on the towpath and you have no option but to go around them.
Terrifying! 😳
The dog isn't keen either!
I was belting down a hill on my bike, on the way back to my tent at dusk, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. That something was a bat - which promptly flew straight into my head!
Thank god for my helmet - he seemed fine and kept right on flying!
I've only been chased by dogs and on one memorable occasion, a 6 (or so) year old boy who was out with his Dad. Luckily I noticed while we could still see the dad and we then waited for a good few minutes for him to catch up and persuade the little boy to stop following me and go back the other way!
As with others, owl thing is cool when it happens. Silently gliding along.
2 scary ones:
Buzzards and Heilan Coos
Riding through woods, a buzzard **** whacked off my helmet, flew in from behind, I saw it swoop up and turn round high up a head of me in the canopy, it's eyes right on me, starting to head down for the kill.
Absolutely shat myself, started out of the saddle pedalling as fast as I could to get out of the woods, letting our a shriek that was supposed to be some terrifying war cry to scare the buzzard away, but instead sounded like it was: a terrified fat middle aged man shrieking out of sheer fear and 'flight' response. Felt like I pedalled and shrieked for about 1 mile till I felt safe enough to look back.
Fold of Heilan Coos blocking the path at the top of the Pentlands, bugger me they are hefty animals. Pointy huge horns! I talked nice and calmly to them and picked my way around. Phew!
I have had a swan refuse to let me use a canal towpath. Had to detour thru a bog. The can break your arm you know
Riding down a lane, past a field of bullocks, they decided to do a full on stampede parallel to me. Slightly disconcerting, even though there was a hedge and a fence between us.
Met a brown bear when camping in Yosemite. About 5m from the tent. People next to us arrived late and didn't put their food away. A lot of banging and it went away. Yosemite bears can break into cars by folding down the rear window frames! If they come too often then sadly the rangers shoot them 🙁
Lots of deer near misses and have been chased by a few big stags in rutting season. Gets the adrenaline pumping!
I once hit a badger on an evening ride. I heard it running in the undergrowth just ahead of me then it shot out right in front. I hit it and over the bars I went. Picked myself up expecting to see a pissed off, snarly badger, but he just disappeared into the bushes.
Had a few in Morzine. Coming down puncture alley I think it’s called from the high lift to the swiss side I was skirting round a group of Alpine cattle and from out of nowhere appeared this mastiff who’s decided I was too close to its herd. Was about the same size as the cattle it was guarding, head the size of an old tv…Got within a few feet of me looking like it was going to rip my head off and had to get the bike between me and “it”. Shouted at the beast until the shepherd who owned it lazily appeared and got it to back off.
Further down the valley on an easy ride with the gf we were resting in a lay-by next to a field. Friendly looking horsey trots over so we give it a pat over the gate. Suddenly bites hold of my gf’s nice leather handbag she has around her neck and starts yanking it violently, it went from quite a funny situation to being actually pretty scary as she couldn’t get the strap off her neck and this was a big horse, so I had to stream in with a couple of punches to it’s nose until the bugger let go.
And then we got harassed about ten minutes later by another alpine monster dog just around the corner that decided we weren’t going to pass. Not the best holiday for bonding with animals, that one.
There's a massive population of wild boars in the woods south of Munich.
One night after many beers and such and being 27km from home I thought I'd ride the shorter way home via the forest rather than the usual way alongside the Autobahn.
On the Bullitt with its kinda crappy just-bright-enough-to-see light. Almost rode into a group of mummies, daddies and lots of little piglets.
I panicked, but they didn't.
Happens quite a lot. Rode past a group the other week. They're not phased.
I have had an owl fly along next to me a couple of times. Do they use the head light to help spot prey or something?
a kamikaze squirrel at cannock, dived across my front wheel, a millisecond from decapitation.
Many many years ago in a crit race at Crystal Palace, a squirrel ran into the bunch and went into one of these wheels:
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It emerged in three neat pieces - head and neck, mid section and then arse and tail.
I had a squirrel bounce around between front wheel and downtube once as well on the MTB. Riding through the woods and it got collected, bounced back and forth and then hit the side of the wheel and bounced out sideways. It ran in circles for a few seconds before running up a tree, probably very dizzy.
I was gifted a sizeable gap ahead of the riders chasing me at Macclesfield Supercross a few years ago when someones loose rottweiler decided to start chasing the riders behind me. I did let the start know, but christ it doesn't have make you pedal faster when you think you're already on the limit!
I have had a swan refuse to let me use a canal towpath. Had to detour thru a bog. The can break your arm you know
So weird how they always go straight for the arms. 😅
The other day in fact, a mate had bought last nights leftover Chinese for his lunch at Church Stretton.
A sheep in the NT car park was extremely insistent that he shared it. It actually looked proper narked that he wouldn't.
Properly stared him out with the sheep evils!
Hilarious. 😂
I think maybe the sheep had an attitude problem because yeah, yeah he was fit, but my gosh, don't he just know it.
These are magnificent stories, love it. Lots of smiles from me, thanks @redthunder
I have had a swan refuse to let me use a canal towpath. Had to detour thru a bog. The can break your arm you know
😆
and, also, wow, that is a handsome sheep. Leave it out!
Aged 14 I decided to walk from Balmaha boat yard around to Balloch, following the Loch Lomond shoreline.
It's a bit of a jaunt, maybe 10 or 12km, but following the shore i didnt think i could go wrong.That was until i came across the river Endrick, which is pretty wide, and too deep to ford.
So I start following that hoping to find a bridge. I didnt initially find a bridge but did find a herd of cows who took interest in this lone traveler and decided to come over en masse to see what i was about.
As its my pretty much first meeting with our bovine companions, i got a bit worried and made a beeline for the nearest tree, which in a panic i managed to scramble up, and the cows all milled about at the bottom. It took them 3 hours to bugger off 😆
I expect the cows must have thought I'd something to do with wherever they're from, and maybe it was for feed or something. But lesson learned. Cows are inquisitive, you see them, stay well away.
All from 30+ years back, someone I knew thought he had run over a brick one night, taco'd wheel and over the bars. Goes back to look, a suicidal rat had run out.
Riding at Cannock Chase and a deer ran beside us on the uphill side of the trail, which was cool. Then it decided to hit the road gap and cleared us in the process, even cooler.
I used to ride my winter hack fixed wheel bike to school, spinning along and a blackbird flew in from the left and hit my right leg. Bounced off into my left leg. Again and again, when I got to school I had a lap full of feathers and bird shit.
2 Elephant Stories!!
Horse back safari in Zimbabwe along the Zambezi in the 90s. Came round a rock bluff corner to find a huge angry bull elephant (ears fully out) ! Guide screamed --turned like king arthur at the crusades and back at full gallop about 200 metres! Luckily the Elephant stopped the charge pretty quickly but was bloody terrifying!
In Nepal 2002 on top of an Elephant looking for tigers in a National Park. Brushed past a tree and set off a huge swarm of massive and aggressive jungle bees! The elephant did not like this...off we go at full Elephant sprint holding onto what little there was to hold on to!! through great big bushes, thorns, 5 minutes later we eventually stop covered in blood and scratches!! how we didn't fall off I have no idea.
still like Elephants LOL
Do they use the head light to help spot prey or something?
On my commute, I used to encounter a barn owl most mornings during the winter, it would be sitting on a post waiting for me to turn the corner where my light would illuminate the verge and a dyke which run parallel to the road. It wouldn’t take long before it got it’s breakfast and I liked to think that I was helping.
Most horses are reasonably ambivalent to normal push bikes, they see enough of them, but banana yellow recumbents - NOPE! I had a few horses screech to a halt, about turn and full tilt gallop off the way they came. Absolutely nothing the passenger, (because at this point they could not be considered a rider) could do but hang on.
Also, whipping down a Singletrack on an MNPR ride once, someone near the front managed to clip a wasps next by the trail Those towards the back were not impressed!
Ages ago when I was cycling down West Coast of America, on the 101 in Oregon. Minding my own business I see a house on the side of the road, the house looks sketchy. I hear barking so get on guard, suddenly I see this mutant pit bull explode out of a kennel and start coming for me. This dog was like nothing I had ever seen, head like an anvil about two foot wide. As it got to the gate of the property it just flew up into the air and did a back flip. I hadn’t noticed the chain it was attached to. I was trembling as I rode off. The dog was going insane.
That night when I met up with my travelling mates the first thing they said “Did you see that dog” I love dogs but that was really frightening.
Nice piece of desert singletrack, pull the front wheel up onto a section of bedrock, confronted with a rattlesnake.
Never climb off the back of a bike so fast!
Snakes, Emu, Roos, wild dogs, wild horses, almost ran into two mating Goannas on a track once. Had owls and Tawny frogmouths swoop me on my driveway, and an echidna shuffle off just in time. Golden orb spiders in my helmet or on my bars, been hit by cicadas (man they’re loud when they’re behind your ear!) Plenty of bats around my head and a bandicoot once sniffed up behind my rear wheel and then nearly jumped out of its fur when it saw me!
Weird one today, though. I opened the walk in wardrobe door at our currently smashed up house and was confronted with this (not the random gloves):
Walking up the lane behind Trago Mills in Devon and a loose horse was standing blocking the lane, head in the ditch, munching stuff. I made a noise (possibly 'Hello horse!'), the horse looked at me and jumped completely in the air. All four hooves at once. I've never seen a horse look so startled.
A XC race start about 25 years ago, the bunch went down a green lane type track, round a bend to confront a rabbit standing bang in the middle of the track with 60 riders steaming down either side of it. In my memory, it's standing with paws over its eyes waiting to be squished to mince! The rabbit survived.
A deer knocking off a rider ahead of me in a XC race in Margam, years ago. And around the same time, riding there in a rare blizzard and having a herd of deer outsprint us down one side of the track and jump past us into the trees on the other side.
I've had a few riderless horse encounters. Two that stick in mind are:
Driving in the peak district, clear national speedlimit road and had a horse run into the road infront of me, no warning, just full gallop out of a bridleway. Emergency stop, bearly missed the poor animal. We pull over and my wife's off after the horse while I'm off looking for a rider. Luckly the rider was with others, one of whom got to the road only a minute or two after the horse. The rider was ok but shaken and we managed to corner the horse before it got run down so all ok in the end.
Another incident was a nice walk on a beach. This time we saw the rider get thrown and the horse gallop off up the beach. There was that moment of clam then the realisation that if the horse gets off the beach it'll be onto the road. Sudenly several of us are sprinting to the road to try and contain the horse. We lost the race but did manage to catch it on the road before any cars approched.
I was riding the Dunwich Dynamo years ago, it was a clear night with a full moon, no other riders were near me so I decided to turn the front light off and ride only by moonlight, which was an amazing experience in itself. I was on a straight, quiet, road between two fields with just a low wire fence on either side.
I noticed something in my peripheral vision, looked to the side and saw a huge barn owl silently flying alongside me in the field, just keeping pace and flying in the same direction. It was beautiful!
I've come across deer on night rides, usually small ones that can't decide which side of the path they want to run to, so run along in front of me for a while before finally heading off to one side. Also rabbits who have done the same, although a friend had one that decided to suddenly change direction and run toward him. He didn't even have time to react before his front wheel (and probably disc rotor) caught it and tore it to pieces, poor creature. He was known as "bunnykiller" for the rest of the ride.
I was walking a small dog in the woods when I saw 4 lads on bikes about to come down the track towards me. It was maybe 5 to 6 feet wide. The riders started to go off to the bit of singletrack to the side of the one I was on. I bent down to bring the dog closer just as the 4th rider went right past at full tilt. Missed the dog by about a foot and my head by another foot!
Riding down a lane, past a field of bullocks, they decided to do a full on stampede parallel to me. Slightly disconcerting, even though there was a hedge and a fence between us.
There's a bison farm near Oakham next to the road, quite exciting when they are stampeding the other side of the hedge.
Have also been intimidated by swans, swooped by territorial buzzards and hit by a bat with faulty radar.
Apparently the best one I completely missed as it was behind me - leading a group of 9 riders down the Cloud Trail near Melbourne when 3 deer ran across the trail through the group - I just heard shrieks and shouts as brakes were slammed on and saw the bushes rustling to show where they'd disappeared.
Couple of Nepalese ones, not riding related but quite memorable.
A bunch of us were on our way to start a rafting trip, it was a good few hours out of Kathmandu on the bus when after a few hours the bus suddenly grinds to a halt. A few of us desperate for a pee quickly get out past the driver and get off to the side of the road and go behind a big bush. We get back on and notice the driver is looking white as a sheet and really worried, they told us a huge snake 20 ft or so had crossed the road right infront of the bus and this is a terrible omen for the Nepalese. “Where did it go?” We asked the driver. “Into that bush by the side of the road”
Another one was Trekking, we were getting pretty high up, coming out of the tree line when we rounded a corner to see a tree next to the trail, there were about a dozen or so large monkeys, the gangly white ones with black patches on the eyes. The trail passed right under the tree and it really felt like they were weighing up whether to do us over or not, there was only me and the gf, and our very interesting looking rucksacks. Puffed our chests out and talked in loud deep voices and got past in one piece. Never felt I’ve been scoped out by a group of animals like that before.
I found myself crouching in a field with a bull nuzzling my head once, he was pretty chill but i couldn't move because even a slight surprise he could have sent me spralling. So i did the only thing one does in such situations.... phone my mum.
The bull wandered off eventually was clearly just inquisitive than defensive.
I have also been stalked by an agro ram while tryign to take water sample. I grew up with sheep* but this guy was next level and he roped in a couple of pals as well, as soon as you back turned he started a charge so when they split up i had a bit of fun trying to stop them out flanking me.
I've been rammed plenty of times at home and it bloody hurts.
Scariest for me was getting chased across a field by horses. They are big animals 😀
Scariest for my mate was riding through a farm, stopped to open a gate by a shed and out of the shed flew 2 Rottweilers - the front one put its nose on my mate's leg as I looked on, thinking how glad I was he went first! I think it was being friendly 😀
My late Dad was a Bookie and I grew up a few hundred yards away from Aintree racecourse. We used to bunk in as kids and I will never forget the sheer speed and power of these huge animals. Its a cruel sport which I detest but they are incredible animals.
Knocked off bike one morning on way to work by a roe deer on a river side path think I got the bigger fright. Mate got hit in the face by a pheasant when we were out on the road bikes. He had a pair of cracking black eyes the next day, we managed not to laugh to much 😁
Twice I've been cycling in California and turned a corner to find a bear. The first time was on the road and I stopped and let it cross. It was huge but not interested in me. The second time I was descending on a MTB and it was in the bushes beside the trail. I heard a startled rustling but didn't stop and didn't look back. I've been out quite a bit alone in Canada and US and your senses are definitely tuned a bit more sharply. But the scariest experiences have been with dogs: once I was chased by two Pyrenean sheepdogs in Australia and that was bad. They were also huge and angry. And also stalked by a pack of feral dogs in India - kept the bike between me and them and lobbed coconuts at the leader.
Having done the Christmas post as a student has always made me wary of dogs. Mate in Gaborone has around 6 massive boerboels and a skinny bush dog wandering free around his compound. He related how they often found the odd shoe and blood on the wall from intruders and that they didn't train the dogs, they trained each other. You could see, hear and smell the fear on me on the occasions when I entered that place on my own. Oddly, they claimed the bush dog was the most vicious one they had.
Do humans count?
I had forgotten a couple of encounters with 'active' couples, one pair in the dark that made us jump a mile and one in broad daylight who nearly got a front wheel parked in his crack - frightened mrs_oab who nearly went OTB as she grabbed brakes and joined the couple on the floor.....
Jesus, had that often enough, did a RSF ride up near Carlisle years ago, and we rolled past a couple going at it in the back of an estate. They just sort of looked at the three or four of us, all youngish lads, all s****ing, they just grunted (again) and carried on.
Unfortunately, about a minute behind us was a group of about 40, basically everyone else who was riding...
Also caught a couple up on the NYM while we were on an MTB ride, they'd obviously walked up there and decided to take advantage of the isolation. Doubt they were expecting a dozen of us to be riding around up there. They got a round of applause.
It’s all part of the rich tapestry.
Nearly sideswiped a bull that was crossing a downhill sunken lane, it stopped, looked at me and meandered onwards.
Been used as a scratching post by a large horse.
Fended off lots ‘charging’ cattle (quick ermintrude they might have some food lets get there before all the other fat knackers, oh no they’re speeding up, faster, faster)
Removed a stuck lamb from a fence, whist fending off an irate mother.
And for variety have windsurfed with a goose, the local, friendly goose, which used to wander over and cadge some food was about it saw me sailing along, part swam/flew over, climbed on the board nose and sat there while I charged up and down the lake for a good 15 minutes.
And a long, long time ago legged it from a very old lady, a few of us were accidentally riding dirt bikes, very early in the morning, in the new forest we came across a very elderly lady, alone, with surgical stockings, a blue mac and walking stick. She really was in the middle of nowhere, we stopped to see if she was ok, however she did not take well to being politely asked ‘excuse me, but have you escaped from somewhere’ and started hitting us all with her walking stick, so we ran away.
Night-riding in the new forest, rode past a pair of stags in a full locked-horns "fight" with a load of females watching to see who won. We went within about 10 feet of them and they totally ignored us. (little deer, so no massive peril - probably)
I also bunnyhopped a rattlesnake in California - thought it was a stick. Pretty lucky, as I'm shit at hopping
Also in Californa I saw, and didn't recognise, a scary-deathwasp dragging a tarantula off the side of the trail, presumably to fill it full of eggs (only found out after catching another rider who asked me if I'd seen it (was too busy trying to catch him up to look properly & see what it was)) ☹
Out in Verbier when Abigale was 7. Went round a corner on the trail to encounter a herd of cows blocking it. Started to panic after the cow had a sniff at her and then started to scratch the inside of its nostril on the bar end. It was moving the bike about quite a bit. We laugh at it now but she still can't see the funny side
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I quite often accidentally tangle with the boar in the FoD. Without the dogs, they're generally not bothered. The young piglets are very curious creatures though (as in nosey) and I've had several of them follow me down a track like I'm some kind of porcine pied piper. I had to stop and shoo them back to their mother before she took offence.
I've got a Nepal story too - shooting early one morning at Swayambhunath Temple I was nosing around trying to get something different and wriggled through a gap in a roof (this was after the earthquake so some stuff was still wrecked). As I blinked to adjust my eyes to the light I realised I'd popped up in the middle of a very large group of Macaques who all fell silent and turned to look at me. It was like a monkey version of The Slaughtered Lamb. Macaques are pretty vicious animals so I gulped and slowly lowered my head and shoulders back down before they could rip my face off.
Sangliers, wild boar things can be worrying at night when wild camping in France. In the day you're unlikely to see one but if you do there's a chance it will charge and bite. Hang your smelly food up a tree, TJ. 🙂
About ten years ago I was staying in Scotland with DrMrsPJM1974's family. I went out for an evening run and passed by a paddock, with lots of cows in it. I became aware that they were following me, so I stopped to say hello, got my face licked for my trouble and carried on. Upon my return forty-five mins or so later, the cows were still there waiting for me. I maintain that they love nothing more than a really good chat with whoever is passing by.
I've had to rescue sheep more than once and have had very close encounters with deer. Unfortunately, the local woods are a notorious dogging spot, so I've also had an unfortunate run in with perverts dressed up as animals of Farthing Wood.
Just after McMoab at Kirroughtree, I'd run out of food and water so took the road option back while mates went up and did Talnotry.
Pootling along and glanced left. Through the trees was a huge bird gliding along. Golden eagle I'd guess. Maybe a pterodactyl. Either way, silent and menacing and big.
We had two young deer swim across the canal we were canoeing along.
A bear in the Rockies - actually in the Trans Rockies race. Not worried, I was on a tandem so didn’t even have to pedal hard to make sure I was ahead of my wife 🙂
Big hornets in Japan. Now they really are quite scary. Stung once and it was more than enough. A bear too, but we didn’t realise at the time that the black bears are quite nasty there so weren’t as worried as we probably should have been.
Nearly ran over a baby bunny today, when out running. That’s about as exciting as it gets round here, unless you take a dog into a herd of cows. And I don’t have a dog.
I was fishing in the far east then came across a beautiful colourful sea snake in the shallow water (the snake looked like struggling to swim away) I was about to pick it up then my friend quickly shouted at me. Ya, you guess right one bite and I would be dead within a short time.
Hit a badger a couple of years ago, it shot out from the undergrowth across the trail and I hit it. Big OTB for me, badger just carried on its merry way without so much as a squeak! Shared the trail with a roe deer a couple of weeks ago, it was pretty unbothered by my presence and trotted along in front of me for a few hundred metres, lovely 🙂
Loving the stories. Quite a collection.
Looks like Owls are quite a thing in off road riding 🙂
Got attacked by a green woodpecker once on a trail. Just did'nt like for some reason :(.
Saved a Tawny Owl from barbed wire entanglement, but posted a long time ago ( sadly he did'nt make it).
Great stories so far ...... more please.
PS That sheep ^^^^ Looks like a God of Sheeps.
Merlin the big bastard horse showed me that Mrs F doesn’t have a fight or flight mechanism. We were out for a leisurely ride and a lady passed us on a huge horse. Tractor coming the other way and the horse got slightly nervous.
The lady disembarked(?) from the horse as it was very skittish. At this point I’d reached the top of the hill we were ambling up. Mrs F was about a quarter of the way up. Suddenly the horse rears up and the lady loses all control, shouting “Merlin, Merlin NO”!
Massive Merlin ignores her and starts galloping full tilt towards Mrs F. I set off back down the hill and started yelling for Mrs F to get off the bike and in to the nearest field. What does she do? Drops the bike, closes her eyes and attempts to make herself super small by sort of curling in on herself like a hedgehog.
Merlin is still going full tilt towards her. I’m panicking trying to go as fast as I can to get between them. Merlin, the magical bastard, stops dead about six inches from my wife and just nonchalantly starts eating some shrubbery like nothings happened.
"Merlin, the magical bastard"
Lol...
Many many years ago in the 70's, must have been about 10 years old I think, I was out with a mate scooting around town on our bikes (way before mtb's) and we were cutting across an empty car park with him in front. Suddenly he swung 180 degrees and sprinted, but skidded and hit the ground in a heap. It was over in a flash, then he shouted 'there's a tiger!!, there's a tiger!!
I looked over where he was looking and saw a rolled up old swirly black and orange carpet leaning against the bins.
Fast forward 50 years and I am coming down off the hills and climbed over a style by a enclosed field of sheep. The sheep were all looking very worried and in a huddle looking at what I thought was me. I stopped out of curiosity then saw that between me and them was an effing great blank panther stalking the sheep through some short vegetation! It was about 10 metres away but couldn't see me, so I got an amazing look at it until it picked up my scent and slunk out of sight. That night in the tent was tense and it was super dark. I was absolutely bricking it when I went out for a pee!
A few summers ago we walked the GR5 with our dog, camping all the way and having a great time. In the later sections before dropping out of the alps, an afternoon thunderstorm was threatening to break and we were pretty keen to get off the hills. Out of nowhere a gang of those giant shepherd dogs appeared and within seconds we were surrounded. Our collie was pretty savvy and had seen it all before but this time everyone was scared! After a couple of minutes of growling and barking, Madame said 'lets all just sit down, show them we are no threat'. So there we were, 3 of us and six massive dogs sat on a ridge in the southern alps, thunder rolling around and the med just visible in the distance. Not long after the dogs were licking me!, but we weren't sure if they would let us pass. So Madame just picked up our dog, all 20kg of him, and off we went and didn't look back until we were well away.
Oh I've got a few of these, used to spend hours out at night in the middle of nowhere as a teenager, i hated towns then and still do.
First uo, I have had 4 encounters with big cats in the UK. First time, i came around a hairpin bend on top of a mountain and there, on a dry stone wall, sitting on its haunches, was what I can only describe as a puma, about 15 ' away from me. It looked at me for about a second or two, then took off and in one leap cleared the single track road i was on ,over the dry stone wall the other side and was off into the bracken.
Second time was about half a mile from the first encounter, my beagle suddenly went mental and tore off towards a wooded verge. There in the field above was a big cat,drinking from a stone trough. i couldnt see it but i could hear it hissing and growling at the beagle.
Third encounter was whilst out on a bike ride with a mate, a few of you have probably ridden this way too. This was in the forestry near Pelenna, on the other side of the hill to Afan. We were riding along and I had promised him a view of something cool as I had seen some hares running in the distance some time before. We were riding along when out of the forestry , 10' in front of us , shot a big black cat. I mean BIG, not farm moggy size, I'm talking labrador plus a bit.
Fourth time was just a pawprint in a cricket field, the size of my palm with no claw marks. Covered it with a plastic bag of the stuff they use on the wicket (marl?) but it was gone next morning.
Have found weird things like half a terrier stashed in a forest, sheep bones up trees, but that could be general scavengers.
Oh, and someone i know shot one, then took a photo and sent it to me. I had the ohoto examined by the big cat fella, Rick Minter, but his opinion was that it was just a very large domestic cat. This cat was shot whilst this person I know was out shooting foxes during lambing season and this cat was in the fields too.
Just remembered I saw one about 3 years ago too in a local country park, but I smelled it before I saw it, it reeked of catpiss.
You've reminded me of a night camping around Easter 1997 somewhere in Scotland close to a gondola set up (may have been Nevis Range?). Me and some mates from uni hiked into the woods and set up a camp - i remember seeing some Alcan branded mtb course tape for some reason. I was cooking some beans using a tree stump as a windbreak around twilight and a decent sized cat-type animal skirted around the perimeter of our camp. You could tell it wasn't a dog because of the way it walked, but it was too dark to fully make it out.
Had a good one this morning. Running along a dirt road at dawn and I thought a chihuahua was running up to me. Looked all excited with its ears pointed up, so i was getting ready to greet it. Suddenly it turned 90 degrees to the right and scarpered ... turning into a hare as it did so!
FLP has happened a few times for me.
Face Level Pheasant spooked in a hedge as I ride past!
I used to take the dog out along an unlit track near here last thing at night. No streetlights, little by way of ambient light apart from the glow over Leeds and Manchester on the horizons in front and behind. Track is lined either side with drystone walls with grazing/silage fields left and right.
The kids used to marvel that I didn't take a torch with me, but I explained that my night vision was better once my eyes had got used to the dark, and in any case I never saw anything frightening up there during the day, so what was there to worry about at night?
One reasonably moonlit evening I was just getting to the first bend, the dog was trotting a few yards ahead, and she stiffened, stopped dead and stared up the track in front of us. Puzzled I strained eyes and ears to see what was spooking her and saw a dark shape shifting towards us, hugging the wall to our right. All I could see was a silhouette that was 70 or so yards away, bigger than a dog, but smaller than a cow or a horse. It was really shifting, and I could hear its feet thundering on the grass at the side of the track. I am not too proud to say that I froze, dry-mouthed and awaited my fate, wondering whether there had been a sudden increase in the number of bears in West Yorkshire.
When it was about fifteen yards away it suddenly turned right and shot through a gate into the field, and as it did so I finally recognised it. It was a bloody Shetland Pony.
I went home to wipe, and since that night have always taken a torch or a lamp with me (to look for foxes, badgers and deer, you'll understand......)
Face Level Pheasant
At one of the shared-use trail centres I was convinced that someone was hiding in the woods, taking pot-shots at us with a Spaniel Cannon.
Ran over a badger. It trundled out of a hedge on a narrow trail and my front wheel went over it's head. Rear wheel went over it's back. It just carried on across the trail.
We have a local 'Badger run' where a crazed badger repeatedly came out of the undergrowth and threw itself under the front wheel of our bikes on a rapid downhill. Friend has been OTB twice and we've all had near misses.
Bats seem to practice getting as close as they can. You tend not to notice when they're circling you, but amazing to watch them swooping time and again at one of your riding mates.
Hit an adder in Surrey. My friend hit it first riding right across it's back (was coiled up in the middle of a dusty trail). I followed and caught an edge. It didn't move so assume my friend did it in on his pass.
Descended an open field accompanied by a herd of red deer. That was amazing. We spooked them so they ran towards cover at the bottom of the field, where we were headed. It felt like being in a documentary, riding parallel with running deer. They leapt the fence at the end. We had to stop for the style.
These close encounters are some of the best things about MTB. Loving the stories.
I went out riding with my son a couple of weekends ago and the route took us around the canal and basin and the Barge & Barrel pub in Elland ( for the locals on here ) where this a big grumpy swan . It had previously been a bit of a mardy git and, once again, it came swimming across with it’s one massive foot paddling like a wrong un. I overtook my son, and warned him that it’s got an attitude problem. When I looked back, it had got out of the water and was squaring up to my lad, wings out like it was right hench. I could do nothing other than laugh at my supposedly tough lad shaking his orange five at a swan as cars drove past. Street. Cred.
Also chased a badger down stubbings and nearly landed on a squirrel casing a jump at Leeds Bike Park.
Rabbits. They want to die. I was the second rider to run over one poor sod and had to put it out of its misery using my bike frame. It was a bivvy trip and it got peeled and roasted that evening. The mystery was that it saw us from about 200m away whilst sitting safely in a field and ran at full pelt to its death trying to 'evade' us. Ran over several since but mostly glancing blows.
Deer. A pal was taken out by a leaping deer when we were in a sunken lane. Huge stag, absolutely flattened him, smashed his helmet, he was properly dazed and bruised. He never quite got over that incident and it was a major contribution to having to have his hip replaced! Could have been any of us.
I came across a black bear on a rocky descent in Whistler, I retreated quickly.
Hit loads and loads of bats & badgers (tough sods, they barely flinch) and once hit a black cow in a narrow trail at night, basically a soft hot wall, it didn't seem that bothered.
Years and years ago me and a mate were riding downhill along this bridleway going pretty quick, then all of a sudden he yells and starts braking - I'm like wooow what you stopping for!?!? then next thing he's stacked his bike into the stingers! I pull up along side him and there's a mangled rabbit writhing around and squealing. It had run through his front wheel and then somehow got caught in the set. horrible. that was find a rock pretty quickly.
Back before Whistler imposed bear proof bins on everyone, the town was riddled with 200kg bin-diving fur balls. @lister, our mate and I were riding along the track from the Boot Pub into town one evening at reasonable speed. Came around a corner to find a bear stood in the middle of the track feet from us. We screeched to a halt, the bear looked at us, startled and thankfully turned around and scarpered off down the trail. We did the same, but in the opposite direction.
That’s true that is. Bears are massive!
Me, Mrs Devbrix and my three kids (9, 11 and 12) were chased by a juvenile bull elephant. We were walking and wildlife spotting in a forest Kerala in India with a local guide. He suddenly became very anxious and told us to wait whilst he cautiously moved forward through the trees. He suddenly jumped up and screamed “RUN!!!”. There was an almighty commotion of trees and bushes being thrashed and we all legged it (with me trying to make sure the kids were keeping up) through the trees and hid behind a massive tree about 200m away all panting like mad. My son turned to me and said ‘Dad are we going to die?’! Fortunately, everything seemed to be OK, the commotion had gone and the guide eventually found us and we cautiously made our way back.
Some years later I watched a documentary about the very forest we were in. Apparently, poachers had killed all the mature bull elephants and the juveniles had become delinquent without role models and the older bulls to keep them in check and they had started to kill the female elephants. It was a massively dangerous problem for humans too - not that that had stopped the local guides taking tourists in to the forest!
I came across a black bear on a rocky descent in Whistler, I retreated quickly.
I'm not surprised. Probably didn't even have time to apologise and wipe it off.
I've had a couple, both on Layhams Road which I'm sure the S London cyclists here will know. The first was heading south, with a mate, and we noticed a group of frisky looking young cattle in the field to our left. Just as we passed the field gate, one of the cattle ran straight at it and leapt over, race horse style. It was, frankly, jaw dropping. Needless to say, we got some sprint training that day.
Another time, this time heading north I came across a young loose horse, being followed by a teenage girl riding behind who had dropped it's lead(?). Every time she got closer, it sped up. We managed to get past the crossroads unharmed, and carried along the road,gathering a large tailback behind. As we reached Layhams farm, I decided to unfurl my cape, caught up with the horse and slowly pull across to it. As soon as I caught hold of the lead it stopped, and stood on my toes.
I was riding through some overgrown stuff in thetford forest when i heard a hiss, and thought it was a rear puncture. I looked to see an adder
Also there, I sat up a tree for an hour or 2 waiting to see some badgers emerge but they didnt come out, so i started to ride home in the moonlight. Suddenly a badger ran across the trail like it was trying to torpedo my front wheel
Had another ride there when a spaniel emerged from the trailside vegetation suddenly and caught a paw in the front wheel. I heard a yelp as I went by
Interesting about the nepalese snake superstitions. I was riding my dirtbike on singletrack in north thailand when I ran over the biggest python I have ever seen in the wild. I stopped to see if it was ok but it had disappeared. Anyway, I was riding the same track later, and at the same place, my foot slipped off the pegs and twisted on a tree root, ripping my ACL
That something was a bat – which promptly flew straight into my head!
This, but while cycling home from work through the woods one night. I think it was fine.