I ran over a squirrel

STP said:

I killed a squirrel today. I was on the road riding and it darted out from a bush. It hit the
pavement just in front of me, saw me and did that squirrel/flintones thing and tried to reverse
direction. Unfortunately both he and I were moving too fast. The squirrel, back pedaling hard,
skidded about a foot or two in front of my front wheel then regained traction and reversed himself
and headed back for the curb - right under my bottom bracket. My back tire rolled right over him.
It all happened so fast I never missed a pedal stroke much less had time to brake. If he had hit my
front wheel, I'm sure I would have been toast.

Anyone ever been brought down by a squirrel or other small varmint?

A good friend of mine in New Jersey had one to into his front wheel. It sheared off both of his
fork's legs (it was a Kestrel Pro, hardly a wimpy carbon fiber fork). He was going ~25mph / 40km/h
at the time so he got fairly banged up.

In another incident long ago, my wife and I were riding with a friend, cooling down on the way
back from a "real ride" taking a wide, smooth and empty bike path, riding at a very
conversational, easy pace. A squirrel darted from the side of the path and my buddy swerved to
miss it - and ended up with his pedal in my wife's front wheel. The results were a bad concussion
(no h*****) and a lot of bruises.

I have a theory the best way to NOT hit a squirrel is to simply not TRY to miss it.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of the $695 ti frame

Mark Hickey said:

I have a theory the best way to NOT hit a squirrel is to simply not TRY to miss it.

Come on, admit it, you're AIMING for the little sucker! I don't see how a squirrel could shear off
fork legs, and it sure seems that if you have a steady grip on the bars hitting the beast shouldn't
be that much of a problem anyway. What are they, an inch thick? And the only hard part is the spine,
which is much smaller.

--
Cheers, Bev oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Will give investment advice for food.

"The Real Bev" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I don't see how a squirrel could shear off fork legs, and it sure seems that if you have a steady
grip on the bars hitting the beast shouldn't be that much of a problem anyway. What are they, an
inch thick? And the only hard part is the spine, which is much smaller.

Hey Bev! Get yourself a good-sized polish sausage (at least a foot long and an inch thick), get up
to speed on your bike, then reach down and toss that sausage right into your spokes. When you get
out of the hospital, let us know how well your experiment went!

🙂

-Buck

STP said:

I killed a squirrel today. I was on the road riding and it darted out from a bush. It hit the
pavement just in front of me, saw me and did that squirrel/flintones thing and tried to reverse
direction. Unfortunately both he and I were moving too fast. The squirrel, back pedaling hard,
skidded about a foot or two in front of my front wheel then regained traction and reversed himself
and headed back for the curb - right under my bottom bracket. My back tire rolled right over him.
It all happened so fast I never missed a pedal stroke much less had time to brake. If he had hit my
front wheel, I'm sure I would have been toast.

Anyone ever been brought down by a squirrel or other small varmint?

STP

I'd always wondered/worried about hitting a squirrel, chipmunk etc and then it happened a few weeks
ago. I was going about 18mph on a road by the curb and the squirrel came out of bushes to my right
and I went over him with both (skinny) wheels without skipping a beat. My eyes went wide and I
tensed up but it wasn't any worse than a small pothole. This didn't kill it right away, he must've
crawled back into the bushes.

And how about those snakes?? I saw dozens of live and dead ones today.

STP said:

I killed a squirrel today. I was on the road riding and it darted out from a bush. It hit the
pavement just in front of me, saw me and did that squirrel/flintones thing and tried to reverse
direction. Unfortunately both he and I were moving too fast. The squirrel, back pedaling hard,
skidded about a foot or two in front of my front wheel then regained traction and reversed himself
and headed back for the curb - right under my bottom bracket. My back tire rolled right over him.
It all happened so fast I never missed a pedal stroke much less had time to brake. If he had hit
my front wheel, I'm sure I would have been toast.

Anyone ever been brought down by a squirrel or other small varmint?

STP

I did in a groundhog once. Didn't bring me down but he was done for.

I recall being in a paceline and someone shied from a squirrel. Edwina, who is a bit of a berserker,
said to never dodge a squirrel, just run 'em down, they can't bring down a bike.

Well, I did have a chance to inadvertantly test that one. I was riding on a trail with a friend. A
squirrel dashed across the road, saw the other bike, reversed and smack right into my front wheel.
It got sucked into the spokes and fork and was sawed in half. That was just about the grossest thing
that I have had happen on a bike. Fortunately, for me, not the squirrel, I had a full water bottle
and was able to hose the blood and squirrel bits off of the bike, my shoes, my legs --- yuck. It
didn't hurt my fork at all, but there was a spoke that had seen better days.

The Real Bev said:

Mark Hickey said:

I have a theory the best way to NOT hit a squirrel is to simply not TRY to miss it.

Come on, admit it, you're AIMING for the little sucker!

Heh heh heh... I doubt I'd ever hit one if I WAS aiming at it..

Quoted message said:

I don't see how a squirrel could shear off fork legs, and it sure seems that if you have a steady
grip on the bars hitting the beast shouldn't be that much of a problem anyway. What are they, an
inch thick? And the only hard part is the spine, which is much smaller.

Next time you find a dead one, try to rip it in half. Now imagine your fork trying to do that before
failing or at the very least throwing you over the bars. They's skinny little devils, but they's
stringy...

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of the $695 ti frame

I haven't killed one but it seems that some of them really enjoy the thrill of almost being killed. Like it's some kind squirrel extreme sport of something. I use a bike path to get to work pretty regularly and there are days when 4 or 5 squirrels will try to run in front of my bike for no apparent reason. Like last week I was going past a baseball field next to the path and I see this squirrel actually, we see each other at the same time. The squirrel is maybe 40-50 feet away from the bike path. I'm cruising, I don't know how fast but at a good clip. This spuirrel takes off in an intercept course to cut me off on the bike path. The squirrel is pumping it's legs as fast as it can go. I see it coming but I'm thinking there no way this squirrel is going to do this. I keep going, the squirrel keeps going. I'm starting to get nervious I'm thinking that I don't want to kill squirrel today. We finally(maybe 5 seconds) reach each other. Just as I'm about to slam on the brakes he/she darts out onto the path in between my front and rear wheel and out the side without a scratch. It was unbelivable. I had four near misses with squirrels that day inculding that one. I think they dare each other for fun. There was no reason I could see that that squirrel had to cross the path. It was nowhere near the path. It was just bored. I agree with mark though, don't try to miss it.

STP said:

Anyone ever been brought down by a squirrel or other small varmint?

I haven't, but I had a close call once. I was riding my MTB across campus on a brick trail. A
squirrel bounded from the right side of the path, bounced off the sidewall of my front tire, and
went back off the path and scurried up a tree. Close call for both me and the rodent.

-alan

--
Alan Hoyle - [email hidden] - alanhoyle.comalanhoyle.comOpen ↗ "I don't want the world, I just want your
half." -TMBG Get Horizontal, Play Ultimate.

My wife ran over a poor, defenseless little chipmunk on the East Bay Bike Path. We spent about an
hour trying to save it -- even enlisted a vet that happened to pass by. Sadly, after a pretty good
struggle, the unfortunate little critter suddenly stopped wiggling and went belly-up. It ruined our
whole ride -- and the next couple of days, too. I don't know how people can kill on purpose when
doing it by accident is such a downer.

"STP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I killed a squirrel today. I was on the road riding and it darted out

from

Quoted message said:

a bush. It hit the pavement just in front of me, saw me and did that squirrel/flintones thing and
tried to reverse direction. Unfortunately

both

Quoted message said:

he and I were moving too fast. The squirrel, back pedaling hard, skidded about a foot or two in
front of my front wheel then regained traction and reversed himself and headed back for the curb -
right under my bottom bracket. My back tire rolled right over him. It all happened so fast I never
missed a pedal stroke much less had time to brake. If he had hit my front wheel, I'm sure I would
have been toast.

Anyone ever been brought down by a squirrel or other small varmint?

STP

Squirrels, chipmunks? I went after BIG game. No, really. I was screaming down a hill on a forest
preserve path and a deer shot out just ahead. It wasn't close but I instantly remembered that you
always hit that SECOND one. I hit the breaks and sure enough, the next one passed right in front of
me. I think I (and my bike) would have lost that battle.

Andy

"STP" <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I killed a squirrel today. I was on the road riding and it darted out from a bush. It hit the
pavement just in front of me, saw me and did that squirrel/flintones thing and tried to reverse
direction. Unfortunately both he and I were moving too fast. The squirrel, back pedaling hard,
skidded about a foot or two in front of my front wheel then regained traction and reversed himself
and headed back for the curb
- right under my bottom bracket. My back tire rolled right over him. It all happened so fast I
never missed a pedal stroke much less had time to brake. If he had hit my front wheel, I'm sure
I would have been toast.

Anyone ever been brought down by a squirrel or other small varmint?

STP

I was on a fast Saturday morning group ride with 50-60 of my closest friends and one ran under my
front wheel. I might have been able to dodge it, but we were 3 wide and I would rather kill a
squirrel than put some other cyclists in the hospital. So I held my line and ran over it with both
wheels. It was dead for sure. It happened very quickly. I felt *really* bad for a while, as it was
the first animal I've ever killed on my bike or in a car. After a while I came to realize that its
not like I put a big dent in the squirrel population. They aren't an endagered species by any means.

Squirrels are funny. I've dodged a lot of them out riding by myself. They will run out in the road,
see something coming at them and dodge repeatedly in different directions. Its like they can't make
up their (albiet tiny) minds which way to run.

Dogs are worse. Out in the country where we have our group rides, owners don't bother keeping them
on leashes or in a fenced area. My day wouldn't be complete without spraying a chasing dog with a
water bottle. They have caused at least 2 serious accidents on group rides in this area in the last
couple of years with multiple people going to the hospital.

One time I was out training and a big black chow dog came running at me from a mobile home's
"porch". It ran from my left, into the road, and right under the front wheels of a 4x4 pickup.
Its fat dirtbag redneck owner came running out. When she saw her dog splattered all over the
road, she started bawling and yelling at me, like it was *my* fault. I just laughed at her. I
told her that maybe it would teach her to keep her next dog on a leash. Then I thanked the
truck's driver and rode off.

- Boyd S.
- Boyd S.

In article said:

Squirrels, chipmunks? I went after BIG game. No, really. I was screaming down a hill on a forest
preserve path and a deer shot out just ahead. It wasn't close but I instantly remembered that you
always hit that SECOND one. I hit the breaks and sure enough, the next one passed right in front
of me. I think I (and my bike) would have lost that battle.

Andy

If you are out for big game, come ride the MUP in Valley Forge National Park. I was chased by a
large buck around 8AM today! I never pedaled so hard in my life, and that was not easy considering
my heart was in my mouth.

The sound of clacking hooves behind you can be very inspiring!

HAND

--
³Freedom Is a Light for Which Many Have Died in Darkness³

- Tomb of the unknown - American Revolution

Where did the buck stop?

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 15:51:29 GMT, "H. M. Leary" <[email hidden]> wrote:

(snip)

Quoted message said:

I was chased by a large buck around 8AM today! I never pedaled so hard in my life, and that was not
easy considering my heart was in my mouth.

The sound of clacking hooves behind you can be very inspiring!

HAND

I've had one run into the front wheel of my road bike and bounce off a spoke. He got up and took off
into some brush. The second one took aim and timed it perfectly, got him with both wheels, RIP. I
had a deer come on the road and run alongside me for about 200 yards once. Held his line and could
be considered a good riding companion, did not seem the least bit suicidal. The is a web site on
this subject. Try a google search, it's pretty good. Chris "STP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I killed a squirrel today. I was on the road riding and it darted out

from

Quoted message said:

a bush. It hit the pavement just in front of me, saw me and did that squirrel/flintones thing and
tried to reverse direction. Unfortunately

both

Quoted message said:

he and I were moving too fast. The squirrel, back pedaling hard, skidded about a foot or two in
front of my front wheel then regained traction and reversed himself and headed back for the curb -
right under my bottom bracket. My back tire rolled right over him. It all happened so fast I never
missed a pedal stroke much less had time to brake. If he had hit my front wheel, I'm sure I would
have been toast.

Anyone ever been brought down by a squirrel or other small varmint?

STP

In article said:

Squirrels, chipmunks? I went after BIG game. No, really. I was screaming down a hill on a forest
preserve path and a deer shot out just ahead. It wasn't close but I instantly remembered that you
always hit that SECOND one. I hit the breaks and sure enough, the next one passed right in front of
me. I think I (and my bike) would have lost that battle.

Andy

Good thinking; you'd have definitely needed a Bambulance!

-B
--
Email Replies to johnson<nospm>01j <att> ntelos <dott> net

Read all about those killer squirrels and bike attacks at chainreaction.comsquirrels.htmOpen ↗
This has to be the quintissential web page on the subject.

I was riding four abreast up hill when a squirrel ran in front of all of us. I was in the middle and had no where to swerve and I ran over it at about 10mph - it squeaked a little bit (twice - once for each wheel) but ran off in to the ditch unharmed.

"STP" <[email hidden]> wrote ...

Quoted message said:

I killed a squirrel today. I was on the road riding and it darted out from a bush. It hit the
pavement just in front of me, saw me and did that squirrel/flintones thing and tried to reverse
direction.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Anyone ever been brought down by a squirrel or other small varmint?

Last weekend I ran over a woman, during a century.

No, she didn't dart out into the road, but she did stop on her bike right in the roadway, with no
verbal warning or other indication. At that moment I was looking down. I plowed into her at 16+ mph.

Fortunately, there was only minor damage to bodies and bikes. I got a nasty bruise on a knuckle on
my right hand where it hit the back of her seat. My right STI shifter was damaged when the
derailleur cable was pushed back (from perpindicular to the frame to parallel), and the cap on my
front skewer broke off.

The squirrel, I mean woman, fared worse. She got a nasty gash on her shin, presumably from a pedal,
and the now-exposed bolt on my skewer punctured her rear tire. Her cut was bleeding and swelling up
when the SAG wagon showed up and I resumed my century.

Michael