What is the best loot you have found while cycling?
The other day I found a nice 30' tape measure on the side of the road. It was a big, professional quality one the size of two fists; and it got me thinking of what other stuff I have found and carried home over the years.
The most expensive was a gold ring with a design sort of like swiss cheese. A short section was broken. I sold it to a gold and coin dealer for a couple hundred bucks.
Perhaps the best was a kitten. I stopped in a shaded, dirt area just off the road to get out of the heat. It was out in BFE at the base of a canyon. I heard a weak meowing and looked down to find a kitten about six inches from my foot. So I reached down, picked it up, and then spotted a full grown cat of the same color nearby on its side, dead. I ended up riding twenty miles home with one hand while carrying the kitten in the other.
What is the best loot you have found while cycling?
The other day I found a nice 30' tape measure on the side of the road. It was a big, professional quality one the size of two fists; and it got me thinking of what other stuff I have found and caried home over the years.
The most expensive was a gold ring with a design sort of like swiss cheese. A short section was broken. I sold it to a gold and coin dealer for a couple hundred bucks.
Perhaps the best was a kitten. I stopped in a shaded, dirt area just off the road to get out of the heat. It was out in BFE at the base of a canyon. I heard a weak meowing and looked down to find a kitten about six inches from my foot. So I reached down, picked it up, and then spotted a full grown cat of the same color nearby on its side, dead. I ended up riding twenty miles home with one hand while carrying the kitten in the other.
3 pairs of "Channel Lock" pliers (all are the 12'' kind unfortunately) 1 Swiss Army Knife 1 pair slip joint pliers 1 pair linemans pliers 2 flat blade screw drivers 2 Phillips screw drivers several 3/8 drive sockets and adaptors 1 7 piece drill bit set in the plastic box 2 large rolls of utility tape and 1 fully loaded clip for a model of 1911 caliber 45 semi auto pistol! All were found on different occasions. Many of the boys here in Tucson drive pickup trucks and their tools bounce out of the bed.
A Leatherman tool An 18" Snap-on breaker bar A AM/FM radio casett player (still in the box with battries) Several screwdrivers, not keepers. Dollar 85 all in coins and a patch kit all next to a blown 700 tube. He must of had a bad day. 😄
It came to me last night that several years ago in a thread titled something like "What was your best deal ever on a bike?" a dude said that he was out on a ride, and found an classic lugged steel Pinarello frame in excellent condition, in a garbage pile in front of a house. The occupants were moving, and getting rid of as much as possible. He walked his bike home, with the Pinarello on his shoulder. He has already taken the prize!
I found a nice set of channel-lock pliers several years ago. I had nowhere to hold them though, and had to hide 'em under a bush. Came back for them later and they were gone.
Some friends of mine used to go dumpster diving behind a bike shop years ago and would come away with lots of "useless" junk that they'd find a use for. Came away with a nice shop apron one time, too.
Same guys used to smell a bakery somewhere on a certain portion of the highway that they'd ride. One day they decided to follow their noses and eventually located this bakery tucked down some obscure street that they'd never been on. This bakery had apple fritters the size of freakin' DINNER plates! We all worked at a local bike shop and so they bought one for each of us. One of the best meals I've had. It didn't rival a nice steak, but came awfully close!
A billfold with $50 cash, a Subway gift card and no identification. We looked up the gift card online and found the issuers name. It turned out she lived 6 houses from me. The billfold belonged to her son. He was really surprised to get it back. I find lots of sockets by driveways coming out of auto repair shops.
A 10W laser or a 10mW laser? 10W lasers are not cheap, and it's diffuclt to believe that anyone would misplace such an expensive laser.
What is the brand name? Model? Center wavelength? What kind of laser, i.e. what is the lasing medium?
A 10W is a lot of power in a laser. 2W 450nm, 532nm, and 1064nm wavelength lasers will happily burn a hole in your shirt....so you can imagine just what sort of damage a 10W laser of any wavelength might do......
