The wonderful things we see
- Thread starter freewheelwilly
- Start date
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Guru
- Location
- Crowland, Lincolnshire, UK.
Smallest wildlife thing I've seen was a mouse, same place each day, for about 2 weeks, always shot off to the same side of the bridge ramp I was riding up when it realised I was coming. Lots of Kestrels, Buzzards, the odd Red Kite, rabbits, foxes, hares (now those buggers really can shift!), stoats, rats, herons, the list goes on 
Browser
Guru
- Location
- Crowland, Lincolnshire, UK.
Oh, most flash motor spotted, a genuine (i.e. not a kit) Lamborghini Countach. How do I know it was genuine? The driver trod on the loud pedal as he passed me, and the opera emerging from the exhausts made me realise it was 
He bunny hopped?
There's another bloke in Brum who rides around with strings connected to his handlebars, so he sits up straight and steers the handlesbars via his strings. What's weirder is he will get to one place and just do circles and figure of eights for 10 minutes, then just ride off.... Takes all sorts.
Keith Oates
Janner
- Location
- Penarth, Wales
There was a guy in Manila that used to ride a bike with no front wheel, he rode it for quite a while but has recently stopped. He has a bit of a mental problem and now he walks the same area every day but is pushing a single wheel distance measuring device!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mattsr
Senior Member
- Location
- Chichester, West Sussex
Cycling home late at night a few weeks ago, a Barn Owl took off from a fencepost at the side of the road and flew ahead of me for quite a few yards. Magical. But cycling on a clear night can be a wonderful thing, with or without an Owl; I'm fortunate that the last part of my commute has no street lights. The stars last night were beautiful. In a car, I wouldn't see them.
kevin_cambs_uk
Guru
- Location
- Near Cambridge
Best for me is a group of swans flying overhead in formation, reminds me of Lancaster bombers, truly fantastic.
Get a few owls as well, had one fly beside me for about 50 yards.
The weather this time of year down the Guided Bus way is excellent, cause there are no roads , just scenery
Get a few owls as well, had one fly beside me for about 50 yards.
The weather this time of year down the Guided Bus way is excellent, cause there are no roads , just scenery
mumbo jumbo
Senior Member
- Location
- Birmingham
Heheheh
smokeysmoo
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bolton, not very far from Nob End
I've seen unicycles on the Manchester to Blackpool ride, (60+ miles with the riders sweating like the proverbial pig), and there's a guy rides a big wheel unicycle round Bolton. I've even seen him riding it 'off road' as well around a local country park here'
http://www.manchesterscountryside.c...untry-park-information-centre-and-cafe-p12011
and he's also turned up at our local Parkrun and done the 5k route on it too,
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bolton/home
http://www.manchesterscountryside.c...untry-park-information-centre-and-cafe-p12011
and he's also turned up at our local Parkrun and done the 5k route on it too,
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bolton/home
mumbo jumbo
Senior Member
- Location
- Birmingham
If you want cars to pass you leaving lots of room then unicycling is the way to go. I used to see a bloke occasionally on the A38 in Birmingham near the University. At first I thought he was complete idiot but after a few encounters I realised drivers kept well away from him. Not so silly after all...I've seen unicycles on the Manchester to Blackpool ride, (60+ miles with the riders sweating like the proverbial pig), and there's a guy rides a big wheel unicycle round Bolton. I've even seen him riding it 'off road' as well around a local country park here'
http://www.manchesterscountryside.c...untry-park-information-centre-and-cafe-p12011
and he's also turned up at our local Parkrun and done the 5k route on it too,
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bolton/home
You might have seen it in a car. Some years ago I was in a Mehari with my elder son. We had all the screens off and there was an owl on a fence post ahead. We just burbled to a halt and all three of us stared at each other for a moment or two. It was, as you say, quite magical. When it went, it was silent, smooth ad beautiful.
On a bicycle I saw (when still commuting) a buzzard being chased away by a pair of crows. He was flapping lazily along the hedgerow and they were buzzing him. For a couple of hundred metres he went along the A417, maybe 5m ahead of me and 3m above. The buzzard wheeled off and across a field on my right and I lost sight of the battle. Actually, it wasn't a battle; the buzzard seemed bemused more than bothered. His wing beat started at lazy and never went up from there.
mattsr
Senior Member
- Location
- Chichester, West Sussex
I've seen a buzzard at close quarters twice this week, both times in pretty much the same place. The first time it was being mobbed by some crows, rather like yours, and as you say, seemed at the most to be mildly irritated. The second time it was sitting on a fence post at the side of the road, and only flew off when I got very close. I can imagine it thinking, "Oh bugger, here comes that bl**dy cyclist again, just when I've got comfortable..."
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
One of the most irritating things I find about being in a car rather than a bike is the inability to stop almost instantly to look at something, in a car you have to find a safe place, leaving space for passing traffic. We were on the A38 yesterday (in the car) and saw both a lovely sunset over the 2 bridges, and also a large group of starlings dancing in the sky. However it wasn't suitable to stop and properly enjoy either, whereas if we had been on the bike it would have been so easy to find a safe place to stop.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I was on my mountain bike once, hurtling down a bridleway between two dry stone walls up 'on the tops' above Hebden Bridge, when I caught a movement to my right, in my peripheral vision. A quick glance rightwards revealed that a small hawk (or other bird of prey) had swooped down and was flying a few feet from my head, and tracking my movements! We continued downwards for about 15 seconds, me glancing at the bird, it glancing back at me, and then it decided to show me who was boss and accelerated away from me, shot up into the air, did a big loop and then swooped back down and landed on a wall ahead. It panned its head round to follow me as I rode past ...
That was a pretty special encounter!
That was a pretty special encounter!
