# I'm a squirrely rider!



## axlenut (Sep 28, 2010)

Ok, I'm now officially a squirrely rider! Darn that came so close to causing a face plant. Here is the full story, was out early this morning enjoying a nice long solo ride from Winter Garden to the Van Fleet trail. About half way into the 89 mile loop while on the Van Fleet a Squirrel darted out from the side and dove into my front wheel. Thankfully I was on my fixie (has old school steel fork with lots of tire clearance) apparently just enough for a full size squirrel to past through if enough force is applied. Came SOOOOO close to going over the handle bars but somehow did not. The squirrel stuck in the wheel and cause the bike to get well - squirrely.. It was like I was riding on a brick road with half the bricks missing. Complete lost of control, thought I was going down but somehow did not. Came to a stop to find the squirrel really plucked up - missing about half it's fur and it's guts wrapped around the hub and fork. It was disgusting! Was able to clear off with a stick and found the bike was still ride-able. Do not know how the spokes took that abuse - none broke. Guess there is something to be said for old school 32 spoke wheels.

Not looking forward to washing the bike tonight!


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## flattire (Jan 29, 2004)

Did you stew it with carrots and onions?


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## fast ferd (Jan 30, 2009)

I'm hoping the squirrel can recover. Come on squirrel! Just a flesh wound!


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## axlenut (Sep 28, 2010)

flattire said:


> Did you stew it with carrots and onions?


 No but I have been wanting to put one in the crock pot for a while. They get into my tomatoes and seem to enjoy taking one little bite, not likeing it and trying another. Stupid things, but what can you expect from an animal with a brain the size of a wallnut. Even so just how does running at something that you are trying to get away from make any sense - even in a wallnut brain ;-)


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## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

axlenut;4081331...but what can you expect from an animal with a brain the size of a wallnut...)[/QUOTE said:


> maybe not...the internet says:
> 
> average weight of a walnut = 18-23g.
> 
> ...


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## axlenut (Sep 28, 2010)

Oxtox said:


> maybe not...the internet says:
> 
> average weight of a walnut = 18-23g.
> 
> ...


That's a good one! LOL

On a more serious note, I'm glad we can laugh about it. Could have easily put me in the hospital. Had I been riding with a group it would have caused a pile up for sure. Who would ever think a squirrel could be such a danger.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Aero spokes and you could have sliced that baby into deli meat!


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## Steve B. (Jun 26, 2004)

The internet phrase is "without pic's, it didn't happen", but could have done without those, thank you very much.


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## Newnan3 (Jul 8, 2011)

I hit a rabbit a few weeks back....I didnt simply roll over him though. I hit the deck like a sack of potatoes and skinned up my elbow, knee and hip. Not to mention my shoes and brand new jersey got mangled. 

Damn rabbits....


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## axlenut (Sep 28, 2010)

Newnan3 said:


> I hit a rabbit a few weeks back....I didnt simply roll over him though. I hit the deck like a sack of potatoes and skinned up my elbow, knee and hip. Not to mention my shoes and brand new jersey got mangled.
> 
> Damn rabbits....


Roger that! I have a new respect for what harm small animals can cause while riding a bike. It happens so fast, one second you are cruising along without a care in the world and the next you could be on the pavement wondering what just happend.

Sorry to read you got banged up, could have sent you to the hospital.

On a side note I have had good success getting squirrels and other small animails to turn around and run away by letting out a loud hiss. Works almost every time but once in a while one will dart out so fast there is no time to do anything. Give it a try and see if it works for you too.

One thing for sure for the rest of the ride I was hissing like a fool at every squirrel I saw. Every one headed for the nearest tree instead of my front wheel and I was cool with that ;-)


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## zpl (May 7, 2007)

I guess the moderators don't have to make this thread a "sticky" - because its contents already are!

Scott


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## RichieB313 (Aug 23, 2012)

I nearly hit a squirrel today, About 3/4 of the way down a long steady decline. Probably doing 28 mph or so.

I thought of you
<3


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## cyclintruckin (Feb 10, 2012)

This darted out in front of me  Luckily I was able to out run it.

<a href="https://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/bcsinflight/?action=view&current=07042011014.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/bcsinflight/07042011014.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


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## CleavesF (Dec 31, 2007)

You were not exagerating when you said the guts wrapped around your hub and everything else. I did not imagine THAT.


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## axlenut (Sep 28, 2010)

RichieB313 said:


> I nearly hit a squirrel today, About 3/4 of the way down a long steady decline. Probably doing 28 mph or so.
> 
> I thought of you
> <3


That could have ended up very bad! When I'm on my geared bike I love to shift up on the descents but this encounter with the squirrel has me re-thinking. All it would take would be one small animal to jump out and wreck your day. 

Starting weight 212
Current 202
After seeing squirrel at 28 MPH 197 ;-)


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## Chainstay (Mar 13, 2004)

*Beautiful Photos - Thanks*

Squirrels are pests around my house. They eat garden plants like tomatoes raspberries and sun flowers and turn bird feeders into a battle zone.

A close-up of a dead squirrel is worthy of my desk top for a few days. 

Glad you kept it from crashing, good bike skills


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## AtomicMoose (Aug 15, 2012)

I bet that was a painful end for that lil' critter!  Glad you didn't wipe out!


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## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

Yummy, did you take the squirrel home and cook it in a stew?

I use to run over rattle snakes in California sunning themselves on mountain roads. Going up the mountains we would go around them but coming down at over 40mph it was dangerous to swerve around them so we ran over them. I don't think we killed them but I know we pissed them off.


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## spuds (Jun 6, 2012)

The animal kingdom must be conspiring, because earlier this week I had a bird fly into my face while out. Didn't loose control but scared the tubulars out of me.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

About the picture of your bike..........Ewwwwwwwwww.


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## nOOky (Mar 20, 2009)

How rude, I'm calling PETA ASAP FWIW, OK.


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## axlenut (Sep 28, 2010)

Mr. Versatile said:


> About the picture of your bike..........Ewwwwwwwwww.


Yes I would have to agree! And to think my face and water bottles were less then 2 feet away when the squirrel exploded. You have heard of when the stuff hits the fan, not much different then when the stuff hits the spokes ;-)

I sure hope that never happens again!

Later, Axlenut


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## gsjulich (Sep 14, 2012)

Has anyone ever two tired a goose? There is a trail where I live that has a few sections where the geese are often just hanging out on the pavement. Most people slow way down and wait for the geese to get out of the way...not my bro, he gets out of the saddle and takes of on a sprint, screaming the whole way. 99 times out of 100 this method works and the geese get out of the way in time. So one time I was out for a ride with him, geese ahead, he takes off, yelling and screaming. I'm not nearly as gutsy as he is and decided to follow at what I deemed to be a safe distance. Anyway, this turned out to be that 1 time in 100 that his goose trail clearing method failed. My bro managed to sort of hop the front tire a bit but the rear hit the goose full force. I'm not really sure how he managed to keep the bike upright, I imagine all the MTB riding he does helped. The goose looked to be in ok shape too. Needless to say, after that event he now slows down when there are geese on the trail.


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