Only solution I'm aware of...
2010-07-09 23:22:32
14
Critters
Every time I go on one of the riverfront trails in the afternoon, it seems there are swarms of flies that hover exactly at face height. Does anyone have a great solution to avoid fly-mouth, fly-nose and fly-eye? I usually wear (sun)glasses and have learned to close my mouth more but even so it's unpleasant to ride through the bugs.
Also--I often have birds fly across my path, swooping about a foot above the ground, and I'm always afraid that I or they will misjudge our relative positions and speeds, and I'll have a shredded sparrow in my spokes to clean out. Has this ever happened to anyone, or should I concentrate on the bugs? Likewise squirrels that run across the path at an inopportune time--it wouldn't be fun for either of us if we intersected.
2010-07-09 23:09:11
Would be excellent for turkey also. Mmm.
2010-07-10 00:04:40
Both my husband and I have been attacked by turkeys -- it happened to him while running and me while cycling.
2010-07-10 00:22:11
Friend?
or Foe?
2010-07-10 00:38:48
where the eff did you find a clipart image of a bicycle-riding turkey? now i've seen it all
2010-07-10 00:45:03
I've never eaten shredded tweet on a bike. Never heard of it, either.
2010-07-10 00:50:41
The thing that sometimes gets me are the Geese on the trail. Sometimes those guys just don't move. I have come within just a few inches of them sometimes.
2010-07-10 01:13:20
ian, just be glad you don't have a big bushy beard for the gnats to get trapped in. its gross.
2010-07-10 03:17:24
Bugs: Just keep a water bottle handy to rinse and spit afterwards. Think this: Be happy you're on a bike. I've run into bug swarms, while driving along various rivers, that plastered the windshield to the point of not being able to see, and turning on the wipers made it doubly dangerous.
Geese: They seem to be OK with cyclists rolling through at slow speed. I'm not sure what it takes to get them mad, but it would be useful to know. I've been attacked by a goose (when I was 7) and it wasn't fun.
So far, I've been pretty lucky with the "I won't bother you, how about you don't bother me" approach to wildlife.
2010-07-10 10:39:24
@Marko82, if I knew how to make my username have an image, I'd use that turkey on a bike for sure.
Answer to your question: FOE.
I don't eat them (or any other critters for that matter) but apparently the feeling is NOT mutual.
2010-07-11 11:46:39
I did it. 
2010-07-11 20:01:09
I don't mind the bugs. The geese... getting near their nests is the best way to get attacked that I've found, after figuring out where the nest is (the first attack) it's pretty avoidable (don't go there again that year).
I've heard of bucks during rut attacking cars/trucks that were at a full stop, apparently the headlights looked threatening rather than confusing (one, the buck broke it's neck and antlers toasted the radiator, my friend was stranded with a deer sticking out of his car). Don't know what they'd do to a cyclist, hopefully a cyclist'd be small enough and fast enough to avoid a charge.
I've only ever been attacked by a turkey on foot, before I got to it it was arguing with a gas cap thingie that looked like a white pole sticking two feet out of the ground. After I ran away, it continued the disagreement with the gas cap. Turkeys are scary.
Only animal I've ever hit that left an impression (gnats are just extra protein) was a sheep. That sucked, the thing ran full bore into my wheel, and I ended up on the ground and bloody, the sheep just ran away. I hate sheep. Mutton tastes good, even better since that accident.
2010-07-12 13:37:37
Bad Idea: Helmet mounted lamp on the C&O canal at night in June.
Bugs are attracted to the light. They are invisible until they hit the light about 5 inches from your eyes, when they take on the appearance of a Hollowood CGI special effect. Immediately before crashing into your face, of course.
2010-07-12 19:45:59