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One of our regular night rides across the Malverns earlier. We met a chap, wearing an odd smock-thing, coming out of the darkness carrying a trombone. He was a tad drunk and took little in the way of encouragement to give us a tune!
Very very surreal in the darkness!
Any strange encounters to share ?
badgers.................huge things
A fella playing his own trombone? Round here they usually have a 'lady' to do that for them.
Yup, badgers. Followed one of those earlier too. Gave it plenty of space though!
a large deer on the glentress black trail, i got within 20ft before it was spooked by my 1200 lumens! 😮
aye, agreed! 😯montylikesbeer - Member
badgers.................huge things
one walked out right infront of me from between two parked cars descending at 30mph+ into a dimly lit local village one night, two wheel sliding a roadbike into a swerve and (just) missing the ****er was prossibly the biggest adrenalin rush I've ever had on a bike in my entire life. (and i've had some pretty sketchy moments)
see deer a lot round here when I'm riding (day or night)
A bat hit me on the chest then attatched itself to my left sock for about a hundred meters before flying off.
Horrible gives me the creeps just thinking about it.
You're up late! did you have two little bloody punture marks? 😆
Bloke walking his dog in heavy fog miles from anywhere.
Also, not at night but I rode through the middle of a load or orks and elves attacking each other, very surreal.
No but I wear factor 2000 when I'm out during the daytime.
Rutting deer the other night, very weird noise. As an aside, I initially misread the OP trombone as tombstone, now that would have been surreal...
weirdest for me was one night out with some guys, came fast down a hill around a corner and there was a guy on an apollo, coming up the trail, no lights, perfectly normal, nodded and said hello. It was pitch black...
very odd.
bloke riding bike in the dark thinks other bloke also riding his "cheaper" bike the dark is odd? how odd 😕
no lights? it's pitch black?
you're telling me that isn't odd.
how odd.
Dogging ?
Yup, saw a girl 'sitting' on her fella's lap the other night. She was quite fidgetty.
Also came upon an owl, big bugger, sitting on a rock at the very top of a hill I just climbed. I stopped about 20ft from him shining in my light. He looked at me as if to say ''yeah?.. do one!'' then flew off casually.
The only animal I've encountered on my bike was a bear in the early evening whilst I was riding some Whistler singletrack! Quite scary til you remember to just give them space and time and they'll trot off happily 🙂
Yet to find a badger at home but I only really ride road at night. I hear they're vicious buggers..
I got probed by an alien in the middle of some misty woods once. The alien looked a bit like Stan Collymore.
.......In the direction of HartlepoolAlso came upon an owl, big bugger, sitting on a rock at the very top of a hill I just climbed. I stopped about 20ft from him shining in my light. He looked at me as if to say ''yeah?.. do one!'' then flew off casually
A tramp, stoned out of his gourd (it was mushroom season), camped ON the trail in the woods fixing a brew over a little fire. I'm not sure who was more shocked, me or him. Poor fella probably thought he was getting abducted or something seeing me hurtling towards him with all lights blazing.
I also got hit by a low flying squirrel once.
Poor fella probably thought he was getting abducted or something seeing me hurtling towards him with all lights blazing.
I have ofter thought what it must be like from the other side. A lot of people dont realise some people go out at midnight on their bikes [i]for fun[/i] Imagine never hearing of STW, or DX lights etc etc and having three piercing lights come flying towards you in the middle of the night.
We turned a corner one morning, about 1.00AM and almost flattened a girl on her mobile phone. There was a campsite nearby.
We met a chap, wearing an odd smock-thing, coming out of the darkness carrying a trombone
that's Rupert IIRC.
He lives round west malvern road somewhere I think.
Aaah okay. It was that end of the hills!
Fab skills and spooky at the same time. I'm guessing the folks in the cottages below us may have heard his toons in the dead of night before then!
he sometimes practices on the playing fields the other side of old hollow.
Used to chat with him when he was walking past my house when I lived @ the clocktower.
Gothic reliant robin with the driver walking about in a Dark cloak etc, last week some of the guys seen him Mugdock woods surrounded by candles and what looked like a ouija board 😯
I've seen a few odd things on the trails - and that doesn't include the people I ride with.
Once near Ambergate we saw a full on medieval reneactment. A bloke with a big sword and some maidens. Not a porno shoot; just people doing their hey nonny no thing.
I've see deer, badgers, had an owl fly alongside me for about 20yard once (incredible), and I've seen a squirrel do the same with my mate -though the squirrel wasn't flying.
Biking's ace for that kind of thing.
But on night rides, for me it's the stuff you [i]don't[/i] see that scares me - you know, the thing just behind you, or the thing making the noise over there.... 😯
But on night rides, for me it's the stuff you don't see that scares me - you know, the thing just behind you, or the thing making the noise over there....
Handy hint - never watch Dog Soldiers before going out for a night ride 😳
(mind you' I'm still a bit freaked out about travelling on the tube late at night from American Werewolf 😆 )
Plenty of deer badger bat owl sittings of an evening in the Lakes. Best one was following a large owl through the Grozedale Forest on the penultimate section of the north face - I was behind it as it silently flew through the forest for about 40 metres.
Saw another owl the other week just above Loughrigg and took a double take to have another oggle and when I turned round I was running into a drystone wall - I'm sure the owl was laughing at me.
Girl in a car trying to stuff her norks back in whilst being lit up by about 2000 lumins
It's really not. I nearly always turn my lights off when climbing. I'm not scared of the dark tho.faaz - Member
no lights? it's pitch black?
LoL at daznal
Pictures say a thousand words
[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2556/3723602087_32bca379ce.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/25655510@N02/3723602087/ ]090714 The Funniest Thing On A Ride[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/25655510@N02/ ]Johnclimber[/url]
It's really not. I nearly always turn my lights off when climbing. I'm not scared of the dark tho.
As do I, when there is moonlight. This was no moonlight, in woods....
like I said, I'm not afraid of the dark, sounds like the bloke you met wasn't either.
But on night rides, for me it's the stuff you don't see that scares me - you know, the thing just behind you, or the thing making the noise over there....
I was out on my own on the Quantocks on a night ride earlier this year and had one of those moments. I'd stopped to open a gate on the way to Triscombe, as i lent over the handlebars to flick the catch up i heard breathing and could sense something quite big stood behind me 😯 I turned my handlebars round just enough to illuminate it and was quite relieved to see it was one of the horses that roam around the area and not the 7ft tall axe murderer i'd imagined 😀
like I said, I'm not afraid of the dark, sounds like the bloke you met wasn't either.
Not really the point though, is it?
What exactly is the point then?
I discovered what Dogging was, on my first ever night ride. We rode past what I learned mustuv bin a popular 'spot', and I have to say I din't exepect (or want) to see what I did, caught in the beam of me lights (thank God they were only 10W Cateye Halogens...). 😯
As we rode off, one of me mates explained what it was all about. I was shocked, to say the least. Like, WTF? For real? Eeuuw, the dirty.....
To each their own. As long as it ain't hurting anyone (without their consent...). They probbly thought we were weird for riding bikes about in the forest after dark.
Seagulling though. No need. Just, no need....
Seen a cpl having sex in a car on a remote farm track one night me and my mate lit the car up. She looked smiled and carried on.
Had a sheep run in front off me on a hill side near ladybower one night. it stayed there for the full decent god knows how I did not hit it.
I've been hit in the face by a bat. We were out testing lights for a magazine, and had about 12 sets of lights between 5 of us, all on for a laugh. Perhaps we blinded the poor thing.
Years ago I spotted a barn owl on a fencepost. It flew off, but I tried the 'squeaking-like-a-frightened-rabbit' noise on the back of my hand. The owl returned and hovered about 2 feet above me - totally silently - , just in the edge of my lights, claws down, trying to work out what was going on. I decided to stop as I didn't want it trying a lucky dip on my face. Amazing experience.
What exactly is the point then?
Well, I doubt the guy decided that tonight, as he was not afraid of the dark, he would ride without lights... I'm not afraid of the dark, but I ride with lights. It's more of a practical thing than an afraid of the dark thing surely?
Not in the dark but going down a bit of singletrack a lady weeing right on the racing line while a man was taking a photo of her.
What's the best tyre for wee?
A bright orange canary... appeared whilst we were fixing a puncture in the pitch black, obviously used to human's & scared out of his wits enough to approach us... We caught him and transported him to a friend of a friends place, who had a canary avery (wasn't his canary).
So all in all a happy ending 😀
The thing about the stuff you [i]don't[/i] see is definitely true.... hearing foxes doing their thing is one of the scariest noises going when you're in the woods on your own
sorry to burst your bubble Faaz but some of us do chose to ride in the dark without lights (I do more than once most weeks), if you know where you are going on familiar trails it is perfecty practical.