Night rides in the woods – sh1tting oneself

You lot need to MTFU :lol:, my nearly 3 year old loves night riding.

Haven’t got my two night riding yet, but they love night time walks in the woods with torches.

I used to commute home through the woods and the scariest time was when I rode into what I initially thought was a big beer can but on closer inspection was an anti-personnel mine 😮 Looking around I realised I was in the middle of a minefield 😯 Cue buttock clenching until I realised they were dummies laid out for a military exercise, only took a few seconds to suss it out, but they were scary seconds!!

At least when I venture into the woods,,, I’m armed 😉

NightFun by SGMTB[/url], on Flickr

Night Fun by SGMTB[/url], on Flickr

Night Fun by SGMTB[/url], on Flickr

Never mind scary night rides; I was attacked in broad daylight by a ninja squirrel this morning. The stupid thing was under a pile of leaves by the road side, obviously got spooked by my approach and decided to burst out of the leaf pile just as I drew alongside it – I chuffin’ crapped myself! 🙂

This actually reminds me of riding in Yorkshire about 7-8 years ago during a bout of myxomatosis. Loads of rabbit corpses everywhere with like rotten eyes….? One particular thoroughfare there must of been 30 to 40 dead rabbits. I remember looking at one in its remaining rotten eye and it lurching up at me in its final death throes. Bricked it.

Christ if that had been on a night ride.

I got really spooked not long ago climbing up the back side of dundry’s pitch black tight lanes with masive hedge rows that join at the top like an arch
The main issue is talking to yourself while riding then other voices and noises start coming into play from the masive bulls/cows/sheep on other side of the hedges and seeing there eyes through the bushes…. Suddenley rabbit jumps my path.
F&£% this I’m off turn round and pinned it back down the hill.

I went for a night ride on the cx bike through Whitelee Windfarm last year. 7 miles of country back roads, 10 miles though the windfarm and about 6 miles back, on more country back roads.

I didn’t realise that the turbines make much more scary noises at night and the shadows were demons….fact 🙂

spent many, many nights in the woods at night pre mobile days while working as a gamekeeper looking for poachers.

The worst thing to come at you is a badger, sounds like an elephant coming through the undergrowth. And the odd very close fox call which sometimes sound very like a woman screaming.

I’ve been in a 1000 acre block of forest and had the mist roll in to the point you cannot see your hand in front of your face. The only way to get out then is to look up for the lighter bit of sky above the track your on LOL

I do avoid watching scary films though 🙂
Your probably in more danger of a deer misjudging your speed and taking you out then at axe man. 😀

I live in the woods, our road has no street lighting. I don’t even have curtains or blinds in the bedroom – the land behind is private. I’ve been walking dogs and riding bikes in the dark (mornings and nights) for years. Never seen anything and very seldom get the creeps.

It’s towns and cities that worry me. When I was a student I walked home to Whalley Range from a night at the Ritz, through the old crescents in Hulme…

Blackwater Forest the other side of Glenfiddich to us creeps me out. There are no trees there and very little else to be honest. Some old ruins and that’s about it. I don’t know why, it just feels horrible. I can’t explain it. That’s on nice sunny days too. There is no way I would go there at night. I know I’m not alone in this. Some say the whole Cabrach area is the same. It’s so remote from me that there is very little chance I would ever be up there barring a big day out biking, so I have no intention of ever finding out what it’s like at night or the reason why it feels so dreadful. I would bivi just about anywhere, but not there.

went on a night hike once when I was in Scouts, with others who were arachophobic, scared of the dark, scared of bats, back when torches were those Eveready jobbies with a 4.5V battery.

least on a bike you can ride like you nicked it.

round here it’s during the day where you get buzzed by wildlife. red kites (several times), family of wild boar, several bambis, an unidentified bird of prey (hobby or something of that kind of size and colour), and that’s all on labelled general use cycle paths thru the forest.

french guiana jungle at night, on a boat, in torrential rain, with a conked out engine and a hull breach was “fun”. and every time you move your head, the head torch lights up more and more eyes in the shadows. during the day there are no animals at all. at night, there are thousands all looking at you.

Thanks all, this is exactly the thread I needed to read whilst contemplating my commute home in the dark across Dartmoor… 😯

I absolutely love solo night riding particularly in woods or out on Salisbury Plain.

The only thing I do is tell my better half where I’m likely to be if she doesn’t see me by the morning!!

contemplating my commute home in the dark across Dartmoor…

Stick to the roads 😈

Stevied – funny you should mention Bruce Campbell…i watched the Evil Dead last night….and have a night ride planned with my friends tomorrow…should be fun scaring the crap out of some of them…

mccraque – sure it wasnt this guy?

And the odd very close fox call which sometimes sound very like a woman screaming.

was wild camping on Dartmoor once. We had our two dogs with us in the tent and in the middle of the night the four of us were woken by some screaming/shrieking that sounded not of this world. it circled the tent and went on for ages with us of just hoping it would stop. Our two cocker spaniels were less than impressed and were bricking it as much as the Mrs and me were. eventually we plugged up the courage and looked out of the tent door to see a pair of eyes glowing in the dark.

Now imagine, middle of dartmoor, Hound of the Baskervilles in your mind, glowing eyes staring back at you and you hear this only a few meters from the tent!

Scream

Got the heebie Jeebies last week when out on an over night to scout a good place to take a newbie this weekend! Normally don’t get spooked!!

Heart rate back down to normal now. Just!!

I’ve spent a lot of time sleeping outdoors ever since I was a nipper, living in some wild places and I have spent months and months at a time under canvas, but I can still manage to creep myself out night riding alone.. When you’re camped up and ‘tuned in’ to the noises going on around you, it’s easy to work out roughly what’s going on in the surrounding area and it’s nice to listen to the sounds of the wildlife coming and going.. When you’re riding though, the only sounds you hear are the rushing wind and rain and tyres crunching…. and the occasional bear crashing through the undergrowth alongside you

I was forced into night riding out of necessity after my first son was born as I had little other time to ride.. Lustleigh Cleave and Houndtor woods were on my doorstep and that is some ancient woodland shrouded in myth and legend..
It’s quite techy up there and I didn’t want to come a cropper, so I had to take it very steady and ride well within my limits which is the very last thing you want to do when you’ve convinced yourself you’re being stalked by some moorland beast..

I’m not too troubled by the irrational fear of monsters at the local trail centre, with scrotes being more of a concern (although herds of deer can still get the heart racing) and I don’t mind a bimble around Woodbury Common occasionally, although it’s definitely more the fear of falling off and hurting myself in the cold and dark that worries me most these days

I thought it was just me that is scared of the dark.

Always expect to see the Groke from the Moomins when out at night.
Bloody kids tele. 😯

I was out on a solo ride last night and spent most of the ride convinced I was going to happen upon murderers disposing a body 😯

You’ll know when the Groke is coming to get you because the air temperature suddenly drops. That’s when you need to worry.

😉 @ Goldigger…..

Your kids may love it…. but they have`nt watched American Werewolf in London,

Have they!!!!!

Not like i did when it was “FIRST” boradcast on the BBC

Aged 12 !!!!! 😯

I s**t myself ! (well allmost) 😳

Last part of ride heading home on some open ground after coming out of Epping forest a few yrs back had the obligatory “what’s that noise behind me…is it a monster or maniac” moment. Then the moment of clarity “of course it’s neither you numpty” just kept riding but hey ho the noise actually got louder took a quick look behind me SHIT a **** pit bull is about to latch onto my leg …Sprint like a mad man !
Got away without injury but didn’t see an owner anywhere ?

Northwind – Member

It can be pretty creepy sometimes. Depends on your choice of woods too, some dank black pine forests are creepy enough in daylight.

As far as getting mugged/raped/murdered, though, just view it from the side of the murderer- they’re not going to hang around in a forest all night on the off chance someone rides a bike past, you’ll never get any murdering done that way. So it’s probably pretty safe. Unless one of your riding buddies is a murderer in which case…

That’s what we want you to thing……I mean they, they want you to think….damn! 👿

I read somewhere that if you’re scared of mad axemen simply take an axe with you on your ride

What are the chances of there being two axe-wielding maniacs in the same place at the same time 😉

night time ride got cancelled the other night but its on for tonight!!

some of my mates are absolutely bricking it….hahaha!!

Slighty off topic but still about bricking it the dark. I also sea kayak and from time to time paddle into sea caves on the kayak. Some of these caves can be huge and get so dark you really cant see anything. You cant tell the sea from the cave walls. Then when you least expect it a 150Kg seal launches it self into the water right next to you in the inky darkness, well you hope its a seal and not a monster.if you want an idea of how big these caves are and how dark they get have a look at the video below. No seal in this one as i bottled it and came back out before getting to the end of the cave. the cave starts at about 4 mins in

mduncombe – have you ever watched The Descent? 😉