Cycling UK Forum

On a long ride through the countryside of Somerset and Dorset yesterday I was cruising down a remote single width lane when as I rounded a bend, I saw a stationary car in the middle of the road, the driver door wide open, the occupant in a contorted stance, leaning over the dry stone wall on the side of the road. My mind went through my rusty first aid knowledge and what might be the problem but as I got closer I saw that she was leaning over the wall with her arm outstretched like an olympic disc thrower - the disc in this case was a mobile phone as she was taking a selfie with a horse in the adjacent field. What bizarre and random things have people seen on a cycle ride?

Not on a ride but whilst driving west along the A303 past Stonehenge. The car in front of me started weaving across the road. I backed off expecting him to crash but was startled when he wound the drivers window right down, squeezed his head and torso thought the opening and proceeded to take a selfie with the stones in the backdrop. Should have reported him.

I once saw a pair of camels, which aren't the sort of thing you'd normally expect to see in a field in Essex.

Two recent sightings: The wall of straw only stayed about a week. A few days ago I saw some of it being loaded onto a big lorry + trailer. The big mechanised handling equipment that farmers have these days make such creations easy to build and then remove.
I hear this one coming just before I reached a junction. More accurately, I heard a very strange noise and didn't know what it was until I saw it.I haven't yet discovered where it was going.

Steam traction engines get driven to steam fairs around the country. I think there is one at Masham (Yorkshire) in late summer, for example.

I was riding on one of my local lanes through a small forest a few years back when I noticed a car stopped in the middle of the road ahead of me. The driver seemed to be sticking something thin and long out of the window, which looked possibly like an air rifle. I think he may have been taking pot shots at the local wildlife. Presumably he spotted me because he drove off before I could get close enough to see more clearly or be in any danger. I didn't bother reporting the incident to the police because I had zero evidence of what had actually happened, but it seems that he would have been breaking several laws. Following on from the theme of mobile phones I guess it could have been a selfie stick, but there was something about it that made me think it wasn't.

JohnR wrote: ↑9 Sep 2023, 2:22pm Steam roller.jpg
I hear this one coming just before I reached a junction.

I heard a steam engine behind the trees as I approached this level crossing, then just as I arrived, the Flying Scotsman went past. When I got to York YHA, a couple of guys walked in the dorm and said "We've just been to Scarborough on the Flying Scotsman".

I’ve been corralled into corralling cattle- the farmer was desperate for a couple of extra pairs of arms to get them back in the field so my friend and I obliged. So many odd things when overseas- mostly due to being out and about in less travelled places and at less travelled times. Will try and collect my thoughts/photos. Weird modern french sculptures on entering towns are too common to mention but I really should have made a collection over the years.

JohnR wrote: ↑9 Sep 2023, 2:22pm Two recent sightings:
Straw wall.jpg
The wall of straw only stayed about a week. A few days ago I saw some of it being loaded onto a big lorry + trailer. The big mechanised handling equipment that farmers have these days make such creations easy to build and then remove.

Steam roller.jpg
I hear this one coming just before I reached a junction. More accurately, I heard a very strange noise and didn't know what it was until I saw it.I haven't yet discovered where it was going.

That straw wall wasn't near Upton between Stratford and Bideford was it? one of the lanes we used to use late 70s / early 80s used to have a huge wall of hay stacked in a field alongside it...

Elephants.

I've encountered them a number of times on the road. Once a string of temple ones walking along. A few times wild ones in national parks or the bush.

Most worrying were a couple of wild 'begging elephants' in Sri Lanka. They block the road until food given. I've seen a video of what they did to a minivan that didn't comply. Pretty scary on a bike. I waited till they wandered off into the bush after a good feed of watermelon then I pedalled like hell.

Also snakes, bears and a turtle.

Hubbert's Bridge, Boston.

MrsHJ wrote: ↑9 Sep 2023, 6:46pm I’ve been corralled into corralling cattle- the farmer was desperate for a couple of extra pairs of arms to get them back in the field

My wife and I similarly got enrolled in helping collect up a flock of sheep which had got out of hand in a Somerset lane.

On my commute, I encountered an escaped flock of about 20 sheep coming towards me at 7am on a dark morning. There was a car coming towards me and the sheep were in front of the car, taking up the whole road. On seeing me they stopped. The driver thought I was the shepherd and I thought he was the farmer. We were both wrong. I managed to get through them and carried on my way. I did think about stopping in the next village to ring the Police but didn’t as I would have been very late for work. Not sure what happened to the sheep.

eileithyia wrote: ↑9 Sep 2023, 7:00pm That straw wall wasn't near Upton between Stratford and Bideford was it? one of the lanes we used to use late 70s / early 80s used to have a huge wall of hay stacked in a field alongside it...

Nope. It was just outside Badbury near Swindon. I expect there are plenty more that come and go. I was surprised by the speed with which it appeared as baling of the straw had only started on the previous day. And then, about a week later, it disappeared within a few hours.

Continuing the giant haystacks theme, north of Weeze in fog we saw Prinzessin Ramona and Prinz Thomas, who reign over the local Schützverein for a year. On another occasion at Atzbach we saw a novel expression of German reunification: an eastern Trabi glued onto a western VW Bulli.