strangest thing you've seen on a ride/run (Page 4)

I believe your strangest quote has been one-upped. To add to strange things seen while training. Not so much strange as sad. Andrea came through here yesterday and a water spout came on land. Ran by where it touched down, thankfully mostly wetlands, and saw all the downed trees. Pales in comparison to what others have gone through but still quite a site to see only 2 miles from your front door.

I ran over a dog once..............have encountered many suicide squirrels but never hit one

I report for USA productions I was lucky enough to media record Chad.

Me: What motivates you to compete?

Chad: uhhhh, money, and uhhh my team.

Me: What's it like riding for a great team?

Chad: its pretty cool.

Me: Whats your favorite food?

Chad: Muscle Maker in Antioch, you should check that sh** out.

Me: What do your tattoos resemble?

Chad: Idk, important stuff. Are we almost done?

Me: Am I bothering you with the questions?

Chad: na man.

Me: Few more questions then ill let you go. (he roll's his eyes) any girl in your life?

Chad: na.... I had a Girlfriend for about four years but you know how that goes. She moved, got a little cocky came back home and yeah sh** idk. now she wont even talk to me (Laugh). She's all over Instagram liking this dudes photos, but he doesn't like none of her sh** back so idk whats up with that situation. She isn't to fond of me anymore. You got any bad ones for me? (Laugh) (Laugh)

Ok, so I'm late to the party on this one...but I had to respond to this as I have also been hit by a dog. We were honeymooning in Hawaii in '00 and began our "Road to Hana' trip and before we got to the mountains something caught the corner of my eye and darted across the road and jammed right into the drivers door of our jeep. Scared the bejeezus out of me and looking back to see what it was, in the side mirror I saw a yellow lab running in circles crying. I stopped and got out, by the time I got back to the dog the owner came by, scooped the dog up and said "he's fine" and ran away. Oddest thing.

But I was neither biking nor running...so it doesn't count, so carry on.

Strange and scary: a huge rattlesnake crossed my path when I was out cycling last summer. I stopped to let it go by, hoping it wouldn't get nasty. It turns out there are lots of them in our area...

Drunken 20ish year old boy passed out on the lawn in front of apartment complex on my morning run. I stopped and gave his foot a kick to make sure he was alive! Mumble mumble....yup he was.
30 min later (sunrise) when I ran past again on way home he was gone, but his phone, wallet, cash, keys, where all in the grass.
So I stop back later in the morning since I new the address and apartment # from his wallet - and needless to say Mom was not to happy! She took the cash out of the wallet and handed to me without a 2nd thought. $28.00 bucks! She replied - That will teach him.

lol

PB

I have a couple. I was on a ride through Camp Pendleton, and I saw a dead deer on the side of the road. I only got a quick glance because I was going by it too quickly, but it looked like some sicko had put white cotton around it's head and mouth (making it look like a white beard and hair). All I could think was "Deer God" (the visual is true, but sorry for the poor attempt at humor!).

Second, I was on a bike trail and I noticed an elderly gentleman with a cane walking ahead of me in the opposite direction (both of us were on our respective sides of the trail with plenty of room for both of us). I slowed down and gave him as much room as possible, but he must have been having a bad day. He tried to stick his cane out into my wheel (luckily for both of us he missed, as I was too far away from him). Could have been a bad outcome for both had he succeeded!

Other than the standard wildlife (deer, geese, turkey, squirrels) the weirdest thing I encountered was a couple out on the path. They weren't running, but they were, um, out of breath. I'm just glad he got his pants up quick. On the way back, her heel prints led back to the parking lot.

I also once saw an old mattress next to a dirt farm road. It's probably good that these weren't at the same time.

I think I've posted this before on here in another thread but I guess it's good enough to repeat...
Out for a long run down a rural road with low traffic. I had ridden it on my bike before so i was familiar with the route. I come to a small farm with a barn about 150 yds from the road, some cattle and a donkey or two in the pasture. As I get directly in front of the barn, I hear a scream for help! Kinda muffled and distorted but clearly a loud scream; sounded to me like a young girl screaming ..."help". So I take my earphones out and listen intently as I continue to run along at a slow pace...I found it quite odd...there were no vehicles on the property at the time, so I wonder to myself what the heck was going on...as I get to the next group of trees along the road away from the farm, almost out of sight...I turn and see a black SUV pull into the gate. A guy hops out, opens the gate and pulls through....now I'm really suspicious....but what do I do??? I'm unarmed, I don't know anybody that lives around the immediate area, I'm about 5 miles from my house...so I decide to give it the benefit of the doubt and keep going to finish my run. So I continue to wonder just wth is going on. I make my turn around and start back toward the farm, the whole time wondering what to do about this. I tell myself that if I see anything suspicious this time that I'll go check it out. So as I get back toward the farm, right as I approach the corner of the property, just into sight of the barn...."Heeeeelp" again I hear it! Now I'm freaked out and really suspicious...then again a scream and some weird noises and then I see it....a dang ostrich...this freaking ostrich had me all freaked out! Now I hear it every time I go by that place. When you have earphones in and not expecting it, it definitely sounds like someone screaming for help. http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Ostrich_sounds_audio_clip

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Getting ready for a ride and just about to leave the house when I spot something out of the corner of my eye. Think it's my wife's hair band but it's a small snake that just fell off the counter IN the house. Weird but I shake it off.

Soon after on the ride getting into a zone and when I reorient and look up, I almost run over a dead snake with a huge tire print over it and flies buzzing. Not too odd since I'm near the swamp.

A few miles later, I pass the gnawed out carcass of an armadillo. Getting odd.

Shortly later I pass this guy walking with a parrot on his shoulder.

At that point I pick up my pace, fully expecting a horde of zombies to start followinng me. Felt like I was in a Salvadore Dali painting or something.

How about a trucker, pulled off the freeway, with a lot lizard hanging out if his driver side window behind first wearing hot pink pajama shorts with her cottage cheese butt cheeks hanging out. I believe they were negotiating the terms of the arrangement. Her pimp was in a car behind the truck. Apparently there is a prostitute delivery service!

I was doing a race last year and on the bike leg, I passed a guy who had his wetsuit on his back! He had the arms tied around his neck with the rest of it flailing behind him!

I asked him what he was doing and he replied "I just paid $400 for this wetsuit, no way am I leaving it in transition!"

When I lived in NYC I biked to work on riverside drive up to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital at 168. I would reguarly go through a park a few blocks away to avoid that 'cliff' of a hill at the hospital. I had the most unpleasent site one day as I road up the park path to see a fellow taking a dump. He had a tattoo on his right butt cheek.

Now that I live in the middle of nowhere in upstate NY, I regularly see wildlife during my rides. Mostly alive, but some dead on the road. The shmushed turtle I saw last week was gross.

Just this weekend out on a ride, quiet country road... in oncoming lane was sitting just the trailer of a semi with absolutely no cab attached! No people anywhere either. So if you were coming down the road you would just smack into a trailer in the lane. You have to just ride by and laugh at some of this stuff!

I was 5 miles into a ride when I saw a guy that runs through my neighborhood all the time, I assume he is a neighbor even though I don't know him. He is unfriendly and has never waved to me when I wave to him and say high. Anyway I kept going, topped the next hill and there he is again, same guy, same water bottle, same shoes, same clothes, etc... I was confused for a second and almost crashed before I realized it must be his twin... But yeah it freaked me out a bit.

This morning I was going along and I saw a guy standing in between 2 houses doing some Karate Kid type stance. Not moving just posing like he was a statue.

I am in St Louis for the week and went on a run this morning along a very popular trail early (6AMish) this morning. I pass by a park with some facilities, so I stop to use them. I see a bike propped up against the urinal and look straight ahead and see two sets of feet under the stall with a lot of moaning. They obviously hear me as I walk out laughing. I look behind me and see a guy walk out of the bathroom with his shorts sagging down and no shirt on.

Just this morning I was out on a run at 4:30am. Still very dark outside. Running down a main street when I see a car interior light that is on in the distance. As I get closer I see a body laying in the street next to the car and another body in the car in the back seat with the back door open and their feet hanging out of the door. Was pretty scary, they weren't moving. I seriously thought the worst and was thinking something horrible had happened. I went over to check it out...... they were teenagers and I guess they were partying too hard the night before and passed out right there on the street. I woke up the girl on the street and she was totally incoherent. Said something about getting kicked out of her house and she was out front of her friends house and they let her sleep there. it sounded like babbling. It wasn't that normal tiredness/confusion type thing when you first get up. She was on something or WAS on something just recently. Tried to get her into the car and off the street but it wasn't going well. Her boyfriend was in the back seat. I didn't want to touch her, thinking maybe the boyfriend would wake up and see me with my hands on his girl. Wanted to avoid that whole scenario. Didn't want to get involved any further. Made sure the one in the street was far enough away from where cars would be going down the road and then left after she told me she was going to be ok. The boyfriend never woke up at all. Crazy morning. just glad it wasn't anything worse.

For me it was a vulture eating something on the road right in front of me.

Several years ago when I was at Wildflower, one of the pros mentioned that he saw a cow giving birth while doing the race.

Last September during the Richmond Rox 70.3 Endurance Triathlon I was running over the Mayo Bridge across the James River. I said hi to a man looking over the side of the bridge and he told me there was a giant sturgeon in the water. I stopped for a moment to see what he was talking about - that fish must have been at least 6 feet long - just upriver from where we swam that morning.

In the midwest, you're stuck riding your long training rides through country roads, lined with miles of cornfields and farms. A couple weeks ago, I was riding past a pig farm and saw 2, four-hundred pounders going at it right next to the fence along the country road. That has to be the strangest thing I've seen while on a ride in Indiana. That, and a third curious pig taking a massive crap right alongside the two love birds.

I felt my maturity level go through the basement as I couldn't contain my laughter and smiles as I rode by. It did however add a slight bit of levity to an otherwise hot, long, miserable bike ride