# Tales of Terror from the Trail....



## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

I've noticed a lot of people on here, myself included, ride solo. Although not always the smartest idea, I love riding solo and I do it 95% of the time I ride. I was just wondering if anyone has ever run into any problems while riding solo and thought they were in serious danger? And I don't mean getting a flat at 9:00 am on a Saturday morning 1/4 mile from the trailhead. Immediately, one story comes to mind.

Prior to moving to New Jersey, I lived in Vermont for 19 years, which is where I started mountain biking. I lived about 8 miles from Killington and by way of local fireroads and singletrack, I often rode on the backside (undeveloped) of Killington. The trail was frequented by many; bikers, hikers, horses, motorcycles, etc.... I believe it was on a Thursday afternoon around 4:30, in mid-August, when I set out. I made this trip a number of times, and I figured out a loop that took me approximately 2 1/2 hours to do. It didn't get dark until 8:30 or 8:45 pm, so I had plenty of time. On this one particular trip, I was nearing the top of the climb and looking forward to the long descent home. I heard a noise from behind me and when I turned around, there was a man standing no less than 20 feet away from me. I didn't pass him on the trail and to this day, I have no idea where he came from. He appeared to be a bum living in the woods, but I don't know why he was so far away from civilization....this was 1 1/2 hours into the woods on a bike....probably a good 2-3 hours by foot. He caught me completely off guard and I suddently had visions of those horror movies I watched as a kid. I didn't know if this guy had a gun, a knife or a bottle of rum. He continued to approach me as I fumbled to get back on my bike. He was cursing and swearing and stumbling about, and I soon realized that he was just a drunk and not a serious threat. But let me tell you, for those 30 seconds, I saw my life flash in front of me. Visions of Freddy and Jason dancing around with that damn music playing. All joking aside, going into the woods alone, miles and miles from ANYTHING, can be dangerous.

Anyone ever have similar problems? Maybe an injury in the middle of the woods with nobody around? Maybe a bum living in the woods? Hunters? Ghosts? haha...


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## rushtrack (Sep 7, 2006)

Are you talking about Wheelerville road area? Ive had plenty of pretty creepy encounters up there.


Good old rutland. :thumbsup:


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

*The Notch, Notch Road, Wheelerville, Rd.*

Yeah! Good ole' Wheelerville Rd. I'm surprised anyone on here actually knew that. The Notch was always full of weird people. I grew up in Rutland, so I went up there all the time. If I remember correctly, the trail I'm talking about was near McGlaughlin (sp?) falls. There is a sharp 90 degree turn on Wheelerville Rd in that area, and the trailhead is right there.

Another time I was riding up there, I took a few wrong turns and ended up at this super spooky hunting cabin in the middle of nowhere. I was probably 3-4 miles into the woods, riding solo. And if I'm not mistaken, if you go up Notch Rd from Townline Rd. and go straight, instead of taking a right onto Wheelerville Rd., you'll eventually cross over a small stream, go down and then up a small hill, and then there is this weird factory type building out there. For some reason, I remember it being a sewing company or something, but I could be wrong.

You from that area?


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## mattsteve (Dec 28, 2004)

Ive been lost and turned around well into some unfamiliar woods before. Not cool. 

Never had any encounters with two or four legged critters......


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## GRAVELBIKE (Oct 7, 2006)

If you hear banjos, kick it into high gear and haul ass outta there!


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## _daemon_ (Sep 16, 2007)

We have a big problem of guys getting attacked for their bikes on some of our trails here. Rule is to never ride alone.


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

Two guys and I had stopped for a break on a ride above Jamestown, CO. About 5 minutes into our stop a barefooted, rough-looking woman came wandering out of the woods directly in front of us slinging a rifle. She said, "I want you guys to leave." One of us said, "Oh sorry, is this your property?" to which she replied, "No. I want you to leave."

So we did.

We were afraid she was planning to take turns having her way with each of us. Brrrrrr.


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## Evil Patrick (Sep 13, 2004)

rutkiller said:


> Visions of Freddy and Jason dancing around with that damn music playing.


Sounds like you were completely unprepared. This is _exactly_ why in my Camelbak, I
pack a hockey mask and a folding tree-saw. Michael could kick Freddie and Jason's asses
at the same time!


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## trailbrain (Feb 22, 2005)

One time my buddy and I were riding and we got caught in out in the woods in a heavy storm. We stopped for shelter at this cabin and he says to me all serious. This is where Jack Kevorkian did his first assisted suicide. I'm not sure if he was telling the truth or not, but we left pretty quick.


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## Judd97 (Jun 6, 2005)

Nat said:


> Two guys and I had stopped for a break on a ride above Jamestown, CO. About 5 minutes into our stop a barefooted, rough-looking woman came wandering out of the woods directly in front of us slinging a rifle. She said, "I want you guys to leave." One of us said, "Oh sorry, is this your property?" to which she replied, "No. I want you to leave."
> 
> So we did.
> 
> We were afraid she was planning to take turns having her way with each of us. Brrrrrr.


"Looks like we've got a sow here. C'mon, squeal for me!" haha Creepy story Nat.

Anyways, to the OP, it's funny you post this because I always ride solo and one of my biggest recurring fears is to just be riding along alone and then to glance off in the woods and notice someone staring back at me. I dunno how I even thought of it, but now every time I ride alone I imagine that happening and I always get the willies haha. Fortunately, it's never happened though.

I've run into some angry hillbillies while hiking before though... :eekster:


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## JTR (May 10, 2004)

_daemon_ said:


> We have a big problem of guys getting attacked for their bikes on some of our trails here. Rule is to never ride alone.


Where is "here", because that sucks!


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## huffyboy (Feb 14, 2004)

joltz said:


> One time my buddy and I were riding and we got caught in out in the woods in a heavy storm. We stopped for shelter at this cabin and he says to me all serious. This is where Jack Kevorkian did his first assisted suicide. I'm not sure if he was telling the truth or not, but we left pretty quick.


Were you riding around Bald Mountain Rec. per chance?...If so...He's telling the truth


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## trailbrain (Feb 22, 2005)

huffyboy said:


> Were you riding around Bald Mountain Rec. per chance?...If so...He's telling the truth


Yep!


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## carrot_top (Aug 22, 2007)

never had any crepy moments while riding on the trail, but i remember a few years ago when i was like 10 or 11 i used to be in the cub-scouts, we were camping out at this forest park place....me and 2 of my friends decided to go on a hike on this horse trail....it was already fairly late...only had about an hour of sunlight left, and having tall tree's that blocked out most of the sun made it seem even later....about 30 minutes into the hike we got to this big opening and we walked around there for a little bit...then we turned around to go back on the trail, and it turns out that the open area is a centerpoint where like 5 different trails converge....so we didnt know where to go....almost simulatenously, clouds blocked out the sun and it got really dark....we didnt know where to go....we noticed what looked like a ranger station/cabin thing down a small trail....we thought someone might be there, so we walked over to it and we noticed there was no light coming from it....we quickly realized from its delapidated nature that it was abandoned....now its around that age when we all beleived in those haunted cabin, bloody mary, etc. things, so this creeped us out even more....we turned around and got out of there as fast as we could...

so we were basically stuck in some opening with 5 or so different trails and didnt know which one took us back to the campsite...light was quickly fading and we were beginning to get really creeped out....trying to re-trace out steps (in beach-type sand by the way) was next to impossible, since it was a heavily traveled horse trail, and we couldnt tell the difference between a hoofprint or a footprint....about that time we heard a slight humming/whoosing sounds...at it got louder and louder....i was freaked out by this...until we noticed, there was a road off to the right of the clearing through about 10 feet of brush...we scrambled over there and turned out a ranger was driving by....we asked him where this campsite was, he pointed out it was just down the road about 100 feet....

turns out the trail is one big loop and the opening is where a bunch of trails converged...and because we were so focused on the creepy cabin, we didnt notice the exit to the trail was just past the cabin and it exits right by out campsite..(DOH!!!!)...we also found out the cabin was just the old reception cabin thing you would go to to rent horses for rides...(we also failed to notice the large opening were the pasture type thing was where the horses were kept..)....

although, like i said, i was only about 10 years old when that happend...and over the 5 years since then, the story might have been contorted a bit....


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## G-Cracker (Feb 8, 2006)

I encountered a few homeless people when I'd ride alone along Blue River Parkway trails in KCMO. Nothing that ever scared me, really. Though the parking lot trail head was known for being a bad place to be after dark. Not only was it a place for local guy on guy action, but also lots of gang activity. 

The only scary thing that ever happened to me (on the above trail system) when I was a noob rider... I attempted crossing this rock garden with a fairly steep dropoff to the right of the trail. I stuck the front tire and fell over, head pointed downhill with my bike on top of me while still clipped in. It took me ten minutes to extricate myself. After that I was much more conscious while riding alone. If I had been really injured it would have been a while before someone found me... and before I had a cell phone.

Now in Tucson I'm more concerned about wildlife attacks (scorpions, snakes, mtn lions) than hobos.


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## Albee (Jul 21, 2004)

Do a lot of solo riding, both day and night. Lots of animal sightings, including cougar and bear, but no problems. Biggest potential animal problems, in my opinion, are skunks -- those little [email protected] know what they're packin', and they don't back down easily. 

But the two-legged creatures are the worst. There was a double slaying in the woods south of Oakridge (Oregon) a few years ago, near an area where a lot of us ride. Still unsolved. They were just a couple of teachers, camping in the woods, who apparently were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The random-ness of it is truly scary and tragic.


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## fastale (Jul 2, 2007)

One of my friends was riding one time when he crossed paths with a buck and knocked him off his bike. Fortunitely the antlers did no damage and the buck continued on his path. I tell yea, they're mean bastards.


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

*Hell Yes!!!*



Judd97 said:


> "Looks like we've got a sow here. C'mon, squeal for me!" haha Creepy story Nat.
> 
> Anyways, to the OP, it's funny you post this because I always ride solo and one of my biggest recurring fears is to just be riding along alone and then to glance off in the woods and notice someone staring back at me. I dunno how I even thought of it, but now every time I ride alone I imagine that happening and I always get the willies haha. Fortunately, it's never happened though.
> 
> I've run into some angry hillbillies while hiking before though... :eekster:


This is exactly what I'm talking about. I started this thread because of something that happend to me this past Sunday. I was out riding (solo) at a local trail and I swore that somebody was watching me. I stopped a few times to collect my thoughts and my breath, and it was the creepiest feeling. Like I said in my original post, I guess all of those stupid movies I watched as a kid are coming back to haunt me. Something about being alone in the woods is creepy. Anyway, on Sunday, I had this feeling that if I looked long enough, I would see someone standing in the woods watching me. You know...the whole hockey mask and 3 foot blade thing..... As I was exiting the trail after a great ride, I encountered a man sitting on a bench by himself. While nothing was particulary creepy about this guy, it just made me wonder, ya know?


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## todd_freeride (Aug 9, 2005)

Heres a scary one. I could have easily been dead this day. I was riding with a friend in CO (I dont remember where, sorry  ) we had split off, I went down a harder trail, him down an easier trail. the conditions were pretty wet. I got done with the harder trail and started down some wide singletrack to meet him at the bottom. then this cougar jumped out onto the trail maybe 40 feet in front of me, staring at me. I slammed on my Hayes HFX-9 Brakes and they had gotten wet, they made that horrible howling/screaming sound. that noise scared the cougar the hell off. was really scary and I probably rode the rest of the way down as white as a sheet.


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## sodak (Oct 10, 2006)

Ever heard a rabbit being attacked / ate by a fox?? Holy sh*t is that a freeky sound. Couple of buds and I were grooming an area of trail, we were sitting there and all of a sudden the most awfull screaming sound came from the right. I am telling ya, fricken screaming. It was intense enough for me to think that was a human scream, and then WTF?? It definately freeked us out, but there is always one in the bunch who will investigate. He ran up the little hill and there was a fox tearing up the rabbit. But man,.... I will never forget that sound.


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## Judd97 (Jun 6, 2005)

rutkiller said:


> This is exactly what I'm talking about. I started this thread because of something that happend to me this past Sunday. I was out riding (solo) at a local trail and I swore that somebody was watching me. I stopped a few times to collect my thoughts and my breath, and it was the creepiest feeling. Like I said in my original post, I guess all of those stupid movies I watched as a kid are coming back to haunt me. Something about being alone in the woods is creepy. Anyway, on Sunday, I had this feeling that if I looked long enough, I would see someone standing in the woods watching me. You know...the whole hockey mask and 3 foot blade thing..... As I was exiting the trail after a great ride, I encountered a man sitting on a bench by himself. While nothing was particulary creepy about this guy, it just made me wonder, ya know?


Dude, I hear ya. I can spend time in the woods totally solo and never worry about animals, but people always freak me out haha.


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## bingemtbr (Apr 1, 2004)

1) Night riding with lights at dusk came across a fire, and caught the arsenist. Had to call the ranger. There are more details but it was freaky as all get go.

2) Went riding last summer with the mrs. Got caught in a thunder storm. Ended up getting stranded 3 miles out b/c of flash floods. One minute the trails were dry and the sky was threatening the next there was 4" of water on the trails, all the creak crossings looked like Clear Creek in May/June, and there were lightening strikes within 80ft (you could see, hear, and feel the strikes and see the splintering of tree limbs from the lightening). We so severely wanted to try leaping the creek (wh is usually dry or 3 ft wide and an inch deep) but it was now 14ft wide, brown, white, foaming and angry. 

3) Found a dead guy hanging from a tree while out playing ride guide. By the time we came upon the scene he was tagged and bagged, but still...


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## Mordy (May 31, 2006)

Hmm, well last week I almost ran over a coyote. I was afraid it was a deer that was going to collide with me. The tame little guy just stopped behind and stared at me saying 'Watch out where your going, ya ape!" He was lucky we weren't somewhere beside Kalifornia, cause he'd be toast <evil laugh>

I've come up behind people having sex in the trail.


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## jpelaston (Feb 27, 2007)

Im always scared to find someone who has Offed themselves or been dumped in a woods im riding in....


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## Megashnauzer (Nov 2, 2005)

i usually get squirrely on night rides with all the wildlife moving through the bushes. several years ago when we were doing a night ride, we dropped into a little ravine that we had ridden bazillions of times. at some point during the week, someone had hung little stick figures from the trees. it was right after 'the blair witch project' came out. i saw those and all my hair stood on end. i tried to stay in the middle of the pack for the rest of the ride. to add to my terror, my friends cell phone's ring was the sound of his daughters laughing. that sound made my boy's shrivel. i also worry about bigfoot.


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## dosboy (Oct 29, 2006)

*Night riding solo*

Now thats creepy- especially in the high elevations (+8000)..I try not to do it, but i get frieked out everytime by the reflection of my lights of some animals eyes or sounds in the brush when I'm stopped for some reason or the other


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## Frozenspokes (May 26, 2004)

dosboy said:


> Now thats creepy- especially in the high elevations (+8000)..I try not to do it, but i get frieked out everytime by the reflection of my lights of some animals eyes or sounds in the brush when I'm stopped for some reason or the other


Solo is the only way that I can ride at night around here. I can't seem to get any converts to dirt for the daytime rides either come to think of it:madman:


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## MichH (Jul 28, 2006)

Daemon and I live in South Africa and unfortunately crime is a real issue. As a woman, there is no way that I can be safe riding around on my own, which can be frustrating.

Talking of seeing dead guys on your ride. One Sunday afternoon, met up with a friend, rode onto the trail which runs under a high bridge for the freeway. As we got under the bridge, paramedics were everywhere. A guy had been doing like 160km/hr or more and had lost control of his car. His car lef tthe road, and flew clear across the gap before crashing into the embankment on the other side. We're talking 20 plus metres...

It was truly scary to see this car wreck and see the small details like the personalised number plate (Lassie, something). But the worst was, as we were rolling through, I realised that what I thought was paramedic refuse, was actually covering the guys body, less than 3 feet off the trail. I still remember the patent leather shoes sticking out the foil blanket...

The incident really haunted me for a while. I drive that bridge every day to work and I found out more and more about who the guy was over the next 2 weeks. It's better now, but I still look up at that embankment when I ride that trail...


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## brado1 (Oct 5, 2004)

*Funny / Scary story*

Two years ago me and a buddy were doing the PMBAR (Pisgah MTB Adventure Race) Death march....we were about 63 miles in and coming down the trail after reaching a checkpoint, we missed the trail we wanted to get back to the start/finish. bombing down the trail when i saw this huge orange light down below us, and thought damn that's a big fire... then i heard the music, i may have been hallucinating, but it was some extended dance mix of CCR's 'Better Run Through the Jungle'. This group of folk, drove their 4x4 over the barricade and some 200yards in the woods on the trail, and made their camp right there...Using the truck as their music player.

so i ride up to their camp closer and this camp fire flame was easily 12ft high, then i hear "Where da Hell, d'you come from? what in da hell are you doing comin' down Laurel Mountain after midnight?" told the 'em me and my buddy are in adventure race and i was waiting on him to come down the trail. They reply "ya want us to tie you up, to scare the sh*t outta him?" Me: "Uhhhhhhh no thanks".... They reply "wanna beer?" me: "yes i do!" so Jamie and i had a beer with this group (3guys 2girls) one of the girls was so stoned outta her gourd, she would try to talk, and it was like a slow motion babble. scary bunch of folks, Thanked them for the beer and we were off for another 2 hours back to the finish the whole way back we laughed our asses off "you hear banjos?"


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

*Keep 'em coming...*

Great stories guys and gals.... Keep 'em coming. I know there are more horror stories out there.

Aside from my own story of the man who scared the crap out of me, I think the Blaire Witch Project story would have freaked me the most. I love those stupid horror movies, and coincidentally, they always seem to take place in the woods. Or at least that's where the action happens. Then I toture myself by riding alone in the woods.

Fortunately, I've never run into any animal issues. New Jersey is so over-populated and over-developed, very few creatures are left in my neck of the woods. Maybe the Jersey Devil is out there, but who knows. No storm stories either. I've been lucky in that sense.


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## Tracerboy (Oct 13, 2002)

*Wierd*

Ok I almost forgot about this one but all of these stories have jogged my memory and the horrible scene is in my head again so here it goes - Saturday afternoon riding the local trails minding my business having a good time all by my lonesome when in the middle of all of the single track I see this guy buck naked smoking a cig in the middle of the trail. I slowed down at first and then quickly realized the situation and blew right by him trying as hard as I could to avoid eye contact.

As I was heading out of the trails I saw these little kids heading in and I quickly stopped them and told them to head the other way. So now I am freaked out and I see this other mountian biker taking a break so I go up to him and tell him what just happened (had to tell someone) As I am telling the guy the story I get suprised by the naked dude (now fully clothed) come up behind me and say " hey, sorry about that I really had to go to the bathroom". Not only did the naked guy confirm my story but he also gave a crazy explaination for why he was naked. Usually if I have to go that bad I hide in the trees I don't take off all lf my clothes and then savor the moment by staying naked and lighting a cig. - Seriously who takes off all of there clothes to go to the bathroom????


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## dwnhlldav (Feb 2, 2006)

calfkiller said:


> Seriously who takes off all of there clothes to go to the bathroom????


Who doesn't?


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## SlimTwisted (Jun 14, 2006)

At the risk of sounding like a lunatic- there is a very good possibility I encountered Bigfoot once. It was near dusk on a Wednesday in early August of 1993, I was parked at the side of a pond listening to the chirping frogs. Suddenly from behind I heard twigs snapping, branches shaking. I spun and to my surprise there was the silhouetted image of something much taller than I, walking upright with long arms swinging. It was moving very quickly on a ridge about 30 yards into the foliage from where I was standing.

I kid you not, its stride was frighteningly fast, I would compare it to a frightened deer. And while it was covering serious ground, it wasn't very graceful... It was making a lot of noise, branches were swinging, sticks were snapping. And while it never seemed to have noticed me, I took off (on foot) and ran until I damn near collapsed. I had to go back later that night in a truck to get my abandoned bike. To this day I don't know what it was, but the encounters listed on Bigfoot research sites sure seem to go hand in hand.


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## Rick Moranis (Mar 23, 2007)

dwnhlldav said:


> Who doesn't?


I know George Costanza does.

Anyone ever see the movie Cabin Fever? I'm always afraid some hermit with a flesh eating virus is going to attack me when I'm on the trails. It hasn't happened to me yet, but I'm sure it will.


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## wookie (Jan 24, 2007)

Are you sure it wasn't a Yeti?


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## d365 (Jun 13, 2006)

I was riding solo a few years ago, on some in-town trails, when I came across a new trail. I was like "sweet new trail", so I ride down this trail. About 50 yards in, the trail dead ends into an old shabby tent, sleeping bag, and a bunch of shite strewn everywhere. Nobody in the tent, but you could tell someone had been there recently, so I was nervous at that point. I turned around to leave and there was this scarry lookin dude, I mean scarry, standing down the trail, just staring at me like a psychopath. He looked like he hadn't seen a bath in years, and none too friendly. I said "sorry, I thought this was a trail". He said nothing, and just continued to glare at me. As I slowly started to approached him on the trail, he started reaching into his coat. I kicked into high gear, went off the trail, and thru the trees. As I was passing him thru the woods, he moaned really loud. Scared the sh!t out of me. 

damn psycho hobos.


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## MaxSteel (Jun 4, 2006)

*spooky*

I believe instinct is still a very powerful defense mechanism for us modern boys and girls. When the hackles on the back of your neck stand up...pay attention. When you feel eyes watching you from the woods, but you don't see anything or anyone, it doesn't mean they are not out there! :yikes:

I was doing trail work, isolated by 50 yards from anyone else in the workparty, but I had my labrador with me. She spent the morning doing dog stuff. Sniffing and digging and running up and down the trail keeping tabs on everybody etc. I happened to be looking at her as she alerted to something unseen and unheard by me in the bushes. When she came sliding cautiously up along side me, I knew there was something out there and man did my nerves tingle. I stood still and listened. Heard nothing. My dog's ears were pricked, her hackles up, her head down, and her gaze didn't waver for a second. I don't think she blinked for 30 seconds. She finally started to walk very slowly in the direction she had been looking, but didn't chase into the woods. I am convinced it was cougar.

On the other side of that same ridge a pack of my riding buddies were shadowed by a cougar on a night ride a couple years ago. They saw the cat as it slinked along on the slope above them, and after the sighting there were no stragglers!

If I count road rides, I have 5 bear sightings, 1 bobcat, but no cougar and no scary hillbillies or meth heads.


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

I like to ride solo, but never had anything spooky happen to me. dangerouse, Yes.

One time at Cheesbrough canyon I just turned around and was descending down this fire road heading for the return trail. There was a grapefruit sized rock in the road right in front of me, stupidly I just stared at it, I had it directly in my x hairs, probably because it surprized me. I hit it at about 20mph and launched a flying W over the bars, landed about 20 feet further down the trial. I was lucky it was at the bottom of the descent and it was all sand. Must have looked spectacular. A couple of guys saw it and came by to give aid. I was ok except a few scrapes and a mouthful of sand. and the bike was OK.. I was lucky to survive that one. It made me think about what could have happend so far into the trial. I take things much slower now.

i don't get to weirded out about most things except my riding skills. or lack thereof.


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## KeepTheRubberSideDown (Dec 1, 2006)

One time when I was younger I was riding with my dad in a park that is owned by the city. We have been riding it for many years. We were taking a break and these two sketchy guys came walking towards us from the top of the hill telling us we were on their property and to get out of here. I was pretty young and I was in front of my dad so it freaked me out pretty good.


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

*Abandoned Cars*

Several of the trails I ride in New Jersey have abandoned vehicles on them. I know some of these vehicles have been there for years, because there is nothing but single track around....so how did a car get into the middle of the woods, with nothing but singletrack? I don't like passing these old abandoned vehicles. You never know what may be inside. I'm waiting to find a dead body in one of the cars someday.


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## brado1 (Oct 5, 2004)

rutkiller said:


> Several of the trails I ridden in New Jersey have abandoned vehicles on them. I know some of these vehicles have been there for years, because there is nothing but single track around....so how did a car get into the middle of the woods, with nothing but singletrack? I don't like passing these old abandoned vehicles. You never know what may be inside. I'm waiting to find a dead body in one of the cars someday.


Spooky!


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

what? no creepy guys with chainsaws?

http://www.zapiks.com/chain-vs-chain.html


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## xcolin (Apr 23, 2005)

rockyuphill said:


> what? no creepy guys with chainsaws?
> 
> http://www.zapiks.com/chain-vs-chain.html


i was gonna post this but yours is better


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

So last night I sat down to watch TV, and as I'm flipping through the channels, I came across "The Hills Have Eyes" which was on HBO2. And this wasn't the original version from 30-40 years ago, this was the remake which was shot in 2006. I caught it from the very beginning (maybe 10 mins in), and watched it for the next hour or so. As I'm watching these mutated creatures scare the living hell out of the stranded family, I started thinking of this post. Do "the hills have eyes?" Maybe so. I know damn well that the next time I'm riding solo in the woods, I'll be thinking of this stupid movie.


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## bad mechanic (Jun 21, 2006)

sodak06 said:


> Ever heard a rabbit being attacked / ate by a fox?? Holy sh*t is that a freeky sound. Couple of buds and I were grooming an area of trail, we were sitting there and all of a sudden the most awfull screaming sound came from the right. I am telling ya, fricken screaming. It was intense enough for me to think that was a human scream, and then WTF?? It definately freeked us out, but there is always one in the bunch who will investigate. He ran up the little hill and there was a fox tearing up the rabbit. But man,.... I will never forget that sound.


Word. A rabbit screaming is an unearthly sound. Pretty much guaranteed to freak someone out the first time they hear it.


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## Pooh Bear (May 25, 2006)

No kidding:
This weekend I had a meditation class. We went into a nearby forest and sat under a very old and very large tree. We formed a circle and all of us faced the tree. (Must have looked like a sect, I know.) There was a slight breeze just rustling the leaves. After some time there suddenly was a loud CRACK and a large branch of said tree came down right in front of one classmate. She freaked out and ran into the woods screaming. I had to find her, because I know that wood from mtbing. It took almost an hour, she ran really far.
Now someone say that meditation is peaceful!


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## markowe (Feb 1, 2007)

Man, you guys make America sound like a very scary place (assuming most of these tales are from the US). Round Serbia about the scariest thing I've come across are a bunch of hillbilly types firing guns in the air... Oh yeah, there was that...

But most of the time it's just farmsteads with friendly farmers. Axe murderers have yet to be imported to the former Yugoslavia for the most part, I'm happy to say. It's safe riding all the way...


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## col200 (Apr 20, 2004)

1.) I hit a deer head on. Bad situation. i thought I had broken my arm..but I was fine once I did the routine "what's busted" crash-check. Deer bolted.

2.) I usually ride a trail pretty close to Downtown minneapolis. this trail used to be known as a hangout for "cruisers". One evening I was trying to squeeze a lap in and noticed this burly guy standing off the trail in the woods. I had to kinda squint to see him. As I got closer I noticed he was just standing there staring at me. I ended up having to ride fairly close to him to pass him. He just continued to stare. Weird.

3.) The worst thing I've ever witnessed while riding was at that same trail. Took a shortcut through this wild-grass field and rode right up on to two dudes gettin' nasty with eachother right there in front of me. I thought they were fighting at first so I skid to a stop. They both looked up and me and I just looked ahead and booked out of there.:thumbsup:


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## jgsatl (Sep 16, 2006)

brado1 said:


> Two years ago me and a buddy were doing the PMBAR (Pisgah MTB Adventure Race) Death march....we were about 63 miles in and coming down the trail after reaching a checkpoint, we missed the trail we wanted to get back to the start/finish. bombing down the trail when i saw this huge orange light down below us, and thought damn that's a big fire... then i heard the music, i may have been hallucinating, but it was some extended dance mix of CCR's 'Better Run Through the Jungle'. This group of folk, drove their 4x4 over the barricade and some 200yards in the woods on the trail, and made their camp right there...Using the truck as their music player.
> 
> so i ride up to their camp closer and this camp fire flame was easily 12ft high, then i hear "Where da Hell, d'you come from? what in da hell are you doing comin' down Laurel Mountain after midnight?" told the 'em me and my buddy are in adventure race and i was waiting on him to come down the trail. They reply "ya want us to tie you up, to scare the sh*t outta him?" Me: "Uhhhhhhh no thanks".... They reply "wanna beer?" me: "yes i do!" so Jamie and i had a beer with this group (3guys 2girls) one of the girls was so stoned outta her gourd, she would try to talk, and it was like a slow motion babble. scary bunch of folks, Thanked them for the beer and we were off for another 2 hours back to the finish the whole way back we laughed our asses off "you hear banjos?"


you totally should have gotten tied up. the expression on your buddy's face would have been awesome...


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## Acme54321 (Oct 8, 2003)

brado1 said:


> Spooky!


There is a burned old car from the 50's or something with bullet holes in it at the bottom of a cliff at Razorback here in Florida. The trail is in an old quarry with big cliffs from diggings and I can't help but to imagine someone getting blown away in the car and then it was lit on fire and pushed over the cliff back in the day then the quarry was being dug. Now the spot is completely surrounded by woods.


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## Christine (Feb 11, 2004)

_Im always scared to find someone who has Offed themselves or been dumped in a woods im riding in...._

Right now I'm waiting for my laundry to finish in the dryer. Haven't been to the laundromat down the block in a while, since it closes early and the old guy that runs it is often eager to close up early. Plus, he's not always around when you need quarters.

Tonight I loaded up the washing machine, and started looking for him. Hmmm, not out front with his buddies, not sitting and reading the paper, not cleaning anything....

Peeked in the back room and he was slumped back in a chair, lights out, eyes closed, mouth half open. I knocked lightly......no movement. Knock knock knock knock........... he sure looked pale and it's an odd time for him to be sleeping, right there in front of an open door to a brightly-lit laundromat........knockknockknockknock...............he doesn't appear to be breathing. Oh great. Don't tell me........

KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK!!  He blinked and sat up. _Finally. _ 

Yeah, so that's all I got.


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## FinsUp (Nov 12, 2006)

> I always ride solo and one of my biggest recurring fears is to just be riding along alone and then to glance off in the woods and notice someone staring back at me.


I'm with you there. One of the trails I like to ride solo is in the " hood". My cousin and I, a few years back, were JRA and came upon about 5-6 gang bangers. Don't know what they were doin, don't really care. Just kept right on pedaling. Since then, I still ride solo out there but use a little more situational awareness.


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

I've never met any creepy people, well maybe one or two, but nothing threatening. One time came across a guy on his knees, pants around the ankles. He was....ah...you know...doing things I really didn't want to see. Not that he was threatening. Would have been hard to chase me down with the pants around the ankles.

I was out night riding after midnight and saw some eyespots. I have a very bright HID light and had stopped and was panning the light back and forth trying to figure out what they eyespots were from. The light was bright enough the guy walking his dog was freaking out as he thought it was a 4wd. I didn't even see the guy (who was hiding behind a tree) until I got closer. Friendly conversation ensued afterwards. But I can understand why he was uneasy at first.

Pinguwin


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## mtb_freak2000 (Dec 24, 2006)

I know this is gonna sound hella stupid but one day me and one of my friends were riding down this one trail, and there was this guy on a DH bike just sitting there. We rode past, and once we got to the bottom, my friend suggested we ride back up it so we could go down it again. The guy we saw dissappeared, there's no way he could have gotten to the top faster than us. When we got to the top there were some really weird noises coming from the woods, not like screams or anything, but just a lot more noise than usual, like trees creaking and sticks snapping, and I felt like someone was watching me. I told my friend there was no way in hell I was going back down that trail, so we went down a parallel trail not that far from it. When I was riding down it I kept seeing things out of the corner of my eyes. When we got to the bottom it was dead quiet, we were on a trail that a lot of people walk on, and we saw no one. By this time my friend starts getting creeped out too, we ride on and see 2 people walking along the trail, which for some reason made me feel more comfortable, but right after they were out of sight we got creeped out again. There was a really loud noise in the woods pretty close to us, and we just sprinted to the nearest road as fast as possible. I didn't stop feeling like I was being followed until I was a few miles from the park.

Kinda lame, but it's really all I have, except riding solo at night and hearing a noise in the bushes scares the sh!t outta you, especially when there have been mountain lion sightings in a park a few miles away.


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## carrot_top (Aug 22, 2007)

mtb_freak2000 said:


> I know this is gonna sound hella stupid but one day me and one of my friends were riding down this one trail, and there was this guy on a DH bike just sitting there. We rode past, and once we got to the bottom, my friend suggested we ride back up it so we could go down it again. The guy we saw dissappeared, there's no way he could have gotten to the top faster than us. When we got to the top there were some really weird noises coming from the woods, not like screams or anything, but just a lot more noise than usual, like trees creaking and sticks snapping, and I felt like someone was watching me. I told my friend there was no way in hell I was going back down that trail, so we went down a parallel trail not that far from it. When I was riding down it I kept seeing things out of the corner of my eyes. When we got to the bottom it was dead quiet, we were on a trail that a lot of people walk on, and we saw no one. By this time my friend starts getting creeped out too, we ride on and see 2 people walking along the trail, which for some reason made me feel more comfortable, but right after they were out of sight we got creeped out again. There was a really loud noise in the woods pretty close to us, and we just sprinted to the nearest road as fast as possible. I didn't stop feeling like I was being followed until I was a few miles from the park.
> 
> Kinda lame, but it's really all I have, except riding solo at night and hearing a noise in the bushes scares the sh!t outta you, especially when there have been mountain lion sightings in a park a few miles away.


personally, stories like that creep me out the most.....the ones with no explanation of how of why they happened...the ones that do have a reason why they happened usually explain why in a beleiveable way....


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## scrublover (Dec 30, 2003)

This one time...























I dropped my beer.


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## carbuncle (Dec 9, 2005)

I got a couple, but only one is from riding. I was out at SST riding the Flowpark a couple of years ago at around dusk in the summer. Now SST is a big area south of the Seatac airport that was originally native sacred land, then a neighborhood, then purchased and left to go back to nature as a noise buffer to the airport. The Green River Killer dumped two bodies in there, and there is an abandoned graveyard in one corner. There is also a few miles of killer singletrack some djs and an area of drops and big doubles. So I'm out sessioning the drops, alone, when I stop for some water and that feeling of being watched came on me. All of a sudden the hair on the back of my neck stands up and I am freezing cold and just tripping out. So I run the easy line down and try to shake it off, but I just cannot get over the feeling that I am being Watched. Now I'm no stranger to the woods, and neither unable or unwilling to defend myself, so I just sat for a bit and tried to figure out what the problem was. And the feeling kept getting worse, and the light kept going away, and then I realized that there was no natural sound anywhere: no wind, no birds, no squirrels rummaging around...at this point I freaked, got drenched in free-flowing cold sweat as I grabbed my bag and f-ing bolted for the entrace (quite some distance form the flowpark, mind you) using the old streets to get back to my Jeep. It was only after I got home and related this stroy on Ridemonkey to fellow locals and did some online research about the area that I found out about the GRK bodies and the indian sacred land bit, though I had passed the graveyard many a time. I still think I was probably getting eyed by a pack of coyotes, hence the lack of animal noise, and the stillness can be attributed to a hot sunny summer evening but damn that freaked me out at the time!

Non-riding: a few years ago I went on an unplanned 4th of July camping roadtrip with my then two year old husky Dax. We stopped just west of Santiam Pass in Oregon, where I bushwacked a campsite on a fisherman's trail and settled in with a sleeping bag and a fire for the night. About an hour after dark Dax alerts hardcore, and starts freaking out because she is tied to a tree. After about 15 minutes of trying to calm her down, I just let her off the lead and watched her pace the edge of the firelight looking out into the dark. I never heard anything, and she stayed on alert following something in the dark with her eyes all night long. I have the chills writing this bit, because I'm guessing this was a cougar encounter and I hope to never have another one.

Lastly, 12 years ago I took off on a solo camping trip to Lake Quinalt and the Queets river valley on the Olympic peninsula. I drove my beater Oldsmobile out to the campground at the end of the Queets river road because the river was cool and I had seen a sign saying there were some trails out there and a short loop hike. This was on a Tuesday during the day, since I worked retail back then and my weekend was midweek, and on the 13 mile fireroad drive out to the campground a big SUV came up behind me and passed me only to be stopped on the road a ways further up. I passed, and this was twice repeated. I got to the campground at the end and parked, no SUV in sight, found the loop trail and took off into the woods on a three mile hike. I was taking my time, enjoying the sights of the rainforest and taking pictures, and toward the end I stopped randomly for a shot of a little stream crossing the trail. Almost immediatly the driver of the SUV walks up behind me and looks suprised as sh!t to see me standing there looking at him. Now this guy was right up my @ss on trail to have come up on me this fast, he gives me a funny weird smile and walks quickly by while I reconsider my low level of situational awareness and decide to hightail it for the car. I get back there, get in the car just as SUV boy goes by with his tires skipping rocks everywhere and gives me the weirdest damn look and cheshire cat smile, waves at me and speeds away. To this day I feel like I missed getting buried in the woods by the sheer luck of having stopped to photograph that little stream and suprising the dude when he didn't expect me to be there. There are a multitude of less exotic explanations, from the fact the guy was in virtually the same situation as me and felt the same as me to that I was unknowingly in a cruising area. But the whole thing Just Felt Wrong, and life has taught me never to ignore that feeling.


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## croscoe (May 23, 2007)

I've gotten "that feeling" a few times. I kept my gaurd up prepared to go into a screaming tantrum for an element of suprise just in case someone was around the bend. 

One day when I arrived at the trailhead, there was an old pickup with "??? ??? animal control" printed on the door. There were a few animal cages in the bed. I spoke with the guy who owned the truck (he was just kind of standing around) to see what the story was . He claimed that there was a pather in the area that had migrated from Florida (I live at the top of SC) and he had been tracking it. He seemed legit enough, so I asked him what to do in case of attack and yadda yadda ya. It's still in the back of my mind even though he said that they hunt at night.

There's a section of the trail that runs paralell to the highway. I'm going down this section, and a semi truck almost slams on brakes and pulls off of the road. There's roughly 20 ft. of trees between the trail and the road, but I could see the top of the trailer. I didn't know what to make of this, so I book it down the hill. I get further away from the road and I stop. I could swear that I heard footsteps on the pinestraw. With the adrenaline pumping, I start moving slowly, conserving my energy in case I have to make a mad dash, or fight. a few minutes later, I hear the truck pull away, much to my relief. The guy probably was just taking a leak or something, but I was spooked royally.

My first trail ride involved 2 deer taking off like a bat out of hell when I passed them (I didn't notice them at first), it scared me a little, but was pretty exciting as well. 

I'm glad I don't have any "cool" stories like some of you. I'm a very paranoid person and I suspect everyone is out to get me.


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## thesoothsayer (Sep 8, 2007)

New here. Got a story that happened to me about 20 years ago. Wasn't riding a mountain bike back then. I was 8 or 9 (I think) and was riding a BMX type bike. Went cycling into an oil palm estate to look at monkeys (we called it monkey-land) with 2 of my neighbours back in Malaysia.

Suddenly, we saw a 3-foot long cobra creep out of its nest a bit ahead of us. We killed it and my friends had this brilliant idea to hunt for more snakes. So, we locked our bikes together and went searching until dark. When we wanted to go home, we found that the keys to the lock was missing. So, there we were, stranded in the middle of a oil palm estate at night and my friends refused to leave without their bikes. I wanted to walk back but didn't know the way.

Luckily, the father of one my friends worked for the plantation company and managed to find us and cut the lock on the bikes. That was pretty scary for a kid.

Fast forward 20 years and I'm back to cycling again. I just went on a trail here in Korea last Sat and cycled straight into a spider web. The rather large spider was swinging by a thread just in front of my face after the collision and I was really surprised by that! Luckily, it was a rather harmless orb weaver and I'm not arachnophobic. If it happened to my room mate who was with me, I think he would have had a heart-attack or something.


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## sis (Jul 11, 2007)

This may not sound disturbing to some and didn't frighten me but is a bit weird. Here in the UK there is a phenomenon known as "dogging". You go out to various public places with wife/gf/bf and have sex in front of and/or with a load of strangers . One of the places I ride is called Cannock Chase and has a rep for this kind of behaviour at night. Anyway, a couple of us had been riding the trails all day and we usually are the last to leave the car park. We were all getting changed into dry gear (no-one there and secluded) and this BMW pulls into the car park really slowly. All the bikes were behind the van so out of sight from the driver. The three of us were all sort of half changed and the car started to approach. As he got nearer we realised there was a girl in the back seat with no top on. It was only as he moved past the van and saw the bikes that he realised we were there for different reasons and flew off. Not scary to us, all 30/40 year old males, but on your own or female i'm sure it could scare the crap out of you. Especially when you remember that they were here to meet others, and where are they.
I've been spooked out on the trail by random strangers but the biggest problem locally is being robbed for your bike Oh, and the Lord of the rings/devil worshippers


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## markowe (Feb 1, 2007)

si said:


> This may not sound disturbing to some and didn't frighten me but is a bit weird. Here in the UK there is a phenomenon known as "dogging".


Heaven help us all... My country needs me... But it's tough, I ain't coming back!



si said:


> I've been spooked out on the trail by random strangers but the biggest problem locally is being robbed for your bike


The world is a truly nasty place. Bikejacking... That's just the pits...


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## sis (Jul 11, 2007)

*bikejacking*

Very common round here but it seems to happen for a while then stop completely for a while. I'm not sure as I haven't really thought about it that much,but, there seems to be an increase during school holidays


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## markowe (Feb 1, 2007)

si said:


> Very common round here but it seems to happen for a while then stop completely for a while. I'm not sure as I haven't really thought about it that much,but, there seems to be an increase during school holidays


It's "Kids" - I might have known... Kids are the scariest thing of all. Like those films with the little girl with the doll. What are they called? The Barbie Movies, that's it. Not sure where I'm going with this.


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## z rocks (Jul 5, 2007)

I live near the border (U.S. Mexico). Came around a corner on some singletrack, looked up and saw a Border Patrol agent with an M-16 rifle in his hands. Kind of freaked me out a little. Just the way he had obviously taken cover as i came around the bend. 

Another time they popped out on us at night on a downhill. Those HID lights never fail to impress! I think they wanted to check out our set-ups (alot of Border Patrol agents ride too!).

I totally respect the job these dudes are doing-that seems terrorific to me, having to detain up to 50 people by yourself up in the mountains while help comes.

On the other hand i have also encountered groups of immigrants some as large as 35 or so. They have never been hostile. But trust me its scary anyway.


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## sis (Jul 11, 2007)

markowe said:


> It's "Kids" - I might have known... Kids are the scariest thing of all. Like those films with the little girl with the doll. What are they called? The Barbie Movies, that's it. Not sure where I'm going with this.


Neither am I but it's not the kids, the scum come out then as there are a good few kids round here with expensive bikes and are easy targets, this is a link to the local spot where most of this s**t happens

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hemlock+stone&search=Search


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## MaloCS (Sep 10, 2007)

I have a story from one of my 4X4 excursions. I was driving an easy 4X4 road off of Rampart Range Rd in Colorado. This particular road was an IN-N-OUT road, meaning you drive until it dead ends, turn around and drive out the same way you came in.

The road dead ended at a hiking trail with a fairly large turn around area that was great for lunch. Since it was a beautiful day, me, the wife and our dog decided to take a break at this dead end and enjoy some food and a good game of catch. We were at the turn around for an hour and all the while, we didn't see a single vehicle or person, not one.

After our lunch we packed up and headed back up the road from the direction we came. After 5 minutes of driving a man steps out of the brush directly in front of my 4X4 and stands at the edge of the road. I slow to a stop right next to him and ask him if he needs help or if anything is wrong. He replies, "No, I'm just enjoying the afternoon." I say, "Alright then, enjoy your day."

As I start moving he points in the direction I'm heading and asks, "Where does that road go?" I respond, "Well, it goes to the main road about 7 miles away." He nods and smiles. I start moving again but before I can go 5 feet he points in the direction I just came from and asks, "Where does that road go?" I reply, "It dead ends at a parking lot about a quarter mile back." He nods and smiles and thanks me for my time and starts walking towards the dead end.

As we drive off my wife looks at me and says, "That was really weird." I look at her and say, "You know what, it was weird." And to top it off the dog stands forward and puts his head on my shoulder as if he's agreeing with what we were just talking about. While we were driving we started to disect what we just experienced and why the situation made us feel edgy.

First of all, how does a person appear from the woods without knowing where one out of the two possible destinations the road leads to? After all, there wasn't any other trails that intersected with this road other then the hiking trail at the turn around and that trail went in the other direction.

Second, if he was lost and didn't know what road he was on why didn't he say so or ask for a map or more detailed directions? I.E. - "What's the number of the main road?" or "How far to the next town?" or "Can I get a lift?".

Third, why the hell was he grinning like the Cheshire Cat the whole time we were talking?

Fourth, if he was hiking why was he wearing chinos, a long sleeved button up collared shirt and hush puppies? He definitely was not dressed for an afternoon of hiking in the woods.

Fifth, if he was driving then why did he ask where the road goes? There's only one way in and one way out, if he got that far in a vehicle he HAD to have came in the same way we did. If so, why the questions?

Six, He wasn't biking because, again, one way in and one way out.

Seventh, he just seemed weird and slightly off kilter. After I had a chance to think about it I believe this is how Bundy must have looked when he met unsuspecting people in the woods.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The whole situation was non confrontational and actually very pleasant. BUT, after he left and we had a chance to reflect we ALL felt sort of edgy, even the dog. Very weird.


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## 16driver (Nov 19, 2005)

Hi...I am a 500 lb black bear that lives in the woods of Washington. Last fall, on a clear, crisp autumn day I was eating some left over huckleberries when suddenly I smelled a hideous, strange odor. Kind of like a blend of Aspercreme and BO. Also I heard a funny sound....The clanking and squeaking of a much needed oiled drive train and, a terrible attempt of singing a rendition of ACDC's Highway to Hell. I was bored and thought I would investigate further. As this "human" approached, I dropped onto the trail when he was about 40 yards away. Now I have seen some pretty surprised looks on the faces of rabbits and small animals that I am going to eat, but this one took the cake!! This poor guy slammed on his brakes and said something like "Oh Sh*t!!" Usually these bike riders just turn around and high tale it out of there, but this one decided to tip over and play dead.(I wouldn't recommend this technique, it just makes you easier to eat) I then figured out he wasn't "playing dead" but instead had his feet still attached to the bike somehow and was jerking and gyrating on the ground. He was also shouting, "Fu%k, Good Bear", like he knows me or something. I snorted and growled a little, just having fun, when this guy springs to his feet and jerks the bike over his head!! Oooohhhhh, now I am scared. Your supposed to do that with cougars not bears you moron. He then slammed his bike onto the ground, spun around and in a hasty attempt to escape, his poor foot slipped off one of the pedals. That looked like it hurt. I haven't seen my human friend since then, but me and my bear buddies had a pretty good laugh around the den that night.


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## sunsetrider (Jun 15, 2006)

I was riding the Tucson mountain park and it was on solstice day. I was riding an easy section of the trail that is less than 1/2 mile from the road and I came upon this group of 4 people dressed in long black robes with all kinds of dark makeup and they were scary looking. I was about 30 yards from them and they weren't getting out of the way or saying a word as in a greeting or anything. Just staring. I turned my bike around and headed back to another route I know out there. Not sure what they were up to, but scared the crap out of me. I'm a tough guy, but 4 is a lot. I'll not be riding on solstice day.


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## carbuncle (Dec 9, 2005)

They might have mugged you for your 20-sided-dice.....you would have been all good if you had at least 30 hit points.


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## sis (Jul 11, 2007)

sunsetrider said:


> I was riding the Tucson mountain park and it was on solstice day. I was riding an easy section of the trail that is less than 1/2 mile from the road and I came upon this group of 4 people dressed in long black robes with all kinds of dark makeup and they were scary looking. I was about 30 yards from them and they weren't getting out of the way or saying a word as in a greeting or anything. Just staring. I turned my bike around and headed back to another route I know out there. Not sure what they were up to, but scared the crap out of me. I'm a tough guy, but 4 is a lot. I'll not be riding on solstice day.


We found a load of people like that at our local spot, complete with 30' pentagram made out of flour. In our case they were more laughable than scary. I think we have a lower level of wierdo over here


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

carbuncle said:


> They might have mugged you for your 20-sided-dice.....you would have been all good if you had at least 30 hit points.


Haha...that's great. D&D geeks unite the woods.

The thread has received more posts and responses than I thought it would. I guess it just goes to show that all kinds of weird stuff happens out in the woods.


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## trailbrain (Feb 22, 2005)

sunsetrider said:


> I was riding the Tucson mountain park and it was on solstice day. I was riding an easy section of the trail that is less than 1/2 mile from the road and I came upon this group of 4 people dressed in long black robes with all kinds of dark makeup and they were scary looking. I was about 30 yards from them and they weren't getting out of the way or saying a word as in a greeting or anything. Just staring. I turned my bike around and headed back to another route I know out there. Not sure what they were up to, but scared the crap out of me. I'm a tough guy, but 4 is a lot. I'll not be riding on solstice day.


That sounds like some sort of Wiccan s%$t or something.


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## FastGherkin (Jan 27, 2006)

No scary encounters with two leggers, but once I was riding early morning- it was really foggy and quiet- and I heard a rumbling in front of me slightly off to the side of the trail. As I got closer I saw it was a bobcat, staring right at me, holding its dead prey in its mouth. 

Not a huge animal, but DAMN those things look demon-like with those ears..


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## burtronix (Jun 5, 2006)

sodak06 said:


> Ever heard a rabbit being attacked / ate by a fox?? Holy sh*t is that a freeky sound. Couple of buds and I were grooming an area of trail, we were sitting there and all of a sudden the most awfull screaming sound came from the right. I am telling ya, fricken screaming. It was intense enough for me to think that was a human scream, and then WTF?? It definately freeked us out, but there is always one in the bunch who will investigate. He ran up the little hill and there was a fox tearing up the rabbit. But man,.... I will never forget that sound.


Rabbits make that sound if a dog or a cat get them too. I grew up hearing that sound a couple times a year. Sometimes we knew what got the rabbit & other times we didn't.


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## Flankerdog (Jun 26, 2007)

I made it down an arroyo single track which end at and underpass of the interstate that cuts through town. This was before they developed it all and now it's a bunch of houses (another horro story). Anyway, I get under the overpass and stop to enjoy the shade. I look up and this guy's walking back and forth about 30 yards ahead of me. This doesn't necessarily raise the alarm, except he's totally buck a$$ naked. Only clothes he's wearing are these black combat style boots. He looks agrevated or something by the jerky way he's moving. When he spots me stopped on my bike he turns and starts walking toward me, fast. I'm kinda like deer in the headlights, frozen in place. He gets maybe 10 yards and I finally get my sense back, pick my bike up (still straddeled) turn around 180 degrees, put my back back down and haul a$$ back the way I came. I still vividly remember the guys pr!ck swingin back and forth as he came at me. Not that I was looking or anything, just kinda hard not to, you know? Also not that there's anything wrong if someone _wants_ to look, or something...

Another different type of scary, I was riding a real technical rocky decent (in El Paso, EVERYTHING's rocky). I was struggling and had to put my foot down. Jabbed a spear like needle into my ankle about an inch down from the ankle bone. Felt the prick and didn't think about it as I kept peddling. I felt something poking me and stopped to look. Took off my shoe and had this needle stiking out about an eighth of an inch. When I pull it out, it keeps coming and coming. Ended up pulling an inch of thorn out of the meat of my foot. When it finially comes out, the hole gives out a spurt of blood and kinda pulses squirts like that for a minute. I started having flashes of bleeding out on the side of the freaking mountatin, all alone. Anyway, finally decide to put my sock and shoe back on and tighten it down. Musta stopped the bleeding 'cause I did'nt die.


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## Pooh Bear (May 25, 2006)

sunsetrider said:


> I was riding the Tucson mountain park and it was on solstice day. I was riding an easy section of the trail that is less than 1/2 mile from the road and I came upon this group of 4 people dressed in long black robes with all kinds of dark makeup and they were scary looking. *I was about 30 yards from them and they weren't getting out of the way or saying a word as in a greeting or anything. Just staring. * I turned my bike around and headed back to another route I know out there. Not sure what they were up to, but scared the crap out of me. I'm a tough guy, but 4 is a lot. I'll not be riding on solstice day.


They didn't greet you? I thought roadies kept out of the woods. :thumbsup:


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## Padronis (Mar 14, 2006)

sodak06 said:


> Ever heard a rabbit being attacked / ate by a fox?? Holy sh*t is that a freeky sound. Couple of buds and I were grooming an area of trail, we were sitting there and all of a sudden the most awfull screaming sound came from the right. I am telling ya, fricken screaming. It was intense enough for me to think that was a human scream, and then WTF?? It definately freeked us out, but there is always one in the bunch who will investigate. He ran up the little hill and there was a fox tearing up the rabbit. But man,.... I will never forget that sound.


This didn't happen while I was biking but it was similar to that. One day I was standing out side at work early in the morning and I heard the most blood curdling, man being ripped in half with dull knives sound that I have ever heard. At first I wasn't sure that I actually just heard that. Then I heard it again. This one really freaked me out! I told someone else I worked with and he tells me that it's someone's donkey. :skep: I could have sworn I just heard someone get murdered in the worst way possible only to find out it was a damn possessed donkey....


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## esunbaboon (Aug 22, 2005)

Me and my exploring some quad trails on our bikes one day behind some industrial areas. In the middle of the trails we found a fire pit, beer bottles and a bunch of trash. Earlier in the ride we had heard barking but figured it came form some houses that weren't too far away. The camp site was at the bottom of a extremely steep hill climb, rocky hill climb about 25 ft high that I was thinking about trying to ride down. We both looked up at it then looked at each other talking about it. Then we hear angry barks and we look back up the hill to see two scraggly looking dogs, most likely strays, staring back at us. We slowly get back on our bikes and jet out of there. The hill they were on was too steep for them to come down, or they just didn't want to chase. It was scary because I've never seen stray dogs around those parts and it's a mostly developed area.


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## Kanga (Sep 14, 2004)

My creepy "trail" story isn't so much trail, and didn't involve mountain biking. But creepy nonetheless. I was on a road trip through Mexico, and pulled up at a beach on the sea of Cortez (mainland side) at about sunset to check it out. About a half hour later a truck drove by, but we were miles down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Fifteen minutes later, the truck came back, three guys jumped out and I had my face shoved in the dirt and a gun in the back of my head. They took everything and slashed the tires on the car. 

That's not the creepy part. 

We were miles from anywhere, and we guessed we were about four to six miles from the main highway. It was dark, in the middle of Winter (December 22), and we were in shorts and T-shirts, freezing cold. We hiked back to the highway, and tried hitchhiking to the nearest town to find some kind of help. As we hiked along the side of the highway, we could hear something in the bushes following us. We stopped. It stopped. We guessed it was around midnight and in the low forties in the mexican desert. We were pretty freaked out already, but this was the icing on the cake. We moved to the median strip in the middle of the highway and tried to flag down a vehicle from there. Eventually a bus stopped and picked us up, dropping us off at the nearest police station. The being stalked by something we couldn't see still spooks me more than the banditos. We presumed, by the size and behavior, that it was a mountain lion. 

I've since had another run-in with a mountain lion on my mountain bike. A big cat standing on a double-track, front legs in one track and back legs in the other, across the trail. It was up in Kings Canyon, right beside the Kings river. The cat was just over a rise and I didn't see it until I made the crest. I stood my ground, and we had a stand-off and stare down for about ten seconds or so, about 30' apart. The cat then bounded up the hill and out of sight, and I continued on my ride. It was a beautiful encounter, at least this time when I could see the animal. Much better than hearing one shadowing your footsteps in the pitch-dark desert night.


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## SCC (Jan 20, 2007)

16driver said:


> Hi...I am a 500 lb black bear that lives in the woods of Washington. Last fall, on a clear, crisp autumn day I was eating some left over huckleberries when suddenly I smelled a hideous, strange odor. Kind of like a blend of Aspercreme and BO. Also I heard a funny sound....The clanking and squeaking of a much needed oiled drive train and, a terrible attempt of singing a rendition of ACDC's Highway to Hell. I was bored and thought I would investigate further. As this "human" approached, I dropped onto the trail when he was about 40 yards away. Now I have seen some pretty surprised looks on the faces of rabbits and small animals that I am going to eat, but this one took the cake!! This poor guy slammed on his brakes and said something like "Oh Sh*t!!" Usually these bike riders just turn around and high tale it out of there, but this one decided to tip over and play dead.(I wouldn't recommend this technique, it just makes you easier to eat) I then figured out he wasn't "playing dead" but instead had his feet still attached to the bike somehow and was jerking and gyrating on the ground. He was also shouting, "Fu%k, Good Bear", like he knows me or something. I snorted and growled a little, just having fun, when this guy springs to his feet and jerks the bike over his head!! Oooohhhhh, now I am scared. Your supposed to do that with cougars not bears you moron. He then slammed his bike onto the ground, spun around and in a hasty attempt to escape, his poor foot slipped off one of the pedals. That looked like it hurt. I haven't seen my human friend since then, but me and my bear buddies had a pretty good laugh around the den that night.


:lol: :lol: :lol: best one in the whole thread....:thumbsup:


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## Bost (Sep 1, 2007)

rutkiller said:


> This is exactly what I'm talking about. I started this thread because of something that happend to me this past Sunday. I was out riding (solo) at a local trail and I swore that somebody was watching me. I stopped a few times to collect my thoughts and my breath, and it was the creepiest feeling. Like I said in my original post, I guess all of those stupid movies I watched as a kid are coming back to haunt me. Something about being alone in the woods is creepy. Anyway, on Sunday, I had this feeling that if I looked long enough, I would see someone standing in the woods watching me. You know...the whole hockey mask and 3 foot blade thing..... As I was exiting the trail after a great ride, I encountered a man sitting on a bench by himself. While nothing was particulary creepy about this guy, it just made me wonder, ya know?


Dude i ride solo all the time, and the trail i normally ride is around 1-2 hours depending on how fast/which way you go. The weirdest part of it is when you go to stop and get a breather all you can hear are all those freaking squirrels and crap running around and i swear it feels like someones in the woods looking back at me and i just like look around and try to get out of there as fast as i can. It always gives me the creeps....

oh and the worst time was i was riding the short 5 mile loop and i went to stop and i heard the noise that sounded like a biker coming up the trail but i couldnt see anyone... i turned back and it was a deer truckin it up the trail and then split into the woods quickly, really freaky as they hardly ever go near humans


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## NJMX835 (Oct 17, 2006)

rutkiller said:


> This is exactly what I'm talking about. I started this thread because of something that happend to me this past Sunday. I was out riding (solo) at a local trail and I swore that somebody was watching me. I stopped a few times to collect my thoughts and my breath, and it was the creepiest feeling. Like I said in my original post, I guess all of those stupid movies I watched as a kid are coming back to haunt me. Something about being alone in the woods is creepy. Anyway, on Sunday, I had this feeling that if I looked long enough, I would see someone standing in the woods watching me. You know...the whole hockey mask and 3 foot blade thing..... As I was exiting the trail after a great ride, I encountered a man sitting on a bench by himself. While nothing was particulary creepy about this guy, it just made me wonder, ya know?


It's so easy to creep yourself out when you're in the woods alone, especially at night!

I used to nightride a lot alone and I wouldn't stop or even slow down until I was out of the woods.

From one end of the woods to the other (couple of miles) at full speed, lol


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## NJMX835 (Oct 17, 2006)

jpelaston said:


> Im always scared to find someone who has Offed themselves or been dumped in a woods im riding in....


The Iceman (Richard Kuklinski) dumped the body of one of his victims in the woods off of a road only a few miles from where I live, it's watershed property bordering Wawayanda state park. (google Clinton Road).

I believe it was actually a cyclist who found the (still defrosting) corpse....


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## GASherpa (Oct 2, 2007)

Although I wasn't actually in any real danger, my first ride was a little spooky.

In January '07 I purchased my first "real" mountain bike, a 2005 Raleigh M80, and I was itching to take it out on a trail. Because of scheduling conflicts, the first available opportunity that I had to ride was around 5:00 pm one evening. My friend and current riding partner had heard of the trail that we were planning to ride but knew very little else other than the name- Selma Irwin. We made it out to the trail head and estimated that we had about on full hour of light left- more than enough time to complete a 4.5 mile loop (or so we thought) and we started riding. The first mile of trail was tight, flowing, mostly downhill singletrack, and we were having a blast and making great time. After that first mile, however, things changed. The trail became immediately harder- tough, steep climbs, rock gardens, and roots everywhere. The trail started kicking our a**es. We were walking 50% of the time and the sun was setting. About 2 miles in to the trail, the sun was down and it became too dark to ride. It was at about this point that I realized exactly where this trail is located. Milledgeville, GA is famous for two things- it is the former capital of GA, and it has a hell of a lot of prisons. Its most famous prison is named Central State Hospital, once the world's largest insane asylum. Selma Irwin trail is located on the east side of the Central State Hospital property, which also houses two other prisons. While we were walking, I realized that the woods that we were walking our bikes through would be the first place that crazy, foaming-at-the-mouth escapees would run, as well as the not-so-insane escapees from the many other prisons surrounding the trail. As we stumbled through the dark, foreign trail I was certain that I heard bloodhounds barking, probably chasing some Hannibal Lecter-esque escapee from Central State who would most certainly appreciate the bikes and livers (sans chianti) that we had to offer. After walking for about an hour we finally made it back to the car. Neither of us mentioned the fact that we were so close to all of the prisons during the ride/hike, but as soon as we got back into the car, we both admitted that bloodthirsty escaped convicts had been the first thing on our minds.

We still ride the trail on a regular basis. It no longer kicks our a**es, but that didn't come easy. We also haven't been stuck in the dark since, but at least one of us carries a headlamp just in case.


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## croscoe (May 23, 2007)

NJMX835 said:


> The Iceman (Richard Kuklinski) dumped the body of one of his victims in the woods off of a road only a few miles from where I live, it's watershed property bordering Wawayanda state park. (google Clinton Road).
> 
> I believe it was actually a cyclist who found the (still defrosting) corpse....


I remember reading about that road on midnightsociety.com (now defunct). Have you ever seen any cannibals in the area?


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## Anonymous (Mar 3, 2005)

bad mechanic said:


> Word. A rabbit screaming is an unearthly sound. Pretty much guaranteed to freak someone out the first time they hear it.


Ever hear an elk bugle, 20 feet behind you, when you didn't know it was there?


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## Anonymous (Mar 3, 2005)

scrublover said:


> This one time...
> 
> I dropped my beer.


Dood! Let's keep this at least, at a PG level! No need to all XXX on us!
I'm surprised at you!


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## jeriCurl (Apr 18, 2006)

You guys jinxed me!

I read this thread yesterday, and thought to myself how lucky I am to get to ride trails where I never see these kinds of creepy freaks in the woods. And then wouldn't you know it, it happened to me too.

Last night, we were riding our weekly Tuesday night ride. A few of us went for an extra lap after everyone else left. I'm leading the group of 4 through the woods. I'm doing my best to call out all possible dangers, like "deer up", "tree down right", etc... I come over a slight rise and my light reveals something large walking up the trail towards us. I turn my head a little to light it up and realize it's a man. 

Now this trail isn't anywhere near homes or anything and its illegal to camp there so we will occasionally see hikers on it during the day, but NEVER at night. But this guy was definetly not your standard hiker. He was dressed head to toe in camo gear, with a small black backpack. He had one of those vietnam era hats on, he kept his hat pulled low over his face and his face pointed down to keep from being blinded by my lights, I assume. Very creepy looking. I couldn't even come up with what to call out, it came out as something like: "hike-Errr, man, SOMETHING, err UP!"

After we got past him, the guy behind me laughed and said "I would have said 'Children of the Corn UP!' "


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## Iranian-Mechanic (May 6, 2004)

Yup . Two guys robbed me . My Giant XTC 3 + my MP3 player .
I was more than 20 km of urban area 7:00 PM and they approached by a motor cycle . Then wandered around to take a look at the situations then they told me to give them what ever i had or recieve a stab with a knife . i was really scared and made a wise choise .Just gave them whatever i had and hoped they would go .They did so . While walking back the trail i saw a pal we called police with his phone and 4 officers were there with in an hour .but i was a bit late.


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## GRAVELBIKE (Oct 7, 2006)

Just wait 'til you see one of these in the trailhead parking lot:


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

MileHighMark said:


> Just wait 'til you see one of these in the trailhead parking lot:


A Redheaded Ronald Rodent!!! Dude....WTF is this thing!!!???
haha.... that's great!


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## carrot_top (Aug 22, 2007)

rutkiller said:


> A Redheaded Ronald Rodent!!! Dude....WTF is this thing!!!???
> haha.... that's great!


i see those things all the time at mcdonalds...their out back scrounging through the trash and scaring the little kids in the playground...

ITS THE SPAWN ON RONALD MCDONALD!!!!!!


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## sis (Jul 11, 2007)

Sorry to hear it, at least you didn't get hurt.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?p=3520340#poststop


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## winchboy (May 2, 2006)

Got a good rush night riding on the American River in Sacramento, very developed urban area. We stopped for a rest, it was dead quiet and our lights were shut off. All of a sudden a screaming noise, a crash and cyotes start howling all up and down the trail. They had made a kill on a critter not 100 feet from us, we rode on out.
I back pack a lot, in the Hoover Wilderness, high elevation and very desolate, at night the critters play and we have had mountain lion tracks in camp, been mugged by the professional yogies up from yosemite, ate all our food and trashed the camp. Yes the food was properly stored counter balanced up a tree, sow sent the cub up, he crawled out on the branch and broke it off the tree. We were yelling, banging pans ect but the bear just got pissed and chased us off. At 10,000' the trees arent big enough to store food correctly. We use the bear vault canisters now, a great invention but heavy. Not a spooky story but plenty scary 4 days into the mountains armed with sticks and rocks.


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

It wasnt' while riding but after riding while camping. I was sleeping under the stars and heard an awful noise. It sounded almost like a dog of some sort but a bit too weird for that. I could hear several sources for it. They were at first far away but getting closer. I had no idea what it was but knew they weren't far off when I shined my headlamp in their direction and saw several eyespots. They were making a very bizarre and feral sound.

When I jumped out of my sleeping bag, thinking about going to my car, they veered away from me at about 75 yards. I'm not usually the type to get be frightened but in this case I didn't like them one bit. Later a local told me it was coyotes. I had no ideas that coyotes (or anything) could make that sort of sound.

Pinguwin


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## winchboy (May 2, 2006)

Coyotes ya gotta love em, most adaptable critter on the planet next to people.
I take a desert trip most winters, and sleep in a tent, to many crawlies like scorpions and the tent keeps them out of the sleeping bag. I violated my own rule, threw the bag on the ground in camp and hit the ole fart sack. I woke up to a strange rusteling. Straddeling the foot of my bag was a coyote I yelled and kicked up hitting him in the belly , he ran and grabbed a bag of garbage stashed under my truck and scattered it all over the place. I don't know who got the better rush, me or the critter! my buddy was laughing so hard i thought he was gonna puke.


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## rustus (May 28, 2004)

I guess the strangest thing I encountered in the woods where I ride (northern NM) was a naked hiker, totally shaved with a HUGE ring in his umm.... He didn't seem dangerous though, just eccentric. The scariest thing that happened to me was on a solo ride on a trail that goes through an old burn with lots of dead trees standing. As I got off my bike to climb over some deadfall on the trail, I heard a loud cracking sound. Without even thinking, I grabbed my bike and dove off the trail. A tree about 12 inches in diameter and 30 feet tall landed exactly where I had been standing. Would have been bad because I was about 5 miles from the road and at least 20 miles from the nearest town.


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## dosboy (Oct 29, 2006)

*Had that happen to me last night*

The thing that made it really scary was that It was about 11 pm and pitch black...You hear cracking above you and dont know which way to run....Adds a nice terrible twist to the whole situation...Luckily I caught a glimpse of a 30ft section of tree from the glimmer of one of my friends headlamps as they looked up (my light is mounted to my bar)...I saw it headin for me and dumped my bike, made it about 3 steps before it slammed into the ground with bone crunching force...The creepiest thing was when I turned around, this huge top half of a tree had fallen across the trail about a foot in front of my front tire....


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## jpelaston (Feb 27, 2007)

well this thread may have jinxed me. two friends and i were riding two days ago, and got jumped by about 7 or 8 guys for no reason whatsoever. the friend at the tail of our group got dragged off his bike first. I went to go help him and got stopped by two guys.. i was on the ground rolling around with one of them and ended up on top and the other kicked me in the face. so now I have a right eye swollen shut, the friend at the tail of the group has the same, plus 9 stitches in his lip/ mouth, and the other friend got away with just a small black eye.


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## Sideknob (Jul 14, 2005)

Jesus, I have nothing that compares to that.

Early one morning, after a hellishly hot and sleepless night in summer I got up just on dawn for a ride on some singletrack close to home. I'm JRA and I see a figure ahead of me through the trees, notice something's not quite right (it was sort of like that famous Big Foot film everyone's seen...) and as I get closer I realise there's this pot bellied, 50-something year old bloke walking on the track towards me - NEKKID. 

He had a pair of those little running shorts in one hand - and must have decided as the area was pretty remote he'd drop the tweeds and go freeballin'. When he spotted me he disappeared behind an impossibly thin tree, and came back out with his shorts on.

"Nice morning for it." was all I could say, cursing my luck it wasn't an 18 year old girl out nekkid.


Another time was JRA, thinking those D+M thoughts you think on the trail sometimes, when there's a huge explosion of leaf litter and bark beside me, and this HUGE goanna explodes out from underneath it, and runs off on his back legs. Would have been 5 feet long, and must have been sleeping until I rode past.

Oh yeah, swooping magpies in springtime (which is now!) that whiz by and nip you on the ear on the way past.


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## davec113 (May 31, 2006)

Phucking Pheasants scare the crap outta me everytime!

I was reaching for a tree to rest on yesterday when one of them flew out and I jammed my finger into the tree I was reaching for. Bastard...


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## longhaultrucker (Jan 24, 2007)

does havin coyotes follow 20-30 yards behind count?
almost hit a deer @ a good 20mph once...they (2 does) ran across in front of me before an upcoming 180 deg turn follwed by a sweet decent,and as i came around/down pickin up speed,they bolted across my path again,me swoopin in between them,was so close to the 2nd doe i could not only see the steam of her breath,but the fear in her eyes...we both thought she wuz hit.that woulda left a mark,and then those coyotes woulda stumbled on my out cold arse...


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## aLLboutLx (Aug 11, 2007)

I will be carrying pepper spray inside my camelback from now on.


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## A's FaNaTiC (Apr 11, 2007)

This was in 95, i was planning on riding some trails just above a local community college. I get out of my truck, unload the bike and start stretching. This guy drives up next to me in his truck with a bike in the back ( this is about 3 pm, so broad daylight ) and starts asking me where i usually ride. I am 1/2 paying attention cause i'm wasn't much for riding with someone i don't know, and i could tell from his talking that he didn't know **** about biking. Then all the sudden in the middle of the conversation, He says that i look like i ride alot cause i'm in good shape. then shoots off with " can i suck your **** ?? " It took me a second to register what the hell he just said, and i turned and just became enraged! I started to walk towards his truck clinching my fists to nail this ******* and he drives off. I was in good shape at the and was bigger than him. I was so pissed and should have called it a day before my ride began. I kept stretching and looking around, just shaking my head and thinking WTF ...... So i get on the bike, ride through the parking lot and start this 1/4 mile climb on a walking path which runs parallel with the road. This guy pulls up next to me, about 15 yards away and yells at me. As i turn my head to look, he is pacing me in his truck and sucking a dildo. I just looked in amazement and shook my head and took off up the trail. This was back before i had a cell or carried any tools or a knife to at least protect myself. 
So i do a small loop and sit on the trail spending about an hour in total. Then i decied to head back to my truck and get the heck outta there, all the time thinking what did i do to deserve this crap. SO i fly down to my truck, throw my bike in the back and get in, looked real quick and didn't see him. There was alot of cars on the parking lot, so i didn't look very hard, just wanted to get out. I had 3-4 open parking spaces around me, then i start to pull out and he pulls right next to me, facing the opposite direction. I jump out and start walking towards his truck ready top beat the sh*t outta this guy, and he speeds off. I didn't follow him, but did go to the campus police and reported what had happened. Never heard anything after that, haven't ridden there since.


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## CsHoSi (Sep 28, 2005)

That's f'd up. 

There's this trailhead that has a problem with weirdos, hobos and homos. In 2006 I unload and start down the trail and this guy comes out of the woods w/o a shirt and holding his dck out towards me. I just looked down and pedaled on hard. It was all I could do because I was so enraged. It scared me that I got that way and envisioned bashing him over the head with a rock or branch but it kept the other image out of my head.

When I was younger we went back there and played paintball some. We stayed off the trail and out of range but I'm sure some people looked out and saw us, maybe freaked them out or just pissed them off.

Forget carrying inside a pack. I keep saying this but haven't acted yet. A little beltclip -sized can of strong OC or OC/CS spray. From brigadeqm.com or any such.  They have this bear spray too that shoots 35 feet which should do for remote areas but for around town I'm going to try Halt! mounted to the bike for dogs. It's a lot cheaper and should be less painful if you bust it open or have it turned on you. Even thought about a boot knife as mace backup if I get ambushed and tackled off the bike.

Nothing really scary to report. I was bike camping once and heating water on my alcohol stove in the dark when I hear this loud exhaled breath. Not a snort but a single huff. Thing must of had powerful lungs. It circled me for half an hour doing this . I had realized it was a deer so not worried but when he let out the first one I jumped. Another time I was riding this lake MUP in the wee morning hours with the lights off and and had two big ones run full-tilt just a few feet in front of me while I was going 15-mph. Startled me pretty good, thought I could feel their breeze.

I've been riding w/o headphones for about a year now.


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## markowe (Feb 1, 2007)

nagatahawk said:


> i don't get to weirded out about most things except my riding skills. or lack thereof.


Amen to that bro'. That's the scariest thing out there, and no mistake!


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## BobL (Feb 20, 2004)

*One More (long) Kitty Story*

I live in area that's a bit of an anomaly for SoCal. It's a canyon just below a range of mountains smack dab in the megalopolis known collectivly as L.A. I'm nine miles from the nearest traffic light and ninety feet from the National Forest.
Anywayz, we have a regular ride out here every week that takes place on some really remote and untraveled trails. After the ride, we meet at a house near the bottom of a popular trail that runs down a steep side canyon. On night (several years ago), a few new faces showed up and it became a "FNG" ride just to break in the fng's. I decided to sweep so's not to have to go back out and find the fng's if they don't make it back on their own. 
Lo and behold, I have a mechanical. One of the FNG's named CIA comes back to help ME, and in the process talks me into a little puff of chronic, which I had not done in years. Well, it didn't help get the job done any faster, so by the time we catch up to the rest of the group, my light is fading fast. We're at the top of the above mentioned side canyon, and the rest of the locals still had some thrashing on the FNG's to do, so I say "My light is toast, I'll just head back from here and see you guys later at dinner".

Now, the canyon and it's trail are called Wildcat (for the winds, not the kittys) and the begining of this trail is practically straight down. We've armored it with rocks, but it doesn't help, especailly when all you have left is a little camping style head lamp that throws a patch of light the size of a quarter on the ground. So I basically flail my way down the first 50 yards until the grade becomes more ridable, at which point I stop for a breather and begin to get a very creepy feeling that something is behind me. I yell out "Hey CIA, is that you? Who's there?" all to no avail. But I'm fairly certain someone or someTHING is back there. By now, chills are beginning to run dowm my spine, so in an act of self preservation I tell myself it's my imagination. After all, I was under the influence of some pretty dam strong ganja. 
I continue trying to ride, but my old Nightsun is a dim yellow glow, so I turn it off and try to ride with only the headlamp. I smack a rock hard, and my seat post breaks, tossing me head first into a little creek. I totallly freak and scream bloody murder as I scramble out of the creek and back onto the trail. But in the following silence I hear something rustling the bushes behind me. I grab my bike and point it back up the trail and pray for just a little surface charge on the battery. I snap on the Nightsun just in time to see bushes moving about 15 feet up behind me. I would have crapped my pants if my sphincter wasn't so clenched! I felt sick, but proceeded to tell myself again it was my imagination: "just the wind" I thought. Or CIA playing a sick trick on a stoned compadre. I curse him (for the trick or the toke) and curse myself for such a wild imagination. 
Regaining what little composure I have left, I continue down the trail, trying to ride through the rocks in the pitch black. But at one point I have to stop. I hear something snap behind me. "Holy F***" I shout; "who's fu**ing back there?!" No answer. Of course. So no more self consoling, I just totally succumb to the fear and boogie my arse down the trail. Soon I hear a dog barking wildly down the trail and I know I'm near the end and near civilization. I pop out the end of the trail, and the woman who owns the dog and lives at the bottom of the trail caomes up and says "oh Bob, it's you! My dog was going nuts! Are you OK?" I think "oh crap, it shows" but reply "I'm fine" all the while just wanting to hug her.
I continue down the road a little ways to our usual meeting house and as I walk in, my friend's wife says "Bob... you OK? You're white as a ghost!" I force a smile and say "yeah, sure" and promptly down a beer. 
In about 5 minutes or so, the rest of the group comes riding up and comes into the house. I ask what trail they came down and the answer "Wildcat, of course.." I cuss 'em out for giving me a hard time and they say "Wasn't us...you just now got back? wow, took you a long time" Then the phone rings and it's the gal up the street (who I saw at the bottom of the trail) telling us all to come up to her house right away, her dog has a huge lion tree'd in her front yard. My heart sinks and I cough up my last gulp of beer. My friend says '' no one on foot! Everybody get in my Suburban" I hop in the back seat and we drive the whole 100 yards back up the road and he turns the 'burb to point the lights at the tree, where the neighbor's dog is going crazy. 
Well, the lights are hitting the bottom 10 feet of the tree and I'm still incredulous over the whole thing when my friend says "hey Bob, there's a big flashlight right behind your seat. I turn to get it and as I'm bent over the back of the seat, the whole truckload of guys lets out a collective "Holy Sh**!!! Look at the size of that thing!!"
I whip around to see the last few inches of it's tail disappear out of the lights... I'm pissed!
And actually still kinda freaked. But we all pile out to see where it went. They all run down canyon yelling "where'd it go? where'd it go?" I'm standing in the road next to a stand of mulefat when I hear something snap and a low rumble of a growl. I could barely get out "it's right here"... As I stood there frozen, I heard the bushes rustle the same way they did up the trail earlier the evening, only this time the sound was moving away from me. 
Needless to say, I drank heavily that night. And haven't stopped. (no mo bud, tho)

I still ride solo in these hills. And I still get occasionally freaked. But it's that thrill that keeps me coming back. And may God help us all if we eliminate the "danger" out there.

Happy Trails!


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## FastGherkin (Jan 27, 2006)

Great story!! I was getting the goosebumps just reading it in daylight! I thought the freakiest part about it was when your friends said they had ridden Wildcat- but you never saw them.


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

Aww it was jlust a little possum or something. lol.


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

Sideknob said:


> this pot bellied, 50-something year old bloke


You know Knobby, I've been to six Rainbow Gatherings, which are hippie conventions which have between 10-20k people attend and a certain percentage of them are nekkid.

People say the human body is a beautiful thing and I agree that there are a few, and let me emphasize that word again, *few*, who look fine sans clothing. But after seeing enough guys like you describe running around with nothing but mud (and often not even that) smeared on their bodies yelling, "I am the Mudman!", one comes to realize the nudity is most assuredly not ok. It's just not worth the risk of the many to see the few.

Penguano


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## sis (Jul 11, 2007)

I've just had another. Riding to the cashpoint I saw my ex wife


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

*Great Stories....*

When I started this thread, I never thought so many people would have such great stories to share. I'm amazed at the number of bikers who have unfortunately encountered a naked man in the woods. I find it very odd and very disturbing that so many men wander the woods bareass. It's a sick world folks.....


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## Sideknob (Jul 14, 2005)

pinguwin said:


> You know Knobby, I've been to six Rainbow Gatherings, which are hippie conventions which have between 10-20k people attend and a certain percentage of them are nekkid.
> 
> People say the human body is a beautiful thing and I agree that there are a few, and let me emphasize that word again, *few*, who look fine sans clothing. But after seeing enough guys like you describe running around with nothing but mud (and often not even that) smeared on their bodies yelling, "I am the Mudman!", one comes to realize the nudity is most assuredly not ok. It's just not worth the risk of the many to see the few.
> 
> Penguano


Word.

It's like nudist beaches. Sounds all glamorous until you actually go to one then realise most or all of the beach bums look like they are from the cast of "Cocoon"...


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## sis (Jul 11, 2007)

rutkiller said:


> When I started this thread, I never thought so many people would have such great stories to share. I'm amazed at the number of bikers who have unfortunately encountered a naked man in the woods. I find it very odd and very disturbing that so many men wander the woods bareass. It's a sick world folks.....


It is and i'm canvassing my mates to get more stories


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## winchboy (May 2, 2006)

This one just happened to me. Backpacking in the Hoover Wilderness again a few weeks ago with my buddy. We had heard the usual strange sounds at night at camp going in to Smedberg lake, deer ect. We had seen bear tracks on the trail going to Benson lake where were camped. Anyway in broad daylight we hear snap crackel. Then again snap, smack and cracking sounds. It's day light no big deal. The sound gets closer, and then moves away, moves left moves right. What the hey is this , we can't see anything, and this goes on for 20 minuets!. We plan to do a layover here tonight and get a bath, wash our filthy stinking clothes and were getting a little spooked. We each get a nice thick stick and start looking around, can't see anything, were looking right where the snaping and cracking is, then it moves away. We sneak along the brush and Denney yells AH [email protected]#@!! I figure he just found something like a lion, bear, chupacabra, the noise was squirls chewing pinecones out of trees and the snapping and crunchin was the pine cones hitting the ground!! Gave us a good bout of high pulse rate and adrenalin though! Damn squirls...


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

winchboy said:


> This one just happened to me. Backpacking in the Hoover Wilderness again a few weeks ago with my buddy. We had heard the usual strange sounds at night at camp going in to Smedberg lake, deer ect. We had seen bear tracks on the trail going to Benson lake where were camped. Anyway in broad daylight we hear snap crackel. Then again snap, smack and cracking sounds. It's day light no big deal. The sound gets closer, and then moves away, moves left moves right. What the hey is this , we can't see anything, and this goes on for 20 minuets!. We plan to do a layover here tonight and get a bath, wash our filthy stinking clothes and were getting a little spooked. We each get a nice thick stick and start looking around, can't see anything, were looking right where the snaping and cracking is, then it moves away. We sneak along the brush and Denney yells AH [email protected]#@!! I figure he just found something like a lion, bear, the noise was squirls chewing pinecones out of trees and the snapping and crunchin was the pine cones hitting the ground!! Gave us a good bout of high pulse rate and adrenalin though! Damn squirls...


What is a "chupacabra"???????????:skep:


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## TheMauler (Aug 13, 2007)

rutkiller said:


> What is a "chupacabra"???????????:skep:


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## PSYCLONE (Dec 8, 2006)

The day after I saw the Blair Witch Project in the theaters, my 2 friends and I headed up to Jim Thorpe to ride. I'm not the best trail guide in that area, but I'm sure some others will know where I'm talking about. We took a powerline trail all the way down to the point where a fence is. On the other side of this fence is a hunting camp (I guess). Our plan was to cross the fence and ride out that way. Before we could throw one bike over the fence, this guy comes tearing towards the fence on an ATV. In one hand, he had a Coors Light, and strapped across his ATV was a rifle. He jumps off at the fence, beer in one hand, rifle in the other and starts giving us a hard time. Being a Pabst Blue Ribbon drinker myself, I'm thinking this guy must be some upper middle class hick if he's into this whole Coors Light scene. He told us that it was private property and we were under no circumstances going to cross that fence. So we headed back up that steep ass hill, all the while he was watching...At the top, I decided it was a pretty novel idea to throw a large rock at the powerline tower. Let's just say it made a little louder noise than I had envisioned. As I looked down at this guy to see his reaction, I noticed he had shouldered the rifle, and pointed it at me. Now I ain't the fastest guy on a bike, but nobody could have cut a faster path off that powerline and down in the woods than me that day.


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## Nathan Cloud (Jul 18, 2005)

Great thread! Apart from not noticing some vagrant with no pants on the side of a downhill... not much in the way of spooky stuff has happened to me on the trail, though I do ride with a lot of creepy fellas 

But in honor of halloween, we put together a map of Connecticut (and area) creepy stuff in regards to where we pedal:

https://www.crankfire.com/news/091907/

Might be interesting to a few of you out there?

Well, actually, there is this (creepy face at the bottom?) picture I took:


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## den9 (May 25, 2006)

when i ride alone i usually see atleast 20 homeless people, crackheads, shakie people, and some thugs, occasional prostitute, and lots tourist.

the only place i like to ride alone is in center city philadelphia, its safe for the most part, and impossible to get lost, plus lots of steps, ledges, gaps and sight seeing.

i just have boundarys, never go past vine street, south street, 30th street and especially never across the bridge into camden. i actually passed south street on accident, i realized i was the only white person i sprinted back into center city, its not that bad, but on a bike i can easily be taken out.

i havent seen anything creepy on the trails, except some gravestone decorations under a tree in core creek park, i was reading in the thread some kid hung himself, so i assumed it was where the cross thing was, it wasnt that creepy but i felt sad.

does any1 pack heat while riding? i surprised no1 has mentioned it, when i turn 21 im definetly gonna get a gun for my pack, better to have it and not use it, then not have it and need it, with all these crazy stories im definetly carrying a knife and buying some pepper spray for now.


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## Asha'man (Apr 16, 2006)

den9 said:


> does any1 pack heat while riding? i surprised no1 has mentioned it, when i turn 21 im definetly gonna get a gun for my pack, better to have it and not use it, then not have it and need it, with all these crazy stories im definetly carrying a knife and buying some pepper spray for now.


Uh, yeah. Working on CCW and I always have a knife on me. Plus, being on bikes, we can usually outrun someone on foot (hopefully!) so that works in our favor too.

No scary stories for me, I guess I don't ride enough (duh) or in scary places.  :thumbsup:


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

*alot of guns for some reason...?*

I actually ride alone quite often, plus at least once or twice a year I end up riding/walking back to my car alone in the dark all spooked cause I didn't turn around soon enough or had a mechanical.

1) up in Wyo one time I took this animal track down into a canyon, and found a whole herd of wild horses and got chased out by a big black horse! He was doing the huffing, and little rearing back kicking his front legs snorting and everything. I held up my bike sorta infront of me and up high to make me seem bigger and slowly backed up the way I came. And he followed me the whole way out of the canyon... Horses seem really big when there pissed at you!

2) again in WY I was sort of lost and exploring and was on this tight trail that came out suddenly in the middle of this campsite, and I scarred these hunters. And one of them grabbed his rifle and pointed it at me. I braked and sorta froze for a sec, but then he just stood there with the rifle pointed at me waist high, and then the rest of his friends started laughing and saying something, I just rode off... from the look of them they were just messing with me and no real threat, but still...

3)another time in WY we had some target shooters start ricocheting bullets off some rock outcrops I was sitting on while getting some water, they just started shooting into the desert without making sure they had a backstop. I heard the shot and saw the dust cloud the sound of the ricochet, but at first just sat there and looked at the dust cloud not really comprehending what was happening...?  It wasn't until the next shot that I flattened to the ground and started yelling, they still shot a few more times before they heard me yelling...

4) OH super freaky! Here in NM at Tunnel canyon on the way up I saw this dude in normal street clothes off on the side of the trail, sorta like he was staying out of site, but not really hiding? It was so odd that he was just standing around, in the totally wrong type of gear to hike with, but also he was pretty far out on the trail for it to be some random after work hike, plus he was just standing there??? But the weird/freaky part is that I saw him on the way up, l think sorta by that bridge?, so I go up ride over to the otero side and then just reverse back, and on the way I passed a couple of guys one with a flat, and then later a woman and then just a few minutes and I pass by the spot where that dude was at, AND HE'S STILL THERE...  At fist I haul Ass by him, but then I thought about that women who was either alone, or didn't know the guys she was with had a flat. So I stop and wait for her. and the funny thing is that when she saw me stopped in the trail looking back she got scarred of ME!  and stopped, and I thought there's no way she's gonna believe me if I try to explain, she either didn't see the weird guy, or she did see him and then seeing me stopped is REALLY freaking her out. So I just started riding again, but I went really slow for a while to make sure she was still coming, and after I knew she was past the weird dude I booked it down to my car and got out of there because I could just see her two buddies thinking "I" was the bad guy and coming to pounce of me!!!   

5) In AZ up at Christopher creek I was riding near dusk, and it was also right after that blair witch movie came out. So someone had some fun and had made some little stick symbols and placed them around the trail head, and then there was a thunderstorm coming in from the distance, so the skyline was all super dark and ominous, and the thunder totally echoed. And there was allot of water runoff that had carried all these sticks down the side of the mountain. So on top of the stick symbols at the trail head then there's all these piles of sticks all over the place!  SO, at some point climbing this trail I decide it's getting dark and the storms coming, (and I was all spooked already) So I turn around and start ripping back down to my car. And this is higher elevation for AZ so it's totally green, and I'm flowing down the trail super fast and out of the corner of my eye I see this white "thing" standing in the woods off to the side of the trail. And it scarred me so much I got way freaked and there was all these little rock ledges and I did that thing where you focus on something you don't want to hit, but then you ride straight for it, hit it straight armed, endowed, flew through the air smacked, and then I was panicking to get up cause I don't know what the hell I just saw in the woods. I grab my bike and start to back away and see. It was just an old stump that had dried and bleached itself white... 

6)I like to take my ninja and ride up to the local Sandia mountains and then stop and throw my motorcycle jacket in a day pack and go hiking after work. So this one time I'm doing this and see some mountain bike tracks, so I start to follow them. And find I have discovered a much rumored but no one would ever tell me where FR trail. So even though it's getting dark and followed the trail to the top so I would be able to come back and ride sometime. So I see where it ends up hitting the ski resort, and it's near dark by this time, I saw a buck trotting across a ski trail, so I turn around and start back down to my ninja. So after a bit it's pitch black, and I've got my mini-mag flashlite and I'm working my way down trying to make sure I'm going back the way I came. For some reason I tend to carry a gun when I hike, even though I have only done so once when mt. biking. Anyway, all of a sudden there is this sound of breaking branches, and my fist thought is mountain lion, and then there is this huge shadow that bust through the trees and runs across the trail!!! This is the first and only time I have EVER pulled a gun from it's holster in a situation that it might be used. (though the safety never came off) It ended up just being the buck I saw earlier or another like it. But dude, that was above all others the scariest thing that ever happened to me in the woods... 

7)and then just two weeks ago, there are some 4x4 trails in and around an arroyo on the west side where I go and do some little jumps and hucks that I can ride to when I don't feel like driving to the mountain. So this one time I'm doing my loop hitting this small drop and a guy drives by in a truck with these dogs following him, like 4 or 5. It seems like he's just taking his dogs for a "walk" so I don't really pay that much attention. So he drives down part way into a small ravine where there are several junk cars, and lots of dumping. and then drives back up and stops. He gets out of his truck and takes maybe two steps and all of a sudden unloads a large caliber revolver! At first I thought he was shooting his dogs or something, but they all just kept on the other side of the truck and waited for him to finish. He reloaded and unloaded a few more times, put the dogs in the back of the truck and drove off. I made sure to "casually" get his plates and when he was far enough away I dropped my bike and ran over there to see WTF he was doing. But I guess he just drove down into the ravine to make sure it was OK to shoot into it, and was actually being responsible about it. Still I was only like 100 feet at most from him, and he definitely saw me riding my loops, you would think he would say something before going all dirty harry out there!!!  Oh, and then another time out in the same spot there were these guys playing air soft. But there was a moment when I saw somebody running across the desert while two other people stood by the trunk of their car with guns looking all serious. So seeing the guys with their "guns" I stopped climbing this hill and just watched wondering WTF. Then I saw several others hiding in the desert and figured out what they were doing. The dumb thing is that then the two guys standing buy the car trunk are looking at me and putting their hands in the air giving me dirty looks and they said something, like I'm bothering them??? Stupid, if you take the little orange tips off your toy guns, you should expect some weird looks when you run around the desert playing army! (Not that I haven't played airsoft and paintball myself... ) The other thing is just that I was amazed they had a ford taurus out in the desert!!!


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## dgrausam (May 16, 2006)

1) Coroner's van at the top of the tree people fireroad in LA; they were supposedly digging up a body that had been buried there for years (maybe 1988, and a trail we rode all the time, at night

2) Riding up a fireroad behind the berkeley campus at night, and noticing a guy in camo, with a weapon, up in the trees, by the light of my helmet niterider! Turned out the ROTC crowd was doing night exercises

3) Coming across a dead body of a jumper, while riding through the berkeley campus late at night

4) Wiccan gatherings in the woods--lots of chanting--on a solo night ride

5) 1987, 12 years old, riding solo in the santa monica mountains, and coming across a naked guy sunbathing in the middle of the trail who wanted to talk to me

6) stopping on an early morning verdugo ride above burbank, and having two bow hunters in full camo pop out of the woods

7) naked people, all the time

8) my great fear, but still thankfully unrealized, is coming across a meth lab in the woods, and having to deal with the methheads.


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## racergurl (Apr 19, 2004)

Great stories! After reading all of them, I must say that I'm going to chicken out of my solo trail ride today. Weather sucks anyway.

The only really scary encounter I've had while biking was on my regular road route one afternoon. 
Was flying down the road in my own little world, not really paying attention to much around me. All of a sudden I feel like something is watching me and I look up to find two monolithic Rotties sizing me up.
I slam on my brakes, doing one hell of a wicked skid in the process. Oh sh*%,. oh sh*&, fu**! I always swear like a trucker when I'm scared. What the hell do I do now? A newspaper article about a recent dog mauling flashes through my mind. I'm toast, oh crap. 
They were the biggest Rotties I had ever seen, and they both began to inch forward, their fur standing on end and lips curled in vicious smiles. 
They are about 50 feet away from me. I slowly get off my bike, put it in front of me and begin to inch backwards, looking frantically up the road, praying for someone to drive by.
After taking a some steps back, I dare to look up once more to see that they are also inching forward, crouched and maybe getting ready to make a charge for me? I'm almost crying now. Damn dogs. 
And then I hear a truck behind me. I practically jump in front of it waving my hands wildly. It stops right beside me and I say to the man "can you give me a ride a little ways up the road? I think these dogs are going to attack me. " 
I glance at the dogs again and they are still there, though they seem a bit unsure of the situation now. The guy quickly gets out and puts my bike in the back of his truck, while I hop in the passenger side and slam the door shut. Better he gets his ass chewed then me.
I pull out my cell and hold it in my hand. Great, now I'm in some strange guys truck. Another uncomfortable situaton for a woman to be in. Still, I figure I'd have more of a chance taking a man down then two dogs hell bent on making me their chew toy.
The man jumps back in the truck almost as quickly as I did. All of a sudden the one dog is at my door, snarling and growling. As we take off, it still runs beside us. Frigging Cujo man! 
To this day, I have never biked down that road again.


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## den9 (May 25, 2006)

having a handgun is good for crazies in the woods, but its just as good to take down a mountian lion, bob cat, and even dogs.

i remember my friend said he was gettin chased by a pitbull, and as he ran across the road a car goin over a blind hill creamed the dog


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

*A new tale from the original poster.....*

Great stories guys....hope there are more to come. I started this thread a while ago, but I never expected so many weird stories. Lots of mountain lions out there, huh? I guess I'm fortunate in that sense; aside from the Jersey Devil, we don't have too many threatening creatures in the woods of New Jersey.

Anyway, yesterday, I went down to Newark, Delaware to ride at White Clay Creek. (yeah, I know...you're asking yourself "Delaware?"...but in all honesty, this is a kick-ass cross country riding spot.) This was my first visit there, which is about an hour from my home. I didn't get to the park until 4:00 pm, so I had a solid 2 1/2 hours of sunlight. Essentially, every trail in this park is a giant interconnecting loop, or the trail eventually leads to a loop. However, this is an extremely large park, with a reported 30+ miles of trails. I set out at 4:00 pm, rode the first loop, crossed over into a different section of the park, rode a skills trail, did another loop, then crossed back over to the original side of the park. 98% of these trails are well marked, with signs, arrows, etc... However, I apparently missed a sign, and took a wrong turn somewhere. By now, it was approaching 6:00 pm. I had been riding hard for about 2 hours, and I was getting tired (late night on Friday). The sun was starting to set, not yet dark, but dusk. I popped out of the trailhead head, and I had absolutely no idea where I was. I came out on a busy highway that did not look familiar at all. The trail that took me here was a good 30 minute ride. I had a choice...hop on the road and look for something familiar? Or take the trail back to the point where I recognized everything once again. Not wanting to ride on the street in the dark, I opted for the trail. I had probably 20 minutes of light left. I rode as fast and as hard as I could back the way I just came. I got to another trail intersection, and I was completely disorientated. Did I make a right? Did I make a left? Was I anywhere near my car? Or was I 10 miles away from my car? I chose a trail and rode for another 10 minutes. It was starting to get dark and to be honest, I didn't recognize anything on the trail. Another 5 minutes of riding, and I was becoming somewhat scared. I was completely disorientated, or "lost" as I thought in my mind. As luck would have it, the trail I was on eventually started to ride along an open field, and I spotted the parking lot where my car was. Thank God! By this time, it was so dark that I could hardly see the roots, rocks, ruts, etc. in the trail, which made for a very rough ride. I didn't have a light because I didn't expect to be out there so long. Lesson learned. It's not a feeling of "fright" when something like this happens, just an anxious/nervous feeling....feeling that disorientated.

By the way, if anyone reading this happens to ride at White Clay Creek, feel free to laugh. I now know this is an easy trail system to navigate and virtually impossible to get lost on, but what can I say? :thumbsup:


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## Hippienflipflops (Oct 18, 2006)

*Red Canyon near Canon City Co*

Ive got a pretty good one.

My brother, my friend and I had spent a weekend in the sand dunes and were headed back to denver when we decided to go to red canyon (a fairly good sized slot canyon) and camp out over night.

We were sleeping outside, this is a fairly remote part of colorado, not a lot of houses around in the middle of a state park/reserve.

We are about to fall asleep around 1am when we hear these two wierd sounds, like nothing that should be heard in the mountains at night. one is a deep, barely audible whoosh/chopping sound, almost like helecopter blades poudning the air, but much deeper, this went on continuously for around an hour (until we booked it the hell out of there).

at the same time, this wierd beeping sound starts, almost like echo-locating or tracking. it jumps from one side of the canyon to the other and begins getting closer and closer.

this was not just a trick of the canyon either, it was distinctly above and to one side then above to the other side of the canyon. With the deep deep bass pounding in the background. i have never before and never since heard any sounds like these in the forest.

super creepy


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

Hippienflipflops said:


> Ive got a pretty good one.
> 
> My brother, my friend and I had spent a weekend in the sand dunes and were headed back to denver when we decided to go to red canyon (a fairly good sized slot canyon) and camp out over night.
> 
> ...


You probably almost got cattle mutilated!!!


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## Secace (Sep 8, 2004)

Two Augusts ago, my girlfriend and I head over to the Roaring Run Natural Area in the Laurel Highlands in western PA for a late afternoon xc ride. We dropped at the far trailhead off Firetower Road about 5:30. This is the trailhead that is a good 3-4 miles into the woods and quite a ways from anything at all except silence. While I was pulling the bikes off the roof, I noticed a Rav 4 at the end of the lot with the driver door open and the radio on quietly. I looked around intently but didn’t see anyone. We figured someone stepped into the woods to take a leak or something. Three minutes later, helmets were strapped up and we were off. So we ride for a few hours and ride up to our car just as it’s starting to get dark out. Damn Rav 4 is still sitting in the lot. Door open. Radio on. I look around again. Nothing. We ride over to the car and look inside. Noone. Looking inside the car, it’s easy to tell it’s a woman’s vehicle by the flowers hanging from the rearview, lipstick and compacts laying on the passenger seat, The Limited shopping bags and Curves brochures on the back seat along with chick hiking gear. I walk around the back of it and check out the plates and it has Maryland tags. Weird. This is where it really gets sketchy and this is where watching too much CSI had me checking the scene. It must have barely rained earlier that day and the raindrops had left the hard packed lot a perfect canvas of dusty dimples. Looking closer revealed only three sets of tracks in that lot since the rain besides our Maxxis bike tires. My car. That Rav 4. And another set that had been parked under the trees not too far from the Rav (with tracks also leaving the lot). There were footprints going from those tracks to the driver’s side of the Rav, lots of commotion in the dirt around the Rav driver door and tracks and what looked like drag marks from the lot into the tall grass towards the woods. Footprints also exited the tall grass and went towards the spot where that “other” car had been parked. Suddenly we’re envisioning a perfectly executed rape/murder out in the middle of nowhere and are freaking out. We loaded up as quick as we could and headed towards Donegal. We stopped at the first place we could and called the State Police. We left our names and number but never heard anything. Scary stuff right there. I would have assumed if they found something someone would have gotten ahold of us but who knows. We always drop at the busier trailhead up by Rt. 30 now and I gotta tell you, I’m spooked whenever I ride that place anymore. The whole place just has a weird vibe.


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## aries14 (Nov 23, 2005)

*Brandywine in DE*

Once while riding in DE at Brandywine; I was nearing the end of my ride when I decided to take an alternate route back to the car (maybe 3-4 miles out). This was intended to give me a few more miles through some technical sections that I wanted to try and master. 
I noticed that just in front of me was a guy walking who appeared to be alone and clearly out of shape. As I passed him, I said excuse me and kept on going. Something said to have a look behind to see him again and he was running right at me. 
Now this was not an athletic person and he appeared to be running a little to fast to be jogging in this section of the system, although people do come to Brandywine to jog, you would not expect to see someone going full blast in this section.

I was far enough in front to look at him for a second, and didn't see anything in his hands and said to myself, I would more then likely whoop his @$$ if he did catch me. I decided to jump on the bike once again and move out. I was shaken by that, and now every time I ride solo here I think about what could happen. I'm not one to live in fear, but to live carefully is something we can all practice. We all hear about sick people and believe me we could be targets out in the woods all alone.

With that said, I'm solo again this week at B-Wine!!


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## den9 (May 25, 2006)

Secace said:


> Two Augusts ago, my girlfriend and I head over to the Roaring Run Natural Area in the Laurel Highlands in western PA for a late afternoon xc ride. We dropped at the far trailhead off Firetower Road about 5:30. This is the trailhead that is a good 3-4 miles into the woods and quite a ways from anything at all except silence. While I was pulling the bikes off the roof, I noticed a Rav 4 at the end of the lot with the driver door open and the radio on quietly. I looked around intently but didn't see anyone. We figured someone stepped into the woods to take a leak or something. Three minutes later, helmets were strapped up and we were off. So we ride for a few hours and ride up to our car just as it's starting to get dark out. Damn Rav 4 is still sitting in the lot. Door open. Radio on. I look around again. Nothing. We ride over to the car and look inside. Noone. Looking inside the car, it's easy to tell it's a woman's vehicle by the flowers hanging from the rearview, lipstick and compacts laying on the passenger seat, The Limited shopping bags and Curves brochures on the back seat along with chick hiking gear. I walk around the back of it and check out the plates and it has Maryland tags. Weird. This is where it really gets sketchy and this is where watching too much CSI had me checking the scene. It must have barely rained earlier that day and the raindrops had left the hard packed lot a perfect canvas of dusty dimples. Looking closer revealed only three sets of tracks in that lot since the rain besides our Maxxis bike tires. My car. That Rav 4. And another set that had been parked under the trees not too far from the Rav (with tracks also leaving the lot). There were footprints going from those tracks to the driver's side of the Rav, lots of commotion in the dirt around the Rav driver door and tracks and what looked like drag marks from the lot into the tall grass towards the woods. Footprints also exited the tall grass and went towards the spot where that "other" car had been parked. Suddenly we're envisioning a perfectly executed rape/murder out in the middle of nowhere and are freaking out. We loaded up as quick as we could and headed towards Donegal. We stopped at the first place we could and called the State Police. We left our names and number but never heard anything. Scary stuff right there. I would have assumed if they found something someone would have gotten ahold of us but who knows. We always drop at the busier trailhead up by Rt. 30 now and I gotta tell you, I'm spooked whenever I ride that place anymore. The whole place just has a weird vibe.


wow thats extremely interesting and weird, did u look by the woods to find someone? i would of called the police back to find out what happened, or grabbed a newspaper the next day or something, couldnt live without knowing what happened


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## Secace (Sep 8, 2004)

Yeah, we tried following up a couple different times and nobody would really say much. They just kept saying they're looking into it. Truly bizarre. That part of PA is weird man. I was glad to get back to NE Ohio. Hard to say what really happened.


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## 317000 (Mar 2, 2007)

............


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## thebigred67 (Mar 29, 2005)

Great stories.


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

SlimTwisted said:


> At the risk of sounding like a lunatic


Uh, Twisted, you've blown right past 'risk' and into the 'certified' realm of the lunatic. 

Pinguwin


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## FunkMaster (May 11, 2004)

jpelaston said:


> Im always scared to find someone who has Offed themselves or been dumped in a woods im riding in....


Few years ago we're getting runs at the local shuttle place, and I hear someone yell. Not a fun yell, the kind that gets people moving fast. Giving the gnar factor of the local I'm thinking "rider down" and book it down the trail.

The shuttle driver that run had walked a few feet up the trail to watch us come down when something caught his attention... Thinking back I did notice something a little odd that first run, but this trail kept your concentration pretty well, so several runs went by and none of us noticed...

When our friend was hiking up the trail he hear an engine running... Lots of old mining roads around, but nobody uses them. So he walks a little further and notices a truck with a hose running from the exhaust. Still not sure what's going on he walks up and sees someone in the truck. Confused he knocks on the window, no response so he opens the door. Dude kinda falls over and my friend basically lost "it". By the time I get down he's not making much sense, I do hear him say CPR and my mind starts racing. You see the DAY before I had taken a CPR class. The whole time wondering if I could call on that info if I needed it... Well as my mind is trying to deliver that info another friend comes down the trail (he's an ex lifeguard and has actually preformed CPR). I ended up sending him to help the guy as I called 911.

It doesn't take long for my friend to diagnose this guy as beyond help, (won't go into details). We're all a little freaked and worried we're on a crime scene. When the Sheriff showed up everything was pretty casual. Yup, he's dead... They didn't treat it like a crime scene at all. Just took our info for the record and gave us some info on traumatic experiences in case any of use had trouble sleeping.

That would have been a good end to the story...

The next week I had just taken a first aid course specifically geared towards trail first aid. I'm at the same trail, getting ready to leave, and a panicked rider comes down...

"My friend crashed... He's having trouble breathing... I think we need a helicopter!" Having called 911 from the exact same spot last week I knew what county needed to respond and how to tell them where we were. I gave my first aid kit and some instructions to a friend as I initiated a flight for life rescue. Probably 50 people responded to that call. Guy broke 6 ribs (3 punctured his lung).


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

Not a terror from the "trail" but I was out riding and saw someone teaching their kid to ride and stopped to watch. A neighbor screamed and we all ran to the backyard. Her husband was lying on the grass unconscious. His face was had blue, but what made me say, 'Uh oh' was his pants had been wet. We called 911 & started CPR and did what little we could.

The woman was waiting out front for the ambulance and I told her to go back with her husband and I would stay out front for the ambulance. When they arrived, I brought them to the back and figured it was best to get out of the way and move on.

A week later on another ride, I stopped by the house to ask how he was. It wasn't encouraging that the whole family was there (funeral?). The woman thanked me profusely for helping that day and coming back to check but told me her husband had died. It was not only sad but humbling as he was still young and only one year older than me.

I don't know what she was feeling that day and hope to never hear such a scream again.

Pinguwin


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## den9 (May 25, 2006)

how did he pass away?


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## Berkley (May 21, 2007)

Took a lesuirely ride with my two buddies on the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail - old railroad route turned trail. Ends on an old RR bridge where the view is fantastic. That day we didn't bring any drinks and rode down to the local gas station for some waters/gatorades. There's a big hill down from the RR bridge to the town below it. A steep road with a curve at the bottom. It's kinda tight and a little gravelly at the edges, so you need to slow down.

I lead, and my buddies are behind me. I ease on the brakes, but one of my buddies thought he could carry his speed through. He wipes out and scratches his leg up pretty good. He's bleeding a little, but he's ok. We go to the gas station and get drinks. 

Here details get foggy, and I'm a little confused myself, but we're on our way back up the hill and see a group of bikers about to begin the descent. Jokingly, my buddies warn them about the hill and the gravel, laughing at my friend's wipe-out. 

For some reason we went back down that hill a short time later (no idea why) and what do we find but an ambulance right at the spot where my friend lost it. Turns out one of the bikers we warned actually wiped out and banged himself up pretty good. He was in a neck brace and they had him on a stretcher. 

Eerie for sure. It's not a difficult turn. We had a good laugh after my friend wiped out because of how stupid it was. And then we issue a warning in jest, and a short time later, it actually happens!


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## MTK (Feb 18, 2004)

*Well,*

I guess my Ti Man is gone. I have not read of any reference to
him? UnFluidOne was my only response to a post I made of him.
Which lead's me to this question I have for you "rutkiller". Did you
get the idea for this thread by reading mine? Thank You.

MTK

Sorry,It was KeepTheRubberSide down,not UnFluidOne who replied
to my post.


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

den9 said:


> how did he pass away?


Heart attack. No prior history either.

'guin


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## rewarder (Nov 23, 2006)

You should have poked it with a stick.


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## chadfbrown (Apr 9, 2007)

Ran into some illegal immigrants out on the trail once at night. I think anytime you are in the wilderness and alone, you get scared easily.


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## Burtonrider250 (Aug 31, 2006)

I solo everywhere I ride. I wish I had someone to ride with! But I would lie if I said I didn't enjoy it. I get to take my sweet time and do MY thing. I guess I'm a loner 

Anyways. I remember this one time I went riding and at the trailhead there was this cracked out dude. I went into the bathroom to whizz, and he was in the stall smokin a joint just SCREAMIN. talking to himself and saying the craziest crap I've ever heard. So I'm thinkin "WTF, i'm about to get shanked!" so I zip up and go outside to my truck. I start to put on my camelpack, helmet and other gear. he then comes out and starts sayin crap to me. i couldn't even understand him. he then proceeds to mutter stuff to me and staggers off into the woods. i was kinda laughing and kinda scared. didn't know what to think. so i head off to the trails. well I totally forgot about this nutcase. so I come back to my truck after about hmm... 6 or 7 hours and he is still wandering around talking to himself. the sun was setting too. it was scary because I was the only one at the trailhead! just me and this loon. i packed up quick and hauled ass outa there. i now carry a knife with me everywhere.


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

you guys are starting to creep me out! lol 
I ride solo locally in the Santa Monica Mountains. this is very close to the city, but every time out hear noises in the bushes just off the trail. I just figured it was a lizard, or squirrel, now I'm thinking, it's something bigger.
Ive seen coyotes out in broad daylight in the SM mountains. Once I witnessed a single coyote take down a deer just off the paved road.. you can imagine what a pack of them can do? Ive seen them off the trail, even when there are a lot of people on the trail sunday mornings. They are not even afraid of humans, they just look at you like they are sizing you up. (to eat) maybe I'm just getting creeped because of all the stories on this thread. a skinny dog could never take me out. I'd just hit 'em with my water bottle, yeah that's it.


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

MTK said:


> I guess my Ti Man is gone. I have not read of any reference to
> him? UnFluidOne was my only response to a post I made of him.
> Which lead's me to this question I have for you "rutkiller". Did you
> get the idea for this thread by reading mine? Thank You.
> ...


Dear MTK,

First of all, I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't know who or what Ti Man is or was, as your reference is nondescript. Likewise, I do not know who or what UnFluidOne is. Your post on this thread makes little sense. Next, I did not get the idea for this thread by reading your thread. Your accusatory tone sparked my interest, and I see that you have nearly 170 posts. I browsed the posts you have written, and I did not see anything similar to the idea of this thread. If in fact you did start a thread similar in nature to this one, it is by pure and simple coincidence that they both exist. I do not have the time or the inclination to read through your old threads, steal ideas, and repost them as if they were my own ideas. In fact, up until you posted a response on MY thread, I had no idea you existed. Considering the fact that this thread now has nearly 150 responses and nearly 11,500 views, and you apparently managed to collect only a single response, I apparently did something right and you apparently did something wrong. So, if you still feel as if I stole the idea for this thread from you, consider it a favor. You're welcome.

Rutkiller.


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## MTK (Feb 18, 2004)

*Easy Tiger,*

It was just a question. That was one of my favorite stories of ALL Time.
It came from a long running thread back in 1997. Your post came the day
after mine. So I just asked,not accused. Peace.

MTK



rutkiller said:


> Dear MTK,
> 
> First of all, I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't know who or what Ti Man is or was, as your reference is nondescript. Likewise, I do not know who or what UnFluidOne is. Your post on this thread makes little sense. Next, I did not get the idea for this thread by reading your thread. Your accusatory tone sparked my interest, and I see that you have nearly 170 posts. I browsed the posts you have written, and I did not see anything similar to the idea of this thread. If in fact you did start a thread similar in nature to this one, it is by pure and simple coincidence that they both exist. I do not have the time or the inclination to read through your old threads, steal ideas, and repost them as if they were my own ideas. In fact, up until you posted a response on MY thread, I had no idea you existed. Considering the fact that this thread now has nearly 150 responses and nearly 11,500 views, and you apparently managed to collect only a single response, I apparently did something right and you apparently did something wrong. So, if you still feel as if I stole the idea for this thread from you, consider it a favor. You're welcome.
> 
> Rutkiller.


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## jasevr4 (Feb 23, 2005)

No people freak out stories, but we've seen our fair share of wild life on the trails.

The scariest was the time when I came around a corner on a hot day to see a goanna warming up in the sun. He saw me, freaked out and ran up a tree. His reaction alone got my heart pacing as it just all happened so fast! This wasn't a small goanna, more like the size of a small crocodile/alligator. He was hanging from the tree. My girlfriend caught up (she was about 10m behind me and it was a technical uphill section) and we pondered what to do for a bit. The trail went straight past the tree that he was hanging from, and his torso was at head height! We didn't have the guts to ride past him fir fear of him jumping onto us and just took a bit of a shortcut.

The other time was when we rode past a group of emu's. They are incredibly dumb animals, which makes then unpredictable. You could probably walk up to one and hit it, and it wouldn't realise it was being attacked, but at the same time they can charge you for nothing. At first we saw the one emu. Then two, then three, then seven. We just rode past cautiously, trying to be as tall as possible. Thankfully these ones decided not to go stupid. 

Great thread btw.


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## fat.tires (Sep 18, 2005)

*riding solo i fear toothy critters*

mainly mtn lions. i have seen only one (running from me), plenty of cat scat, and fresh kills. riding early in the morning or late in the evening is the time when it gets into my head, especially on the switch backs. they are opportunistic hunters and will stalk their prey for miles and attack when the prey is not looking at them.

i carry a folding cross cut saw for trail maintenance, and have sharpened the tip into a pretty decent weapon. i recently flatted at dusk, and while hunched over looking like a deer not paying attention, took it out and layed it next to me. not that it would have done a darn thing against a 150lb cat chewing on my neck, but...

how about a new product? a helmet where the back of the helmet looks like a face with big eyes and teeth. something for us solo riders who fear the toothy critters.

i never ride solo at night any more.


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## SlowSSer (Dec 19, 2003)

scary one involving a family memeber:

earlier this year my dad was out riding as he normally does (did) 2x a week- he rides from his house that's in a remote area surrounded by reserve land and was in great shape for a 65 year old guy who was looking forward to doing one of our more extreme local MTB events next spring (40+ miles, 8,000 total elevation gain). 

so he's on his way back from the turn around point after calling home to check-in and hits a rather large rock on a steep fire road at a good rate of speed (20-25). 

his story gets fuzzy here. 

he tumbles off of the bike, onto the road, hits a few rocks and off the trail about 5 feet- the trail was on a hillside, so 5 feet off equaled at least 5 feet down. 

a body inventory revealed that he was very hurt and moving was not in the question. so, he slowly goes for the cell phone in the camelback (apparently quite the effort), which we know works on all parts of his rice (got to love socal). no reception. now he's worried. 

the good part:

about 10-15 minutes later a group of equestrians come along and while they dont see my dad, they do notice that the horses are acting up due to some strange scent that they can't see- apparently his bike was off the road as well-

one of the equestrians was actually talking on her cell phone, and she only had about 10-15 feet vertical over my dad, so reception was close for the cell. they finally see him, ask if he's ok, he replies "no" and the rescue begins. he gets air lifted to a local trauma unit and all's now well. 

heck, he's now thinking he might ride again. 

the worst part: I didnt know where he was. I hadnt ridden that far away from my parents house with him to start a search and rescue operation. none of my riding friends that have ridden the area didnt know the general area he was in. had it not been for the equestrians, zero idea what the outcome would have been. 

the total tally of injury:
left clavicle cracked
5 ribs cracked
4 vertibrae cracked.
sternum cracked. 
busted helmet (i still have it- creepy reminder of our sports hazards) but no head trauma
almost 3 weeks in the hospital. 

good: the bones were just cracks so nothing was out of place.


my scary story: anyone else ever been struck at by a rattlesnake and had the snake hit your chainstay just behind your ankle? I have. NOT fun. scared the [email protected] out of me to the point that after I pedaled about 15 more feet, I actually fell off the bike in panic.


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## architectx (Jul 24, 2007)

Well, it was backpacking, not biking, but it freaked me out pretty good...

I guess it was about 17 years ago. My girl friend at the time and I hiked into the Sipsey Wilderness Area (Alabama) kind of late one afternoon. We hiked in for maybe 1.5 or 2 hours and found a place to setup camp. We each had our dogs with us. Took our packs off and started getting ready to setup a tent. The dogs were acting really strange - they'd kind of run around, look into the woods, and come back to us. They weren't normally timid; it was clear something had them spooked. 

Anyways, we got spooked too. Really felt like we were being watched by something or someone. It was just eerie, and both of us had plenty of experience in the woods, even longish solo backcountry trips. I'd never quite felt this way before. We decided to hike out in the dark in spite of the obvious potential dangers. We went and rented a nearby cabin for the night instead. Heard on the news the next day that two bodies (as in recently killed) were found in the Wilderness Area not far from where we were. Not sure if they ever figured out what happened or not. Scary stuff...


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## CrAzYbIkEr on a jack2 (Sep 26, 2007)

ok so me and my buds were doing downhill at tolehouse road, i went around the corner and there is a huge *******, walking up the trail with a gun. he had apparently been hunting, but it still scared the living **** out of mee


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## pizza (Dec 2, 2005)

*something in the wheel...*

Well, I was just riding along when THIS got caught in my spokes. I freaked out but after a while decided to just ride home the way it was. Here was my situation afterwards:


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## jasevr4 (Feb 23, 2005)

how the hell did you ride with that through your wheel?


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## carrot_top (Aug 22, 2007)

pizza said:


> Well, I was just riding along when THIS got caught in my spokes. I freaked out but after a while decided to just ride home the way it was. Here was my situation afterwards:


is...is it still alive?


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## pizza (Dec 2, 2005)

was makin' all these thumping noises in the back going downhill... Although I decided to give my local step- up a couple runs before calling it a ride. Didn't want to waste a ride just because of a mechanical. Looked ok anyway; I poked it in the eyes with a stick to be sure. what should I do with it? keep it? release it in my apartment complex?


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

*And the winner is....*



pizza said:


> Well, I was just riding along when THIS got caught in my spokes. I freaked out but after a while decided to just ride home the way it was. Here was my situation afterwards:


Okay, after 155 posts, I think I finally found a winner! Jesus, man! What kind of snake is that? I don't understand how your rode with that thing stuck in your wheel/spokes?


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## sis (Jul 11, 2007)

pizza said:


> Well, I was just riding along when THIS got caught in my spokes. I freaked out but after a while decided to just ride home the way it was. Here was my situation afterwards:


You could have tied it end to end as a spare:thumbsup:


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## Dragoneyes (Aug 12, 2007)

Boy some people are gullible.......


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

Nice try pizza, 
It crawled into your spokes and you never rode the bike with it. Had a pet python entertwine into my washing machine the same way. looks cool tho


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## sis (Jul 11, 2007)

Had to pull the remains of a grass snake out of my cassette once


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## pizza (Dec 2, 2005)

*I've had my fun*

Yes, some people are gullible. I was hoping, though, to get a burning rant from some wacko PETA member. 
Nagatahawk, yes. It crawled into my wheel while I was holding it and I decided not to try and pull it out. I let it crawl through and took pictures instead, and was VERY careful not to let the bike tip over or roll.
Rutkiller, this is a Columbian Boa, commonly referred to as a Red Tail Boa but is not a true red tail. at 7.5 feet long, it would have been quite hard to even get the bike rolling...

Really I just wanted an excuse to show it off. 5 years old now, going strong. I'm very proud of it, even though I got bitten today for the first time in years (won't elaborate but big, BIG mistake on my part). Soon, I'm going to have to find another excuse to post another recent addition...

si,s, that last post made me really sad...


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## bdierks (Jul 23, 2007)

OK heres one for yall. 

Last weekend i decided to go for a ride on Saturday. So i wanted to try out some new trails That i had heard about, but I wasnt to sure on where the trail head was. So i was driving up the BLM road and i see 2 cars parked, and what seems to be a single track trail coming out of the trees. It was a really weird area, The ground was soaking wet, but yet it hadnt rained in about a week and a half. SO first i kept driving because i didnt think that that was the actual trail head. But with no luck finding the trail head i went back to investigate that trail. I started to go up the trail ( very steep climb) and soon realized, this is a one way trail, DOWN only. Somebody had been building some jumps across the whole trail. The dirt from the jumps was really freshly moved. I figured i would run into the people making them. Well soon enough i did, 3 kids walking back down the trail. I stopped to talk to them. Asked about the trail and where to find the trail head. They said it was about 3 miles up from there. So, ok, I keep going, Get about another mile in or so. And all of the sudden i here a voice. Somebody is talking, and they sound mad. so i listen. I here, "He is dead" "That happened last week". So at that point i was like, WTF. I soon spotted the guy up above me on the same trail. I see him pacing back a forth. He's on a cell phone. So i listen some more... I here him say, "I gunna FUc**ing kill you to bit*h. I'm gunna slice your neck and cut you head off" "Your Fing gunna die, I might use my 38 if your lucky" "And I'm gunna be stupid about it too". So after hearing all this, i see it as a sign to get the hell out of there QUICK. So i slowly turn my bike around on this skinny trail. When i finally get my front wheel on the ground i pull my brake lever and SWEEEEEEEK!. I said o **** and took of as fast as possible. I had know idea if he was on foot or what. but i had a feeling he didnt want anybody hereing what he was saying.


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## sis (Jul 11, 2007)

pizza said:


> Yes, some people are gullible. I was hoping, though, to get a burning rant from some wacko PETA member.
> Nagatahawk, yes. It crawled into my wheel while I was holding it and I decided not to try and pull it out. I let it crawl through and took pictures instead, and was VERY careful not to let the bike tip over or roll.
> Rutkiller, this is a Columbian Boa, commonly referred to as a Red Tail Boa but is not a true red tail. at 7.5 feet long, it would have been quite hard to even get the bike rolling...
> 
> ...


Sorry about that, i'm not keen on snakes but I wouldn't do that sort of thing on purpose. Now wasps are a different matter.


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## Tim1968 (Oct 2, 2007)

todd_freeride said:


> Heres a scary one. I could have easily been dead this day. I was riding with a friend in CO (I dont remember where, sorry  ) we had split off, I went down a harder trail, him down an easier trail. the conditions were pretty wet. I got done with the harder trail and started down some wide singletrack to meet him at the bottom. then this cougar jumped out onto the trail maybe 40 feet in front of me, staring at me. I slammed on my Hayes HFX-9 Brakes and they had gotten wet, they made that horrible howling/screaming sound. that noise scared the cougar the hell off. was really scary and I probably rode the rest of the way down as white as a sheet.


Sometimes I ride over on the Olympic Penninsula. I have seen a cougar and bears are everywhere. With all these stories of cougars attacking Mt. bikers in I was thinking of rigging up a small air horn with a pin release of some sort so if you were to get knocked off the bike from behind it would go off.
It might scare away a cougar.


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## jgsatl (Sep 16, 2006)

pizza said:


> Yes, some people are gullible. I was hoping, though, to get a burning rant from some wacko PETA member.
> Nagatahawk, yes. It crawled into my wheel while I was holding it and I decided not to try and pull it out. I let it crawl through and took pictures instead, and was VERY careful not to let the bike tip over or roll.
> Rutkiller, this is a Columbian Boa, commonly referred to as a Red Tail Boa but is not a true red tail. at 7.5 feet long, it would have been quite hard to even get the bike rolling...
> 
> ...


during a feeding?

i can't stand snakes for the most part (i'm more of a fuzzy bunny kinda guy i guess) but i appreciate a responsible pet owner! and i appreciate a healthy, good looking pet like yours.


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

Bump it up!


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

dam, I'm not sure what i would do. I'm sure I would get the hell out of there, then probably call the cops. They wouldn't be able to do nothing w/o some more evidence so I hope he was just talking smak. *I hope !!*


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## catnash (Jan 14, 2004)

I ride with a group and just before I started riding with them I asked why a certain downhill was called 'deadman's' (looking back I could have worked it out:madman: )

They had come to a part of the trail/fire road that comes to an end and they came across a car, and the owner was sat in the front and they soon guessed he was dead, the car was cold, tube from the exhaust. Carbon monoxide the cause of death, one of them a part time fireman actually opened the door to check he was dead. Apparently those who commit suicide go to places they have found beautifull. I wouldnt like to find any one hanged that's for sure, even though I have seen my fair share of those deceased.


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## wardfoto (Aug 12, 2007)

well, the only weird one i've got that is riding related is...

back a while ago, maybe a year or so now, there was this kids bmx bike on the trail. no kid.
we looked around a bit, but no kid. the trail runs close to some houses, so we didn't think much about it, but given the wack jobs out there, it kinda stayed in the back of my mind.
we went back out to the trail a few days later, and same spot, same bike. still no kid, and i figure if it was a local kid, he would have been back for it by now. but, okay, maybe he got grounded, or maybe crashed and hurt himself, and couldn't walk out and take the bike, still kinda weird, though.
two days later, back again, and same bike, same spot. this time, i just couldn't get past that no kid would leave his bike that long anywhere on purpose, so i called the local gendarmes, and next ride, no bike. never found out what happened, and i only assume that the situation was benign, but as a parent, it freaked me out, and to this day, whenever we come up that section of trail, i keep my eyes peeled.


on the scary side...


then, this year we were on the annual trip to the mecca, and we had just left chile pepper, and were heading out to amassa back. we were riding to every trail head this year.
riding down the rode, i was a bit back of the crew, and a car goes to turn on to the road we are on, and i nearly get hit. ends up okay, but about two to three seconds later, as i begin to speed up to catch up, i look up just in time to see one of my buds drop a wheel off a curb, and go down hard. 
as i ride up, he is lying completely face down on the concrete, and not moving. he ended up at the emergency room, and had a concussion. no memory of the crash, and he was definitely tweaked. not a good thing to watch a guy who is normally very in control just act and talk, and be totally out of control, and out of sorts. definitely scary. and that is the second time we've been that close to losing a rider. and both times, thank goodness for helmets, or we would have lost them both.


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## mealsonwheels (Mar 6, 2004)

The mtn lion stories have really freaked me out and my days of riding solo night rides in the hills of San Diego are about over. Great stories and I finally have one to contribute.

A friend and I were doing a couple of out and backs on a popular trail tonight. The out ends at the peak of a mtn. At the peak we encountered a man who appeared to be homeless or at least very "earthy" looking sorting through several trash cans at the peak of the mtn. Mind you, this is a 1.5 mile hike in from the trailhead and it was after 10pm when we encountered this guy. He was cordial and said hello as he finished his work began hiking past us and back down the mtn without a light. 

Shortly after this we hop on our bikes and head down a different trail. About a mile down the trail we hear this terrifying screaming. It was a male voice and loud enough to hear above the sound of two guys on long travel trail bikes riding downhill. It was coming from the direction of the trail the homeless guy was hiking.

We both stopped and the intermittent yelling continued, so we killed the lights. At that point the yelling stopped, and we figured if the guy was hurt he would continue to yell for help. It was an angry yelling though, and we couldn't determine what the man was saying. At this point it was about 10:30pm and things were really creepy. We killed our HIDs so that we wouldn't be a sitting target in case the guy had a gun. 

After we felt confident that the guy wasn't yelling for help we hiked and rode in the dark until we got over a hill where we could turn on our lights and we got out of there.

Maybe you had to be there, but hearing that guy from about a mile away at 10:30pm with such a blood curdling yell really creeped us out. I'm just glad I wasn't riding solo.


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## Bent Wheel (Oct 6, 2007)

*Bear mtn.........................*

A few years back, 2 buddies & I were riding up Bear mtn. Starts off with a 5 mile climb and for once I was out front. Just before the top theres about a 100 yard stretch of level fire road, so I ride back & forth waiting on my buds when this jackrabbit pops out on the road. I'm wondering what was chasing him when to my surprise a black bear steps out of the bushes, I swear he was close enough to me that i could have reached out and touched him, but he looked at me and turned around went back the way he came. I dont know if my friends really ever believed me or not , but it did happen.


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## PCC (Sep 5, 2005)

I never ride offroad solo. Recently, there was a report of a gentleman who went on a bike ride up in San Rafael who never came home from his ride. They found his body three days later and I could not find any information about the cause of death.

I recall reading somewhere about two women who were riding along when they noticed a mountain bike laying on the side of the trail. No rider was apparent anywhere so they kept going, figuring that the rider pulled over to relieve him/herself only to find out a few days later that a mountain lion had dragged the rider off the trail and had partially eaten him.

My greatest fear when going offroad would be to find a dead body.


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## carrot_top (Aug 22, 2007)

well.....its not as "terrifying" as most stories ive read, but earlier today, my friend and i went to go ride at markham....the trails are set up for the race tomorrow, so there is one large loop of parts of trails connecting to eachother.....well, one part takes you to Gunrange...its a double diamond rated trail....way beyond my current abilities.....my friend convinced me to ride it.....just as we started, the sun had almost completely set.....it was fairly challenging to see in the open...let alone in the tree covered trail.....the light progressively got darker and darker....my friend has a leg problem, so he had to walk many of the climbs...making it even slower to ride....being that there wer countless challanging climbs made our progress at almost a snails-pace....even thought we were able to speed up on some of the downhills, it was almost impossible to see any rocks, drops, and ruts.....about 1/2 way throught the trail it got to the point where the trail was just a white line and the woods around us was pitch black....being i have a phobia of the dark didnt help either....we got to the pint where i actually turned around to see if we could get off the trail....but i ended up turning back and going the right way...by this point, we were only able to see by the moonlight.....someone ended up running into us that had better knowledge of the trail....turns out the exit was just a minute or so away......we finally got out of there....


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

Tim1968 said:


> Sometimes I ride over on the Olympic Penninsula. I have seen a cougar and bears are everywhere. With all these stories of cougars attacking Mt. bikers in I was thinking of rigging up a small air horn with a pin release of some sort so if you were to get knocked off the bike from behind it would go off.
> It might scare away a cougar.


I ride solo on the peninsula all the time, but I'm beginning to get a little freaked with the cougar attacks (especially in B.C.) and the recent bear attack near Seattle at Banner. There have been many times that I hear something coming towards me in the woods but I just don't see anything. When I stop, it stops. I have had friends that were stalked by cougars. You just don't hear the cats. They are stealthy to say the very least. I've nearly hit deer on the trail, almost been trampled by a cow elk (big animal), and heard more critters than I care to remember. It sure makes the heart rate spike. I'm really hesitant to ride alone due to crazy people and hungry critters. I know a lot of people that have no problems riding alone, but it's just not for me anymore. If I'm riding alone, I ride the road (gasp!).


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

cocheese said:


> If I'm riding alone, I ride the road (gasp!).


I fear cars far more than wild animals (and dogs more than the wild ones).

Not really a terror, more sad than anything, but the Poison Spider Mesa ends at a cliff high above the Colorado River. Most people head back down PSM but you can go down the Portal Trail. The only people I've ever met who like this are young, stupid, and more testoserone than experience. It's just no fun and there is one section where it's about 3 feet wide with a 400-500 foot drop and more than one person has died in a fall. There is a sign that says, "caution get off and walk...." sort of thing. There used to be a sign that read something like, "get off now! we mean it, several people have died here."

When I walked through that section there were fresh cut flowers up there in the hot, desert sun. They were still fresh which must have meant they were placed in the last hour or two. That was humbling and sad.

Pinguwin

P.S. If you ever go up PSM, go back down, it's a lot more fun. I've told people and some still went down the portal and in all cases when I've seen them later, they've said, "you were right, down PSM would have been more fun." Have fun, be good, ride safe.


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## GT2005 (Mar 23, 2005)

My greatest fear when going offroad would be to find a dead body.[/QUOTE]

My greatest fear when going offroad would be to BE the dead body, especially at the times when I have ridden in mountain lion country. (I would feel terrible if I found someone out there dead on the trail), -GT2005


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## bacolmm (Jul 30, 2004)

dosboy said:


> Now thats creepy- especially in the high elevations (+8000)..I try not to do it, but i get frieked out everytime by the reflection of my lights of some animals eyes or sounds in the brush when I'm stopped for some reason or the other


+1 Night riding solo when you can hear movement in the woods but can't see anything...


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## dhslovak (Sep 8, 2004)

I didn't used to get freaked out by riding solo, but after this one wreck I had, I'm pretty much on edge all the freaking time now.

I had just installed wider handlebars and was trying to get used to them on one of my local trails. But instead I wound up clipping a tree with them and launched myself into some kind sideways rag-doll. So I land in this ravine with a bunch of dead trees (prolly about 1-2 feet thick) and somehow manage to get the lower half of my right leg propped up on one log and pinned under another. So now I'm sitting there, contemplating how I'm going to get out from underneath this stupid thing, and I hear footsteps in the leaves and twigs about 40 ft from where I am. Now, I've spent a long enough time in the woods to know that a lot of times "footsteps" are just birds or chipmunks running around in the underbrush.

Ten minutes go by and the footsteps are within 20 ft on the uphill side of the ravine, and by now I've realized that it's actually something pretty large, slow, and heavy. The footsteps started coming closer to where I was, and I was debating on whether I should try and free myself and run or play like a hole in the forest. Whatever it was walked to the ledge right above me, where my bike had landed, and started sniffing. Finally, after a minute or two of sniffing my bike, I hear a some voices coming up the trail. Whatever it was slowly walked away, and I started yelling out for some help.
That totally freaked me out for a while.


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## CxAgent2 (Oct 24, 2007)

Not a scary story but true anyway...

I was riding by myself on the Barton Creek Greenbelt early (before 7:00AM) one summer Sunday morning. I was crossing the creek where the rocks are about basketball size and I was just bouncing across them. Eventually I was moving slow enough that the next rock stopped my front wheel and I endo'd. Being an old dirt biker I kept my hands on the handle bars. Trouble is on bicyles there is no steering stop like on a motorcycle. So when I went over my arms were crossed with the elbows together. I landed on my shoulder and dislocated my arm. I started yelling for anyone on the trail, but there was no answer. My college room mate had very 'loose' shoulders that popped out and had to be popped back in. I knew I only had a minute before the muscles would tighten and it wouldn't go back in as easy. I put my elbows back together and rolled over on them. The shoulder popped back in but it hurt like a mother. I laid there for at least 15 minutes and nobody ever came along. Eventually I had to use my shirt like a sling and walk my bike back out. I quit riding alone then. At least alone in the early mornings when there weren't many people on the trail. Now I have to dodge the hikers and their dogs. But somehow it feels safer.


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## indyfab25 (Feb 10, 2004)

*Coming to the party late but...*



rutkiller said:


> I've noticed a lot of people on here, myself included, ride solo. Although not always the smartest idea, I love riding solo and I do it 95% of the time I ride. I was just wondering if anyone has ever run into any problems while riding solo and thought they were in serious danger? And I don't mean getting a flat at 9:00 am on a Saturday morning 1/4 mile from the trailhead. Immediately, one story comes to mind.
> 
> Prior to moving to New Jersey, I lived in Vermont for 19 years, which is where I started mountain biking. I lived about 8 miles from Killington and by way of local fireroads and singletrack, I often rode on the backside (undeveloped) of Killington. The trail was frequented by many; bikers, hikers, horses, motorcycles, etc.... I believe it was on a Thursday afternoon around 4:30, in mid-August, when I set out. I made this trip a number of times, and I figured out a loop that took me approximately 2 1/2 hours to do. It didn't get dark until 8:30 or 8:45 pm, so I had plenty of time. On this one particular trip, I was nearing the top of the climb and looking forward to the long descent home. I heard a noise from behind me and when I turned around, there was a man standing no less than 20 feet away from me. I didn't pass him on the trail and to this day, I have no idea where he came from. He appeared to be a bum living in the woods, but I don't know why he was so far away from civilization....this was 1 1/2 hours into the woods on a bike....probably a good 2-3 hours by foot. He caught me completely off guard and I suddently had visions of those horror movies I watched as a kid. I didn't know if this guy had a gun, a knife or a bottle of rum. He continued to approach me as I fumbled to get back on my bike. He was cursing and swearing and stumbling about, and I soon realized that he was just a drunk and not a serious threat. But let me tell you, for those 30 seconds, I saw my life flash in front of me. Visions of Freddy and Jason dancing around with that damn music playing. All joking aside, going into the woods alone, miles and miles from ANYTHING, can be dangerous.
> 
> Anyone ever have similar problems? Maybe an injury in the middle of the woods with nobody around? Maybe a bum living in the woods? Hunters? Ghosts? haha...


Are you sure it wasn't a lost Thru Hiker? I was pretty wasted myself hiking out of Rutland. Didn't get lost though. Great thread. During my thru hike of the AT this summer I did a lot of solo night hiking. The first couple of times I was a bit wigged out. Then, something happened. The fear dissolved. I began to look at it this way. If I encountered something odd, I would simply deal with it. For me, there is no difference between a solo encounter in the woods, at night for that matter, and a confrontation anywhere else at any other time. No longer scared of the dark woods, more worried about daytime old lady drivers. :thumbsup:

Reading the other posts I recalled a story that happened a few years back. A friend and I were backpacking through the Mahoosuc range(Maine) in spring 04. We had just settled into the shelter, smoked a bone, and were just chillin. I was staring into the woods(of course right?) and here this loud "F**K!!!" I turned around to look at Clint to see if he heard it as well or if I was hearing things. He heard it as well. A few minutes later this guy comes walking southbound on the AT without a pack on. He was bald on top with an afro coming out the sides kinda like Bozo. He picks up a stick, tosses it on the pile of kindling, and says "this is my contribution" and walks off behind the shelter. Clint and I are a bit freaked out at the fact that this guy just walks up without a pack in an area, at a time(dusk), where you would not find an unprepared day hiker. We were kind of out there. So he comes back up and I introduce myself because I am thinking that the paranoia is weed based. So, this guy finally grabs his pack that was hidden under a tin object and sits down and talks with us. We wax philosophical about the deteriorating political climate and such for about an hour. I ask him if he is staying and he says no, he is taking off to night hike through the toughest hiking on the east coast. This was the toughest section of the entire Appalachian trail and he is going to take off at night to hike through it. After hiking at night a great deal, I do not think too much of this right now. Now get this, before he leaves he says "oh yeah, a couple of women have gone missing in the area, have a good night" and takes off. I watch him leave through the woods and keep my eyes peeled for any signal of his return. I just happened to have two knives with me that night so I gave one to Clint. I set up my gear in a defensive circle so that I would wake up if anything tipped over. In the middle of the night my windscreen fell over. I was up and ready to go in an instant. I just kept thinking that this guy first yelled "f**k" when he found out we weren't women that he could kill. We had parked our cars at opposite ends of the range and left notes for the rangers. Here in Maine there is not much crime so I don't worry about such things. It is the only state without a serial killer. Anyway, probably not the best idea if we were women. There was something very, very strange about the guy. I wanted to, tried to rationalize the situation but in the end, it was just weird.


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## etuck (Feb 9, 2007)

I was on an evening commute home on halloween this year. It was dark but still pretty early. 7:00ish and I decided to pick off a little bit of single track on my way home. I was close to the beach and it was really really foggy out. I only had the helmet mount with me and it was reflecting off the fog so the visibility was pretty poor.

I was concentrating on the trail and didn't see a guy laying on the side of the trail with his pants around his ankles staring at the sky until I was parellel to him. I looked left, saw him and just booked it. He was literally 2 feet from me and it was a good sized drop off to the other side. I booked it but it was uphillish and I was tired and kept thinking he was going to overtake me at any minute and put a knife in my back. Halloween, foggy, dark, miles up in hills, it was pretty creepy.

Another time I was running trails around dusk in the same park and I came aroung a switch back and was head to head with a bobcat at 5 yards or so. The trail was guarded by think shrub on both sides so there was no where to go. One of us needed to turn around. The freakin bobcat wouldn't let me pass. I waited a good 3 minutes, shooing it and tossing small pebbles. he wasn't in the least bit scared and wouldn't give way. Eventually it started sauntering slowly toward me and once it was within 10 feet or so I had to jump over the switch back and run. Cocky little f*cker that thing was.


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## EclipseRoadie (Oct 7, 2007)

Other night I was night riding solo (like always) and I heard this odd noise. My heartrate spiked and I hit the gas a bit, figuring I would put some distance between me and the noise (probably just a squirrel). Anyway, a few minutes later I hear the noise again. It was scary because it sounded so out of place, so foreign, something that shouldn't be in the woods. (My night riding spot is in a state park, miles from the nearest people.) Heart rate spiked again... I'm starting to talk myself into heading back. Then I said "Screw it, I didn't drive 20 miles to get spooked by a chipmunk." I continue on. 
Heard the noise again. It's loud this time, and I'm at least 2 miles from where I first heard it. I am starting to freak out, imagination running wild, swinging my helmet light from side to side looking for a glimpse of whatever is stalking me. 
I hear the noise again. Heart rate spikes. Having flashbacks to night patrols in Iraq. Stop, unclip and prepare to defend myself. Hear the noise again, **** it's so close..... Hear it twice in quick succession. I clip in and start to head back.... I'm moving pretty good, maybe ten minutes later, I hear the noise three times.
I'm haulin ass back to the truck, no damn mountain lion is gonna have me for breakfast..... I get back in the truck throw the bike unceremoniously in the back and hit the road. 
When I get home I heard the sound again.
Damn cell phone low on batteries. Gawd what an idiot.......

ER


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## Dragoneyes (Aug 12, 2007)

I was riding the Owassippe trail in Michigan 2 months ago. It was only the second time that I was ever on it so I still didn't know the trail very well. In this area, we have coyotes, fox,black bear and even cougar ( mountain lion) have been sighted. It was an overcast day and I was about half way through the 11 mile loop. I started feeling like something was behind me. I would stop occasionally and look around and listen. Nothing but the wind. 
As I said before I didn't know the trail very well. I got lost so I tried to retrace my route. The next thing I heard was a blood curdling scream. I'd never heard anything like that before.
I was scared S**tless. 
As I backtracked on the trail I came to this small gully that looked familiar and as I rode down it I almost ran into a dead turkey. It was a fresh kill and blood was everywhere. I froze looking at what was a pretty big tom turkey and then I felt something was still there watching me so I rode as fast as I could until I came to where the trail branched off into other trails. I don't know what it was but I'll never forget that scream.


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## ISUPsyclones (Feb 3, 2004)

*Not biking, but scary*

A couple of years ago I was in DC on a business trip. It was December and cold as hell, but one of the ladies in my group had never seen the sites so I offered to walk around with her. We're heading up the Mall toward the Lincoln Memorial when she says she needs to go to the bathroom. I didn't really need to go, but since she was going I ducked into the other side of the public toilet. Soon as I opened the door I was faced with at least 8-10 homeless people. They were all huddled inside punching the hot air hand warmer over and over (they actually had it pretty warm in there). So now, what do you do? I calmly walked over to the urinal and took a little leak, hoping I didn't get shanked in the process. They all were pretty cordial, given the fact that they did not kill me (or something worse).

Scariest pee ever.


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## PCC (Sep 5, 2005)

EclipseRoadie said:


> When I get home I heard the sound again.
> Damn cell phone low on batteries. Gawd what an idiot.......
> 
> ER


LOL!!!


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## mcornell (Feb 4, 2005)

*Lost*

Ok I guess it was in 1998. My younger brother and myself just purchased brand spanking new Cannondale Super Vs and just had to try them out.
Being from south west PA we decide to schedule a trip to WV, Snoe Shoe area in late May.
Well we stay at the Elk Creek touring center, Old Bunk House with the wooden outdoor hot tub, and were all alone.
This is our third trip to the area and all of that riding was done on the Snoe Shoe side of the hills.
Well we get checked in around 3PM and gets some directions for an easier ride, Gauley Mtn Trail, and take off all excited forgeting to pack everything we need.
New bikes new trail could'nt have been better right ? Wrong. The weather in late May is still pretty cold and very wet and muddy !!!!! We started riding and rode the Gauley Mtn trail out and were on are way back when we see the signs for Red Run and decide what the heck. It's now around 5PM. We ride like the wind down into the valley when my brother gets his first flat. Then the rain comes. Not a drizzle a straight down pour. Get the flat changed and keep riding ending up at an old boy scout camp in the bottom of the valley. We are now freezing soaked to the bone and it's 6PM.
We take a trail up the hill thinking this is the way out.
Brother dearest gets second flat and we heve no more tubes.
However in the bottom of my pack is a patch kit. Ever try patching a tube in the rain ? Not fun. By the time we get the tube patched and back together it's going on 7PM and we decide to go back the way we came.
I'm leading and the rain and temp have my glasses covered with minimal visibility.
I go right instead of left around a big rock and find myself going over the side of a 15' drop landing face first in rocks and broken limbs.
First time in my life i thought I was dead. My brother pulls me out and my right knee has a huge chunk taken out of it and my left wrist feels like it's broke.
After I get my wits back and first aid the bleeding knee and screwed wrist we walk back to the boy scout camp.
It's now getting dark and we decide this is home for the night.
The temp dropped and the rain continued all night but we huddled together and sat there till morning.
We went back the way we came in and made it back to Elk River Touring for lunch.
Most screwed up bike ride I ever had. However I learned more about what to have and when to have it that day then any book could ever teach you.
I'm the guy on the trail now with the stocked Camel Back Mule !!!!!!!


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## pro (Oct 7, 2007)

EclipseRoadie said:


> When I get home I heard the sound again.
> Damn cell phone low on batteries. Gawd what an idiot.......
> 
> ER


Oh man, Thats Hilarious!!!!!!!!

But yeah, same thing happens to me sometimes but when im sleeping. phone vibrates and im like wtf?


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## Dragoneyes (Aug 12, 2007)

I'm the guy on the trail now with the stocked Camel Back Mule !!!!!!!

I can relate I have a fully stocked Mule also. I usually ride by myself so I want to make sure I have enough stuff to survive if I get lost or break down. Lately I have been helping others that have broke down on the trail.


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## Punishment71 (Feb 17, 2007)

EclipseRoadie said:


> When I get home I heard the sound again.
> Damn cell phone low on batteries. Gawd what an idiot.......


Lol!!! This one's a classic.


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## Shelbak73 (Nov 10, 2007)

Hippienflipflops said:


> We are about to fall asleep around 1am when we hear these two wierd sounds, like nothing that should be heard in the mountains at night. one is a deep, barely audible whoosh/chopping sound, almost like helecopter blades poudning the air, but much deeper, this went on continuously for around an hour (until we booked it the hell out of there).
> 
> at the same time, this wierd beeping sound starts, almost like echo-locating or tracking. it jumps from one side of the canyon to the other and begins getting closer and closer.
> 
> ...


Grouse! Shocking but pretty cool once you know whats making such a wild sound.

I'm sure any of you who have done a fair share night riding with a helmet mount light have seen the Glowing eyes. Groups of elk or deer will make you feel like your in Sleepy Hollow or Fantasia, with 15 or 20 sets of eyes, floating in the darkness.

:eekster: While out on one of many solo night rides, about five miles from the trail head I see a pair of eyes about 75yds ahead, I can see it's not a deer or elk, the eyes are too small and low to the ground. As I continue up the trail I notice these eyes are locked on me like a snipers lazer sight, The usual fear stuff starts, neck hair feels like ants, my chamois cover satchel starts tingling. At about 30 yards now,and my eyelids are streatching as I strain to see what's behind the glowing eyes. At about 15yds I stop because this thing is about 10ft off the trail, it's motionless and I don't think it's blinked once.
My spincter has a firm grip on my shorts for me so I figure it's time for this stalemate to end, so with bear spray at hand, and in the deepest voice I could muster, I shout "HEY!" 
No sooner had my shrill, breathy warning left my lips, this thing charged. I raised the bear spray, prepared to fire...... when I heard the familiar jingle of dog tags.
Raastus and I enjoyed each others company as we finished the loop. I reunited Raastus (a border collie) with a much relieved faimly the next day.

P.S. I always let people know the ride info before I ride.


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## NJMX835 (Oct 17, 2006)

Shelbak73 said:


> Grouse! Shocking but pretty cool once you know whats making such a wild sound.
> 
> I'm sure any of you who have done a fair share night riding with a helmet mount light have seen the Glowing eyes. Groups of elk or deer will make you feel like your in Sleepy Hollow or Fantasia, with 15 or 20 sets of eyes, floating in the darkness.
> 
> ...


Man, after that scare I would have been soooo happy for that dog's company, lol

Good story :thumbsup:


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## Shelbak73 (Nov 10, 2007)

Just remembered one other story I'd like to add before this line dies.

Two years ago in april, a friend of mine was comming back from Iraq, said he wanted to go riding at a Colorado bordertown on his first day back in the states.
I picked up his bike and gear from his house and picked him up at the the local airport near the bordertown. He got off the plain in full desert camouflage. His entire "Iraq life" stuffed into two desert tan bags. We drove for only a half hour to the campsite, pitched his tent, we changed into our riding clothes and jumped into my truck for the half hour drive across the valley to the trailhead. We hesitated as we did the usual inventory. Bikes? check! camelbaks? check! clif bars? check! ect..ect.. As we start to roll he says "just in case.. I suppose I should get the stuff I can't live without, out of the tent." so he did just that, wallet, passport and so on, and we were on our way.
He rode like he was out of his mind, cleaning things he'd never done, riding like he'd spent the last year training to just grind me into the dirt, which he did, without mercy. We returned to the truck after three hours and twenty plus miles of HARSH, bordertown trail behind us. Picked up some superb steaks and micro-brews and headed back to camp to celebrate his return from hell. All the empty sites in the campground were now full, and as our site came into view it was obvious.......... our site had been ransacked. Cooler, gone, BBQ, gone and the flap of his tent flapping in the breeze. They had taken everything but the tent. Flags that had been flown over camp victory, gone, uniforms, boots, everything, gone! I thought I was gonna cry, but my anger was too great. I coulden't help myself, and said, "Welcome back to the f---ing USA, my brother." He turned, walked to the back of my truck, grabbed a couple of beers, popping the caps as he returned, handing me one he says, with a smile on his face,"yea....it's a bummer.....but I'm still alive." and raised his beer to mine in a toast. (_kinda put things in prespective for me_)

We both moved from our respective houses, and lost touch. So I'd like to add this: Tony if you see this, or if you know Tony D. you know what to do.


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

bump it up.


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## knives out (Nov 23, 2007)

the only crazy experiences I've while out solo riding were:

a: some crazy dude jackin' it outside of his tent. the funny part was he waved at me with the other hand. 

b: a squirrel landing on my head and scurrying down my back. scared the crap out of me.


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## Dms1818 (May 10, 2006)

A Mailman taking a dump in the woods. Yep...... A Mailman . USPS


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

Riding in Canada's NorthWest Territory about 60 miles from the Arctic Circle, other than the small group I was in, it was the farthest I have ever been from any other humans.

Caribou were everywhere, as well as the animals that eat them, mostly wolves but also grizzly bears. Waking up one morning, we had fresh moose and wolf tracks RIGHT THROUGH THE CAMP.

One of the riders in our group of three men and three women was a big man, maybe 250 pounds, and when we spotted a grizzly perhaps a quarter mile away, I got to use the line from the old joke, "I don't have to ride faster than the bear. I just have to ride faster than you." The bear didn't bother us, and when we rode through the low willows that surround every stream and reduce visibility to fifteen or twenty feet, we made sure to whistle and sing to let them know we were coming.

We stopped next to a creek to eat, and heard something splashing. I looked up and saw a caribou running down the middle of the creek, which was about fifty feet wide. I had my camera close at hand, and snapped off a couple of quick shots. When I looked at the photos later, I found that the animal had a huge wound on its neck, with about six inches of torn skin hanging off it. Whatever did the damage never came along.

You can read the story here.


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## Jaybo (Mar 5, 2008)

*One time*

I was riding along and I saw a Democrat in the woods. It scared the crap out of me until I realized how easy they are too outwit and relaxed.

Just kidding. I have seen bear and a cougar and gotten kind of skittish until a kid on a bike rode about five feet from a beer like he was going by a poodle.

Jaybo


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

Got a gig announcing the NORBA National race at Mount Snow, Vermont, so I took a ride with some locals the day before the race. I got ahead of the other riders, and I rode into a clearing with a mother bear and two cubs.

The mother said something in bear talk, and the two cubs EXPLODED up a couple of small trees, shredding and flinging bark and climbing faster than they could have fallen the same distance. The mother ran off into the bushes, and the cubs hung about fifteen feet up. The whole event took three or four seconds, and then the clearing was silent, with flakes of bark drifting down and the two cubs in their trees, absolutely still and blacker than an object has any right to be, waiting for the all clear from mama.

Just then the other riders arrived, and I pointed out the two cubs, and said we should probably keep moving to keep the mama from getting anxious. As we rode off, I was excited about seeing bears on a ride. I figured it was a common occurrence, but one of the other riders says, "I ride here for ten years, and I never saw a bear. You're here for a day, and you ride right up on them."


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## rimugu (Jun 28, 2004)

*not much for me*

I have ride for some years and some off road bike touring. Yet the only things I have seen are a couple rabbits, worms, small lizards. Several thorny plants have been more scareful than any animal so far.
The most memorable animal encounter was a bee swarm about 40 yards at the top of a hill. We stopped, crouched and waited for a minute, then the where gone.

Another experience but not too scary was finding a soldier out in the nothing telling us that we entered a military reservation and that we should get out immediately. We where less than 1 mile from the nearest exit, but that meant going directly where all the officers would be and risking getting arrested (or that was what the soldier said). We had to return about 30 miles in the dark using only our back up lights, we met the soldier with the last day light and we where supposed to be able to finish with daylight (even with 3+ hours of mechanical issues in the middle of nowhere).


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## Dave In Florida (Apr 4, 2007)

My wife and I met some friends at a local riding spot a couple of weeks ago. We put in 2 hours + and after the ride were hanging in the parking lot packing up and talking. I heard a rustling in the leaves and looked over to find a squirrel acting CRAZY. Its tail was flicking and it was hopping around. Every now and then, it would LEAP into the air backwards. I walked over to investigate and see a coral snake! This was the first time any of us had seen one in the wild, and it sure was neat looking. I walked towards the snake to scare the squirrel off (I'd rather it be hungry than dead). The snake slowly moved into the brush.

And yes, I know the rhyme, and yes, it was a coral snake.


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## guava (Jan 27, 2004)

Berkley said:


> Took a lesuirely ride with my two buddies on the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail - old railroad route turned trail. Ends on an old RR bridge where the view is fantastic. That day we didn't bring any drinks and rode down to the local gas station for some waters/gatorades. There's a big hill down from the RR bridge to the town below it. A steep road with a curve at the bottom. It's kinda tight and a little gravelly at the edges, so you need to slow down.
> 
> I lead, and my buddies are behind me. I ease on the brakes, but one of my buddies thought he could carry his speed through. He wipes out and scratches his leg up pretty good. He's bleeding a little, but he's ok. We go to the gas station and get drinks.
> 
> ...


I've ridden that hill amillion times, and every time i have the internal discussion about how much speed is safe on that turn. it always sketches me out a little. I have definitely been nervouse driving down it in the winter. ther is some reeally sweet singletrack stashed off of that rail trail. I learned to mtb there.


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## Finchypoo (Jun 29, 2007)

These stories are great

One of my first rides on my new bike ( an 05 Reign 2) riding above UC Santa Cruz I had a scary experience. I started the ride late in the day but as long as everything went well I would have plenty of time to get back. Guess what, everything didn't. on my way home on some fire roads I was on a stretch of single track above the fire road. I decided to take a drop back onto the fire road. Instead of jumping off the drop I decided to take it slow and just roll down it. It turns out it was much steeper than I thought and there was an odd rut at the bottom that perfectly captured my front wheel, tacoeing the rim badly so it stuck against my fork and flipped my over the bars and onto my shoulder. My shoulder hurts really badly and I can hardly lift my arm, my bike it unridable and its getting dark fast in the middle of a redwood forest known for mountain lions. I had a 3 mile hike, with a screwed up shoulder dragging a nice heavy bike with only a small slowly fading maglite to light the way. For anyone who has never seen Santa Cruz mountain redwood forests they are beautiful during the day, but as soon as the sun goes down its pitch black and creepy as hell. I got back to campus ok but it was an experience I don't want to repeat anytime soon, scared the hell out of me.

Although on the bright side I now know:

-Dont roll off drops, just learn to drop correctly

-If you taco a wheel, you can take it off and slam it against the ground to true it enough to gently ride home (The guys at the bike shot showed me this when i brought my crippled bike in for repairs, they are awesome)

-Mini Maglites kind of suck, carry an LED flashlight instead.


One of my local trails, a steep narrow side of a mountain kind of trail has an upturned Bronco down the hill. I cant for the life of my think of how someone got it there, short of helicopters or teleportation.


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## Bleedin' Bill (Oct 19, 2006)

About four or five years ago, I was doing a short ride at High Point State Park in New Jersey. I was on the return route about two minutes from my car when I heard something big crashing through the brush to my right. I looked over and to my surprise, there was a bear (BIG) running along next to me about fifteen feet away. It seemed like I could have reached out and touched him. After a couple of seconds (it seemed a lot longer) the bear veered to the right and the trail went left. When I got to my car a minute or two later, I hastily loaded up my bike as I was sure that any second, the bear was going to burst out of the woods and finish me off.


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## nuclear_powered (Apr 18, 2007)

Being in Australia, we don't have any carnivorous animals big enough to bring us off a bike. Nor do we have many serial killers (in fact, I think Milat was the only one who ventured into the bush), so crossing paths with a stranger is slightly less unnerving. We have plenty of deadly poisonous insects and reptiles, but that's about it. 

Funnily though, the most dangerous animals I've encountered while riding are kangaroos and wombats. The same goes for driving a car - both can bring you off the road if you hit one. Probably the closest thing to a scary encounter on the trails for me was a night ride with 2 mates along the Yarra trails. There's a section of the track between a golf course fence and a barricade next to a steep drop into the river. We happened across a very large kangaroo (about 5ft and 60 - 70 odd kgs) on this path, who got a bit freaked by our super bright LED's and headed off away from us. At this point, a group of other riders came over a bridge from the opposite direction and stopped also. This left the kangaroo trapped in the middle. All joking of how nice a marinated kangaroo fillet would be right then disappeared when it turned about, faced us, and started accelerating toward us. These things can hit 70km/h pretty quickly, and I know that if they have to, they'll bowl you over to get by. We panicked and tried getting out of it's way, but the act of doing so freaked it out even more, and it turned again and headed back towards the other group. Luckily it found a gap to jump through.

Yeah, not as scary as some of the 'crashed in the middle of nowhere' or 'stalked by a bear/cougar' stories, but one with an Australian flavour nonetheless. They're so unpredictable those Roos - there are many stories told down here about them jumping right in front of your bike, just like they do with cars. Imagine being blindsided by a runaway scooter - I reckon it would be like that, except with the possibility that the scooter could be at head height.


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## longman (May 9, 2007)

*not on a trail but...*

still scared the sh!t outta me...In '04 I was riding from Seattle to St George Utah and was near Jackson WY, I was riding back from Moose? to my camsite at Gros Ventre campground on a back road that splits the local buffalo herd's daily walk. Well the buffalo were on both sides of the road and this silly b!tch in her suv was parked in the middle of the road leaning out of her window and taking a photo of a buffalo about 6 feet away, way too close...I rode round the other side and obviously went a little to close to a calf about 30 feet away because the mother, or father, it was f'ing big either way, started running at me. Now these things are huge and I've heard that they can run at 40mph but until you see one charging you you don't realise how fast 40mph is. So this big bstrd is running at me and closing fast, I jump out of the saddle, pushing on the pedals and pulling on the bars as hard as I can, luckily for me I only have one pannier of food on the bike so it seems really light and fast after a month of fully loaded riding. The beast is about 10 feet away and is easily gonna flatten me but when it reaches the edge of the road stops dead! I've never felt so lucky in my life. It took all of 3 seconds but seemed to be in slow motion and last a lot longer.


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

ha!ha! truely an American flavored story. Not to many riders have been chase down by "Totonka," or the revenge of the Buffalo! I wish i had any scarey story to share. Born and raised in Los Angeles my biking adventures tend to be mostly urban.

I don't think I've ever been scared while on my bike. I do remember while I was in middle school, I was about 12 or 13 and lived in Watts, (SouthCentral Los Angeles). I started riding by bike to and from school to avoid the gangs on the way home. one day I was riding a friend home on the bars and a couple of wannabe bangers stopped us. I was afraid at first, until I stepped off the bike and found out that the wannabes were equally afraid of us. little poop buts! Ive always keep it at full speed on and offroad, this has probably kept me away from trouble. Now age has started to catch up and my top speed is not so top and I cruise (16 mph, slower off road) it whenever I get a chance. 

I love the scarely stories keep them coming.


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## Cata1yst (Dec 27, 2007)

I have no really scary stories...just alone @ 15 riding down 15+ miles total of singletrack in my backyard....I saw some big paw prints the other day...too big to be a dog, just started singing a song out loud and hoping whatever it was didnt feel like jumping at me.


now im gonna stop reading this thread or else all that singletrack wont go explored :eekster:


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## longman (May 9, 2007)

*here's another...*

same bike trip, Waterton Park Canada, Red Rock Canyon Road.... I rode up to the canyon to take a look, pretty lame, heading back down I saw a couple of bears off in the distance at the side of the road so I stopped to take a look...cars full of tourists start pulling up to see what I'm looking at, get out of their cars and start moving closer to get a 'better photo' so I move on. It's getting darkish and I'm cruising down the road at about 15-20mph, it's dead silent, no traffic, no wind and I'm loving life, singing as I ride back to my campsite...right then a grizzly about 2 feet from the edge of the road in the long grass stands on it's hind legs to see what the noise is, it's ONLY about 8 feet tall, grass in it's mouth and chewing away, he was so close I could have reached out and touched him. Our eyes meet and we both stare at each other, turning our heads as I cruise by, me just waiting for him to charge, him, well I don't know what the bear was thinking...he looked kind of surprised and confused. The road is pointing uphill and I try to pedal away sh!tting my pants, there's no noone around to help, no cars nowhere to 'hide'. Yeah, I know the advice is not to run but fu$k that, I couldn't fight my way out of a wet paper bag. To my delight a truck comes down the hill and I flag him down..."get in the back of the bed if it comes at you" he says "Dude if that thing comes at me I'm not getting in the back...he'll have me for dinner". The bear comes out of the grass and crosses the road like nothing had happened. What an adrenaline rush...I rode back to camp with a sh!teating grin from ear to ear glad to have seen such a beautiful animal and not be eaten.


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

Buffalo Soldier.... haha


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## jorgemonteon (Apr 15, 2007)

wow...all great stories, too bad I just came across this thread now. Here's mine...better late than never. LONG POST. I have to make it dramatic  

For you local bay area peeps, the incident occurred at Skegg's Point (ECdM) last year around late September, if memory serves. 

I work over in Redwood City so it's usually just a quick drive up to Skeggs through the serpintine Kings Canyon route on over to CM01. I usually have plently of time to ride in and out before it gets dark. But I was running late this particular day. I got to parking lot and I could barely make out the golden, copper beams of sun-light struggling to pierce through the thick tree canopy. About 45 minutes of light left. Plenty of time. Plenty of time for things to go wrong too. I've ridden many places in the bay area at night solo (i.e. the Gap, Quicksilver, Montebello, etc.) but Skegg's--at least for me--is a different experience. It's unwelcoming, almost foreboding at night. In lieu of my irrational fears, I frantically threw my gear on haphazardly, snapped on my 32 watt light on my head neglecting to check the battery indicator, gloves on, click the helmet, tap the brakes on the old Bianchi WUSS, and quickly headed off....oh shoot, water, I can't forget my water! 

I bomb down the trails like my life depended on it. I want in and out as quickly as possible. Even now dropping down via the ECM trail, I can feel the darkness closing in taking cheap shots at my peripheral vision. Damn, it's getting dark; too dark for my weak primate eyes. I click my lights on the low 15 watt setting--ah detail at last--and proceed to climb like a mad man to the intersection of Tafoni and Resolution. Decision time. I look down and there's still some feeble light punching it's way through the arbor ceiling casting a staccato of dancing shadows on the damp layer of earthen-brown pine nettles and oak brush on the trail. I brave it and decide on a quick loop; crank it up hard and fast up Tafoni, drop down Fir to Resolution and back out Tafoni again. My lungs are on fire and legs feel like they've been dipped in muriatic acid, but I keep going. 

I come full circle. Back to Tafoni and Resolution. No more dancing shadows, darkness has consumed everything around me. With only a small, yellowish tunnel of light to illuminate my way, I hastily start my climb back up Tafoni. I finally notice the dead calm around me. It's quiet. Dead quiet. No wind, no rattling of the trees; the only sound I hear is my frantic breath screaming for air, the pounding of my heart in my head, and the popcorn crunch the tires make upon contact with the soil below...oh and there's another peculiar noise. A mechanical creaking sound coming from the rear of my bike...hmmm that's strange! I inspect it and find nothing, but it persists. No worries I'm 20-25 minutes away from the car. 

And then it happens. Just as I'm nearing intersection of Tafoni and Fir and just past the sand stone formations, about 20 yards in front of me smack-dab in the middle of the trail, I see something. Something black, dog-like, not a coyote or a wolf, perhaps a stray dog? Not sure. It doesn't immediately startle me and curiously I proceed towards it, but cautiously. It's big! I can gauge it's size by it's proximity to the tree is was nearest too. It just stands there looking right at me with it's reflective, ominous eyes. Instinctively, I shout and scream at it trying to exude some primitive fleck of courage. It doesn't even flinch. I stand there shining my light on it about 20 ft away for what seems like an eternity and maybe out of boredom it decides to move on and it proceeds to disappear into the darkness.

Needless to say at these point, I'm as white as a ghost and crank it as hard as I can. I remember singing silly songs like "Marry had a little Lamb" out loud just to distract myself. Even then, I can hear the clairvoyant part of my mind telling me to get the F-out ASAP it's behind you. There's nothing more primal and gut-wrenching than feeling like you're being watched...or stalked? I'm on Fir trail now...yes, I'm almost out of here...and then.

Remember that creaking sound? Kaboom! My single speed rear cog explodes in half. WTF! I have no choice but to hike it out of here. I check my right flank, my left flank, in front of me down the trail...clear. Then, look behind. No way, I say to myself, about 50 yards back near the intersection, those small piercing glass eyes looking at me, examining me. It couldn't be, perhaps a deer, or some other animal; I can't possibly be the same animal! So, I yell, kick the dirt and make a ruckus. No movement...it's got to be the same animal! I don't look back. Awkwardly in my clipless pedals, I start jogging trying to make some distance between it and me. I start singing more loudly now; I think I'm singing "100 bottles of beer on the wall" at this point but I'm too focused on the dim, spot of light coming from my head-lamp. So close. I'm so close.

This is about where in the story, I strongly suggest that you always check the battery light indicator before you ever go a night ride. LIGHTS OUT! I frantically reach for the light switch, clicking it again and again. Nothing. I check the cables...all connected. Dead battery! Wow, talk about a comedy of errors! In my momentary stupor of shock, surprise, and self-deprecation, examining my ridiculous situation, I fail to realize that's it's no longer quiet. I hear rustling and crackling of vegetation directly behind me. But I can't make anything out. It was a moonless light and the darkness was tangible, almost impenetrable. The sounds are synchronized footfalls but I can't tell exactly how far or from what precise direction. It is at moments like these, where all logic and rational thought fly right out the window. I start jogging with my bike, stumbling over rocks, and roots and I can barely make out the trail in front of me. My goal is the car at all costs. I'm at the point of collapse at this point and my adrenaline has failed me. But I make it to the clearing right before Sierra Morena trail. Only 0.2 miles to go. I hope on the bike and propel myself with my feet like some 3-year old. I make it the paved fire-road and stop to take a breath. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness and I can make out gross details. I look behind me, and what do you know...nothing, the coast is clear. It was all in my head and I over-reacted; nothing was following me. No sooner am I rejoicing my heroic escape when I hear and SEE the freak'n thing again and this time I can hear faint growling! I make like the wind and bomb down the last remaining section of paved fire road and book it to my car!

I no longer right Skegg's at night--at least not solo!


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## norm (Feb 20, 2005)

Mordy said:


> I've come up behind people having sex in the trail.


+1
I got separated from a night group ride and found two ladies at it, just near the trailhead. Sorry, i would like to tell you a great story here, but they were the Rosie O'Donell type.

A few Glue sniffers. Sniffing right out of a bag. Somebody said it could be gas though.

A Junkie shooting up near commute path at about 4pm on a park bench.

Once came across a guy passed out right along the trail. Slowed down, passed him and then yelled "hey buddy...you ok". He gave me the thumbs up.:thumbsup:


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## Sparky351 (Aug 24, 2003)

Like most of the folks in this post I ride by myself 90% of the time. And living in Southern nNew Jersey were very limited in places to ride. I've been riding in this particular park since I was about 10 yrs old so I know it like the back of my hand. I've seen everything in these woods from people having sex, using drugs, illegaly hunting to you name it. The thing that freaked me out though was while riding I came up on this young kid, maybe 17-18. He was offf to the side of the trail, kind of in the middle of nowhere with a small axe in his hand. I was pretty certain he wasn't there to hurt me and he didn't look very intimidating either. So I stopped and curiously asked what he was doing. He proceeded to show me a dead cat that he was going to chop the head off of. I was like "Dude, What the heck is wrong with you?" and I'm rephrasing that politely. He told me he collected skulls and this is where he did his work. I told him that you really need to find yourself another hobby and maybe try meeting a girl. Then he told me his girlfriend was waiting in the car in the parking lot because she thought what he was doing was gross. Not wrong, just gross. I told him he might want to do his handy work elsewhere cause I wasn't going to be as friendly next time I saw him back there. And people would be hearing about this. I never did tell anyone other then a few friends. But I never have seen him back there again. I do get this weird feeling though everytime I roll through this area expecting him to be older, angrier and waiting to see me again.


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## Disco Stu (Jan 27, 2005)

On the Rainbow Trail near Salida, CO, about two miles from my car parked along the highway, a mountain lion ran out in front of me and ran down the trail in front of me for a few seconds before darting back down the mountain. Man he was fast! I was going downhill at about 20mph when it happened.


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## The Understater (May 6, 2007)

*Murder and Mayhem.*

I just found this post, since it suddenly appeared at the top of the page.
This one is 100% true but it didn't happen to me.

About two years ago I think, down just out of Wellington, our capital city, a father and teenage daughter were mountain biking some fire roads up in the hills. Fairly popular area for that sort of thing, but not exactly crowded.
They stopped when they saw a man on the side of the fire road pointing a sawn off shot gun at them. He approached and punched the father in the face, busting his nose, and then I think he may have put the boot in a bit while he was on the ground. He then rode off on the father's bike. The girl kept her head pretty well, and used her cell phone to call the police.
Pretty bad, but it gets worse. The man was an escaped convict. He'd been on the run for days with the cops on his tail. Not too far down the road, he came across another guy on a quad bike. This poor guy wasn't so lucky. The bastard shot and killed him without warning and then stole his quad. 
The cops had got their chopper into the area by now and they managed to hunt him down, but he refused to surrender. They had to shoot him, once in the leg and once in the torso, from memory... putting him in a pretty serious condition in hospital. He was really upset about this. He was pretty nuts and he had been trying to get them to shoot him dead.

Like I say it was a couple of years ago, and some of the details might be a bit off, but the basics are all correct.

Be careful out there folks. Sometimes life really is like a movie.


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## Mr Magoo (Jan 17, 2004)

*glowing doe eyes staring back at you*

Got to up the ante with night riding. The spooky factor of solo night riding and seeing giant orbs looking at you from just off the trail. Now that's living. One night I found a couple of headless chickens miles from where chickens should be. Undamaged other than missing heads. I instantly feared some voodoo cult. Time to go home.


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## PDG60 (Jan 13, 2004)

*I can't believe*

how much time I'm wasting at the office reading all these great posts.
It's Friday, I hate my job...please keep 'em coming


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## Redline fan (Mar 31, 2008)

I was riding solo in Telluride where I had lived for a few years, riding the trail by my house that leads to the vast network there. I had ridden this trail hundreds of times and as a result had a high level of confidence, and in this incident, a little too much. This section is a mile or so long with a nice gentle down hill grade (to start the ride) with around 10 nice lips in it that I had built up even bigger to get more air. (For those that know the area - it is the Meadows trail to Lawson Hill) Almost always a great way to start a ride. Well, on this day I was determined to get more air than ever on every hit and was in my big ring for a good portion of the trail. I was way psyched as I approached the biggest hit because it is impossible to go too long on it (the lip was at the top of an easy 40 foot landing zone). I hit it with more speed than ever and mis-judged the landing and extended the bike to land it a little too early and when I thought I would land I was still in the air and the bike kept extending out. When I finally landed I was very out of control. When I gained control of the bike I was then almost perpendicular to the trail which was traversing a very steep pitch. My immediate thought was that I was going to die and probably by being impaled on a tree branch due to the amount of speed I was carrying into a steep, heavily wooded pitch. To my left was a nice sized Aspen tree with no branches at my height so I leaned into the tree to stop myself. I knew it would hurt but didn't think I would die, and I went from 30+ mph to a complete stop. My leg took the immediate impact, then my chest, face and head. It knocked the wind out of me on top of everything else. Pretty scary. After 10 minutes or so I was able to recover enough to pedal back home and call in sick for work that night. 
There are a few chiropractors that have enjoyed that air.


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## phoehn9111 (Oct 27, 2006)

My friend an i were riding in Seven Springs, PA and rode between a mother and cub black bear. Without a word, we both turned our bikes around and rode the other way. About 150 feet further on, I got a flat! Changed the tube without incident. I told my buddy to leave me
for dead, but he stayed with me.


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## ClockworkLemon (Dec 26, 2007)

Well, I've only ever felt freaked out riding solo once. There's a small bush reserve that backs onto the cemetery in my home town, with a few trails running around it. There's nothing particularly scary about this place during the day, but earlier this year I decided to ride there one night to test out the new light system that I'd bought.

I didn't really think much of it, it's in the middle of a built up area, and i'd never actually be very far out of sight of a house while I was riding there. I had the usual encounters with unseen animals in the bush (just rabbits, possums and wallabies, nothing that would cause me any problems, except if they collided with me...), but aside from that saw nothing, and no-one. I'd been riding about half an hour, when I heard someone shooting.

That didn't really worry me, so I kept riding. Ten minutes later I heard more shooting, so I stopped to try and work out 1) where the shooter was, and 2) how close they were. At that stage, standing in the dark, listening to someone shoot something, somewhere, I got a bit freaked out, and decided it was time for home. I didn't really feel safe until I'd got a couple of blocks away, though...


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## 304wheeler (Jan 31, 2008)

*Protect Yourself*

This is exactly why I carry a Kimber Ultra Carry .45. Its small (weighs around 25 ounces)and will put a hole any any creep who decides to mess with the wrong mountain biker. I ride most of the time in the WV mountains and so far have never had to pull my weapon on a bike, but I have pulled it while fourwheeling when some wise guys thought they were going to steal my four wheeler with me on it. You should have seen the look on their face when I pulled the hammer back and pointed that laser sight on one of there foreheads.

I know that most of you guys don't carry a gun and that is fine, but if you are ever in a situation where that gun will safe your life or property you will never leave home without it again.


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## ahathaway (May 1, 2008)

304wheeler said:


> This is exactly why I carry a Kimber Ultra Carry .45. Its small (weighs around 25 ounces)and will put a hole any any creep who decides to mess with the wrong mountain biker. I ride most of the time in the WV mountains and so far have never had to pull my weapon on a bike, but I have pulled it while fourwheeling when some wise guys thought they were going to steal my four wheeler with me on it. You should have seen the look on their face when I pulled the hammer back and pointed that laser sight on one of there foreheads.
> 
> I know that most of you guys don't carry a gun and that is fine, but if you are ever in a situation where that gun will safe your life or property you will never leave home without it again.


Isn't that where they shot deliverance? I would be carrying as well.


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## crager34 (Feb 23, 2005)

ahathaway said:


> Isn't that where they shot deliverance? I would be carrying as well.


I am pretty sure it was Georgia.


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## StreetSpeed (Apr 26, 2008)

I had (what I thought) was a scary/funny story and I told my riding buddy about it in an e-mail. Here is said e-mail.



I went riding Thursday and had a blast. Hit some beautiful trails, some with some neat jumps and gaps in it, and the Lithium handles it all great. I would rattle my teeth out on my hard tail. Anyway, Thursday I was running out of water so I went so far and turned around. Today I figured I'd go the other way and see if I could find where the two meet up and have a nice little (long) loop. 
Before I even head out today I just TAP the valve on my rear shock to let some air out because I thought the PSI was a little low. I wasn't using more than 3." of travel or so with it set where it was. Anyway, let some air out, sit on it, and it drops to bottom. "****," I say. My bike pump won't fit on it, and even if I did I need 150psi in it or so for my weight. So I go to Stewarts, and the most I can get there is 70psi. Better than nothing, but I've got like 3" of sag when I sit on the thing. So, my rear end is all ****ed up, but ridable and I was anxious.
So I start riding in the other direction. All is good at first and eventually I come to some really steep, gnarly rocky stuff and think "Damn, I'm gonna have to come back up this elevation at some point." I keep taking the trail and eventually I get to a very steep incline (too steep to pedal)and full of big rocks and tons of mud. I was trying to stay clean this trip since I didn't want to clean my bike again. So this damn thing is about a half mile hike. I get to the top, start pedaling, and these 2 hill billys are coming down in some shitty Bronco. I think "What the hell are these guys doing out here?" They slow down and one hill billy asks out the passenger window "Hey, you going to Quartz Rock?" "Nah man I'm just riding around." He's like "Well alright but we got a fire going up there if you wanna chill up there." "Alright man thanks."
So immediately I'm thinking these 2 damn hill billys are Broke Back Mountaining it out at "Quartz Rock" which is actually Butt Sex Rock and I'm in the middle of some Saratoga Hill Billy Gay Fest that I accidentally stumbled on. So of course, I keep pedaling the way I was going, cuz I wasn't gonna follow those guys back down and I sure as **** wasn't gonna wait around for the them to rape and kill me. So I go by Butt Sex rock where this is some random hill billy ****, a seat from a Voyager, but no signs of actual ass penetration. But I wasn't taking any chances. So I follow the trail another half mile and it's slowly getting narrower. Before long, I can find no discernible trail and I'm just biking in between trees and swamp land, mosquitos crawling all over me, prolly walking through God knows what kind of poison ****, getting more and more lost in the woods because I WASN'T going back by butt sex rock and I think there has to be a trail it meets up with somewhere. No trails anywhere. Going deeper and deeper into the woods everything starts to look the same. I hear nothing, I see nothing. Knowing certain death awaits me if I keep going, I take my chances to go past butt sex rock. Thank God Billy Bob and Jimbo aren't there butting it to each other, and I escape with my life, and orifices all in tact. Shaken up, but in tact.


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## HotBlack (Feb 9, 2008)

StreetSpeed said:


> So of course, I keep pedaling the way I was going, cuz I wasn't gonna follow those guys back down and I sure as **** wasn't gonna wait around for the them to rape and kill me. So I go by Butt Sex rock where this is some random hill billy ****, a seat from a Voyager, but no signs of actual ass penetration. But I wasn't taking any chances. So I follow the trail another half mile and it's slowly getting narrower. Before long, I can find no discernible trail and I'm just biking in between trees and swamp land, mosquitos crawling all over me, prolly walking through God knows what kind of poison ****, getting more and more lost in the woods because I WASN'T going back by butt sex rock and I think there has to be a trail it meets up with somewhere. No trails anywhere. Going deeper and deeper into the woods everything starts to look the same. I hear nothing, I see nothing. Knowing certain death awaits me if I keep going, I take my chances to go past butt sex rock. Thank God Billy Bob and Jimbo aren't there butting it to each other, and I escape with my life, and orifices all in tact. Shaken up, but in tact.


So a couple guys said hey to you, and your mind made them ass-raping murderers?

Hahaha... I've never seen such a silly display of homophobia. I'm cracking up right now. Seriously, even if they were gay, even if they were rapists, you'd honestly consider dying out in a swamp over a little anal? You know, most people stick stuff up their butts during their lives. It's really not a big deal. It's just a butt. I mean, protecting the sanctity of your ass is a little silly when you think about what comes out of it. If it were between dying of hypothermia in a swamp and discovering what it is that the Greeks saw as a fun and healthy way to enjoy yourself, I mean christ already. As it is, the worlds gay & bi population enjoy it, and a pretty substantial percentage of straight people do as well. In fact, come to think of it, I've never met anyone who said they tried it and didn't like it. Why the hell would someone be so deathly afraid of their ass?


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## StreetSpeed (Apr 26, 2008)

HotBlack said:


> So a couple guys said hey to you, and your mind made them ass-raping murderers?
> 
> Hahaha... I've never seen such a silly display of homophobia. I'm cracking up right now. Seriously, even if they were gay, even if they were rapists, you'd honestly consider dying out in a swamp over a little anal? You know, most people stick stuff up their butts during their lives. It's really not a big deal. It's just a butt. I mean, protecting the sanctity of your ass is a little silly when you think about what comes out of it. If it were between dying of hypothermia in a swamp and discovering what it is that the Greeks saw as a fun and healthy way to enjoy yourself, I mean christ already. As it is, the worlds gay & bi population enjoy it, and a pretty substantial percentage of straight people do as well. In fact, come to think of it, I've never met anyone who said they tried it and didn't like it. Why the hell would someone be so deathly afraid of their ass?


No, two guys did not say "hey" to me. They were driving out of the woods in the middle of no where and asked if I wanted to go "chill by the fire."

As for the rest of your post, whatever floats your boat, man...


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

Lmao!!!


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

Sparky351 said:


> Like most of the folks in this post I ride by myself 90% of the time. And living in Southern nNew Jersey were very limited in places to ride. I've been riding in this particular park since I was about 10 yrs old so I know it like the back of my hand. I've seen everything in these woods from people having sex, using drugs, illegaly hunting to you name it. The thing that freaked me out though was while riding I came up on this young kid, maybe 17-18. He was offf to the side of the trail, kind of in the middle of nowhere with a small axe in his hand. I was pretty certain he wasn't there to hurt me and he didn't look very intimidating either. So I stopped and curiously asked what he was doing. He proceeded to show me a dead cat that he was going to chop the head off of. I was like "Dude, What the heck is wrong with you?" and I'm rephrasing that politely. He told me he collected skulls and this is where he did his work. I told him that you really need to find yourself another hobby and maybe try meeting a girl. Then he told me his girlfriend was waiting in the car in the parking lot because she thought what he was doing was gross. Not wrong, just gross. I told him he might want to do his handy work elsewhere cause I wasn't going to be as friendly next time I saw him back there. And people would be hearing about this. I never did tell anyone other then a few friends. But I never have seen him back there again. I do get this weird feeling though everytime I roll through this area expecting him to be older, angrier and waiting to see me again.


I'm in South Jersey too. Where did this happen?


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## BKnight (Mar 27, 2005)

haven't had any real frightening biking experiences, but have had a couple hiking.

Down in cimarron new mexico at Philmont with the boy scouts, we were about 4-5 days into our trek and coming up to fish camp. we had this eerie feeling all day that there was something following us and watching us. Even the adult leaders were spooked. Once we got into camp, we learned that there had been a cougar sighted stalking groups in the area for the last week or so.

One of the more frightening experiences was camping in the middle of the grand teton (sp) mountians in Wyoming. The are is none to have lots of bears and other wild life in the area. At about 2 in the morning hear this huge commotion out side of the tent. I just hunker down and figure if its real bad the guide will wake us. Find out the next morning it was just a moose in camp and all of the mules came down to see what was going on.

Another time I was at a park with my girl friend, just laying on the grass enjoying the night watching the stars. It must've been around 1:30 in the morning and we see these lights pull up. This park was sort of off the beaten path and early that night we saw the same car drive by a couple times and come into the park. Needless to say we got pretty scared. First thought was cops, then decided it wasn't cause the lights seemed to low, next though, drunken teenagers looking for some fun. We run off to the wood and lay low. All the while we hear people calling and a light being swept over the place. I finally work up the courage to go see what it is, and turns out it was just the police, hassled us for a bit for not coming forward right away, and said it was just routine since they had had reports in the past of kids getting 'lost' at that park.


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## Picard (Apr 5, 2005)

haha. it looks like you almost had deliverance encounter with the hill billies.


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## rasnickj1982 (Jan 17, 2008)

One time I was riding in a state park, I won't say which state because this place gets enough jokes as it is! Anyway, I rode up on to homosexuals that were having sex, a couple of dudes, right on the trail and I had to ride past them. I was scared to death that they were going to hide along the trail and club me with a log or something because it's a punishable offense.


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## speedmetal (Feb 28, 2007)

rasnickj1982 said:


> One time I was riding in a state park, I won't say which state because this place gets enough jokes as it is! Anyway, I rode up on to homosexuals that were having sex, a couple of dudes, right on the trail and I had to ride past them. I was scared to death that they were going to hide along the trail and club me with a log or something because it's a punishable offense.


Let me guess: TEXAS!


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## Sparky351 (Aug 24, 2003)

rutkiller said:


> I'm in South Jersey too. Where did this happen?


Ceres Park.


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## mondaycurse (Nov 24, 2005)

StreetSpeed said:


> No, two guys did not say "hey" to me. They were driving out of the woods in the middle of no where and asked if I wanted to go "chill by the fire."


I'd be more homophobic towards a possibly spandex-clad hot 'n' sweaty biker with pumped legs than 2 hillbillies asking for another drinking friend.


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## DrNickels (Jan 7, 2008)

> Two Augusts ago, my girlfriend and I head over to the Roaring Run Natural Area in the Laurel Highlands in western PA for a late afternoon xc ride. We dropped at the far trailhead off Firetower Road about 5:30. This is the trailhead that is a good 3-4 miles into the woods and quite a ways from anything at all except silence. While I was pulling the bikes off the roof, I noticed a Rav 4 at the end of the lot with the driver door open and the radio on quietly. I looked around intently but didn't see anyone. We figured someone stepped into the woods to take a leak or something. Three minutes later, helmets were strapped up and we were off. So we ride for a few hours and ride up to our car just as it's starting to get dark out. Damn Rav 4 is still sitting in the lot. Door open. Radio on. I look around again. Nothing. We ride over to the car and look inside. Noone. Looking inside the car, it's easy to tell it's a woman's vehicle by the flowers hanging from the rearview, lipstick and compacts laying on the passenger seat, The Limited shopping bags and Curves brochures on the back seat along with chick hiking gear. I walk around the back of it and check out the plates and it has Maryland tags. Weird. This is where it really gets sketchy and this is where watching too much CSI had me checking the scene. It must have barely rained earlier that day and the raindrops had left the hard packed lot a perfect canvas of dusty dimples. Looking closer revealed only three sets of tracks in that lot since the rain besides our Maxxis bike tires. My car. That Rav 4. And another set that had been parked under the trees not too far from the Rav (with tracks also leaving the lot). There were footprints going from those tracks to the driver's side of the Rav, lots of commotion in the dirt around the Rav driver door and tracks and what looked like drag marks from the lot into the tall grass towards the woods. Footprints also exited the tall grass and went towards the spot where that "other" car had been parked. Suddenly we're envisioning a perfectly executed rape/murder out in the middle of nowhere and are freaking out. We loaded up as quick as we could and headed towards Donegal. We stopped at the first place we could and called the State Police. We left our names and number but never heard anything. Scary stuff right there. I would have assumed if they found something someone would have gotten ahold of us but who knows. We always drop at the busier trailhead up by Rt. 30 now and I gotta tell you, I'm spooked whenever I ride that place anymore. The whole place just has a weird vibe.


I know what area you are talking about. That whole area is pretty freaky. I used to bike there occasionally on my drive to western NY to my grandparents.

I once came across a similar occasion where I found a deserted honda civic with papers and gear strewn about like there had been a struggle leading off into the undergrowth in the Allegheny National Forest. Called the ranger, they took my name, but never heard anything.

I've had a few creepy experiences while hiking. One of which occurred in West Virginia near Ona. I was on a portion of the Appalachian trail hiking for a few days with a couple friends. We stopped at a shelter house on the boy scout camp Camp Arrowhead. We were at the shelter for about 4 hours bedded down in our sleeping bags. All at once at about 2 in the morning we hear screaming off in the woods and someone being chased. We hear a girl screaming and a man's voice yelling "get her!"

At this point we are about to **** ourselves. We think for sure we are listening to a real life rape occurring in the woods. Turns out we hear laughing and it was a group of drunk teenagers playing hide and go seek in the woods. We just about sh!t ourselves!

Another freaky occurrence happened while hiking in the Hocking Hills near Lancaster, OH. I was hiking a trail and was just hiking along when I stopped to tie my shoe. I happened to look over to my left and in the bushes were two human eyes staring back at me. It was some creepy old guy just sitting in the bushes looking at me. He didn't say anything or move. He just sat there staring at me. I reached into my side pack pocket and clicked the safety off my pistol. I thought any minute this dude is going to come at me. He just sat there and stared at me. I back away down the trail slowly for about 25 yds and then high-tailed it out of there. It just gave me the willies like this guy was about to leap out at me while I was down tying my shoe.


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## ahathaway (May 1, 2008)

crager34 said:


> I am pretty sure it was Georgia.


I looked it up, you are correct.


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## doitdoitnow! (Apr 19, 2008)

Once when I was riding way up north in the arctic circle with my buddies we got lost on a trail due to ice coverage and an unexpected snow storm. I was on a Cannondale and my friend on a Yeti. We hunkered down for the night. In the morning we saw huge fkn prints all around our campsite and all of our rations were gone and some of our kit. The footprints were giant like Sasquatch sized and the stride was massive. Naturally we were so freaked out and started out on the trail pronto. 

We were discussing how there just didn't seem to be as much snow as their used to be and how a lot of ice was melting early that year, when we came round a bend to see a giant friggin Yeti standing there glaring at us with the angriest damn look on any furry face you've ever seen. He had a sign saying 'homeless'. We just put the pedal to the medal and got the fck outa dere! As we sped off he yelled, 'you're melting my home you fckers, nice name for a bike though'.  

ps. his voice sounded like a cross between Chewy, a Werewolf and a Chainsaw

On a serious note, once I saw aliens and the E.T fckers were riding singlespeeds.


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## jgsatl (Sep 16, 2006)

from a buddy of mine:



> Today's 18 mile ride highlights:
> 
> *Good*-
> I just passed 100 miles for the year. Not bad for just starting to ride a little over two weeks ago and still weightlifting 3 days a week.
> ...


i know the goose was just protecting it's own....but that email just cracked me up.


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## jeffw-13 (Apr 30, 2008)

Christine said:


> _Im always scared to find someone who has Offed themselves or been dumped in a woods im riding in...._
> 
> Right now I'm waiting for my laundry to finish in the dryer. Haven't been to the laundromat down the block in a while, since it closes early and the old guy that runs it is often eager to close up early. Plus, he's not always around when you need quarters.
> 
> ...


I'll make sandwiches! If you've seen Bad Santa, you're probably laughing right now.


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## Stinch (Aug 22, 2007)

rasnickj1982 said:


> One time I was riding in a state park, I won't say which state because this place gets enough jokes as it is! Anyway, I rode up on to homosexuals that were having sex, a couple of dudes, right on the trail and I had to ride past them. I was scared to death that they were going to hide along the trail and club me with a log or something because it's a punishable offense.


Gay City State Park, Connecticut?


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## farkus888 (Mar 30, 2008)

I can second the screeching that turkeys make being scarier than just about anything you'll hear on the trail. first time I heard it I was like 15 riding alone miles into the woods, damn near p!ssed myself. 

the other one I have is that a little over a year ago a local woman went missing, after about a week they found her body about 50 yards from the trailhead of the trail I ride at least once a week. there was a lot of speculation that foulplay was involved, I might have to get the name off of the cross there and see if I can find out what they figured out.


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## Ska (Jan 12, 2004)

Not sure if I ever posted this or not, if I did it would have been back in MTBR’s old format years ago. I’ve got a creepy story that still sends shivers up my spine whenever I think of it. Jesus it was creepy!!

While out of town visiting a cousin of mine, plans to go out for a ride where made weeks earlier. He insisted that I bring my bike or I would not be welcome at his house so I gladly took him up on his offer. A local “secret” trail of his that was quite remote and used by very few was the mission for the day. I felt privileged that he was taking me on this favorite trail of his but not surprised; after all, I’m family! It was to be an early morning ride because we needed to be back for a big family gathering later in the afternoon. It was no problem as I’ll ride whenever and wherever especially on new terrain. The following morning the few guys that were supposed to join us backed out due to a long unplanned night out on the town and the rain that had fallen up until around 2 or 3AM sealed the deal. They figured it’d be too slick for their reflexes which were now impaired by lack of sleep and serious hang-over. Not a problem, it was going to be the two of us. 

We hit the trailhead at around 7AM and started off. It was a foggy morning but the previous day’s heat was still in the ground and transferring its energy directly into the water that had fallen the night before so the humidity under the canopy was intense and the sweat rolled continuously right from the get go. You could feel the warmth of the vapor around your body which was doing its best to keep the engine room cool under a layer of riding clothes. My feet and lower legs stayed cool as they brushed the leaves from the lower growing vegetation that clung to what remained of the rainwater. There was a low-lying mist (about 1.5 feet high) that was still present in the forest as the sun had still not had a chance to burn it off. It hugged the vegetation and concealed some of the finer details of the trail but it was really interesting riding through it and it would have made for some really amazing photos had I any ability to capture that sort of thing. 

The trail at this point was flowing, fast and beautiful. My cousin, being the perfect guide, called back when coming up on something technical or twisty and keeping in mind the newby (to this trail) handicap I had. He never got more than say 75ft ahead of me. After about an hour and a half of fairly quick riding we stopped for a break and discussed the ride so far. I knew we were pretty far in by now and he said we could easily spend a full day doing this and not cross the same path twice. I was blown away and jealous of what he had here at basically his doorstep. He had a plan in mind that would give us time to get a really good long ride in and get us back to the house and showered in time for the family thing in the afternoon so it was perfect. I was game and feeling awesome. It was about 20minutes after this break that I got more frightened than I EVER have in my life.

We set off again after he had briefed me on his plans. We’d continue on for another hour or so and simply turn back the way we came. Seemed simple enough and going the opposite direction would make this a new trail all over again. Perfect!

At one point in our journey we began a long and twisty climb that seemed to go on forever. The trail was littered with chunks of broken limestone that had fallen from a cliff face that lined the left side of the trail and it was bumpy as hell due to the shallow root systems of the trees that were starving for water in the hardest of grounds. Many roots were exposed so it took a little concentration to get through it but there were no issues. Finally after cresting the top of the climb, the trail mellowed significantly. This gave me some time to relax a little and scan ahead down the trail where we were headed. It was very lush, green and still very humid. To my left was a limestone cliff face and to my right was a significant slope covered in short thigh-high vegetation with trees sparsely covering an area that ran down to a stream quite a ways below. My cousin had crested no mare than 5 seconds before me and I could see him just starting to pick up speed as he descended. I smiled as I took in the sight of a lush green of the wet forest we had to ourselves – or at least I thought we had to ourselves.

As my eyes scanned back left to the trail ahead after quickly looking at the river below, something caught my attention. I glanced slightly back to the right and there he was. Not 12 feet from the trail staring at my cousin who, at that very moment, was directly in front of the psycho. I mean 2 seconds ago I was looking there and he wasn’t there. All of a sudden there he is?? WTF?? He blended right into the forest and was very hard to see.

This next bit all happening within seconds so bear with me here as I describe the scene. I get an insane rush of adrenaline like I’ve never had before and I swear I could have picked up a car and thrown it at him at that very moment. I’ve never felt anything like that in my life. My heart pounds through my chest as I yell to my cousin, “RON!!”. It comes out loud, and I mean loud but, nothing, he just roles on. He totally didn’t see this guy who was close enough to reach out and grab him. The man, who I can only see from about the knees up (as he’s standing in the green to the side of the trail) is wearing old black jeans and an olive green army trench coat that is completely soaked through and undone. His hair is stringy, shoulder length and jet black with bits of gray in color and sticking to him as it is as soaked through as the rest of him. What made him even creepier than his attire and posture is the fact that he did not turn his head as my cousin rode by but slowly turned his whole body and ignored me entirely. He did not look at me when I called out. There was no way he didn’t hear me as I called out VERY loudly and my bike, which was running into everything it shouldn’t at this point was making a hell of a racket as well (chain slap and the like). 

I was sh!tting my pants because now it was my turn to pass him and it wasn’t 3 seconds after I had initially spotted him. As I came within 15ft of him his back was to me but at the very last possible second the guy’s upper body swings back and our eyes meet for a split second. All I could see was pure evil in that man. His chin was down to his chest and his eyes pointing upward looking at me with an insanely evil scowl. His arms still to his side I could see he was shirtless and had some wicked scars running across his ribs and stomach. I couldn’t tell if they were newer or older but they looked bad. I called out again as I had to take my eyes off this freak to keep from crashing “RRRROOOOOOONNNN!!!! FUUUUU#$% MEEE!!!!!” The adrenaline was making me loud and trucker-like. Yes the trucker mouth was the first natural response to my situation. 

I hear his brakes start squealing and I run right into the back of him. He asks what the hell I’m doing and I point back up the trail to where the guy was standing and wouldn’t you know it – the guy disappeared!!!!! I mean come on, it had only been 2 seconds ago I’d passed him!!!!

Even now when I think back I find my reaction at this point was weird and so out of character for me. I can’t explain why I reacted this way but I did. I got off my bike, let it fall to the ground and let out the biggest “F…Y…!!!!!!!” of my life in his direction. I even threw a huge rock to where he had been standing. Since my cousin lives in an area that is split 50/50 in French and English speaking folks I said a bunch of stuff in both languages (I’m bilingual) to be sure he understood me. I know he ducked down into the greenery and was watching. He had to be, unless he was a ghost or something (*chill*). This guy had me 100% freaked out, 100% scared sh!tless and I believed him to be a serial killer at that point yet here I am verbally abusing him and throwing rocks and stuff at him. Smart.

My cousin asks again what my problem is and I explain in more detail that he had just ridden right past some dude in the woods and didn’t even notice it. I describe everything to him as he looks over my shoulder but doesn’t see any sign of what I’m talking about. My hands are shaking so badly I have a hard time putting my Camelbak mouthpiece in my mouth as it bounces off my lower lip then upper lip before I finally line it up correctly for a drink I now desperately need. I must shoulder check 30 times as my cousin, who now thinks I’m pulling his leg, tells me to quit it and starts to roll on. 

I click in and hammer my arse off and pass my cousin and stay there for a good ten minutes until I stop to talk to him. My riding has gone down the gutter at this point as I’m so tense and I hit every possible thing I should be avoiding and Ron sees I’m clearly not with it. Finally he believes me. I tell him that I’d ride three full days without water before I head back up that trail again to meet that nut. “His eyes man, his eyes.” I say.

My cousin, now kind of freaked as well tells me that the only other way back is down a trail that leads to a fire road. The good news is that we don’t have to go quite as far back as where the dude was but the problem is, we still have to go back in his direction and I’ve probably pissed him off severely. This route will also make us pretty late for our family outing but I didn’t care. I was prepared to suffer THAT wrath. 

We come up with the plan to hammer our nuts off with my cousin leading since he knows where to go. Just before we set off he looks at me again and asks “Seriously dude, you’re not pulling my leg right?” I just tell him “Seriously, let’s roll.” We set off at an insane pace. He gets ahead of me and inches away as I’m still bouncing off of stuff. Every now and again I loose sight of him for a second in the twisty stuff and that gets my nerves going again. Just as we get to the point where we’d have to cut up to where the dude was, another trail heads straight down and I let my brakes go. I’m flying now and feel somewhat safe. We continue on with no stops until we hit the fire road. I catch up to my cousin and he’s now visibly shaken. I’m puzzled.

Here’s the last of the craziest things; this time he saw him not 10 feet off the trail that cut downward and I, despite keeping my eyes open for him, rode right past him and completely missed it. He could have totally grabbed me. Apparently he was standing right where the two trails split, still with his chin down looking up but this time he was pointing his finger directly at my cousin in a I’m going to get you kind of way. Guess what else, he was holding the rock I threw at him in his other hand. 

God, I’m shoulder checking as I type this thing. I’m freaked again. It was crazy how well he blended into the forest.

My cousin hasn’t ridden that part of the trail since.


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## pesqueeb (Apr 21, 2006)

Great Story dude, you got me totally freaked out now. I'm up way to late to be reading sh!t like that.


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## Ska (Jan 12, 2004)

pesqueeb said:


> Great Story dude, you got me totally freaked out now. I'm up way to late to be reading sh!t like that.


Man, thanks for reading it! I was up late since I couldn't sleep (swinging back from night shifts) and typed that up. It didn't take long as the images will remain fresh in my mind for as long as I live. I knew it was getting long but damn that is _very_ long. I had no idea!

LOL

I must have been more tired than I thought.

Thanks again for taking the time to read it and sorry for creeping you out ;-)


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## onabike (Jan 6, 2006)

Ska!... very well written...it read like a book!!!

creepy sh it for sure...

I hate to ride alone, but do it 95% of the time out of convenience and availability. And the fact my favorite partner is a tri athlete and summer is his "in" season and the woods are just an occasional fun luxury

I can only contribute a couple things... Once I was busting hump up the last 20 yard of a climb to a clearing...(which is rare for me..LOL) Darned if I dont put my front wheel into the back of a deer as it was right at the end of the trail. Scared the crap out of me and the deer!!! It took off faster than I did!!!

The only other story I can tell is from one of my last rides last year. I get about a mile into a trail and I am at a couple of my favorite bumps and jumps. I was riding well that day and hit my marks perfectly and decided I would circle back and ride the small section over again...I do and decide...OK a third time is in order but I notice the rear is riding soft and figure there is always something to spoil a decent ride... So I pop off and inspect the bike... sure enough the rear is low... not flat, just lost some nitrogen. 
I am not big on seeing animals in the forest but hey I accept it, its their turf. I know they are pretty much looking to avoid us as we are of them. But anyhow, I dont like to stop and listen to the noises as I make my mind create issues. But I hear this very odd moaning noise off in the distance. So I immediately think of things it could be, and nothing make sense as it just sounded odd. OK, no worries its off in the distance... So I add some air in the tire and circle back to run the section yet another time...Now I hear the moaning again...and its getting louder and closer. I stop to look...see nothing but hear it getting closer... All I can think of is the way back is in the direction of the"noise" and uphill... Or just ride further into the woods and have this"noise" in my mind the whole time and just feel like a pusssy. So I make up my mind to beat it to a path that will lead me out. I heard it another time but I beat it to the path to head out... its uphill so thats weighing me down. And what the hell pops out on the trail about 30 yards in front as the trail bends is a German Shepherd( I immediately think of the beast below, and now a verocious dog in the way of my exit strategy, and I am drained at this point) But to my surprise its master pops out right behind and its a nice well behaved dog. 
I still dont know what the hell made the noise, but it just freaked me out as it sounded so different. And to have the dog pop out like that was just icing on the cake.


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

Spandex, it really amazes me the reaction both men and women have to it. I ride both mt. bikes and road bikes and wear spandex for the road. The spandex drives women and men crazy, I have heard comments from both. and actually miss the attention when I ride my mt.bike with camo baggies. Well I actualy have had one compliment on camo baggies. Heh!


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## mkirby258 (Feb 27, 2008)

I live in Florida, and there is about a 7 mile trail that I use for a quick night ride. One of my friends and I usually ride this trail about once or twice a month. One of the times we were riding; every time we would stop to move a branch, or wait for the other guy, we could hear something in the woods. It was kinda creepy, like something was stalking us or something. We heard it like 5 times. 
Anyway the next week on the news, there were reports of sightings of a HUGE male Florida panther, with paw prints to match, in the area. It is pretty cool that an endangered species is that close to my house, but at the same time, one of those things could take you out no problem. Now, whenever I ride through those woods, I can only imagine a big cat jumpin on my back and tearing me to pieces! Which is fine, as long as my bike doesnt get broken in the process  Gives me Chills.


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## PhotoGus (May 14, 2008)

I was not scared at the time, but looking back this was kind of dumb....... My buddy and I were riding some lumber company owned trails in northern cali when we came on a cow pasture. We were pretty far in off the main road when we came up on them. I didn't really think anyone lived out there taking car of all these cows. We came up on them kind of quick when my buddy jammed his brakes. The cows were grazing on either side of the trail so I decided to barge through. This started a stampede and before I knew it I was surrounded on all sides by these enormous animals. I just pedaled right though them and pretty soon I was clear, but I easily could have been trampled.


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## bigdan (Apr 10, 2008)

I live in New Orleans and do a lot of urban riding in the city and the surrounding area. Needless to say some places are pretty "rough" and you can find some people milling about at any hour of the day, but for the most part if you ride during the day you should be fine. 

One time I took a ride out in the early evening. It wasn't super late as there was plenty of light out, but I guess it was a little on the late side (5:30? It gets dark at 7:30). I ride through a pretty gnarly sector of town to get to a nicer part on the other side of I-10, and this time I think I took a wrong turn or something because I ended up in a pretty shitty neighborhood. There were all manner or fierce looking folk running around... and it wasn't just the usual stuff that I'm used to. This featured people on every corner, out in force, giving me weird looks and saying ****. Needless to say I tried to GTFO as soon as possible but I was not about to simply turn around so it was a bit of a challenge. 

I've never felt threatened before riding in New Orleans... and I've been in worse areas at worse times, but I've never been so close to so much activity like that, it was really something else. That was about the closest I've come to feeling threatened.


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## cannesdo (Feb 3, 2007)

I ride alone (female) most of the time. You've got me freaked out now, People. I'm just 115 lbs and would make for a nice afternoon snack for ______ (insert preditor here). My worst fear thus far has been being bikejacked. But, seriously, this has been a wake-up call for me. Need to get my pepper spray mounted...somewhere. 

Only freaky thing thus far: Getting lost on a ride in the woods of northern WI, a few hours before sunset (overcast drizzley day), during the worst possible time of the month (!) during bear-baiting season. 

The next day I was the army-navy store buying waterproof matches. 

The wolves in the woods there were freaky. There seems to be no beginning or end to it, it's just one long stream of ghostly howls. Very otherworldly. It makes the hair stand up on your neck. 

More recently I was driving through the Navajo reservation and, just before nightfall, passed an old Navajo woman, in traditional dress, sitting in the dirt just feet from the pavement, legs outstretched, angled a bit away from the road, staring at nothing. I had to wonder after I'd passed her if I'd really seen her. What she was doing sitting there in the dirt in the middle of nowhere, I don't know. She was completely oblivious to 55 ft. of rig flying by her.


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## cannesdo (Feb 3, 2007)

OMG, I've been riding all this time in the western U.S. This stuff that goes on in the east is just bizarre. I've never heard anyone talk about this kind of stuff around here. I'm not sure you could pay me to ride in New Jersey or West Virginia after reading this stuff. 

The story about the guy standing right next to the trail that you couldn't see has me so freaked out. 

Is there anyone you can check with when in a new area to find out if there have been any incidents on any of the local trails? Bike shops I guess, or the police..... I travel around the country biking all year long and I'm seriously rethinking the east coast at this point, especially given that I ride alone. That's one thing I like about the desert. You can tell if there's anyone around. 

I'm amazed at how many of you ride alone at night. I couldn't do it.

To the guy who said that being stalked and watched is the worst feeling ever, I've been watched/stalked by strangers (men) six times now in my life. It is a *horrible* feeling. I saw one guy sneaking up the outside staircase on a neighboring house to get a better look into my place, and later just standing across the street, staring at my house for hours from a dark doorway. I finally couldn't handle it anymore and I left the house (I was only 2 blocks from downtown, Ashland, OR) and turned to look and he came out from the doorway and followed me. I ducked into the Irish pub and stayed there for a few minutes then went back out onto the sidewalk to see if he'd passed and ran right into him. Since I was no longer alone I laid into him. He was shocked and started apologizing, telling me he'd never done that before. Felt good to at least confront one of them.


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## paulster2626 (Apr 6, 2008)

cannesdo said:


> OMG, I've been riding all this time in the western U.S. This stuff that goes on in the east is just bizarre. I've never heard anyone talk about this kind of stuff around here. I'm not sure you could pay me to ride in New Jersey or West Virginia after reading this stuff.


Don't let them scare you. Think of how many people go riding every day with no 'excitement' like the stories in this thread.

Unless you are afraid of getting out of bed every day, you have nothing to worry about!

Or, just come and ride up in Canada. Its all good up here.


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## chris_nor_cal (Sep 20, 2005)

Couple creepy incidents with people

shady looking hillbillies parked next to this trail in the middle of nowhere in a truck asking me odd questions like "where's pam, where do you live?" I was huffing it standing up climbing this hill and was too tired to sprint anywhere if i had to , I just replied, I don't know, and kept right chugging. They stared hard at my bike when I was riding past. made me very uncomfortable, I looked over my shoulder for a while

I ran into a ****ing wierdo CROSSING through a section of wilderness single track back into the woods wearing jeans, a hooded sweatshirt, gardening gloves and a huge backpack and walking stick in like 90 degree weather. I said hows it going, he didn't reply or even break stride.

Also a total oddball riding like an oldschool motorbike with street tires down the middle of the firetrail dressed in non-outdoorsy clothes with his head down , not even looking at me as i rode past.

These are all on the same trail...i hate santa cruz people.

Hey if any of you guys from the previous 3 examples are reading this--Don't rob the guy on the ellsworth, you WILL get a .40 cal hydrashock appetizer


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## onabike (Jan 6, 2006)

cannesdo said:


> .
> 
> I'm amazed at how many of you ride alone at night. I couldn't do it.
> 
> .


I am no Bear Grylls, when its heading towards sundown...I pedal faster to get home...

I see all these light kits on sale and could never in a million years picture myself needing one, wanting one, or intentionally having one. If there aint no street light...


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## Ska (Jan 12, 2004)

paulster2626 said:


> Or, just come and ride up in Canada. Its all good up here.


LOL

My incident actually happened in Canada.

But yes Cannesdo, Like someone said, don't let these stories deter you from riding. There are a lot of people visiting this site and it took a million outings to collectively come up with a few good stories. Chances are slim that you'd have anything happen.

Your story of being stalked (more than once??) is way creepier than any post in this thread.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

HotBlack said:


> So a couple guys said hey to you, and your mind made them ass-raping murderers?
> 
> Hahaha... I've never seen such a silly display of homophobia. I'm cracking up right now. Seriously, even if they were gay, even if they were rapists, you'd honestly consider dying out in a swamp over a little anal? You know, most people stick stuff up their butts during their lives. It's really not a big deal. It's just a butt. I mean, protecting the sanctity of your ass is a little silly when you think about what comes out of it. If it were between dying of hypothermia in a swamp and discovering what it is that the Greeks saw as a fun and healthy way to enjoy yourself, I mean christ already. As it is, the worlds gay & bi population enjoy it, and a pretty substantial percentage of straight people do as well. In fact, come to think of it, I've never met anyone who said they tried it and didn't like it. Why the hell would someone be so deathly afraid of their ass?


Mostly great stories in this thread, but HotBlack is worrying me.


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## HotBlack (Feb 9, 2008)

Natedogz said:


> Mostly great stories in this thread, but HotBlack is worrying me.


It just struck me as odd, since every girlfriend I've had has not only not minded it, but enjoyed it, gay guys like it, and yet, some people are mortified by the thought of it.

In riding, we accept major permanent bodily damage (mangled skin, broken bones, heavy internal damage, paralyzation) as an acceptable price to pay for the experience because overall, it's enjoyable. Even if done wrong, non-enjoyably, what we're talking about here would be a walk in the park compared to bailing on the trail.

It seems a little funny that some people are so afraid of their own asses. I mean, it's not some Holy Kingdom, it's just a butt. If I could put on my labcoat for a second, butts open and things pass through them. Happens every day.

I'd bet it's more of an irrational fear of being emasculated, since for so many, sex is still more about power than anything. That and the accepted "modern" mythologies guidelines for breeding prohibit it ("Thou shalt not do the humpy-dance for fun, thou shalt make more followers for our cause!"), but that's just a further tangent to spin out of control, like a deranged maniac on roller skates.

Ok, I sorry. Back to thread.


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## cannesdo (Feb 3, 2007)

chris_nor_cal said:


> These are all on the same trail...i hate santa cruz people.


Ha....I hear ya. Santa Cruz is definitely different. I swear there are more eccentrics per squ. mile there than anywhere else in the U.S. It was unnerving at first but I've sort of come to love it for that reason. You never know what's around the next corner. No one there cares what anyone else thinks of them, or has any investment in what anyone else is doing and I find myself freeing up my own inner weirdo when I'm there.

Santa Cruz changed my life. This is the video I made of the trip (Jan. '07) that led me to the decision to sell everything, buy my rig and live on the road (and the trails) full time.


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## M_S (Nov 18, 2007)

Another kitty story, from my second week in Missoula:

I was riding some trails just outside of town and had just turned around to head back. I was going pretty fast downhill doubletrack, when all of a sudden something crashes out of the bushes on my left, but slows down a few feet from my calf. Yes, a few feet. I see a flash of brown and at first think it's a dog, though that thought lasted less than a second. I put on the brakes and stop about thirty feet downhill from the mountain lion, which is now standing in the trail, looking at me.


This is where I'm pretty proud of myself. I remembered that with cougars you're supposed to act big and yell at them, which is what I did, shouting at the top of my lungs, hissing, etcetera. After a couple of seconds it darts back into the bushes on the other side of the trail.

Wow.

I also remember one of my first thoughts being that it wasn't very big. Definitely a young lion, under 100 pounds.

Yes, I did report this to Fish and Wildlife. What I've learned (and I had thought of it myself too) is that the young ones are most likely to be involved in "incidents." because not only are they inexperienced and may mistake cyclists for deer, but because they aren't as adept hunters and are thus more desperate.

In this case I think it was the former reason, though, because as I said it sort of halted as it got (really) close. I think it was startled to see that I wasn't a deer or elk.


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## ProfGumby (Feb 27, 2008)

HotBlack said:


> It just struck me as odd, since every girlfriend I've had has not only not minded it, but enjoyed it, gay guys like it, and yet, some people are mortified by the thought of it.
> 
> In riding, we accept major permanent bodily damage (mangled skin, broken bones, heavy internal damage, paralyzation) as an acceptable price to pay for the experience because overall, it's enjoyable. Even if done wrong, non-enjoyably, what we're talking about here would be a walk in the park compared to bailing on the trail.
> 
> ...


Hotblack....my only beef (no pun intended) with your line of logic is the way you talk about someone forcing themselves upon someone else's backside is no different than saying to any female rape victime, so what, you regularly do that with your man....

unwanted and violent sexual acts are illegal and immoral, no matter what hole they are in or what gender is being attacked....


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## HotBlack (Feb 9, 2008)

cannesdo said:


> This is the video I made of the trip (Jan. '07) that led me to the decision to sell everything, buy my rig and live on the road (and the trails) full time.


Wow, now that is taking the bull by the horns!

& hey, it worked for Indurain.


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## HotBlack (Feb 9, 2008)

ProfGumby said:


> Hotblack....my only beef (no pun intended) with your line of logic is the way you talk about someone forcing themselves upon someone else's backside is no different than saying to any female rape victime, so what, you regularly do that with your man....
> 
> unwanted and violent sexual acts are illegal and immoral, no matter what hole they are in or what gender is being attacked....


Hm. Good point. And I certainly don't mean to say that such an act unwanted is not immoral.

But, I don't think it is the same. I think it's different, because a vaginal rape for a woman, is more than a 2 minute physical act and a walk-it-off. If I grew up my whole life with the notion in the back of my mind (and being continually reinforced by society on the whole) that someday I'd bear offspring as a result of sex, then sex would be inextricably tied to that, like it or not, and a sexual violation would be a violation against all my long term familial goals and dreams. It's a bit deeper there, I think, just biologically, there's more going on.

I just don't see why a guy would really stop and consider dying in a swamp, over having to ride past two guys in a jeep, who might be gay, on the off-chance that they happen to be homicidal rapists, even though they didn't rape and kill you the first time. That sounds like a heavy dose of irrational fear.

..and if irrational fear is what makes terror stories terrifying, then I guess it's a good one, as far as this thread goes? Hm.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

ProfGumby said:


> Hotblack....my only beef (no pun intended) with your line of logic is the way you talk about someone forcing themselves upon someone else's backside is no different than saying to any female rape victime, so what, you regularly do that with your man....
> 
> unwanted and violent sexual acts are illegal and immoral, no matter what hole they are in or what gender is being attacked....


X2, great way of explaining it ProfGumby. :thumbsup:


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## HTR4EVR (Jun 15, 2007)

Let see:
1. endo in rough go trail
2. a 2.5 inches stick stuck on my right cheek. 
3. spider bite and 5 minutes later, broken chain. Saved by a chain tool been 7 miles away from the car.
4. finally, two wacos smoking pot in the wilderness, too close to the trail. You don't know if they are going to beat you...
6. OOOh! and a dude told me that I have gorgeous calves... that was horrendous...


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## HTR4EVR (Jun 15, 2007)

StreetSpeed said:


> I had (what I thought) was a scary/funny story and I told my riding buddy about it in an e-mail. Here is said e-mail.
> 
> I went riding Thursday and had a blast. Hit some beautiful trails, some with some neat jumps and gaps in it, and the Lithium handles it all great. I would rattle my teeth out on my hard tail. Anyway, Thursday I was running out of water so I went so far and turned around. Today I figured I'd go the other way and see if I could find where the two meet up and have a nice little (long) loop.
> Before I even head out today I just TAP the valve on my rear shock to let some air out because I thought the PSI was a little low. I wasn't using more than 3." of travel or so with it set where it was. Anyway, let some air out, sit on it, and it drops to bottom. "****," I say. My bike pump won't fit on it, and even if I did I need 150psi in it or so for my weight. So I go to Stewarts, and the most I can get there is 70psi. Better than nothing, but I've got like 3" of sag when I sit on the thing. So, my rear end is all ****ed up, but ridable and I was anxious.
> ...


Hilarius :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## jdp526 (Apr 21, 2006)

I ran over a rattlesnake riding very slowly up a rocky hill. I was staring straight down at the ground and didn't see it until i was on top of it, lol! Damn thing blended in with dirt/rocks very well.

I put about 90k miles on motorcycles riding solo most of the time and I finally gave it up when my son was born. I could write a 1000 stories of close calls.


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## bbrowni83 (May 9, 2008)

I love this thread!


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## redwarrior (Apr 12, 2007)

HTR4EVR said:


> 4. finally, two wacos smoking pot in the wilderness, too close to the trail. You don't know if they are going to beat you...


guess you're not really all that familiar with potheads, huh?


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## JZ122 (May 19, 2008)

So after reading a lot of posts i've decided to get in on the fun. There's this single track down by my house that has been nicknamed "naked man" because there is supposedly a naked homeless man that lives in the woods. Now this trail parallels the highway so you always hear some noise of traffic, but this part had no noise. Nothing, not even movement from animals. I had never checked out this part of the trail so it was fairly new to me. As I'm riding along I see a clearing up ahead (which are fairly common) and decide that I'm going to stop for water and take a rest. As I pull into the clearing I slow down and look around. As I look over my right shoulder I see a shelter of some sorts and sitting in the door of the shelter is the naked man. I scream "holy shite" and take off through the clearing and while I'm riding away all I can hear is the guy laughing. Jesus H. Christ I have never been so scared in my life. No joke i had to stop five minuets later because i thought i was going to throw up i saw so scared:thumbsup: 

Number 2. Not so scaring but definitely freaky. I decide to take a lovely trip and go down to a state park about 20 minuets from my house. i was reading online about the trails, and happen to see they have a lot of stone formations in the state park. cool beans. so i'm riding along. the day is kinda cold, rainy, you know the deal. i'm also kinda lost considering i don't know the area. i round a corner and see two massive rocks making a shelter and i decide to go have a look. inside there is the remains of a fire and some pentagrams on the wall. i'm like ok i kinda want to go back now. 

haha. i've only been riding for about 1 1/2 months and i've had all this weird stuff happen to me. god help me. good thing my bike's in the shop for friday the 13th.


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## cannesdo (Feb 3, 2007)

redwarrior said:


> guess you're not really all that familiar with potheads, huh?


Ah haha....Yeahhhhh, chances are you were pretty safe, unless you were smuggling Doritos...or those really terrible (normally) store-bought brownies with frosting...


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## Brian06 (Jul 12, 2006)

If I had a dollar for everytime I interrupt 2 people from having oral sex on the river trails in my city I would be, well $5 richer


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## HeadForTheHills (Jun 13, 2008)

Scariest thing that ever happened to me was when some guy or guys started shooting off rifles and shotguns right off the trail, and over my head. I was on the top of a hill and I yelled really loudly and took off down the steep side of the hill with bullets whizzing over my head. Once I reached a safe distance I called it in to the police.


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## Shelbak73 (Nov 10, 2007)

HeadForTheHills said:


> Scariest thing that ever happened to me was when some guy or guys started shooting off rifles and shotguns right off the trail, and over my head. I was on the top of a hill and I yelled really loudly and took off down the steep side of the hill with bullets whizzing over my head. Once I reached a safe distance I called it in to the police.


Wait.... lemme guess.....your name's Hillary.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

Shelbak73 said:


> Wait.... lemme guess.....your name's Hillary.


Hhaahahaa! :thumbsup:



redwarrior said:


> guess you're not really all that familiar with potheads, huh?


HEehehe....prolly ask you for some food or drink.


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## brendanbkr (May 30, 2008)

this is entertaining i think i have spent an hour reading these, crap i have no life
so yeah i don't have any trail stories but one time this was about last January and i live in New HAmpshire. So my dad came home and my dog got out and just went and ran around the neighborhood and come back like he always did but this time he came back with a frozen half eaten deer head and just dropped it on the kitchen floor, it was the nastiest thing i have ever seen. I am scaed of meeting some hillbilly with a shotgun.


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## thebigred67 (Mar 29, 2005)

brendanbkr said:


> this is entertaining i think i have spent an hour reading these, crap i have no life
> so yeah i don't have any trail stories but one time this was about last January and i live in New HAmpshire. So my dad came home and my dog got out and just went and ran around the neighborhood and come back like he always did but this time he came back with a frozen half eaten deer head and just dropped it on the kitchen floor, it was the nastiest thing i have ever seen. I am scaed of meeting some hillbilly with a shotgun.


That is pretty funny!


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## thebluesbox (May 18, 2008)

I read this thread the other day and kinda scared me when riding in woods. So Im at a state park woods trail 3 mile loop, about one mile into it two teen guys dressed in ..... you guessed it, black t-shirts and black shorts socks and shoes black, first thing I think of is oh great I remember this story from the forum!!! So they are pretty far ahead I make some shuffling noise in the leaves and rocks and they did see me coming up behind them, walking side by side right in the middle of the trail and it didnt look like they were going to move so I could pass. So I step on the gas!!! Get right up behind them and slam on my rear brake, I see thier shoulders shreek upward like they were ready to get whip lash LOL and the one on the right turns to look and moves over like "I better get out of this crazy bikers way or he is gonna run me over", I start pedaling again and say whats up fellas  Wasnt a big deal but just my first wierd wood riding incounter that was a bit uncomfortable I think if they were older rebels they would have started some mess but being a little younger I could tell they still had some respect for people left in them. The all black clothes kinda freaked me out the most though having read it on the forum first hahaa!


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## onabike (Jan 6, 2006)

thebluesbox said:


> I read this thread the other day and kinda scared me when riding in woods. So Im at a state park woods trail 3 mile loop, about one mile into it two teen guys dressed in ..... you guessed it, black t-shirts and black shorts socks and shoes black, first thing I think of is oh great I remember this story from the forum!!! So they are pretty far ahead I make some shuffling noise in the leaves and rocks and they did see me coming up behind them, walking side by side right in the middle of the trail and it didnt look like they were going to move so I could pass. So I step on the gas!!! Get right up behind them and slam on my rear brake, I see thier shoulders shreek upward like they were ready to get whip lash LOL and the one on the right turns to look and moves over like "I better get out of this crazy bikers way or he is gonna run me over", I start pedaling again and say whats up fellas  Wasnt a big deal but just my first wierd wood riding incounter that was a bit uncomfortable I think if they were older rebels they would have started some mess but being a little younger I could tell they still had some respect for people left in them. The all black clothes kinda freaked me out the most though having read it on the forum first hahaa!


I always wondered the best way to come up on peolpe to get therir attention... but funny how reading this thread gets your mind racing in the woods eh....
I had to chuckle at your story as I pictured myself doing the same thing you did..


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## MemphisR32 (May 3, 2008)

fastale said:


> One of my friends was riding one time when he crossed paths with a buck and knocked him off his bike. Fortunitely the antlers did no damage and the buck continued on his path. I tell yea, they're mean bastards.


I almost had that happen to me today.

Let me tell you a deer at full stride going across the trail 10 feet infront of you when your doing 15mph is not something that makes you relaxed.


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## nca777 (May 14, 2004)

jeriCurl said:


> You guys jinxed me!
> 
> I read this thread yesterday, and thought to myself how lucky I am to get to ride trails where I never see these kinds of creepy freaks in the woods. And then wouldn't you know it, it happened to me too.
> 
> ...


MJ grow op..


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

Ska! said:


> Not sure if I ever posted this or not, if I did it would have been back in MTBR's old format years ago. I've got a creepy story that still sends shivers up my spine whenever I think of it. Jesus it was creepy!!
> 
> While out of town visiting a cousin of mine, plans to go out for a ride where made weeks earlier. He insisted that I bring my bike or I would not be welcome at his house so I gladly took him up on his offer. A local "secret" trail of his that was quite remote and used by very few was the mission for the day. I felt privileged that he was taking me on this favorite trail of his but not surprised; after all, I'm family! It was to be an early morning ride because we needed to be back for a big family gathering later in the afternoon. It was no problem as I'll ride whenever and wherever especially on new terrain. The following morning the few guys that were supposed to join us backed out due to a long unplanned night out on the town and the rain that had fallen up until around 2 or 3AM sealed the deal. They figured it'd be too slick for their reflexes which were now impaired by lack of sleep and serious hang-over. Not a problem, it was going to be the two of us.
> 
> ...


If there was an award for "Best Post Ever," you would definitely get it. When I started this thread last year, I just wanted to hear some crazy stories. Now I'm afraid to ride my damn bike in the woods!


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## aries14 (Nov 23, 2005)

LOL, 

that is a crazy book, I mean story. I would not go near that system again without a large group of riders!!!


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## ZeroNine3 (May 18, 2009)

I should be doing hw, but instead, i'm reading all these posts... this thread rocks... I gotta bring it back.


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## styonile (Oct 5, 2009)

Creepy. I'm not sure I would venture too deep into the woods except for just a couple of miles and even then...


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## goingblankagain (Jun 22, 2009)

Strangest thing for me was hearing what sounded like 4000 birds going absolutely ape-shite in the trees, screaming and squawking their heads off. I stopped and listened for a while, then kept moving, but 15 feet from where I was I could not hear a damn thing.

Here in Mass you can find many stone cellar foundations and rock walls strewn around the woods. Lots of weird glacial rock formations, some are supposedly attributed to native Americans or early settlers. No naked men for me but some days I worry about coming across whoever is the latest missing cheerleader.


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## cifex (Sep 11, 2009)

rutkiller said:


> Great stories guys and gals.... Keep 'em coming. I know there are more horror stories out there.
> 
> Aside from my own story of the man who scared the crap out of me, I think the Blaire Witch Project story would have freaked me the most. I love those stupid horror movies, and coincidentally, they always seem to take place in the woods. Or at least that's where the action happens. Then I toture myself by riding alone in the woods.
> 
> Fortunately, I've never run into any animal issues. New Jersey is so over-populated and over-developed, very few creatures are left in my neck of the woods. Maybe the Jersey Devil is out there, but who knows. No storm stories either. I've been lucky in that sense.


What part of Jersey you in? Jersey has an insanely high bear population.


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## fireball_jones (Mar 29, 2009)

I've run in to coyote's a bunch of times, they're usually more scared of you than you are of them. Mostly at dusk. I ride solo all the time, there's always going to be crazy hillbillies or drunken teenagers on the quiet trails, but I usually stick to state parks/popular areas. It's just safer in the event I get hurt, there's someone there to find me.

That said, the worst experience I've had riding on trails came in a group. I was in front, on way to some jumps that some local ATV guys had hacked out, picking up speed on the way to the jump when all the sudden I felt an incredible pain in my neck and forearms. Fell off the bike, landed on my back, and looked at my arms, they were covered in blood. My buddy stopped behind me, we looked around for a second, and figured out what had happened. Someone had strung fishing line across the trail. Luckily I had caught part of it with my bars ends, so it was a little stretched out before it hit my arms/neck.


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## Joeshwa24 (Sep 17, 2009)

Once when I was a kid I was riding some single track in the dessert no more than a mile from my house. I rounded a corner and there was a guy in the middle of trail on horseback staring at me very ominously. I was startled and came to a complete stop and put one foot down and said something simple like "oh hey" or "how's it going". At that point he pulled a pistol from a holster on his hip and pointed it at me. We just stared at each other for about 3 seconds but it felt like 3 years. I slowly started walking backwards until I was around the corner then I road like heck all the way home and called the Sherriff. To this day I don't ride without my sidearm, normally in my hydro pack.


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## Yukon-RSX (Feb 6, 2007)

fireball_jones said:


> That said, the worst experience I've had riding on trails came in a group. I was in front, on way to some jumps that some local ATV guys had hacked out, picking up speed on the way to the jump when all the sudden I felt an incredible pain in my neck and forearms. Fell off the bike, landed on my back, and looked at my arms, they were covered in blood. My buddy stopped behind me, we looked around for a second, and figured out what had happened. Someone had strung fishing line across the trail. Luckily I had caught part of it with my bars ends, so it was a little stretched out before it hit my arms/neck.


Now you're lucky that didn't slice right through!


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## cifex (Sep 11, 2009)

davec113 said:


> Phucking Pheasants scare the crap outta me everytime!
> 
> I was reaching for a tree to rest on yesterday when one of them flew out and I jammed my finger into the tree I was reaching for. Bastard...


Sure you're not thinking of Grouse? Sounds like a heartbeat speeding up and then explodes and you see the bird fly away (sometimes).


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## misanthrope (Mar 30, 2009)

Joeshwa24 said:


> ...At that point he pulled a pistol from a holster on his hip and pointed it at me. We just stared at each other for about 3 seconds but it felt like 3 years. ... To this day I don't ride without my sidearm, normally in my hydro pack.


Okay, let me get this straight -- a guy confronts you with a pointed gun and you will feel compelled to unleash your hydro pack, root around for your gun and throw down on him? Let see, you lived through the first one, doubt you'll live through the second one...
And then there's this whole thing with you claiming to be a pastor and all -- would that be for a church attempting a revival of the Branch Davidian? What would Jesus do?


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## Mike Aswell (Sep 1, 2009)

My brother and I were riding some local trails we like. There is one section that you have to ride a dirt road that literally has one cabin and a cemetery on it to connect two sections of trail.

At the exact moment we are passing the cemetery, a minivan with four really old people comes past on the road and stops. They're all within an ace of death, not to be mean, just that old.

The old man driving proceeds to tell us that he owns the cabin and that it used to be a school house where he went to school and that he basically has spent his entire life on this road other than going to church and for groceries. He then says: "My nephew is buried in that cemetery," as he points to it. 

My brother, not knowing what else to say, replies, "Well, it's a nice cemetery." (And actually, it is, very scenic and remote). 

To this, the old man responds, "It used to be, before the vampires. Though we haven't seen them recently."

Now, this guy was old...he could have been slightly delirious. But I don't think he was BSing us to see if he could get a rise out of us. It was pretty strange.


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## ScottRPriester (Oct 2, 2008)

Jaybo said:


> I was riding along and I saw a Democrat in the woods. It scared the crap out of me until I realized how easy they are too outwit and relaxed.
> 
> Just kidding. I have seen bear and a cougar and gotten kind of skittish until a kid on a bike rode about five feet from a beer like he was going by a poodle.
> 
> Jaybo


Funny as hell, coming from a tried and true Democrat!


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## bobbotron (Nov 28, 2007)

Mike Aswell said:


> My brother and I were riding some local trails we like. There is one section that you have to ride a dirt road that literally has one cabin and a cemetery on it to connect two sections of trail.
> 
> At the exact moment we are passing the cemetery, a minivan with four really old people comes past on the road and stops. They're all within an ace of death, not to be mean, just that old.
> 
> ...


How strange!


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## Joeshwa24 (Sep 17, 2009)

misanthrope said:


> Okay, let me get this straight -- a guy confronts you with a pointed gun and you will feel compelled to unleash your hydro pack, root around for your gun and throw down on him? Let see, you lived through the first one, doubt you'll live through the second one...
> And then there's this whole thing with you claiming to be a pastor and all -- would that be for a church attempting a revival of the Branch Davidian? What would Jesus do?


Yep thats how I plan on it going down... WWJD... "and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one" - Jesus Christ Luke 22:3... and yes I am a pastor, church website is ccfalamo.org Im Pastor Josh the Youth Pastor...Sermons online that I have preached...http://www.ccfalamo.org/ccf 2009/a_v/jnichols.htm


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## HOOKEM (Mar 17, 2007)

*Bigfoot on My mind and Morning Ride.....*

Lately I've been preoccupied to the point of fascination with Bigfoot and any story related to the phenomenon. On my pre-dawn workout ride under sparse streeet lights, I heard something rustling and crashing in one of the front yards about 50 yards in front of me. The neighborhood backs up to a wooded area so there are deer in our yards all the time. This deer was crashing through someone's shrubs and making an awful racket. As I passed the house where I thought I heard the deer, I looked back over my right shoulder and there was something *big and dark* coming up behind me *very* fast and low. I jumped with adrenaline and squealed (a little bit) 
It was my own shadow from the streetlight sweeping up behind me as I passed it. 
Sometimes your imagination can get the best of you in the dark.


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## mrclortho (May 12, 2009)

On different ride, I was riding at dusk in Barker Reservoir in Houston on the Noble Rd trail. I heard a pack of coyotes start into either a gang fight or a gang kill, and they were close. I was hammering the pedals to get out of there when a clump of trees about 40 yards away started giving birth to crying K9's. They wern't intersted in me but I discovered the limits of my physicall endurance pretty quick.

Coyotes sound spooky as hell at dusk when you are alone in the woods.


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## mrclortho (May 12, 2009)

"Bayou Witch"

A couple of months ago, down in Houston, I was riding the Buffalo Bayou way out were not many ride. There are gators, snakes and what I have called the "Bayou Witch". I rounded a bend and saw a very old looking woman with waist long, straight white hair, an off-white Jesus looking robe, and brown leather sandles walking down the trail with a long wooden staff looking stick. I passed by her with a frendly "Hi" to which I did not even receive a look. It was as if I didn't exist to her and she was VERY old.

It wasn't for another mile before it dawned on me that I was at least two miles from anything that resembled civilization it it was about 98 degrees outside. It was way too hot for a woman of that age to be walking out there in the middle of the bayou and I was afraid that she may have alzheimers or something. 

I decided to turn around to have another look, and when I got back to the spot that I passed her, she had dissapeared. I felt wave after wave of goosebumps. There is muddly water on one side and very dense woods on the other. There were no side trails either and it would take some serious effort to navigate those swampy woods. Now where in the hell did she go and how did she go anwhere that fast at her age?


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

mrclortho said:


> "Bayou Witch"
> 
> I decided to turn around to have another look, and when I got back to the spot that I passed her, she had dissapeared. I felt wave after wave of goosebumps. There is muddly water on one side and very dense woods on the other. There were no side trails either and it would take some serious effort to navigate those swampy woods. Now where in the hell did she go and how did she go anwhere that fast at her age?


Good thing she was white and not in a black hoody with a scyth instead of a cane!

Over nearby there is a cemetary I use to work at (shortly) where people have seen a woman in white around sundown way in the back forty wafting across the grounds. I never saw her. but I have seen some spooky stuff but nothing on the trail.


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## 4mula1 (Oct 31, 2008)

Mr Magoo said:


> One night I found a couple of headless chickens miles from where chickens should be. Undamaged other than missing heads. I instantly feared some voodoo cult. Time to go home.


My brother and I have a joke about needing to make a sacrifice to the small engine gods to start anything my dad owns with a small engine. All we have to say is, "Get the chickens..." and the other starts laughing. The chickens might've been an offering by some trail maintainer trying to start his weed eater...


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## wv_bob (Sep 12, 2005)

Joeshwa24 said:


> To this day I don't ride without my sidearm, normally in my hydro pack.


If I was packing, no one would ever know.

IMO, you're setting out a heck of an example for the kids, Pastor.

Let's all hope that gun doesn't get you hurt some day.


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## JoshS (Jan 7, 2004)

I ride alone 95% of the time, but all the trials are in populated areas in houston. my biggest fear is getting hurt and not being able to call or walk out. 

I was in Tahoe about a month ago visting my uncle. I was riding the flume trail and i had ridden most of it i turned up tunnel creek road and headed up the tahoe rim trial. I was probably a mile and a half up the rim trial (10 miles from the parking lot) when i was climbing a hill when something in my back popped (felt like an explosion) and the debiliting pain stopped me dead in my tracks. at this point i was scared, I could barely walk. luckly most of my ride had been up hill. so i rested for a second and slowly started back down the rim trial. coasting most of the way. when i got the the intersection of the rim trial and tunnel creek road i laid down on a flat rock and rested for a bit. my back was killing me anytime i had to do some climbing. I was concerned because from marlette lake there is a steep climb back to the peak of the fire road that leads to the parking lot. I rode back and luckly the adrenaline kept me moving. I made it back to the parking lot and called my uncle to pick me up. that evening and half of the next day I could barley move. pulled my back really bad. 

also while riding in Tahoe, i know many of the trails by his house, but i went off and explored some new ones this time, and it was always an uneasy feeling as I was usually the only one out there and there are plenty of crevaces for animals to hide in along the way, plus when it starts getting into the evening i don't like being on those trails.


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## Joeshwa24 (Sep 17, 2009)

wv_bob said:


> If I was packing, no one would ever know.
> 
> IMO, you're setting out a heck of an example for the kids, Pastor.
> 
> Let's all hope that gun doesn't get you hurt some day.


First of all it's not like I walk around advertising that I carry a firearm, second a firearm is a tool yes it's a deadly tool but so are cars. I have been formally trained to use this tool and am licensed in 23 states to carry a firearm. Finally all my firearms are secured at all times. Chills out, I'm not asking you to carry one, I'm not even asking you to like that I do.


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## ZeroNine3 (May 18, 2009)

JoshS said:


> I ride alone 95% of the time, but all the trials are in populated areas in houston. my biggest fear is getting hurt and not being able to call or walk out.
> 
> I was in Tahoe about a month ago visting my uncle. I was riding the flume trail and i had ridden most of it i turned up tunnel creek road and headed up the tahoe rim trial. I was probably a mile and a half up the rim trial (10 miles from the parking lot) when i was climbing a hill when something in my back popped (felt like an explosion) and the debiliting pain stopped me dead in my tracks. at this point i was scared, I could barely walk. luckly most of my ride had been up hill. so i rested for a second and slowly started back down the rim trial. coasting most of the way. when i got the the intersection of the rim trial and tunnel creek road i laid down on a flat rock and rested for a bit. my back was killing me anytime i had to do some climbing. I was concerned because from marlette lake there is a steep climb back to the peak of the fire road that leads to the parking lot. I rode back and luckly the adrenaline kept me moving. I made it back to the parking lot and called my uncle to pick me up. that evening and half of the next day I could barley move. pulled my back really bad.
> 
> also while riding in Tahoe, i know many of the trails by his house, but i went off and explored some new ones this time, and it was always an uneasy feeling as I was usually the only one out there and there are plenty of crevaces for animals to hide in along the way, plus when it starts getting into the evening i don't like being on those trails.


I've went through that same section once... yeah, the TRT can get pretty lonely by yourself, especially coming off the flume which seems to always have people going through. haha... it's always a relief to see another mtbr.


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## insanitylevel9 (Sep 23, 2009)

not really any thing to due with mtb but at the school i go to the class of 07 or 08 was on a hiking trip on the 300 or what ever akers the skool has they were in 5th grade at the time (the school only goes till 9th grade)and they decided to make a new trail along the river and as they were going the found the human remains of some prostitute so the f.b.i or some thing is called in blah blah blah and they dig up the place to see if there was any thing else. and they find the like three bodies. but i went out there like 2 days (ago prank on a new kid) and the tape marking every place they found a bone is marked (the school has a farm so just imagine all the little flags) and it is the most creepy place you will ever go its dead silent.. the students still has to report to some one every time a bone is found then the other side of campus there is a car grave yard and most of the cars are shot up with like 55 caliber rounds then pushed off a cliff really creepy in the woods there 2


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## chas_martel (May 14, 2006)

sodak06 said:


> Ever heard a rabbit being attacked / ate by a fox?? Holy sh*t is that a freeky sound.


Yeah, I know what you mean. I was awaken at 3 am not too long ago when a rabbit woke
my sleeping dog up. She was right outside on the back porch outside my bed room door.

My dog got a hold of it and was shaking it to death. Rabbit was screaming for its life.

I had no idea rabbits made noises, loud noises.


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## tjkm (Jun 9, 2007)

Riding at daybreak in some semi-remote desert here in AZ one morning, I was heading east with the rising sun pretty much blinding me. I was just crusing along the fire road when I suddenly heard several close gun shots coming from the direction I was heading in.

Since I was looking into the rising sun, I could not see a darn thing. I thought for a split second to call out to the "hunters" to let me pass. The paranoid side of me quickly took over and I quietly turned around and hauled a$$ out of there. Was it hunters, or someone getting capped in the desert? (this had happened a few weeks earlier, not far from where I was riding).

I did not want to ride into a potentially bad deal, so I got out of there quietly and quickly! It probably was hunters, but you never know........


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## ORwoodsrider (Jul 15, 2009)

A month ago I was on MTBR reading about Mt. Galbraith, because we were going to ride it during the weekend. I'm kind of a weenie when it comes to wildlife, and read about the Washington mountain bikers that were getting stalked by mountain lions (you see where this is going?). So that weekend we were out there and I'll be damned if my fears didn't come true. It was just me and my riding buddy, and I was out front on a fire road (pipeline for the locals), and I see something laying on the middle of the trail like 50 feet in front of us. Not wanted to get carried away, I asked Dave "what the hell is that!?". Yep, it was a big cougar. Laying just like a house cat. It didn't seem to mind us, but we booked out of that area the opposite way. Every bunny and deer in the woods the rest of the day scared the hell out of me!


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

Joeshwa24 said:


> First of all it's not like I walk around advertising that I carry a firearm, second a firearm is a tool yes it's a deadly tool but so are cars. I have been formally trained to use this tool and am licensed in 23 states to carry a firearm. Finally all my firearms are secured at all times. Chills out, I'm not asking you to carry one, I'm not even asking you to like that I do.


X2.........God protects us, but he gave us a brain to use to help keep us safe....not to be a sitting duck victim.

Now back to all these cool scary stories! :thumbsup:



chas_martel said:


> Yeah, I know what you mean. I was awaken at 3 am not too long ago when a rabbit woke
> my sleeping dog up. She was right outside on the back porch outside my bed room door.
> 
> My dog got a hold of it and was shaking it to death. Rabbit was screaming for its life.
> ...


Yes amazing, rabbits can sound like somebody screaming for thier life! Scared the **** outta me first time I heard that too!


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## auto (Aug 27, 2009)

den9 said:


> does any1 pack heat while riding? i surprised no1 has mentioned it, when i turn 21 im definetly gonna get a gun for my pack, better to have it and not use it, then not have it and need it, with all these crazy stories im definetly carrying a knife and buying some pepper spray for now.


Recent thread about it on DORBA. Just like carrying an air pump.


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## retsin2000 (Jun 4, 2007)

One time I was riding in the woods and I came up on these guys who were arguing about religion and guns. More annoying than spooky I guess, but still made me want to high tail it out of there. Now if they had been arguing about which tire is the best for the front range... I mean just the thought of it sends shivers down my spine.


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## misanthrope (Mar 30, 2009)

Joeshwa24 said:


> I have been formally trained to use this tool and am licensed in 23 states to carry a firearm.


Read it and weep -- and you will if you have any sense of Christ floating around in that soul.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/08/gun.soccer.mom.dead/index.html

So maybe you wept -- at least for the children. I admit it's a little hard to get maudlin about a couple of idiot adults throwing down on each other -- I am the Misanthrope after all. I've heard the NRA-sponsored response to the Amish children massacre in Pennsylvania a few years ago (they should have been packing themselves), but I haven't yet heard their (your?) response to this tragedy...

And since you're found of bible verses, how about this one...

"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."; Book of Matthew, verse 26:52

(Bold prediction: Joeshwa24 will interpret this to mean -- put your sword (i.e. - bullet) into anybody you don't like or who looks sideways at you. As a Misanthrope I am required to dislike all humanity, but I particularly have it in for hypocritical religious types).


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

ok enough about the bible and guns already! back to tales fo terror please!


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## cifex (Sep 11, 2009)

I don't see anything particularly sad about that..... some wackjob and her husband dead. Kids have the chance to grow up away from wackjob influence. The universe has a way of fixing things.


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## Joeshwa24 (Sep 17, 2009)

misanthrope said:


> Read it and weep -- and you will if you have any sense of Christ floating around in that soul.
> 
> http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/08/gun.soccer.mom.dead/index.html
> 
> ...


"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." Matthew 10:34

I interpret Matthew 26:52 exactly as you do&#8230; but I don't LIVE by the sword.

So following your logic when you fall off your bike I guess it is the bikes fault just like it was that guns fault when soccer mom went nutsut::shocked::nono:

Ok so I am not going to post anything else about this in this thread. You can post whatever retort you want, but if you really want to keep this going we could do it by pm. I am not angry or hurt that you think what you think and your right I am a hypocrite, but everyone is in one way or another.
To the OP sorry didn't mean to start all this when I posted.


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## willnesse (Oct 9, 2009)

*Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper*

In the summer of 2002 I had just moved to Salt Lake City. This was the summer when the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart was making national news (young girl from prominent family). Anyway, I was exploring the trails above the city (dry creek trail) when a guy is walking down the trail with a giant beard, wearing a monk-like burlap cassock, balancing a stick over his shoulder that carried a load of something from a tied sheet on the end, just like Huck Finn. Eyebrows raised in puzzlement, I pedalled on, and he smiled and gave me a very affirmative "hello."

Meanwhile, over the next year, there was no word on the Smart case and everyone feared the worst. The prime suspect they had in custody died mysteriously in jail, and the topic faded from awareness. However, the next Spring she was rescued miraculously. It turned out she was kidnapped by a psycho-cult polygamist couple, the man had a giant beard and wore a cassock. Once I saw the picture I recognized the guy from the trail immediately. It turned out, that after the couple kidnapped her, they took her up a side canyon of Dry Creek canyon to initially hide out. He must have encountered me when he was coming down for supplies or something...

The sad part was the weird bearded cult guy was a person of interest for the police, but because they were so focused on the wrong guy, the never bothered to release descriptions of the other possible suspects. If they had, I would have called the police right quick, cuz that guy was unmistakable, and the case would have been solved in two weeks, not almost a year!

-will


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## lumber825 (Sep 4, 2009)

Ok we don't have cougars in Maryland so this isn't as good as some. I was riding this morning when something up ahead caught my eye. It was a good sized Hedge Hog. I thought he would hear me are turn but the little bastard started coming down the trail right at me.I'm thinking are they viscous like badgers, is he rabid, is he going to try to bite me. Finally he veered off the trail and sat there looking at me. 
Like I said not as good as a cougar or bear story but still a few seconds of oh %&^$.


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## Dwight Moody (Jan 10, 2004)

rutkiller said:


> .. because there is nothing but single track around....so how did a car get into the middle of the woods, with nothing but singletrack?


There used to be roads and fields there. Out by Boston (in Concord, MA if I remember correctly) there's some single track with a old historical marker on it that says "Through these fields marched the patriots yaddda yadda to the battle of Lexington and Concord." The marker is surrounded by trees. Agriculture died on the East Coast and so trees have made a big comeback.

Now my neighbors from back in Grafton NY have a 4x4 carcass stranded in a stream crossing right by our property line. It just appeared a couple years ago. Now it's their shooting car.


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## Dwight Moody (Jan 10, 2004)

brendanbkr said:


> this is entertaining i think i have spent an hour reading these, crap i have no life
> so yeah i don't have any trail stories but one time this was about last January and i live in New HAmpshire. So my dad came home and my dog got out and just went and ran around the neighborhood and come back like he always did but this time he came back with a frozen half eaten deer head and just dropped it on the kitchen floor, it was the nastiest thing i have ever seen. I am scaed of meeting some hillbilly with a shotgun.


My neighbors once dumped the remains of a slaughtered steer in the woods across the street from my house. It was January, so my dogs were bringing cow entrails, large bones, and finally the head (they were mid-sized dogs, that must have been tough work for them) home for like a month and a half.

They probably remembered that as the best winter of their lives.


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## eric (Jan 22, 2004)

lumber825 said:


> Ok we don't have cougars in Maryland so this isn't as good as some. I was riding this morning when something up ahead caught my eye. It was a good sized Hedge Hog.


One of those punks almost took me out. Just sitting there being all prickly, right in the middle of the road. :skep:

I moved from the city to the woods about a year and a half ago. Working hours mean I do most of my riding in the evening (which is a bonus since the trails are devoid of people then), and I've come across these guys on a number of occasions:










The ones here in western Europe get up to 400-500 lbs and over 3' shoulder height. and are pretty quick when they've decided you're a threat to thier piglets. I've learned to turn the other way ASAP.


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## chas_martel (May 14, 2006)

eric said:


> One of those punks almost took me out. Just sitting there being all prickly, right in the middle of the road. :skep:
> 
> I moved from the city to the woods about a year and a half ago. Working hours mean I do most of my riding in the evening (which is a bonus since the trails are devoid of people then), and I've come across these guys on a number of occasions:
> 
> ...


In Texas it is shoot on site when you see those. They cause much property damage, Texas is literally infested with wild hogs. Virtually all property owners in these parts will let you hunt them 24/7 using any means you want; guns, knives, bare hands, etc.


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## eric (Jan 22, 2004)

Wow. In '08 we had a population explosion locally. I haven't seen a single hog this summer, so it may be they've let the three people in the country with a hunting license have a go at culling some.


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## Lawson Raider (Jul 24, 2006)

chas_martel said:


> In Texas it is shoot on site when you see those. They cause much property damage, Texas is literally infested with wild hogs. Virtually all property owners in these parts will let you hunt them 24/7 using any means you want; guns, knives, bare hands, etc.


In Missouri, it's shoot on sight as well for feral hogs. I haven't seen one in all my years of deer hunting but if I come across one, I'll have a round with its name on it. I am up for bringing home the bacon!


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## Cujo (Jun 10, 2004)

Almost running over a 14' gator doesn't give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. The trail that the dinosaur hangs around is named after the gator...Big Mamma. He was hanging out at the bottom of a small but steep drop right in the middle of the trail. If I hadn't looked in advance I would have bombed right down on top of that sucker. It's the biggest gator I've ever seen in my life on TV, a zoo, you name it. Laying flat on it's stomach it's knee high.


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## icecreamjay (Apr 13, 2004)

One December day my bud and I were riding at Otis AFB on Cape Cod and we were heading up a dirt lane before hitting the singletrack and came upon a bloody ribcage and spine. I can only assume it was from a deer, possible dragged there by Coyotes? Now we thought that this was the final day before rifle season (deer) started, but it was actually day one of hunting season. Well we get about a mile into our ride and we encounter an old guy with a gun. He was cool, explained to us that this was indeed day one of hunting season and asked us if we'd seen any deer. We replied no, at which point a deer started running about 30-40 yards to our right, which was in between us and the highway. Well this guy spins around and unloads at this deer, firing right towards the road. So a little freaked out, we continue riding. About 10 minutes later we encounter 2 dudes with mullets and chaps on and we promptly take another trail to get away from these two, but the trail twisted around and we came bombing around a corner to see one of these dudes aiming his rifle at us. Well that was strike three and we beelined for the road. Point taken. I fear yahoo hunters more than anything else we have in the woods here.


Story two. Riding solo and I find a new trail. Cool, I think and I follow it for about a tenth of a mile and it just stops. So I'm standing there and looking around to see if I missed something when I feel a pinch on my ankle. I immediately thought ant and took a couple steps to the side and looked down. There were several yellowjackets on my ankles and I heard mad buzzing around me. I screamed and ran as fast as I could, my foot actually came out of my shoe, with my shoe still attached to the pedal. So I'm running away waving my hands wildly, screaming, with one shoe on. Then I had to go back and get my bike and I got stung again. Luckily I'm not allergic, and wasn't very far into the woods. I did start having a reaction later and went to the hospital. Let me tell you, quickest way thru the ER is beesting. I walked calmly in and told em I got stung and they started yelling "BEESTING" and rushed me in immediately. Took probably about a dozen stings, it sucked, but if I was badly allergic I could be dead.


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## BuickGN (Aug 25, 2008)

misanthrope said:


> Read it and weep -- and you will if you have any sense of Christ floating around in that soul.
> 
> http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/08/gun.soccer.mom.dead/index.html
> 
> ...


Dude, you're really out there. With your issues I'm glad you don't carry.

When I'm alone sometimes I carry and sometimes I don't. When I'm with my girlfriend I'm packing 100% of the time. In the hills around here, there are many tweakers that would think nothing of killing for the fun or it or for your bike. I'm a firm believer but no reason to be a sitting duck especially when it's not just me I need to protect. I've also trained in MMA here and there for a few years but out in the hills or woods chances are it's not going to come down to a fist fight.

Back to the topic, me and a buddy were riding a very long, very downhill fireroad. Speeds of 50mph were easily attainable but we were taking it easy and I was experimenting with dragging my brakes to see at what point they would fail. Throughout the first few miles I thought I could hear crackling in the woods, even thought about pulling out the you know what but I didn't want to seem paranoid or look like a crazy person. Finally got a glimpse of a cat. I yelled go, my friend followed without asking why, later he said the look on my face said it all. I was pretty new at mountain biking, running probably wasn't the best thing but we had a good 15 miles of downhill. First time I've gone fast enough to hit my maximum pedal speed in top gear. All I was thinking about was trying to remember to keep the corners somewhat conservative because if I crashed I was dead in one of two ways.

In retrospect I think it was a cat, I remember it as being huge but I was told there are no large cats in that area. Probably a bobcat but I didn't want to find out. I remember it as being a mountain lion. Funny how fear can distort things.

Just recently as I was coming down the last section of dirt road I noticed a car acting very suspicious. They parked and then turned around and moved behind a small hill. Very beat up looking. I was scared and started to go on about my business but something told me to ride past at a distance. There were 3 guys and one passed out blonde chick. This was around 2PM. I called the cops and hung out in the area until they came. All 3 got arrested and the girl was taken to the hospital.


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## MTBKauai (Mar 20, 2004)

Mindless Killers.


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## m0ngy (Dec 22, 2005)

About ten years ago I was riding in a local national park and got busted by the rangers (ranger danger). It's illegal to ride in national parks here, guess they'd prefer young people getting high and driving fast cars than keeping fit in the wilds. Anyway, they grilled me for ages and I just kept giving 'em false names and details, seemed like a couple of hours. By the time they'd finished it was getting quite dark, and I had to get home. I descended this knarley trail I'd only ever climbed before. Half way down there's a big, steep right-hand chute followed by a series of (deceptively) low, fast doubles.

It was a virtually pitch black night and I ate it on the third set. Like, hard, really f&%ken hard. Remember, this is like '98, and the lowers of my '97 Judy SL's just snapped, sending me straight over the handle bars. Luckily for me, I managed to get stuck under the bike as I skidded along the hard, stoney, clay, rutted-out track for about ten or fifteen metres. My left elbow was ground-off to the bone and a bar end had penetrated my abdomen. 

So, I'm alone in the park on a fire trail halfway down the mountain, it's night time, and about five k's from the road. Dazed and confused, I started screaming for a bit, yelling-out for help (maybe a minute) 'till I realised I was totally alone in the dark. By this time the adrenaline had kicked-in and I knew my only option was to jump back on the bike and make my way down in the dark, slowly but surely, with one good arm and a nice round hole on the right side of my gut. The fork lowers had totally seperated into two but they were still ridable, though super flexy. 

Anyway, I rode all the way from the national park to the local hospital, some 20 km's. By the time I got there the adrenaline had long since worn off, I just kept pumping those legs and wailing in agony every time I had to stop at a traffic light. At the hospital the whole emergency team lept on me and gave me a big shot of morphine. I had double reconstructive micro surgery on my left arm, and keyhole surgery (I already had the hole) on my abdomen.

I spent a week in hospital and was back on my Stumpy within the fortnight, doing the same loop with one arm. No f&%king way was I going to let the mountain beat me, or diminish my love of riding for a moment. The surgery had effectively stiffened the action of my left arm significantly. This virtually killed my promising boxing career, so I turned to kickboxing/muay thai. Had my first kickboxing fight 4 months later, winning convincingly, after being written-off by the boxing community as an injured has-been. 

It's not the dog in the fight, it's the fight in the dog. :thumbsup:


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## UpRocks (Jun 24, 2004)

m0ngy said:


> ...doing the same loop with one arm. No f&%king way was I going to let the mountain beat me...


Or those pesky laws either...


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## m0ngy (Dec 22, 2005)

UpRocks said:


> Or those pesky laws either...


Word!


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## bagz007 (Feb 3, 2004)

Up north here in Ontario we have alot of snow-mobile trail networks to get around in the winter time. In the summer, they make for endless riding, and sometimes you'll run into singletrack paths branching off from the main snowmobile trails. 

I was about 2 hrs north of Subury in a remote cabin I had rented with three of my buddies for a boys-only fishing trip getaway. I was the only one in the group who was into riding, so brought my bike with me after hearing about the endless miles of trails. 

So on our second day there I decided to venture out and find some nice singletrack off the main trail. After around 8 miles on the main trail deep into the woods 
I found some nice looking singletrack. 

So like any of us would have, I turned into it. About another 2 miles down the singletrack I saw something that I will never forget: there was a small man-made wooden hut and right next to it were 2 deer tied to a tree hanging upside-down. There was blood still dripping from the split open carcusses, the antlers were cut off and closer to the hut, and the innerds were set in a pile a few meters away. A creeping chill ran down my back, and it felt as all my senses were heightened. A few seconds later reality clicked in, I knew it was some deer hunters outpost, but it still scared the crap out of me. The hunters were not there at the time, but I just turned around and gunned it back the other way. 

I wish I had a camera to really show how freaky and gorey it was. Reminded me of the Blair Witch Project for some reason. Nonetheless, I never rode that part of the trail again during the trip.


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## Hang 21 (Dec 23, 2007)

Natedogz said:


> Yes amazing, rabbits can sound like somebody screaming for thier life! Scared the **** outta me first time I heard that too!


Not a biking-related story, but I was once a caretaker at an old clubhouse/dance hall on the north shore of Long Island. There was a small apartment upstairs that I lived alone in. Every once in a while, during the dead of night, I'd hear this blood-curdling screaming, which sounded like a little girl, coming from under the wooden floor out in the hall and echoing inside the building. For anyone less rational than myself, they might have freaked right out and moved. I decided to investigate it one time though, crawled under the floor and found a couple racoons were living there. Didn't know they could make a sound like that!


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## Cujo (Jun 10, 2004)

racergurl said:


> Great stories! After reading all of them, I must say that I'm going to chicken out of my solo trail ride today. Weather sucks anyway.
> 
> The only really scary encounter I've had while biking was on my regular road route one afternoon.
> Was flying down the road in my own little world, not really paying attention to much around me. All of a sudden I feel like something is watching me and I look up to find two monolithic Rotties sizing me up.
> ...


My name's Cujo and I wouldn't attack you. I'm happily married too, so I wouldn't even hump on your leg.


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## Cujo (Jun 10, 2004)

SlowSSer said:


> scary one involving a family memeber:
> 
> earlier this year my dad was out riding as he normally does (did) 2x a week- he rides from his house that's in a remote area surrounded by reserve land and was in great shape for a 65 year old guy who was looking forward to doing one of our more extreme local MTB events next spring (40+ miles, 8,000 total elevation gain).
> 
> ...


Here in Florida I ran over a huge Water Mocassin crossing the trail. I was coming down a small but steep hill with a curve in it, and as I rounded the curve, there he was crossing the trail. I was going too fast to stop and barely had time to clench my butt cheeks. Fortunately I surprised him and was going too fast for him to strike me. Had another one just off the side of the trail coil up and open it's mouth showing the cottony inside as I wizzed past him on a slight downhill.


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## Cujo (Jun 10, 2004)

misanthrope said:


> Read it and weep -- and you will if you have any sense of Christ floating around in that soul.
> 
> http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/08/gun.soccer.mom.dead/index.html
> 
> ...


Don't ruin this thread with your rant. Back to the good stuff please.:nono:


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## Cujo (Jun 10, 2004)

misanthrope said:


> Read it and weep -- and you will if you have any sense of Christ floating around in that soul.
> 
> http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/08/gun.soccer.mom.dead/index.html
> 
> ...


Don't ruin this thread with your unsolicited rant.:nono: Back to the good stuff please.


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## lonegunman88240 (Jul 31, 2009)

deer hunters outpost? or a hillbilly homestead like in the movie wrong turn?


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## m-wilhelm (Feb 5, 2005)

Several years ago I'm night riding with 2 friends at Brandywine in DE. We usually had a few drinks before riding and I was young and dumb. I was in front of the other guys with a nice gap I come down a hill with a creek crossing. After the creek you make a right turn into a big field. After I turn I see a black guy carrying a shotgun and he tells me I scared him. My friends showed up and this guys said he was hunting raccoons or something. We kept riding and had no issues, I probably should have been more scared but I had a couple of drinks in me and was quite young.


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## dac89 (Oct 7, 2009)

*crazy people...*

About a month ago, I was riding back from the trailhead on a bike path that is along a freeway. It's about 7 miles long, high trees/fences on both sides, covered in gang tags, no street lamps and just my dinky little headlamp. And there I am with a flat.

I start to look for the thorn or whatever, and I see something green glowing to my right about 15 yards away. I look up and it's a nasty dog standing next to a hobo, just looking at me, not saying anything. I figured I'd just pump it up and get the heck out of there, fix the dang flat when I get to a real street. It was fun rolling the rest of the way on a flat tire.


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## gravitylover (Sep 1, 2009)

Summer and fall '03 I had my best solo encounters.

A few minutes before sunset, 95 degrees and no wind. I crested a reasonably long climb and stop for a rest. Not 30 seconds later the crunching of branches starts and I'm like, oh sh*t is it a cat? A good sized black bear walks out into the trail and stops when it sees me, it turns and stares then starts moving towards me. I started talking to it and it stopped. At that point the sun was dropping just below the hilltop and a slight breeze came up from behind me. Remember I had just finished a climb, the thing wrinkled it's nose and shook its head then took off back the way it came. I wasn't really scared and I don't think it had any aggressive intentions but what goes through your head is "Damn, I'm 2 miles from the nearest road and the chances that nobody will be back here before sometime tomorrow are pretty good. I hope nothing goes wrong right now." I chuckled when I realized that it took off cuz I stunk.

A few months later at 9:00 pm I'm moving along at a pretty good clip and thought I saw a laser dot on the trees next to me but figured it was just a reflection from my lights. There were no cars in the lot when I started riding and who hunts at night anyway (right?) so I forgot all about it. About a half hour later I'm on the way out and there's the spot again but this time it's moving across my bike and POP! Next thing I know I'm flying into the woods. Do the regular check for broken bits routine, get up and grab the bike to hightail it out. I was pissed some wanna be ******* was poaching with a laser scope and took a potshot at me so I didn't immediately see the damage. As I tried to pedal nothing was working so I look down and my rear hub had been blown to pieces, there were cassette bits scattered all over. Woof, a split second earlier and that would've been my foot! When I got to the parking lot there was a pickup with two bucks under a tarp. When I left the parking lot the pickup was still there but had three flats


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## m3rb (Mar 6, 2007)

mrclortho said:


> "Bayou Witch"
> 
> A couple of months ago, down in Houston, I was riding the Buffalo Bayou way out were not many ride. There are gators, snakes and what I have called the "Bayou Witch". I rounded a bend and saw a very old looking woman with waist long, straight white hair, an off-white Jesus looking robe, and brown leather sandles walking down the trail with a long wooden staff looking stick. I passed by her with a frendly "Hi" to which I did not even receive a look. It was as if I didn't exist to her and she was VERY old.
> 
> ...


You just didn't notice her 29er singlespeed in the bushes.


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## goingblankagain (Jun 22, 2009)

bagz007 said:


> I was about 2 hrs north of Subury in a remote cabin I had rented with three of my buddies for a boys-only fishing trip getaway. I was the only one in the group who was into riding, so brought my bike with me after hearing about the endless miles of trails.


I had a girlfriend whose parents lived in a tiny town just south of Sudbury so we would drive 13 hrs to see them. I'm not exactly a city slicker but I always felt the land around that part of Ontario to be fairly creepy and ancient. I had never seen bears or wolves (coulda been wrong about that, it was 3am and I was going 85mph) until I started traveling up there. I always wanted to spend a summer on a lake up there drinking beers and riding bikes. :thumbsup:


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## Yuengling (Aug 1, 2006)

Last weekend my brother and I are in a 130 mile, 24 hour adventure race that started at midnight. Finish the hellish nighttime 30 mile navigation MTB leg while 3 inches of rain fell, the 20 mile trek leg, and onto the 63 mile rail trail leg (was actually supposed to be 8 miles whitewater rafting, 10 miles trekking, and 45 miles rail trail but the rafting was cancelled due to the rain so it turned into a 63 mile rail trail ride).

Anyhow, we are 60 miles into the ride nearing downtown Pittsburgh when a ford expedition comes at us on the rail trail doing 45mph and almost takes us out. We turn our taillights off and continue on for 1.5 miles when they come back from behind us so we ditch in the weeds towards the river (I should note that there is nowhere to go.......left is up a mountain, right is river, and forward/back railtrail). They slow down where we ditched but continue on. So, we turn all our lights off and ride another .25 miles to a bend in the trail and see someone with a flashlight waiting for us. At this point we got scared, called the cops and got a dispatcher that was a moron who was asking irrelevant questions. Started heading the other direction walking with no lights and got ~200 yards when we saw someone coming towards us from the other direction with a flashlight. Totally felt like an ambush.

At this point we ditched the bikes in the weeds and hit the rivers edge, got a township cop on the phone and waited ~15 minutes for them to show up.....all the while seeing flashlights moving about.

Scary as hell.....I thought we were going to die.


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## Otto MCR (Oct 10, 2009)

Nothing too scary here. Just while riding at the local jumps I always feel like I'm being watched. I go just before dark as to avoid the snotty BMX kids who think you shouldn't be there just because you ride a MTB. The other day I found a big sheet of clear plastic. I was expecting to find a body rolled up in there or something but thankfully, it was nothing.

Last week while I was there with my MTB friends we heard a twig snap and something like a growl. Needless to say, we booked it for the Tim Hortons that was close by.


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## davidarnott (Feb 28, 2007)

*There Is A Ghost In One Of These Pictures*

of my trip to the moccasin cemetary


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## ejasonm (Jun 2, 2006)

I ride alone most of the time also. I travel the country for work and get to ride many cool places. Quite a few times i have been surprised by animals and freaked out. Mostly i am worried about getting hurt and not getting out. Especially since i don't live where i am riding.
I have seen bear twice at Bent Creek below Asheville, and in Tenn. Deer on the trail as i'm rounding a corner. Another time i was coming down a trail and a mother and two cubs were just off the tide of the trial. I slammed on the brakes and went one way why they took off the other. Once at the Ocoee WW center East of Chattanooga i chased one on the trail. I'm just glad she kept moving. One time i swear i saw the back end of a cougar, and that scared me the most. Talk about a rush. Riding at night around Zion all i could see were the reflection of eyes from the side of the road. That was a bit weird. Rattlesnake on the side of the trail.


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## jscusmcvet (Sep 7, 2009)

Great thread.

I think when in the woods, or anywhere, you have to listen to your instincts. In Uwharrie National Forest here in NC there are some great trails that I ride regularly. One of the easier ones is about an hour long loop and when I go out that way for work I'll hit it before leaving the area. The Uwharrie Mountains are the oldest mountains in North America. As the IMBA is working on a Ride Center there, they have found that nearly any trail you would like to lay out passes through an archeologic sensitive area. I thnk some of that history is still "alive".

The Supertree loop is not a difficult ride. The ride "up" is a forest service road, then it turns into the woods on an old double track, eventually leading to single track. Some very beautiful scenery. Once you pass through the powerline opening you head into a section of the trail that is a bit darker, a bit greener and the trees grow over the trail, like a tunnel.

It never fails, in the dozens of times I have ridden this trail. In this section I get that feeling... the creeps, the hair up on the back of your neck, whatever it is that we are all describing. My head stays on a swivel and when I pass a certain turn, the feeling goes away.... every time.

I do ride armed, I do ride with a very well stocked camel back, I am fairly capable at defending myself... and all that does not comfort me in the slightest when going through this particular section. Feels supernatural.


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## jcbman07 (Jul 16, 2009)

I just got back on MTBR after a long hiatus, I had to get a new login since my registered email was long gone.

I have a couple tales to tell, forgive me if they go too long.

Back in the mid 90s me and my wife went for a late fall day trip in the cranberry wilderness area in WV, and since I had been there once before, I decided to go without a map. After just a couple miles, I started to get disoriented, and had that strange feeling that I was going the wrong way and not recognizing any landmarks. It seemed that every time I thought I was going to figure it out, I would come out in another wrong spot. I never told my wife, but she could tell something was wrong. About the time I was freaking out and decided to back track, (which I hate) the flats started coming. I had 2 within a mile and she had one. As I was fixing them, I notice that the sky has turned a ominous grey and a constant wind is blowing. Just to set the mood. At this time, I know it is time to admit defeat and head back, but I still had a little ego left. I keep going, trying to convince myself my internal compass will get me going the right way. We stop and take a break on a ridge, and for the first time I tell my wife we are lost. Also while we are standing there, the wind stops blowing and the woods are silent for the first time in at least a hour. This creeps us both out for some reason, if you have experienced it you know what I am talking about. I knew how wild this area was, and had this intense feeling of being totally alone. I told her I was sure there was a fireroad at the bottom of the hill that led back to the car, but I wasn't doing as good a job of convincing myself of that and I am starting to crack. What I did know was we barely had time to back track and get out of there before dark, but I wasn't so sure I could've made it back without getting lost again. This is no place to be after dark with no lights, matches or protection from things that go bump in the night. As we start down the ridge it is a long smooth trail that I pick up some pretty good speed on. About 3/4 of the way down, I get my 3rd flat, and my front tire rolls off the rim, throwing me over the handlebars. I am a big guy, and I hit head first, instantly going out. By the time my wife catches up, I am lying face first in the dirt, unconscious. I don't know if it was her screams or what, but I came to and set up, trying to shake the cobwebs and remember where I am. This is the part that still to this day freaks me out. As I am sitting there, I hear this weird ringing sound, that I think is coming from way out in the woods. My wife tells me that it is in my head due to the hit, but I can not be convinced otherwise. It is so loud and encompassing, that in my panicked state, I believe there must be aliens or some apocalyptic episode happening!! With my head still reeling from the hit, I freak and decide to run for it!! as I try to stand and bolt, I start to pass out again, and the only thing that stopped me was her grabbing me by my camelback and shouting at me that I am not going to leave her in the woods alone and lost!! ( I am sure she also was worried about me. LOL) Anyway, after a couple minutes, the ringing is gone and I am calming back down. I now know there is no chance of going back, because my front wheel is trashed. After the crash I am so exhausted and my mind is so messed up, that I really gave up and just didn't care. I decided since we are now stuck with walking, to keep going the way we were and pray for it to come out somewhere. After seeing the way I had acted, my wife is now in a state of total panic. We go less than ¾ mile from where I crashed and we hit a gravel access road!! I was never so happy to see that in all my life! It is amazing how you can go from the worst feeling of dread to the highest sense of relief so fast. We were less than a mile from the car.

I got really embarrassed about how freaked out I was, but still to this day I have never told my wife how helplessly lost I felt that day out there and the terror that sound caused me. Panic is a crazy drug!


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## jcbman07 (Jul 16, 2009)

Bears!

I was riding by myself once in KSF and coming down the long well road that runs from Middle Ridge to the shooting range. it was right at dusk and I am bombing along when I hear what sounds like a runaway train rolling down the mountain, crashing and cracking right above me. I come to a stop and see a black bear charging right for me at top speed. It happened so fast I didn't have time to think, and I set there watching this bear coming to attack me. Instead he jumped off the hillside and across the trail less than 20 feet in front of me. I guess some one startled him up on the ridge and I doubt he ever saw me as he ran across the trail and over the mountain. I got out of there in a hurry though!!


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## jcbman07 (Jul 16, 2009)

Bears part II

My wife worked every other weekend when our kids were small, so I used the weekends she worked to explore the trails that no bikes were allowed on in Kanawha State Forest, WV. My twin sons were about 4-5 at the time, but were great hikers and loved the woods.

One early spring morning in 2005 we hiked Overlook Rock trail which is on the West ridge of the forest. This is on the side of the park that doesn't see a lot of people. This was pretty dumb of me, but seemed like a good thing to do at the time. We took our time and made it all the way up to the overlook. Just when I am ready to head back down, I hear what I presume to be wildcats SCREAMING over the hill right where we had to go. If you have ever heard this, it will definitely make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. This scares my boys a little, so I decide to hike on up the flats above the overlook to give them time to leave. We are tooling along enjoying a beautiful day when I hear what sounds like a tree fall about 100 yards in front of us. Thinking nothing of it, I tell the boys what it was ( they think I am Daniel Boone and hang on every word I say) and keep going. We make it about 50 more yards and I hear the same sound again, same place. This concerns me a little, so I tell the boys to take a break on a log and be quiet. Because it is early spring, there are no leaves so visibility is quite good. After scanning the woods for a couple seconds I see what was causing the noises. It is a decent size black bear that is ripping apart stumps looking for food. He has his head buried in a stump and doesn't see us. About this time one of my sons ask for a drink from my camelbak, loud enough that the bear hears him. He does the same thing I was doing, scanning the woods when he sees me and gives a startled look that would've been funny in different circumstances. After glaring at me for a while, one of my sons gets up from the log and I guess this upset the bear, because he took about 4 fast steps strait for us. This set me in instant protection mode, except for one thing, all I had was a pocket knife and a walking stick. Not real good tools to go hand to hand with a bear. Now keep in mind, my wife is working a 12 hour shift and no one knows where we are at. As I am trying to figure out what I am going to do with my kids, the bear stands up on his hind legs, and starts puffing air through his jaws, kinda like a light bark from a dog. I know this is a aggressive behavior, and my only thought is to get my kids as far away as possible. I tell them to start walking back down the trail right away, and I guess they could hear it in my voice how serious I was, because instead of the usual whining about wanting to keep going they high tail it out of there. I walk backwards down the trail, never taking my eyes of the bear who is now back down on all fours just standing there staring. After some distance, I grabbed my boys by the hand and half drug them back off the hill, constantly looking back. Needless to say, we were no longer concerned about the wildcats!! We made it back to the car in a record time for a 35 year old fat guy dragging 4 year old twins. 

This opened my eyes to two things, First, I now never go hiking in isolated areas without a firearm. And even though I don't believe I was in real danger, (although for a couple seconds I did) l wondered what would my kids do If something happened to me? The thought of those little guys out there all alone terrified me. They were barely old enough to make it up the trail, much less make it out by themselves. Although we continued to hike the rest of that summer, I was armed and someone always knew where I was going and when to expect me back. 

Although it probably doesn't sound like it, those were great times to bond with my boys and hopefully instill a love of nature in them. In typical male bravado, they couldn't wait to tell mommy about the "Grizzly" they saw and still to this day love to tell that story, even though they never actually saw the bear!


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## insanitylevel9 (Sep 23, 2009)

jcbman07 said:


> I just got back on MTBR after a long hiatus, I had to get a new login since my registered email was long gone.
> 
> I have a couple tales to tell, forgive me if they go too long.
> 
> ...


that's why i always got a lighter or matches a multi tool and my cell phone as much as i hate bringing my phone with me i have to


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## grivooga (Mar 14, 2009)

Cujo said:


> Almost running over a 14' gator doesn't give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. The trail that the dinosaur hangs around is named after the gator...Big Mamma. He was hanging out at the bottom of a small but steep drop right in the middle of the trail. If I hadn't looked in advance I would have bombed right down on top of that sucker. It's the biggest gator I've ever seen in my life on TV, a zoo, you name it. Laying flat on it's stomach it's knee high.


[I'm working from the assumption that you're talking about Carter Rd (or whatever they're calling it now, Loyde Harper?) out in Lakeland, FL.]

So you met Big Mamma herself. I've never seen her on dry land but I've seen her out in the water.
The gators at Carter never scared me. They're pretty skittish and I'd think they'd turn tail and book it should someone go over the edge into the water.

Now the chimichurri sauce at Alafia is kind of scary. What exactly is hidden under all that green slime?


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## froth14 (Feb 23, 2005)

A cell is only good if you have reception...guaranteed not to have reception in Cranberry.


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## LaLD (May 18, 2007)

i hadn't had one of the "creepy" experiences until last night. we were doing a group night ride at our local park, i was second to last, being quite a bit slower than everyone else i was a pretty good ways behind. i had just come around an up-hill left hand switch back that goes into a small dip when my handlebar light caught something bright and white, when i looked at it directly with my helmet light (which isn't quite as bright as my handlebar light) i saw a critter with a dogs legs and a mans upper body, which scared the hell out of me, you don't see that everyday after all. once i had stopped, after nearly jumping off the trail, which would have been funny as hell i'm sure due to the fact i was still clipped in, i realized what i was seeing was a man holding his dog up just under the dogs front legs. in fact this was a guy i had ridden with (couldn't remember his name) and he had been out night running in the woods and had just pulled his dog off the trail and out of our way and was holding the dog back so he wouldn't get in front of us. still scared me though. also, out of the 4 guys in front of me, only 2 others saw him.


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## Wild Wassa (Jun 4, 2009)

I like to spend time in the bush nearly always alone. 

When the Bicentennial National Trail was first opened I was on the New South Wales/Queensland border near Mounts Lindsay, Ernst and Barney and I was heading away from Mount Lindsay. I can even remember thinking at the time that this place is remote. If ever help was needed there would be no one. I stopped because I could see a large snake on the track ... it was either a Taipan or an Inland Taipan. These are not nice snakes, both will strike from a metre above the ground and kill you within minutes if you are bitten on the body, rather than struck on a limb that you can apply a pressure bandage to and die after an hour. 

Just as I stopped, a guy who was immaculately dressed is a suit, stepped out of the rainforest beside me and said, "Be careful there are snakes about." Then he walked back into the rainforest without saying another word. The entire encounter lasted about 5-6 seconds.This isn't a place where there are people, no side roads, or nowhere to park a vehicle and no holdings. This encounter was so surrealistic, I still wonder if it actually happened or if I had gone 'Troppo' from the heat and remote area madness. 

A couple of years ago I went to Rocky Creek in the Colo Wilderness on the western edge of the Blue Mountains. I rode 30 kilometres in from the Wolgan Valley to the confluence of the Colo River and Rocky Creek and then decided to drive around to Lithgow and do this beautiful wet slit canyon from the top as well, I was getting a bit concerned by the number of Black Snakes I was seeing on the Colo and thought being closer to Lithgow might be a safer bet. 

I stopped at several places on the way and I'd left the car door open each time, I had stopped to check out the forests and take photos. When I got back to the car after the ride and hike into the canyon, I'd been driving back to Lithgow for about 20 minutes and there was a Tiger Snake in the car on the passenger floor looking at me. I stopped the car and rang 000, and the cop said, "You are not far from the Forestry HQ its only about 3 kilometres, make your way there and a Ranger will come and remove the snake from your car." I said to the cop, I'm in the car, the snake is in the car, only a foot from my leg, it is staring at me, its neck has flattened out, it looks pissed-off, I'm not moving an inch". 

For the next 20 minutes I played 'statues' until the Rural Fire Service turned up. The first fire fighter got off the appliance and his Captain shouted at him, "You are not to approach the car without your gloves, get back in the truck." Very reassuring hey?

Then the crew got out of their vehicle and walked off into the forest, they looked like the were all going for a leak ... but they each grabbed a long stick. The Captain indicated to me to wind the window up. Then the fire fighters walked up to the car and for the next 30 seconds hit the car with sticks ... the racket was scary not just because of the snake but because it was my wife's car. Then one of the fire fighters opened the passenger side door and the snake immediately left the car. Instant relief.

Truly an amazing thing to have experienced. I will be forever thankful that the guys from the RFS knew exactly what to do, although it didn't feel like it when I was told to wind the window up. I see now that closing that exit stopped the snake from going over me and possibly biting me on the way out. Tiger Snakes are true tigers because they are aggressive and can strike repeatedly.

As far as my wife's car was concerned after its beating, it had only one dent in it. Wins all round. 

Warren.


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## sanjuro (Sep 29, 2004)

The scariest thing I've seen at night was a freshly cleaned deer skeleton.

Of course, it was on a rainy evening and I had no idea what kind of skeleton it was at the time, so I make a quick retreat to the car.


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## CroMoHo (Oct 20, 2009)

todd_freeride said:


> Heres a scary one. I could have easily been dead this day. I was riding with a friend in CO (I dont remember where, sorry  ) we had split off, I went down a harder trail, him down an easier trail. the conditions were pretty wet. I got done with the harder trail and started down some wide singletrack to meet him at the bottom. then this cougar jumped out onto the trail maybe 40 feet in front of me, staring at me. I slammed on my Hayes HFX-9 Brakes and they had gotten wet, they made that horrible howling/screaming sound. that noise scared the cougar the hell off. was really scary and I probably rode the rest of the way down as white as a sheet.


 Holy crap!! I never would have thought that horrendous disc brake squeal could ever be good for anything, but I guess in your case it was!


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## wv_bob (Sep 12, 2005)

Wild Wassa said:


> Just as I stopped, a guy who was immaculately dressed is a suit, stepped out of the rainforest beside me and said, "Be careful there are snakes about." Then he walked back into the rainforest without saying another word. The entire encounter lasted about 5-6 seconds.This isn't a place where there are people, no side roads, or nowhere to park a vehicle and no holdings. This encounter was so surrealistic, I still wonder if it actually happened or if I had gone 'Troppo' from the heat and remote area madness.


You were in the spirit world and the guy in the suit was warning you about the snake in the car yet to come.

Either that, or you were tripping balls.


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## wv_bob (Sep 12, 2005)

sanjuro said:


> The scariest thing I've seen at night was a freshly cleaned deer skeleton.


There's nothing quite like coming on a pile of deer guts that's being worked over by turkey vultures.

I've been told the vulture's second line of defense (the first being how big and ugly a vulture is), is to puke on whatever's threatening them.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

davidarnott said:


> of my trip to the moccasin cemetary


Errrr, help us out cause I don't see anything other than nice scenery in your pics.


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## nagatahawk (Jun 20, 2007)

here's a Halloween tale, though not trail related. My neighbor was having a big halloween bash, after scaring the trick or treaters. He was playing around with a weejee board calling up spirits. He had his son go an flicker the lights, although he claims he never did!

during the sayance, i was watching from the upstairs stairway, suddenly front door blew open. This was odd, because the door, which faces north, very larage and protected by an alcove from the evening onshore eastward winds. I felt a cold chillly wind blow around the room, like something damp cold was flying around overhead, everyone freaked and they ended the Weejee session fast. 

My neighbors swear they have had paranormal experiances during eves at this house. and I heard later that their street, Rosey Circle is named after a farmer's child that died much earlier before tract home was built up.

they really had great Halloween parties there! Totally scaring the parents more than the kids.


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## billy goat1 (Sep 18, 2009)

here's a spooky tale, I ride alone most of the time and on this particular ride in the woods the sun almost setting, I came upon two guys making out (full on) :eekster: :eekster: :eekster: not that there's anything wrong with that. When I got home I took a long cold shower....


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## Dion (Oct 22, 2009)

Not so much on the trail, but serious consequences after the ordeal. So much for man'ing it up - I was stupid.



> So here's the story about Friday. I was riding and decided to do a pretty hairy rock trail called "Rocky Ridge" - it's a pretty advance trail but more intended for downhill bikes, full suspension or all-mountain. Even when I was going up there were full outfitted DH guys with full face helmets and elbow/shin/knee pads coming down - me in the man panties I was pretty much out of my element. The place is seriously rocky, not gravel but a large rock fest. When I was climbing it I was taking a mental note of the lines I would take going down, and that didn't work. I went over the handlebar and fell on a group of jagged rocks, one of them puncturing my shin. I was laying there trying to catch my senses, and then I realized there were stinkin' tarantulas up there and I got up all quick. The stinkin' pain started to set in and I had to descend down. The blood from my wound started to fill up my sock, but I finished my ride and went home. I even met up with a couple of guys that I stop to hang out with for a bit (we're going to ride together soon), but I had to bail'zees. I took a shower and scrubbed it out and wrapped it. I had to go to some stupid work dinner and I had to pick up another (co-worker).
> 
> About 1:30 into the dinner, I started to not feel well. My leg was killing me, plus I busted up my forearm, my left wrist, and scraped both knees. I told the other (co-worker) that we had to go... I wanted to take some Ibprophen and elevate my leg. I didn't take anything before I left and I should have.
> 
> ...


His reply:



> Sounds like a hill the black bike (vintage Rock Lobster Cyclo-cross bike) can easily conquer. Luckily your body took a chill pill (pun intended). Bruises and scrapes heal. It's the broken bones you need to watch out for. Keep truckin, it's all good.
> 
> When you were laying there coming to your senses did it occur to you that if you were running tubeless tires you could have been running lower air pressure thus rolling over rough terrain would be more manageable?. I'm switching over in the next week or so on my single speed and am going to run 30lbs of pressure. S****, C**** and S***** swear by tubeless so I am going to give it a try.


My reply back:



> The 29'er science failed me.


I've gone into similar shock from motorcycle spills, but never, in all my life growing up BMX'ing and taking some serious spills, have I ever had that happen to me on a bicycle. My wife rolled her eyes at me and said "I told you so".


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

*bump this up*

i'm sure some of you have some new stories....


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

billy goat1 said:


> here's a spooky tale, I ride alone most of the time and on this particular ride in the woods the sun almost setting, I came upon two guys making out (full on) :eekster: :eekster: :eekster: not that there's anything wrong with that. When I got home I took a long cold shower....


Wait a minute... seeing two guys making out has you needing to take a cold shower???? 

not that there's anything wrong with that but...


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## slowlybutsurly (Nov 10, 2009)

stiingya said:


> Wait a minute... seeing two guys making out has you needing to take a cold shower????
> 
> not that there's anything wrong with that but...


LMAO

Sorry...yeah, totally nothing wrong with that.


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## Joel. (Aug 16, 2009)

I was flying down this section of track which goes right down into a swamp over a bridge which turns in the middle around a blind corner. I was pushing down this section late last year. I turned the corner and there are two hippies in the middle of the trail at the end of the bridge with a fire, gas bottles and all there clothes hanging up. I **** myself (not literally) and quickly un-clipped jumped off the bridge, turned around and ran up the bridge with my bike, at the end jumped on and sprinted up the hill while they yelled out something I didn't understand. 
I have no idea if they were yelling at me to go away or it was alright, but I wasn't sticking around to find out.
Next time I went there was in a group ride, when we passed there was no trace.


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## RBowles (Jun 1, 2010)

My coworker popped around a blind corner on singletrack and nearly ran into a bear. He said his whole life flashed and he nearly crapped his bibs.


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## jeffw-13 (Apr 30, 2008)

Me & a friend were riding a local park. I'm kinda new here so I'm not entirely familiar with the place.

We crest the top of a tough climb & there's a road crossing with a small parking area to the right. I roll over to the parking area to circle while I catch my breath & notice condom wrappers & used condoms on the ground. :skep: I mention it to my friend & he says it's the place where the gay men in the area meet for anonymous sex. Ya, I'm outa here.....

Fast forward a couple weeks, I'm riding solo & pass this spot again around lunch time. There's a guy in an SUV sitting there alone with the window down. As I pass he smiles & waves.


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

*old men*

There's something about running into old men in the forest that creeps the hell out of me. Why is an 80 y.o. man walking alone, DEEEEEP into the woods? Creepy.

Sometimes when I'm riding, I feel like I'm being watched....like some wacko is sitting behind a tree or a rock, waiting to make his move as I fly by. I ride by myself 99% of the time, and these thoughts scare the hell out of me.


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## cifex (Sep 11, 2009)

rutkiller said:


> There's something about running into old men in the forest that creeps the hell out of me. Why is an 80 y.o. man walking alone, DEEEEEP into the woods? Creepy.
> 
> Sometimes when I'm riding, I feel like I'm being watched....like some wacko is sitting behind a tree or a rock, waiting to make his move as I fly by. I ride by myself 99% of the time, and these thoughts scare the hell out of me.


Why are YOU deeeep in the woods? Some people like hiking..... some people like biking. Are you really intimidated by the sight of some old nature loving geezer?!


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## Trail Ninja (Sep 25, 2008)

rutkiller said:


> There's something about running into old men in the forest that creeps the hell out of me. Why is an 80 y.o. man walking alone, DEEEEEP into the woods? Creepy.
> 
> Sometimes when I'm riding, I feel like I'm being watched....like some wacko is sitting behind a tree or a rock, waiting to make his move as I fly by. I ride by myself 99% of the time, and these thoughts scare the hell out of me.


I'm an old man. You can quite often find me walking down bike trails miles from anywhere carrying a machete or an axe or some equally spooky weapon.

My bike is stashed somewhere and I'm working on the trail.

I usually smile and say hello but I bet a lot of people miss that during their initial shock at seeing me there.

More often than not I'll move off the side of the trail when I hear someone coming and wait for them to go by. Sitting in the bushes watching them.


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## mtbmonk (Jun 3, 2004)

I always like to start my solo rides off as early as I can, like just as the sun is coming up. There is stillness in the air that I find very calming and the trails are quiet. I figure this is my best chance to see wildlife, kind of that exchange from nocturnal to diurnal. So I’m riding along one morning just getting into the vibe and as I come around a corner I see a baby doll hanging down from a tree. As I look closer, the doll is hung from her neck and her hands and feet are bound. She had no clothes on and her head is shaved! Kind of like a buss cut. OK, now that good vibe is gone and I’m thinking WTF! Who? Why? Do I continue or ride back to my truck? I decide heck, it’s just some dumb kids and continue on my way. About a couple miles from the doll I encounter a hiker walking slowly along the trail. I call out; “on your left” he moves over to the right and stops as I pass. No problem, which is until I’m a ways down the trail and I realize that there, was a doll’s arm sticking out of his backpack. To this day, I can’t even remember what the guy looked like or what he was wearing. All I can see in my mind is that doll’s arm sticking out of his backpack which at first I thought was just a strap.


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## SHADES (Feb 23, 2005)

Back in the late '80's a few friends and I were racing each other down a trail off the backside of Mt. Pinos in Frazier Park, Ca. I was in the lead when I heard someone behind me yell what I thought was "beer". Naturally, I stopped. As my buddies blew by me FAST, I realized that what they'd been yelling was "bear". The momma bear and her cubs were only about 3 feet off the trail, 20 feet behind me, heading my way and she looked a bit angry. I cut straight down the mountain, bypassing a bunch of switchbacks, hell bent for leather. The next time on that trail, I checked out the section of mountain I'd ridden down, wide open, rigid fork and all. Amazing what a little fear will make you do!

jb


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## zenkem (Dec 18, 2007)

This thread has really increased my situational awareness while riding. Now, I’m constantly watching my surroundings and looking for someone staring at me or something getting ready to chase me. :shocked: Good thing I'm done reading the whole Thread...I think I'll put this all behind me now... :idea:


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

zenkem said:


> This thread has really increased my situational awareness while riding. Now, I'm constantly watching my surroundings and looking for someone staring at me or something getting ready to chase me. :shocked: Good thing I'm done reading the whole Thread...I think I'll put this all behind me now... :idea:


Don't forget to watch above... or the Aliens will get you... :nono:


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## crank1979 (Feb 3, 2006)

stiingya said:


> Don't forget to watch above... or the Aliens will get you... :nono:


Not if you wear an aluminium foil skullcap with zip ties sticking out the top of the helmet.:thumbsup:


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## Seanbike (Mar 23, 2004)

jeffw-13 said:


> Me & a friend were riding a local park. I'm kinda new here so I'm not entirely familiar with the place.
> 
> We crest the top of a tough climb & there's a road crossing with a small parking area to the right. I roll over to the parking area to circle while I catch my breath & notice condom wrappers & used condoms on the ground. :skep: I mention it to my friend & he says it's the place where the gay men in the area meet for anonymous sex. Ya, I'm outa here.....
> 
> Fast forward a couple weeks, I'm riding solo & pass this spot again around lunch time. There's a guy in an SUV sitting there alone with the window down. As I pass he smiles & waves.


You're not from the Chicago area are you?

Someone on a group ride at one of the fav local spots picked up a used anal plug not knowing what it was. He threw away his gloves I'm pretty sure.


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## McCleary11 (Jul 4, 2010)

This thread makes me feel good that I carry my Ruger LCP while riding... :thumbsup:


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

Trail Ninja said:


> More often than not I'll move off the side of the trail when I hear someone coming and wait for them to go by. Sitting in the bushes watching them.


While not actually on a bike, but two things come to mind.

I do a lot of backpacking in some really remote trails in Fiordlands, New Zealand. Extremely rough stuff and only about fifty people a year do such trails, so you are not expecting to see anyone, even after eight or nine days. So when I do occasionally hear someone, I hide from them as I want to be left alone. One time, two guys got pretty close to me while I was fifteen feet off the trail. So I just sat still next to a tree. These guys sit and have a snack, while I am standing absolutely still. They never saw me but imagine what they would have thought if they had after a few minutes.

I was on a trail near El Chalten, Argentina and wanted some time to be alone and went about fifty feet off the trail and silently sat on a log. A dozen people came down the trail and stopped. One person had to go to the bathroom and went into the woods. She settled about twenty feet directly in front of me and undid her pants and squatted. She had absolutely no idea I was there. At this point, I had three choices.

1) Say "Uh, excuse me." immediately.
2) Say "Uh, excuse me." but wait until she was done.
3) Say "Uh, excuse me." but...wait ten seconds after she had started.


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## Lawson Raider (Jul 24, 2006)

SHADES said:


> Back in the late '80's a few friends and I were racing each other down a trail off the backside of Mt. Pinos in Frazier Park, Ca. I was in the lead when I heard someone behind me yell what I thought was "beer". Naturally, I stopped. As my buddies blew by me FAST, I realized that what they'd been yelling was "bear". The momma bear and her cubs were only about 3 feet off the trail, 20 feet behind me, heading my way and she looked a bit angry. I cut straight down the mountain, bypassing a bunch of switchbacks, hell bent for leather. The next time on that trail, I checked out the section of mountain I'd ridden down, wide open, rigid fork and all. Amazing what a little fear will make you do!
> 
> jb


I LOL'd at the beer thing. Glad you survived your close encounter with that beer. LOL.


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## SeaBass_ (Apr 7, 2006)

When I was on a solo afterwork ride at Hempstead Lake State Park in Long Island, NY around 1996, I took a break by one of the reservoirs after doing a loop of all the bridle paths in the park. I heard a twig snap behind me so I turned around and there's an older fat guy with no shirt on and suit pants staring at me from the edge of the woods. It was then I realized that I was near the parking lot off Peninsula Blvd. that was rumored to be a gay hookup spot. I just pretended I didn't notice him and got on my bike and pedaled away quickly. Didn't stop there no more!!:eekster:


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

pinguwin said:


> While not actually on a bike, but two things come to mind.
> 
> I do a lot of backpacking in some really remote trails in Fiordlands, New Zealand. Extremely rough stuff and only about fifty people a year do such trails, so you are not expecting to see anyone, even after eight or nine days. So when I do occasionally hear someone, I hide from them as I want to be left alone. One time, two guys got pretty close to me while I was fifteen feet off the trail. So I just sat still next to a tree. These guys sit and have a snack, while I am standing absolutely still. They never saw me but imagine what they would have thought if they had after a few minutes.
> 
> ...


Yea, see that makes you the weird creepy guy in the woods that so many of these stories are about...


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## Adim_X (Mar 3, 2010)

This thread has turned me into a big wuss. Now everytime I hit my local trail solo around dusk, I spend half my time looking around scared for the bogeyman or bogeyanimal. The only benefit I have seen is that I can now do the trail about 3 minutes faster than ever before.


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## davthedude (Feb 12, 2005)

Riding along one of Arkansas great trails and come across a camp site in the national forest bunch of guys in camouflage come to find out they are neo nazis. Luckily was down hill section and we were otta there.


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

stiingya said:


> Yea, see that makes you the weird creepy guy in the woods that so many of these stories are about...


Yeah, wait, but I was minding my own business in the woods, they approached me. No one said I had to make my presence known. 

Oh, with the woman. I sooooooo wanted to make it #3, but I am not a guy who is into the watching women go to the bathroom thing (if you want truly creepy dude in the woods, read this gem: http://www.pressherald.com/archive/pittston-man-charged-with-climbing-in-toilet_2009-08-31.html, my favorite quote from the story is, "...firefighters hosed him off...") so I did choice #1. I didn't do it because it was the "right" thing, I did it so as not to toss my cookies.


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## metaljim (Apr 22, 2009)

One time I was in the woods having hot gay sex and some guy on a mountain bike rode up. He had this silly little back pack on and those horrendous shorts and had the nerve to call us ****!


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## metaljim (Apr 22, 2009)

Also, this one time when I was out riding faster than ever on the Worlds Best Bike I encountered a person of the opposing political party. So I told him about my personal religious superstitions which I deem to be the universal truth then shot him with my firearm of choice that I carry for protection because there are enemies around every turn lurking in the shadows to hurt my family at any moment. Then I rode faster then ever again because I was frightened and confused.


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## Lawson Raider (Jul 24, 2006)

metaljim said:


> Also, this one time when I was out riding faster than ever on the Worlds Best Bike I encountered a person of the opposing political party. So I told him about my personal religious superstitions which I deem to be the universal truth then shot him with my firearm of choice that I carry for protection because there are enemies around every turn lurking in the shadows to hurt my family at any moment. Then I rode faster then ever again because I was frightened and confused.


Who asks other riders they don't know that they encounter on the trail their political affiliations? You have to be pretty darn political yourself to do that.

When I am riding, I could care less if you are conservative or liberal... It really doesn't matter - just the fact that we can ride is all that matters at that time. I'd ride with a liberal or conservative if we are having fun riding the bikes.


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## Killertofu (Jul 2, 2010)

Lawson Raider said:


> Who asks other riders they don't know that they encounter on the trail their political affiliations? You have to be pretty darn political yourself to do that.
> 
> When I am riding, I could care less if you are conservative or liberal... It really doesn't matter - just the fact that we can ride is all that matters at that time. I'd ride with a liberal or conservative if we are having fun riding the bikes.


you got trolled. lol


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## 7.62 (Aug 24, 2006)

I do the majority of my riding solo as it works best for me (so far). 

A few weeks ago I rode up the Santa Clara Truck Trail to the communication towers. I started my ride around 630pm and it was still light out. I planned on reaching the 5 mile, 2k ft climb just as the sun was setting so I could descend with the Santa Clarita Valley city lights light up. I saw a few hikers on the way up, chatted with one and also another rider in the first mile or so. 

Almost 1.5 - 2 miles from the top, I hear "thump... thump." A few seconds later, "thump..thump." Kinda' like someone tapping a cardboard box while its over your head. That sound went on for almost a minute, and all I could tell is that the sound came from above. At least the echo appeared to come from above. No other soul around, and later found no one at the towers.

Once I started descending with my lights on, I got spooked. lol I came around a turn at around 15 mph and saw a group of yellow, and bright glowing "eyes" almost four ft above the ground in the corner of another turn coming up. Those "eyes" turned out to be yellow reflectors on orange pylons. lol I imagined seeing someone jump out on the trail somewhere on my descent, but luckily that was a no-go. 

Another mtb bike ride was during the day in the Santa Monica's. I was at the end of a 22 miler and I was hot, tired, and enjoying the scenery while I was climbing. I looked at the ground in front of me, and I saw a rattle snake smack in the middle of the path. DOH! I slammed on my brakes just 5 ft from it. That was a close one.


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## Shawn333 (Sep 1, 2008)

PSYCLONE said:


> The day after I saw the Blair Witch Project in the theaters, my 2 friends and I headed up to Jim Thorpe to ride. I'm not the best trail guide in that area, but I'm sure some others will know where I'm talking about. We took a powerline trail all the way down to the point where a fence is. On the other side of this fence is a hunting camp (I guess). Our plan was to cross the fence and ride out that way. Before we could throw one bike over the fence, this guy comes tearing towards the fence on an ATV. In one hand, he had a Coors Light, and strapped across his ATV was a rifle. He jumps off at the fence, beer in one hand, rifle in the other and starts giving us a hard time. Being a Pabst Blue Ribbon drinker myself, I'm thinking this guy must be some upper middle class hick if he's into this whole Coors Light scene. He told us that it was private property and we were under no circumstances going to cross that fence. So we headed back up that steep ass hill, all the while he was watching...At the top, I decided it was a pretty novel idea to throw a large rock at the powerline tower. Let's just say it made a little louder noise than I had envisioned. As I looked down at this guy to see his reaction, I noticed he had shouldered the rifle, and pointed it at me. Now I ain't the fastest guy on a bike, but nobody could have cut a faster path off that powerline and down in the woods than me that day.


I was just up there riding this past weekend, what part of the mountain were you guys on?


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## rwl123456 (Apr 12, 2010)

I was flying down a steep decent that leads into a stretch of multple jumps off large boulders. Right when the jumps end I pulled off and sat down about 10ft off the trail to check my bike and sit down to just enjoy the weather and have some water.

A few minutes of just sitting there I hear WHHIIZZZ as a rider zooms by me, then WHIIIZZZ as his friend blasts past me, I then see a third rider of the group but he hits a jump right in front of me his friends passed. The jump sends him straight off the trail and over his bars. 

I call out to make sure he is ok and he goes "yeah man im good" his friend stops and waits for him. The guy stands up brushes some dirt off and then looks right at me and pauses... in slow motion he reaches up to his shirts collar and grabs it he slowly pulls it down and to the side "oh ****" . His collar bone is jutting out of his skin and in general the entire bone is about an inch too high that is still under his skin. 

We ended up calling the ambulence and i heading to the parking lot to wait for the medics to lead them back. I am currently looking at buying and using a chest protector everytime i ride now.


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## js_paddle07 (Jun 18, 2008)

rwl123456 said:


> The guy stands up brushes some dirt off and then looks right at me and pauses... in slow motion he reaches up to his shirts collar and grabs it he slowly pulls it down and to the side "oh ****" . His collar bone is jutting out of his skin and in general the entire bone is about an inch too high that is still under his skin.


Gross man. :yikes:


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## Straz85 (Mar 20, 2009)

This happened to a couple friends of mine:

Last year, they were riding in Callahan State Forest in Marlboro, MA. When they were heading back to the car, they saw three guys in the woods who looked like they had no business in there, they figured they were smoking or something. The next day they found out two of them shot the other one in the back of the head for stealing some booze. If they had come along a couple minutes later, they would have witnessed it and possibly been shot themselves.


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## jimbowho (Dec 16, 2009)

pinguwin said:


> While not actually on a bike, but two things come to mind.
> 
> I do a lot of backpacking in some really remote trails in Fiordlands, New Zealand. Extremely rough stuff and only about fifty people a year do such trails, so you are not expecting to see anyone, even after eight or nine days. So when I do occasionally hear someone, I hide from them as I want to be left alone. One time, two guys got pretty close to me while I was fifteen feet off the trail. So I just sat still next to a tree. These guys sit and have a snack, while I am standing absolutely still. They never saw me but imagine what they would have thought if they had after a few minutes.
> 
> ...


I would have waited for the sound of music! Then say "I heard that" LMAO, Once in a lifetime moment!


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## aircooled (Oct 12, 2010)

Any new tales?


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## dlbennett (Mar 1, 2004)

*Blair Witch Project!*

Man, rode solo right after watching the Blair Witch Project matinee and all was going fine....

Deep in the woods on a remote fire road nearing some radio towers first I noticed a vehicle off in the ditch riddled with bullet holes and I thought to myself, dang, this road has been closed to cars for years but this is vehicle was there much more recent than that.

Keep on going but sort of freakin' out and of course I start to hear creepy things in the woods... like I said, am waaay out there.

Then rounding a corner up a super steep gravel road climb I come across an arrow pointed upwards with different colored rocks than anything around.

At this point I just did not want to find out who was up there and why/if they wanted more to come up. I turned around and bolted cursing the dang movie the whole way back...

Probably all in my head but those rocks/car were strange.

db


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## hazdxb (Oct 11, 2008)

Keep the stories coming, they're are great for some procrastinating!


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## GambJoe (Jul 29, 2010)

I've been seeing guys popping in and out the woods or wandering around aimlessly by the path I ride on. At first I thought it was just guys going to relieve themselves. Then I noticed some guy sitting in his suv while I'm pulling up to my car with my bike. As soon as I start loading my bike the guy pops out of his car and heads into the woods. This happens several times at different times of the day. The fourth time I ask myself didn't this happen yesterday and the day before.... I'm wondering what this guy is up to and as a defense I took a picture of his license plate, just in case they find my body, I left a clue for the cops. He probably saw me taking a picture. I haven't seen him since.

Then it dawns on me, this is becoming a cruising area. I've seen areas in NY taken over by this activity. I'm pretty much, to each their own, but if it keeps up, I won't ask I will tell.


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## mudforlunch (Aug 9, 2004)

Colorado - I used to live in Ft. Collins during grad. school and I ran or jumped over more than a few snakes on trails that I wasn't prepared to encounter, some of which were rattlesnakes. When I rode in the Poudre canyon sometimes I saw cougar tracks and had the feeling something was watching me, but never saw anything. 

Wisconsin - 3 years ago I got a mechanical on the hildebrandt section of the Rock Lake trail in the Camba system waaaayyyyyy the hell in the middle of nowhere at dusk with a pack of wolves barking and yapping probably less than a half mile away. I deer hunt that area so I'm used to the wolves, but walking around with a rifle/bow and fixing a broken chain in the dark with a headlamp are two very different situations. 

Maryland - The main trail I ride near Baltimore has had instances of riders and joggers being mugged, but I've never had anything happen, and I still night ride there quite a bit.


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## mudforlunch (Aug 9, 2004)

bagz007 said:


> Up north here in Ontario we have alot of snow-mobile trail networks to get around in the winter time. In the summer, they make for endless riding, and sometimes you'll run into singletrack paths branching off from the main snowmobile trails.
> 
> I was about 2 hrs north of Subury in a remote cabin I had rented with three of my buddies for a boys-only fishing trip getaway. I was the only one in the group who was into riding, so brought my bike with me after hearing about the endless miles of trails.
> 
> ...


hahaha, I shot an 8 pointer last week, and I gutted it wearing an under armour shirt that I use as a baselayer under my jerseys and now the stains make it look like I'm a serial killer. It should be a good form of intimidation on the trails.


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## Joel. (Aug 16, 2009)

GambJoe said:


> I've been seeing guys popping in and out the woods or wandering around aimlessly by the path I ride on. At first I thought it was just guys going to relieve themselves. Then I noticed some guy sitting in his suv while I'm pulling up to my car with my bike. As soon as I start loading my bike the guy pops out of his car and heads into the woods. This happens several times at different times of the day. The fourth time I ask myself didn't this happen yesterday and the day before.... I'm wondering what this guy is up to and as a defense I took a picture of his license plate, just in case they find my body, I left a clue for the cops. He probably saw me taking a picture. I haven't seen him since.
> 
> Then it dawns on me, this is becoming a cruising area. I've seen areas in NY taken over by this activity. I'm pretty much, to each their own, but if it keeps up, I won't ask I will tell.


Probably going to check their crop. We get people driving around the bush sometimes, not on the trails but on the joining firetrails. You should see the look on their face when 20 riders rock up.


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## Tony2x (Dec 8, 2009)

Enjoyed reading this thread. I have three short ones, some scarier than others.

First story was an early morning ride. It was still dark out when I pulled up to the trailhead. I was waiting for a friend. For some reason I decided to wait in the car instead of unloading my bike. In the other direction a car pulls to the side of the road, maybe a hundred yards in front of me. Whoever was in that car flashed his lights at me. After what seemed like an eternity, and me not flashing back, he finally drove away. That was the last time I ever beat my friend to the trailhead.

Second story involves a weird crash. I'm riding solo early one morning. It was one of those days where I just felt "off" a little bit. Couldn't put my finger on what was wrong, but something wasn't right. Anyway, I turn off the trail onto some double track for a quick left back onto more singletrack. Not a very complicated or technical maneuver. As I'm turning back left, my front wheel washes out. It was like everything slowed down and I was taking in every millisecond of what was happening. I thought "I'm fine, this is a low speed crash, I'll catch myself" No sooner did I think that, when I felt like something pushed me down hard. The hand I was using to brace my fall slid out from under me and my head was heading toward a very large rock. Instinctively I tucked my head toward my chest and my helmet took the impact. I was a little dazed but able to ride out sticking to the main trail. Very strange. To this day when I approach that area I get a weird feeling. I swear "something" pushed me down.

Third is just one of those creepy things where you let your mind get the best of you. Riding with a buddy I come across a very small clearing with a rose and stuffed animal just sitting in the middle. When I catch up to my buddy I ask him if he saw it. He said no. Made me wonder if I'm crazy. So next ride I tell him to be on the lookout. Sure enough its still there. Its like some kinda weird memorial or something. Very creepy.


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

mudforlunch said:


> Wisconsin...with a pack of wolves barking and yapping probably less than a half mile away.


I wouldn't worry about them at all. I find that dogs in the forest are far more threatening. Wolves leave you alone and run away, dogs not so much. On my last ride at the Escanaba Trail, I saw a wolf from 15 yards away. I considered it a treat.


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## cncwhiz (Sep 8, 2010)

I can't believe more people here do not carry while riding. I carry everywhere except work, and I think I will start carrying while riding. Only issue I will have is not having a good way to secure my weapon. I will look into it though. After reading some of the things that may be possible, I don't want to become a statistic.


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## Judd97 (Jun 6, 2005)

cncwhiz said:


> I can't believe more people here do not carry while riding. I carry everywhere except work, and I think I will start carrying while riding. Only issue I will have is not having a good way to secure my weapon. I will look into it though. After reading some of the things that may be possible, I don't want to become a statistic.


Oh no... here it comes.


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## cncwhiz (Sep 8, 2010)

Judd97 said:


> Oh no... here it comes.


Something wrong?


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## Judd97 (Jun 6, 2005)

wv_bob said:


> There's nothing quite like coming on a pile of deer guts that's being worked over by turkey vultures.
> 
> I've been told the vulture's second line of defense (the first being how big and ugly a vulture is), is to puke on whatever's threatening them.


This is true. I've been working as a wildlife biologist on a wind farm and we came across an injured turkey vulture one day. He was flopping around like a fish on the ground but didn't seem to have any apparent injuries that we could see (if birds or bats pass too closely to the trailing end of a rotor, the low pressure behind the blade will sometimes burst their blood vessels, which is enough to kill bats and small birds, but perhaps not a vulture). In an attempt to get him calmed down so we could get him to a rehab facility nearby, he puked up some VERY gross stuff on us. One of the worst smells ever.


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## CxAgent2 (Oct 24, 2007)

cncwhiz said:


> I can't believe more people here do not carry while riding. I carry everywhere except work, and I think I will start carrying while riding. Only issue I will have is not having a good way to secure my weapon. I will look into it though. After reading some of the things that may be possible, I don't want to become a statistic.


When to carry (or not) is you decision. But look very carefully at how you carry if you decide to. Many years ago I rode dirt bikes with several police officers while they were off duty. They had a tough time finding a means to carry their weapon where it was accessible AND safe. There were many times they filled them with mud or dunked them in a creek while we were riding. Fortunately, they never had an accidental discharge.

Just for reference, I think they started carrying their weapon when we ran across a a drug op in the middle of nowhere. At least I never knew if they were carrying before that point.


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## GambJoe (Jul 29, 2010)

cncwhiz said:


> I can't believe more people here do not carry while riding. I carry everywhere except work, and I think I will start carrying while riding. Only issue I will have is not having a good way to secure my weapon. I will look into it though. After reading some of the things that may be possible, I don't want to become a statistic.


I live in Texas where it is relatively easy to get a carry permit. I've had encounters with wild boars, dears, snakes and even cattle, not to mention some people that would seemed to be potentially dangerous. Most of the time my fears were unfounded.

I don't want to become a statistic either but I don't want to give into my fears and imagination.

Maybe if something really bad happened I would carry but for now strapping on a gun when I go out is not the way I want to live.


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## Judd97 (Jun 6, 2005)

cncwhiz said:


> Something wrong?


Nothin' wrong, but I've been on this site for awhile and "To carry or not to carry" debates rarely seem to go well.


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## cncwhiz (Sep 8, 2010)

Judd97 said:


> Nothin' wrong, but I've been on this site for awhile and "To carry or not to carry" debates rarely seem to go well.


Oh ok. I don't mean to start an argument. I'd feel safer anyway. Some people do not agree and that's cool. I respect the opinions of others.


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## Judd97 (Jun 6, 2005)

cncwhiz said:


> Oh ok. I don't mean to start an argument. I'd feel safer anyway. Some people do not agree and that's cool. I respect the opinions of others.


Yea, I agree with you. I don't have any problems with CCW. I don't do it myself (don't have a license), but I consider myself a firearm enthusiast. Problem is it seems like whenever CCW comes up, even though it's not meant to be an argument, it often ends up as one haha. That's the internet, I guess


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## Guy Cool (Oct 3, 2008)

Back in 98 in Telluride I was riding solo on a trail I had ridden countless times. It is a trail that traverses a super steep mountain side. There were a few natural lips that you could get some air and I built them up to get more, with around 10 jumps in the section. On this particular day I was intent on getting bigger air on each of the jumps than I had before. As I was approaching the biggest jump I got into my big chain ring and started cranking hard. I hit that jump with more speed than I was ready for I guess, and when I extended the bike out to land I wasn't as close to the ground as I thought and I kept flying through the air. When my tires finally hit the ground I was not in a good landing position and the bike got super squirly. When I gained control of the bike I was perpendicular to the trail heading down a steep heavily wooded mountain going 25 mph or so. My first thought was that I would bounce off a few trees and likely impail myself and die, then I spotted a big aspen tree with no branches at my height so I leaned into to stop myself. I bruised my leg big time, knocked the wind out of me and my ribs out of place and broke my helmet. I laid there for about 20 minutes and finally was able to walk out and then call off work for the night. A wild ride for sure.


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## longboarderj (Sep 11, 2010)

A buddy and I ran into about 20 wierdos in broad daylight wearing full length black and red robes with hoods, standing in organized ranks facing a ten foot tall bon fire while one man stood in front of them giving a sermon on the ressurection of David Koresh and the destruction that he would lead against man kind. This was exactly one year after the Waco incident.


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

longboarderj said:


> A buddy and I ran into about 20 wierdos in broad daylight wearing full length black and red robes with hoods, standing in organized ranks facing a ten foot tall bon fire while one man stood in front of them giving a sermon on the ressurection of David Koresh and the destruction that he would lead against man kind. This was exactly one year after the Waco incident.


and there were aliens?


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## SteveF (Mar 5, 2004)

I ride alone a lot and usually it's fine. The places I ride are pretty popular so there are enough other trail users that the creeps can't be too creepy and if you crash or have trouble you can usually expect someone to come along in pretty short order. But I've had a couple of moments/encounters/whatevers.

Once I was just starting up a trail that's very popular with riders, runners and hikers and a guy was walking toward me down the first big hill. He had on a big floppy hat and and some hiking boots and not much else. He had this Tarzan-style loincloth on and his dangle was longer than the cloth so since I was coming up the hill toward him I got a good look at his little buddy. The funny thing is even as I saw this, I was doing the automatic "hi how's it going," greeting and he gives a big grin and a howdy and kept right on going. I didn't even really process what I'd seen for another few seconds then I was like, whoa, that guy was just kinda flappin' in the wind! I do hope he got things covered up before he got to the trail head another few yards down the hill as it was very busy with families (it's beach parking too) and other trail users.

Another time I pulled into a trail head and there was no one else there but one seedy looking guy sitting in a crappy old car, wearing mirror shades. Picture Dale Gribble from King of the Hill but more threatening than comical. I parked well away from him but I could feel him watching me while I was getting my bike and gear out of the car and it was making me very uncomfortable. Just then a DNR officer pulled in and the guy immediately starts his car and leaves but as he goes past me, his head swivels and he stares at me as he goes slowly by. I mentioned it to the officer and he said, yeah, that guy hangs out here quite a bit--we suspect he's cruising for gay sex. Well, I went ahead and started my ride but this trail snakes and twists around a lot and passes real close to these low-traffic dirt roads several times and I kept freaking myself out, scanning the roads for his car when I was in sight of them and expecting this guy to jump out from behind a tree or something. That was the creepiest feeling I've ever had riding but I think it was all in my head...

I did get a bad startle once when I came around a corner during small game season and almost ran into three squirrel hunters walking toward me. I slammed on my brakes and stopped just a foot or two short of them, and the lead guy says "Jesus Christ, you scared the **** outta me," and I said, Sorry--scared me too," and we all laughed. It's good when guys with guns have a sense of humor...

Speaking of riding in hunting areas, do you all ever encounter hunters that shoot their guns them at nothing just to startle you as or just after you ride past them? Idiots--I grew up hunting and if I'd messed around that way my dad would have kicked my ass--he taught me to take gun safety seriously and it stuck. People these days just don't know how to behave...


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## Haus Boss (Jun 4, 2010)

Not a bike story, but rather a warning about the perils that the wilderness beholds.

Around 5 years ago I embarded on a 40 or so mile backpacking trip with a pair off college friends in the high sierra around Mt Whitney. I believe it was our first night out and we set up camp around 10,500 - 11,000 feet at the base of one of the 14,000' peaks in the area. It was my first time backpacking in the high sierra and I got hit with Altitude sickness hard. I felt like I had the flu, I had a horrible headache, and later that evening I was throwing up the little I had eaten. 

We ended up setting up the camp in the later afternoon. My two friends decided they wanted to climb to top of the 14,000' peak above us- which appeared to be mostly dirt and loose rock all the way up since we were well above the treeline. I decided to stick around dealing with the altitude sickness and all, and I kind of made a sarcastic comment to them that about not being able to make it up before the the sun went down. Mountain elevations and geographic figures seem to be all thrown out of proportion up in this country. Looking up the mountain, you might guess it 1500 feet to the top, rather than the 3000 - 3500 it was. 

Several hours pass by and the daylight quickly fades into the pitch black of night. I'm laying in my tent trying to sleep with an excruciating headache. 10pm rolls around, midnight, 2am, still no sign of my friends. I'm sitting in a tent in the middle of nowhere- my mind starts to drift and I start to conjure horrible stories- one or both of my friends may have had a horrible accident- I'd need to hike out the 12 or so miles back to basecamp and alert the ranger. The wind is blowing around my tent. I'm thinking about our food in the bear canisters around 100' feet from our tents- I wonder if a bear is going to try and steal some of my food or mistake me for his next meal! Man, your mind really starts to play tricks on you and run a million miles a minute when you're fatigued, dealing with altitude sickness, and your hiking buddies have gone awol for nearly 12 hours now. 

Finally, sometime around 3:30am I hear some yelling coming down the mountain. I quickly unzip my tent to see a pair of lights up the slope. I immediately flash my headlight back and yell to my friends. They're back at basecamp in around 10-15 minutes. Just as I suspected they ran out of daylight. They told me crazy stories how they almost ended up walking off a cliff because it was so dark. They traversed and descended the wrong side of the mountain and ended up at a pair of mountain lakes around 1000' feet below us, came across what they thought was a bear, ended up huddling together for warmth behind a giant boulder (they took a picture of this and it was pretty damn funny seeing the fear and utter confusion in their eyes), before finally ascending back up and connecting with the original trail back to our base camp. 

While I wasn't up on the mountain with them, I definitely was thinking the worst when they had gone missing for several hours. And it was amazing how close they had both come to walking right off a cliff which would have inevitably lead to potentially fatal injuries.


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## lvdukerider (May 19, 2010)

cncwhiz said:


> I can't believe more people here do not carry while riding. I carry everywhere except work, and I think I will start carrying while riding. Only issue I will have is not having a good way to secure my weapon. I will look into it though. After reading some of the things that may be possible, I don't want to become a statistic.


it dosent take the place of being observant and avoiding trouble when you can and it wont make you bulletproof, but I carry when on patrol at work on bicycle,car or motorcycle so I do the same while on my mtb. Sadly statistics show violent crime is up in our national parks and criminals seek out secluded places to commit crimes. They know or at least have some idea of the worth of your bike and related equipment and many wont hesitate to take advantage of an oppourtunity to make a quick buck. A firearm isnt the ultimate solution and it definatly takes a certain mindeset and training for it to be more of an assit than a liability but its one option to consider.


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## longboarderj (Sep 11, 2010)

Ridnparadise said:


> and there were aliens?


No aliens just Branch Dividians


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## DogpawSlim (Dec 12, 2010)

Here is a strange one from about a month ago. 

One of the local rides is a 5 mile singletrack climb, plus a 2 mile steep fireroad climb (closed to vehicles) to a fire lookout tower on a ridge. I had never seen anyone up there, or anywhere within 4 miles of the top for that matter. 

Last time I was up there it was about 100 degrees, and I had long since run out of water. My buddy and I got to the top, and saw two degenerate, drunk, sketchy looking dudes sitting at the top of the tower. We sat at a bench underneath. The guys come down, with no possessions with them except for tall cans. One guy, high out of his mind (crack, it seemed like), walks off into the bushes, while the other one talks to us about our bikes; what they cost, etc. I figured we could take these guys if it got physical, but it never did. 

I was less scared than surprised that these two guys could have gotten to the top of this mountain, which is about a 3500' climb and 7+ miles from any road. They did find a bunch of marijuana groves a few years ago around there, so they were probably "camping."


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## tcapri87 (Jan 17, 2009)

mudforlunch said:


> Colorado - I used to live in Ft. Collins during grad. school and I ran or jumped over more than a few snakes on trails that I wasn't prepared to encounter, some of which were rattlesnakes. When I rode in the Poudre canyon sometimes I saw cougar tracks and had the feeling something was watching me, but never saw anything.
> 
> Wisconsin - 3 years ago I got a mechanical on the hildebrandt section of the Rock Lake trail in the Camba system waaaayyyyyy the hell in the middle of nowhere at dusk with a pack of wolves barking and yapping probably less than a half mile away. I deer hunt that area so I'm used to the wolves, but walking around with a rifle/bow and fixing a broken chain in the dark with a headlamp are two very different situations.
> 
> Maryland - The main trail I ride near Baltimore has had instances of riders and joggers being mugged, but I've never had anything happen, and I still night ride there quite a bit.


where in baltimore you ride?


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## Ouzo4Twozo (Aug 27, 2010)

pinguwin said:


> I wouldn't worry about them at all. I find that dogs in the forest are far more threatening. Wolves leave you alone and run away, dogs not so much. On my last ride at the Escanaba Trail, I saw a wolf from 15 yards away. I considered it a treat.


I did this with a mountain lion about a month ago when I washed out in a corner. I got up and it was watching me. We've had an abundance of deer all year long, so it probably wasn't all that hungry. I wouldn't have even seen it if I hadn't gone down...


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## TallChris (Oct 16, 2008)

Great thread rutkiller + others. I passed a slow shift yesterday reading most of it. Here's my contribution:

About 2 years ago I was doing a lot of solo pre-dawn training, mostly a 20-mile out+back on a bicycle-laned road way beyond the burbs. I would encounter maybe a dozen cars on these rides and the drivers all behaved in my experience. I didn't have a decent light system at the time (very foolish in retrospect) so I was pretty much relying on the god that looks out for children, drunks and fools. Yes, I'm covered there... 

I was in the big ring when I ran over something metal that blew out my rear tire. It was about 6:15am and still pitch black so I pushed my bike up to the next driveway and attempted to fill the tire. What I couldn't see was the 1-2" gash along the sidewall (riding tubeless) but I could tell that trying to pump it up was pointless. Fine, I think to myself, I'm only 3 or 4 miles from home - I'll just walk it. Better to just walk than wake up my wife and kids for them to come pick me up. I don't mind the time alone, so I go.

I realized how much less comfortable I am walking miles from home as opposed to riding @ 20mph, how easy to take this for granted on bike. I wasn't worried about getting clipped by a drunk fisherman or inattentive commuter any longer, just the country neighbors I'd always sped past. I felt the cool, slight pressure of the blackness around me and kept on going. 

About 1/2 mile into my walk, I hear some jingling and grunting and I know immediately that I'm going to have an unwelcomed visitor. I was passing by a driving range (Weed Hill - love the name...) lit by a street pole and two dogs came trotting down the hill toward me barking as if to say 'what the hell are you doing?!?' Fortunately they were labs and I'm a dog person, so I stopped in my tracks and faced them head on. They stepped out into the road a bit but didn't get any closer thankfully. I'd been watching the Dog Whisperer lately so with that in mind I yelled as loud as I could at the dogs, paused a moment, turned, and kept walking - telling myself they would not follow. I grateful that's the way it turned out. I'm also grateful they were labs just putting me on notice and not in attack mode because I was defenseless beyond my own hands. Some dogs won't let you "Tsst" them!!! I made it the rest of the way home without incident.

I appreciate the ideas this thread has generated for self-defense implements.


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## Nenbran (Dec 7, 2010)

I don't have any bike stories, but I've had a few experiences in my time outdoors.

The first experience was one of the scarier ones that I've had. I was in my uncle's truck, packed in with 3 cousins, my dad, and my uncle. We were driving around the many, many miles of desert roads a little outside my hometown. There are a few ranches out there, and they usually put up "No Trespassing" signs and they don't take to well to people just wandering onto their land. That being said, we crossed a cattle guard that didn't have a "No Trespassing" sign, and figured it was a county cattle guard or something...a couple minutes later, we come upon a house with some livestock pens, etc, and about 6 trucks parked outside. Also outside the house were maybe 10 guys, all Vaqueros, and all armed. They all gave us a mean glare as we came to a stop, and they started fiddling with their guns...needless to say, my uncle slammed into reverse, and we hauled ass outta there.

Another experience occured when my dad and I were camping in one of our favorite spots. The place, in and of itself, kinda gives me the creeps...it's right on old Native American lands, not too far from a few battle sites. And it just FEELS like the place where someone would dump a body. Anyway, my dad and I were wading out into the river right by our campsite, and hoping we could coax a few catfish to bite our lines. I hear a truck approach campsite and whistle to my dad. We reached the shore just as two men get out of thier truck. One man was an older dude, with gray hair and a nice moustache. The other man was HUGE, and he had vibrant red hair. We proceed to say hello...and find out that these guys are father and son, and they are really quite nice! The son (tall dude with red hair) also had a glorious waxed moustache and a huge beard. They were both pleasant gentlemen.

Most of my experiences have been of the latter sort; most of the people I encounter outdoors are normal, nice people. But there are those few instances that freak me out enough to remember to stay cautious.


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## etuck (Feb 9, 2007)

This thread is awesome. I just thought of another one. I was heading out for a night ride with two other buddies about an hour past dark. Not late at night but it was completely pitch black. The neighborhood we were heading out of was pretty populated but the fire road we were headed up doesn't get much use.

It's a steep climb and the three of us were pretty spread out, me in front and one of my buddies tailing behind a good couple hundred yards. I came around a corner and almost ran into a guy walking slowly down the trail with no light in the dark. Kind of a strange looking middle age guy, run down but not homeless. Scared the **** out of me but I said hello. No response, he just kept looking at the ground and slowly walking. I thought it was weird but whatever, I kept riding.

When we got to the top of the hill and re-grouped I asked my buddies about the guy. The second guy in line said hello to him as well and got ignored. The third guy, who was trailing by a minute or two by that point, didn't see him till the last second. The guy turned to my friend and abruptly said "watch you don't get killed out there."

According to my friend it wasn't like a "be careful on your ride" it was more a "don't get murdered." Creepy!


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## redwarrior (Apr 12, 2007)




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## karlmichael (Mar 26, 2008)

*cats lot of cats*

san clemente ca, night trail rides with old wheelset. Bobcat vrs me running at me down a trail. the cat turned/jumped like 5 ft in the air. i was very excited by that turn of events.

karl


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

redwarrior said:


>


I think that would be even more freaky looking without the mask...


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## tfraser (Feb 17, 2007)

Late afternoon a few years ago I was catching a quick ride in Granite Basin near Prescott, AZ. Was on a slight downhill and I was rolling pretty good. There was an upslope covered with manzanita to the left and was open and sloped down to my right. Suddenly there was a shadow on the left in my peripheral vision, and rustling in the brush. I felt something brush across my Camelbak and land in the loose rocks to the right. I pedaled like I had never pedaled before, and heard something clattering on the rocks that sounded like hooves. Never really saw it but figure I had startled a javelina. Pedaled so hard I broke a spoke. I was relieved it was not a cougar.


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## hardtailkid (Jan 25, 2010)

I feel the need to move to an area with real woods and singletrack so I can have something to share. But until that happens, I'll just subscribe to this. And lots of cool stories in here :thumbsup:


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## twowheelsdown2002 (Oct 26, 2004)

*Fist fight with 2 cranksters!!*

Back in Oregon, I rode up a dirt road toward a radio tower. There was a house at the top of a saddle, and old farm roads climbing up one butte, and a road going past the house toward the top of the radio towers. I decided to approach the house and get permission to ride the area.

I dropped my bike in the driveway, and as I walked down a short sidewalk toward the house a man stepped out and said "What do you want!" I explained that I wanted to know if he owned the property on the other butte, or who did, and also if I could ride the tower road up. He said "We moved here to be away from people!" I explained that if it was his land and I had permission, I would be riding on the other mountain side, and would not even be near the house, I just wanted to make sure I was not trespassing, and do the right thing by getting permission of the land owner.

He suddenly said "I don't think you get it, if you don't get out of here, I'm going to shoot you!"
I said "Hey, calm down I'm just trying to be courteous here." Just then, this big biker looking dude of about 260# comes around the corner of the house and says "I'm gonna bust your [email protected]#$ing head!" As I turn that way, the next thing I know he is laying a punch on me.

I get knocked back, and I am freaking ass pissed!! My mind goes to fight or flight, and I chose "fight". Too pissed off to think it through. He is already bum rushing me. We go at it, and end up on the ground. I was only 175# but had been a timber faller recently, and pretty stout. For a time, he had me down. Then I did a bridge, and flipped him over and got in UFC fight position with one hand on the throat and the other punching. Silly me forgot he had a friend.:madman: His buddy grabs me from behind around the throat and starts teeing off on me. Meanwhile I had punched the other guy and as I hit him he got hold of my hands, and was fighting to keep me from getting them loose to hit him. The other guy is punching me and I can't get a hand up to block it.

I had a little vision of a freshly dug flower bed.:eekster: Me as fertilizer. I must have got an adrenaline rush, because I broke free from the big biker dude and stood up and spun around with my elbow and sent the other dude flying. He gets up and heads for the house. The big dude gets up, and heads another way, saying "I'm getting me a board and I'm gonna bust his effing head!!" I figure the guy going in is getting a gun, and it is time for the "flight" mode. I jumped on the bike and flew down the hill. Came back with the cops and they were gone.

I was told they were meth heads. No wonder the paranoia! I am lucky I busted loose, or who knows what they would have done to me. They might have beat me to death, and buried me. One good reason to ride with friends.


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## ynot89 (Jun 15, 2007)

*Camo Killer?*

^ Is much more intense than mine...so now I feel lame. But none the less...

I was riding the Chubb trail in St. Louis by myself, as I often do. I was about 0.25 miles from the parking lot and going down a moderate grade hill. I look further ahead and about 30 feet or so in front of me was a man, covered head to toe in camo. Over his head he had a camo balaclava and orange tinted ski goggles, so I could literally see no skin.

Before I know it, I am nearly right up on him on this singletrack. This whole time he is just standing there looking at me. When I get about 5-7 feet from him, he simply turns and faces his back to me. Needless to say the rest of the right was not very enjoyable.

I was afraid he was going to come down and attack me or something in the parking lot while I was loading up my bike (which I did in record time).

I am considering carrying a fixed blade knife (on my top tube) with me after this incident. Thoughts? Maybe under my top tube to avoid stabbing myself.


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

ynot89 said:


> ^ Is much more intense than mine...so now I feel lame. But none the less...
> 
> I was riding the Chubb trail in St. Louis by myself, as I often do. I was about 0.25 miles from the parking lot and going down a moderate grade hill. I look further ahead and about 30 feet or so in front of me was a man, covered head to toe in camo. Over his head he had a camo balaclava and orange tinted ski goggles, so I could literally see no skin.
> 
> ...


Airsoft maybe? Might have turned so you didin't panic at seeing his gun? (cause people often remove the orange tips and they can look pretty real!)

I have a fixed blade knife mounted upside down on the shoulder strap on my camelback. Funny, when the packs on snug it sits like it should, but when my pack hangs loose the knife will swing up in the air, looks like a tinnie tiny little ninja sword on my back!


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## PerfectZero (Jul 22, 2010)

I feel like I should be reading this thread at a campfire while roasting some marshmallows.


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## Mae7 (Feb 2, 2011)

lol some great stories. I'm glad that New Zealand isn't dodgey like the US and Mexico. 
No wild animals that can attack us either... well maybe a wild boar but thats unlikely. 

Only thing I was worried about for a couple of seconds was riding with my mate on a big long 4x4 track and seeing a hunter come out the of bushes with a rifle and dogs. We just rode past at a good paste.


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## Kasper (Feb 23, 2004)

Mae7 said:


> ...dodgey like the US and Mexico..


Me too - here in Denmark. Worst hostility I have encountered was an old grumpy man who told me I was ruining the trail. Wild animals? Forget about it 

Kasper


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## discombobulated_conundrum (Aug 2, 2008)

Mae7 said:


> lol some great stories. I'm glad that New Zealand isn't dodgey like the US and Mexico.
> No wild animals that can attack us either... well maybe a wild boar but thats unlikely.
> 
> .


Sure NZ has no "dodgey" humanoid or four legged creatures but if a weta smacks me in my face I'll be screaching like a little girl.


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## Mae7 (Feb 2, 2011)

discombobulated_conundrum said:


> Sure NZ has no "dodgey" humanoid or four legged creatures but if a weta smacks me in my face I'll be screaching like a little girl.


Haha I had one climb in my window one night while I was sleeping. I had one arm behind my pillow so my armpit was wide open. The weta decided it would be a cool idea to climb onto my armpit and bite me right in there  Man did that wake me up!
I ended up flinging it onto the ground with my bedsheets over it and smashing it under it in a panic attack!

2 years later I've only started to sleep with my windows open at nights again haha.


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## Fiskare (Sep 5, 2008)

I ride and I fish. This one comes from fishing, so maybe it's OT. I was scouting a section of river with world class nor cal trout. I ran into a young guy who appeared to be living in the tent located inside the tree line behind him. We chatted for a minute and I heard a noise behind me. I turned and saw a 250 lb., 6 ft. susanville or pelican bay grad (judging by the prison buff and tats) coming straight at me. I turned left and ran for most of a mile before he fell away. I then went into the river into deep water to be more safe because I was tapped. Then I tossed a few flies and thought about what just happened. No kidding. I have never been back to that part of the river. And I didn't make up any part of this.


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## taletotell (Mar 3, 2009)

removed


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

Mae7 said:


> Haha I had one climb in my window one night while I was sleeping. I had one arm behind my pillow so my armpit was wide open. The weta decided it would be a cool idea to climb onto my armpit and bite me right in there  Man did that wake me up!
> I ended up flinging it onto the ground with my bedsheets over it and smashing it under it in a panic attack!
> 
> 2 years later I've only started to sleep with my windows open at nights again haha.


I didn't know a "Weta" was a real thing, just thought it was a workshop where they made special effects for Peter Jackson movies...


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

Mae7 said:


> lol some great stories. I'm glad that New Zealand isn't dodgey like the US and Mexico.
> No wild animals that can attack us either... well maybe a wild boar but thats unlikely.
> 
> Only thing I was worried about for a couple of seconds was riding with my mate on a big long 4x4 track and seeing a hunter come out the of bushes with a rifle and dogs. We just rode past at a good paste.


That's us, "dodgey". But at least we don't try and _paste_ other people as we ride by, weird...


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## Mr. Blonde (May 18, 2008)

Bike related:

So me and some buddies were building FR stunts on this gully on the edge of a lake about 45 minutes out into the county (very rural.) The most immediate route to the spot was closed for a couple months due to road work. For those couple months we had to take a long route past on a parallel road then cut across and come back to the spot. The road that cut across was 8 miles long and right in the middle there were two 90 degree very blind turns right next to each other. Otherwise this road was straight. On the way out one afternoon I'm in the middle of the 90 degree turns and this woman in a big suv hauls @ss thru the turns, passing me in a big time no passing zone and almost takes me and an oncoming car out. I flip her off out the window and keep moving as she hauls @ss off. About 4 miles later I pass her at a gas station filling up. As I drive past she eyeballs me realllllll hard. So I go to the spot, build, ride, chill with the buds, etc. A little after dark (about 5 hours later) I get in the car and head home. I get past the 90 degree turns and all of a sudden a big ass lifted truck with a $hitload of lights pulls out a couple hundred yards behind me, flips all his lights on, and starts closing on my bumper with a quickness. I start driving faster only to quickly come upon an old tan Olds or something parked across the road with a man standing next to it pointing a shotgun down the road into my grill. I got right on top of him then dogged my truck (grand cherokee) thru a ditch right next to his front bumper and into some guy's yard then driveway. I drove up the driveway and into the backyard, catching a nice drift in the yard, then dogged it around the other side of the house and back to the front yard and driveway powersliding the whole way. When I get back to the driveway there's another guy in the yard, 5ft from my side window pointing a pistol at me. I dogged it thru the ditch around the other side of the car right as the truck pulls up. I never heard or saw a gunshot but one of them shot my driver's front tire. Either that or I hit some crucial $hit on my offroad expedition. Either way my tire is totally flat and I look in the rear view and see them hurrying to move the car and get after me. I drove over a hundred for about the next 10 miles on a COMPLETELY dead driver's front tire. I got a ways away and pulled WAY in the back of a neighborhood to change the tire. By the time I stopped the outer sidewall was 100% GONE. There was NOTHING there but threads hanging from the bead and tread. Moral: Just let $hit slide (especially in the south.)


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## rlb81 (Aug 18, 2008)

Mr. Blonde said:


> Moral: Just let $hit slide (especially in the south.)


Maybe more meth heads? That's a pretty crazy story. Sometimes I hate NJ because it's so overpopulated but then I stop to think that we really don't have these sorts of backwoods lunatics for the _most _part. We have plenty of ghettos, but luckily there's no single track nearby


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## goingblankagain (Jun 22, 2009)

Found this snowshoeing in Mass. a week ago. Saw a bunch of blood trails and eventually a deer spine and a leg or two. Must be coyotes, this winter was bad so the deer are probably weak. Took a bunch of pictures because I've never seen anything like this, nature is bada$$.


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## hardtailkid (Jan 25, 2010)

goingblankagain said:


> Found this snowshoeing in Mass. a week ago. Saw a bunch of blood trails and eventually a deer spine and a leg or two. Must be coyotes, this winter was bad so the deer are probably weak. Took a bunch of pictures because I've never seen anything like this, nature is bada$$.


My momma always told me "never eat the red snow."


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## bobdole (Mar 13, 2008)

tfraser said:


> Late afternoon a few years ago I was catching a quick ride in Granite Basin near Prescott, AZ. Was on a slight downhill and I was rolling pretty good. There was an upslope covered with manzanita to the left and was open and sloped down to my right. Suddenly there was a shadow on the left in my peripheral vision, and rustling in the brush. I felt something brush across my Camelbak and land in the loose rocks to the right. I pedaled like I had never pedaled before, and heard something clattering on the rocks that sounded like hooves. Never really saw it but figure I had startled a javelina. Pedaled so hard I broke a spoke. I was relieved it was not a cougar.


Dude, I had one in that same area, I went for an afternoon ride after work in the basin which ended up turning into an evening/night ride when I made a wrong turn and headed out towards the williamson valley TH instead of back to the lake. Riding mint wash in the late evening with no lights is pretty freaky let me tell you...I swore there was a mtn lion stalking me and I've never ridden that trail better than I did when I wanted to haul ass.


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

This thread is awesome!

I don't believe anyone is making any of this stuff up (except for one guy who had a boa in his wheel or something and admitted it was staged).

I ride solo most of the time. I've seen most every usual Ohio animal alive and dead, but I've never had any real problems. I even once bunny hopped a snapping turtle that had climbed out of the riverbed (it was a little one). I save the risky ride moves for group rides when my buddies can haul me out if I screw up too bad. In Ohio there aren't too many large carnivores, so we don't worry too much about them, but here's one story:

I was leading a less-experienced buddy on a ride. I finished a short climb and looked back down to see his progress. He had a flat tire right at the bottom so I sat down to watch him work, with a fantastic view of the early season woods just starting to get its green on. I could see pretty far as the foliage was quite thin and I see 2 large dogs maybe 100 yds. out running at full gait towards my buddy.:eekster: I yelled and he got his bike up in front of him, but it was excruciatingly suspenseful because we had seen the dogs so far away - while he waited, I deliberated whether I should go help him. By the time I had made up my mind, they had run right past him and were headed straight at me! A huge Irish Wolf Hound, and a really stout and strong looking Black Lab (hopefully trained pets). They didn't even slow coming up the hill and for a second I thought (more like wished) they'd just keep running right on by. No such luck. They both ran up on either side of me and I shook my bike at them and they were kinda dumbfounded at that. Then I yelled and told them to go home and they both got that expectant/questioning dog look like "are we supposed to do what _you_ say?"
Well, the lab ripped a giant tree root out of the ground and threw it down and I knew the game was on. These dogs were playing. I threw this massive piece of wood while these 2 dogs romped around and kept me entertained while my buddy got his flat changed. The wolf hound even jumped up like a pup and put his paws on my shoulders. Kinda cute, but I still almost crapped my pants as we were looking eye-to-eye (I'm 6'-3").

During bow hunting season I think I was the source of terror for one guy. I was sporting some really good full camos that matched the hardwood forest very well with gloves, face cover, everything. When I stood still I was nearly invisible. I happened to be hunting near the state forest MTB trail. As I hiked out to my spot a guy was climbing towards me - head down, suffering in earnest. I stepped aside to give him all the room he needed and just stood quietly. About 10 ft. away he finally noticed me and nearly fell off his bike. He played it cool, but I saw him flinch and swerve. At least _I_ laughed.

My scariest moment was getting caught ~5 miles out in the woods in a huge storm: Sep. 7, 2010 - I was on the trail at Findley SP when the storm hit. Wooooweeeeeeee!
When I embarked, I figured a little rain wouldn't hurt. Well, a little rain was NOT the problem. The flying branches and falling trees were the problem. I was scared to death! I took shelter near what I hoped was a solid old tree, but stuff was flying everywhere. Small branches were flying by, windborne. Medium sized branches were falling like javelins. I later found plenty of them stuck dead center of the trail along with tons of other debris. And I could hear larger timber crashing down somewhere in the midst of blinding rain. It took about 30 minutes for the storm front to blow through before things calmed down - me included. I can't imagine what a full-on tornado would be like.

Keep 'em coming!

-F


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

Dang, now you guys got me all thinking...

Last Summer a guy followed me into a vacant parking lot and asked "where the best hiking trails were" I directed him to the kiosk at the next parking lot - basically, I wanted him to go elsewhere. I could not ride as I was still recovering from a damaged collar bone - I could jog a little, though. He leaves. I start my hike, and he comes back after I'm out of sight, driving quickly, stopping quickly, and jumping out of his car and following me (my direction) down the trail (I do look around rather frequently - and not just 'cause you all put the fear in me  ). Well, I knew I was planning to go off trail so I let him start to catch up. But a few turns later, I made myself disappear. I circled around and watched him flounder around in the brush and sticker bushes. I could not think of any reason for him to follow me or even travel in the same direction that I was as I was bushwhacking to another trailhead to save a little daylight.
He looked very suspicious and I remember I recorded a description of him and his car in my cell phone. Still have it. I thought I was going to get tazed or something.

-F


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## LandSpeed (May 27, 2007)

Mr. Blonde said:


> Bike related:
> 
> So me and some buddies...


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## pahearn (Feb 17, 2006)

Fleas said:


> Dang, now you guys got me all thinking...
> 
> Last Summer a guy followed me into a vacant parking lot and asked "where the best hiking trails were" I directed him to the kiosk at the next parking lot - basically, I wanted him to go elsewhere. I could not ride as I was still recovering from a damaged collar bone - I could jog a little, though. He leaves. I start my hike, and he comes back after I'm out of sight, driving quickly, stopping quickly, and jumping out of his car and following me (my direction) down the trail (I do look around rather frequently - and not just 'cause you all put the fear in me  ). Well, I knew I was planning to go off trail so I let him start to catch up. But a few turns later, I made myself disappear. I circled around and watched him flounder around in the brush and sticker bushes. I could not think of any reason for him to follow me or even travel in the same direction that I was as I was bushwhacking to another trailhead to save a little daylight.
> He looked very suspicious and I remember I recorded a description of him and his car in my cell phone. Still have it. I thought I was going to get tazed or something.
> ...


Aren't you concerned he will attack/hurt/kill someone else? I don't understand why, with all of your concerns, you wouldn't have called the police. If people reported suspicious activity like this there would be a lot less attacks and murders of innocent people.


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## Cucucachu (Aug 19, 2003)

Wow, this thread has a lot of great stories! 

I do ride solo often, but its normally an after work ride. Its 5 miles from my front door to the local suburban single track for a 7 mile loop and then 5 miles on the road back to the house. There have been a few times I didn't complete the single track before dusk. Thats when the wild life starts messing with my head. I hear noises near the trail and some sound like big things. In reality the biggest animals in the park are small harmless deer and noisiest are the armadillos digging for bugs at the trail's edge.

One time while on a road trip with some friends we crested the top of the hill and it's all downhill back to the parking lot, when I think I see a black bear about 20 yards from the trail. I was immediately off the brakes and flying down the hill. After probably half a mile I slowed realizing I left my buds behind. Going though my mind while waiting for them was how my local trails mess with my head at dusk and that I probably didn't actually see a bear. When the guys caught up, the first thing they said was "Did you see that bear?!" They said when the bear saw me it turned and ran away and when they looked back at me, they saw me disappearing down the trail.


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

pahearn said:


> Aren't you concerned he will attack/hurt/kill someone else? I don't understand why, with all of your concerns, you wouldn't have called the police. If people reported suspicious activity like this there would be a lot less attacks and murders of innocent people.


I hear what you're saying. I had my phone in hand. But I have come across all sorts of strange people that turned out to be benign. Heck, I may be one of those type of people (strange but benign?). Once, when I was about 12, a guy threw a shoe at me. I took my Dad to find out what was up with the guy and it turned out to be a mentally challenged guy who just happened to be out without his family knowing it. The guy didn't even know what he was doing. At 12 y.o. I could understand that (not that I didn't think, in my 12 yo mind, the guy wouldn't somehow benefit from getting clocked upside the head with his own shoe). I'm really a live and let live person. I often explain away odd behavior to myself because I can put myself in their shoes, so to speak. That is, I can imagine a scenario that would explain said behavior. I very seldom reach the tragic/dangerous conclusion. But my comment (_"Dang..."_) was meant such that, at the time, I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt. But in hindsight, and after reading all this, your suggestion has more merit to me. Next time, I may be less tolerant of [perceived] strange behavior.

-F


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

goingblankagain said:


> Found this snowshoeing in Mass. a week ago. Saw a bunch of blood trails and eventually a deer spine and a leg or two. Must be coyotes, this winter was bad so the deer are probably weak. Took a bunch of pictures because I've never seen anything like this, nature is bada$$.


they never do both the blood trail AND the poop trail in the movies...


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## Scott O (Aug 5, 2004)

Oh, that last pic was brutal. The steak and cheese in my belly is now rumbling a bit more in my belly.


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## palmerlaker (Oct 13, 2004)

The weirdest and scarest thing for me riding: Wife, son (6 yrs old) an me riding in Mueller St Park late Sept one year. We're on a open easy hilltop trail and he's out in front of us 25 yrds or so on his little kids bike 2 wheeler. I see a fast running movement to my left and see a huge bull elk running full bore from the side toward my son. We start shouting and trying to speed up, he didn't hear us and the elk didn't change direction and ends up running maybe 5 yrds right behind him. Finally he stops and we ask him if he saw the elk, never saw it...... That 5 secs of action in front of me was like a bad movie in slow motion.....I get numb now just thinking about it.


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## b-kul (Sep 20, 2009)

this jackwagon took a pee like 20 yards right in front of me...


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## Nenbran (Dec 7, 2010)

b-kul said:


> this jackwagon took a pee like 20 yards right in front of me...


:thumbsup:


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## taletotell (Mar 3, 2009)

b-kul said:


> this jackwagon took a pee like 20 yards right in front of me...


That thread is spreading! Ahhhhhhhhh!


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

On the other hand, isn't it funny when you "think" your alone. So you go ahead and take a pee off to the side but not really that far off the trail, and then somebody pops out of nowhere...


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## b-kul (Sep 20, 2009)

stiingya said:


> On the other hand, isn't it funny when you "think" your alone. So you go ahead and take a pee off to the side but not really that far off the trail, and then somebody pops out of nowhere...


yeah, but that picture of yours sure is something.


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

b-kul said:


> yeah, but that picture of yours sure is something.


Photo credit goes to goingblankagain :thumbsup:

Agree that pic is something!


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## skullcap (Nov 4, 2010)

stiingya said:


> On the other hand, isn't it funny when you "think" your alone. So you go ahead and take a pee off to the side but not really that far off the trail, and then somebody pops out of nowhere...


That's considerably less funny (at the time) but considerably more funny (later) when it's an entire Boy Scout troop  .


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## dirtyjack (Jan 22, 2010)

skullcap said:


> That's considerably less funny (at the time) but considerably more funny (later) when it's an entire Boy Scout troop  .


Reminds me of a time back in college in VT - we were skinny-dipping in the Brewster River in Jeffersonsonville and had climbed up to some of the higher potholes. When we came back down, we had to jump down into the last swimming hole, which was now filled with a family including 3 young girls. Kinda embarrassing for 3 naked college kids to come splashing down into their little afternoon swim. They were cool about it though.


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

LOL Tales of "naked" terror on the trails...


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## skullcap (Nov 4, 2010)

Isn't funny how the things that were traumatic (even if only a little) make the best stories later?


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## DogpawSlim (Dec 12, 2010)

stiingya said:


> On the other hand, isn't it funny when you "think" your alone. So you go ahead and take a pee off to the side but not really that far off the trail, and then somebody pops out of nowhere...


I was hiking along a fire road at night once, started peeing right off the trail. I said to my friend "good thing there's nobody here to see me peeing on the side of the trail." Right then, someone coming the other direction shines a flashlight on me. I started walking, while peeing, pretending I wasn't peeing. I ended up getting pee all over my shorts.

Lesson learned; if you're peeing, and someone pops out of nowhere, just keep peeing, don't try to play it off.


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## Cedar Branch Biker (Jul 28, 2010)

Went riding late this evening, startled 6 deer that went charging across the trail right in front of me. When they ran through the creek, it sounded like the Marines were landing. NC used to have a lot of moonshiners back in the woods, had be careful not to startle them, they were usually pretty laid-back. Now we got dope growers, not as friendly, they like AK's.


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## taletotell (Mar 3, 2009)

Makes you miss moonshiners.


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## Blueliner (Apr 5, 2010)

Last summer one my commute home from work I encountered a guy who I believe was a vagrant (hobo, homeless etc) on the trail. This trail goes through a vacant wooded area in my town, the nearest house is at least 300m away. He was sitting on the opposite peir of the flood control weir which spans this small creek. At this point on the trail you have to dismount, shoulder your bike and make the easy jump across the gap (where the excess water flows through), When I got closer I could see he had matted greasy hair, and a bedraggled look he was not a happy friendly looking type, he was stocky and muscular, he appeared to be washing his socks in the gap where the water was flowing. He was also partially in my way, and he would not move even after I began walking accross the opposite peir readying to jump. I did so anyway and shimmied past him to the start of the trail about 3-5m away from from where he was sitting. I began to mount up and clip in all with my back to him, at this point I realized that I was very vulnerable I began to have weird chills and broke out in a cold sweat... there was no one else around, I stood on it and took off in a race start. When I think about that encounter It gives me the creeps,

Lesson learned;Maybe the guy was harmless, but next time this happens I am walking quickly (after fording!) away further and then mounting up, never with my back to anyone, and keeping the bike between him and me. He could have wacked me, dragged me into to the bushes..game over. Pepper spray, a knife or a small club don't seem like a bad idea to carry, If you look like you are alert and will be too much work to take down, maybe the would be assailant will change his mind. 

Stay safe
Blueliner


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## wv_bob (Sep 12, 2005)

There's no mention in your tale, but you said something to the guy, right? Like Hey, Hi, Whatsup, or something? If not, I think that makes you the creepy guy, not him. 

I do agree with not turning your back on someone like you did, but I apply that rule to pretty much anyone, not just guys down on their luck that probably just want to be left alone.


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## Blueliner (Apr 5, 2010)

wv_bob........."There's no mention in your tale, but you said something to the guy, right? Like Hey, Hi, Whatsup, or something? If not, I think that makes you the creepy guy, not him"

Well possibly...I usually politely acknowledge those I meet , but I can't honestly recall if I said anything or not.........but I have in the past I have ran into random people (like in a bar or at a party) that a real bad conversation that deteriorated quickly got started with a simple excuse me or hello....could open a pandora's box as well....but yeah a polite acknowledgement is probably a better idea in such a situation. (which I probably did anyway)

Thanks
Blueliner


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## 2m2hs (Mar 20, 2011)

Worked for 3 summers during college as a backpack guide in Montana. On the weekends the guides would all go Mountain Biking. One Saturday I'm hauling down some singletrack not far from Red Lodge and I come around a corner and am suddenly 20 feet from a very large brown animal. Now, being backpack guides we had extensive training on how to handle wild animals but most of our training revolved around Grizzlies...but I guess instincts took over b/c I quickly clipped out and dismounted and began sprinting back up the trail to warn my buddies (and just about $*** my pants). I even carried my bike with me (yes, carried). Turned out to be a cow and calf moose drinking from a stream. Definitely don't want to mess with a cow moose especially with a calf involved. Fortunately I think I scared them more than they scared me and they took off pretty quick. Took a bit for the heartrate to come back down...


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## greasemeat (Oct 23, 2009)

*God Help Us*

One fine summer day back in high school, I managed to talk my friend into going for a ride deep into an unknown network of trails on the outskirts of town. I knew it used to be an illegal playground for motos back in the day, then the area flooded badly and was leveed/sealed up by the Army Corps of Engineers & forgotten about. So, we began the long aimless ride, enjoying the weather & following the reedy meanderings of a dried out riverbed for a few miles, passing under the quintessential "scary underpass" full of gang signs, trash & bulletholes that every town seems to have at its border... later, passing a burned out car... I remember at one point glancing nervously at an abandoned Blair Witch house looming over us from up on the riverbank... until eventually the dirt turned to gravel, then to mud, then a wide 4 inch-deep expanse of brackish water that strangely never got deeper... it seemed the area was completely void of life, not a bird or bug to be seen... just sun & silence. We continued for a while, at one point riding by some matted stinking dead-looking thing on the grassy shore but were too weirded out to investigate.. Later we came upon these big, creepy mining quarry ruins, red with rust & menacing, making us feel like we were trespassing... rustling, dried-out thistle bushes & cattail plants taller than us began to wall us in & screw with our sense of direction. The shadows got longer & darker over the water & I began to wonder if it was poisonous. The mood was extremely odd, feeling completely alone & yet if my buddy said he felt watched I would have agreed... the area had a definite effect & we hadn't spoken for ages.

It was at this point we spotted a little clutch of poplars up on the far bank, so we rode over, climbed up & wouldn't you know it, they formed a natural little shelter, the treetops closing over together above, forming a shady hidey hole. We agreed that if any satan worshippers lived in the area, this would be their meeting place. There was a little circle of stones & a burned up porno mag, a junkie's needle, dirty broken bottles of Mad Dog 20/20 and half a chewed up mattress, where we assumed the raping occurred. After a pleasant lunch of early-90's Powerbars with the afternoon sun setting, we prepared to head back when we heard a distant rumbling and froze. I was convinced it was a '42 Ford truck full of hilljacks come for our sweet virgin @sses but when broseph looked thru the trees on the far side, he said "check it out!" in an amused tone that almost put me at ease.

Picture an ancient, sun-leathered, half-asleep farmer, hunched forward on his antique tractor, puttering along in the dust, tilling a huge field that went on & on to the horizon. Before I could even utter "oh", my friend the genius had already picked up a large dirt clod/rock & hurled it in a horrifying, slow-motion arc headed right for the poor sodbuster's head. Thankfully it didn't hit the farmer but it dropped directly in front of him, coming straight down onto the hood of that tractor, with a WHAMMM!! that echoed off the hillsides like an m80. I was completely speechless & my friend let out an "Ohhh, $hit!!" when the guy jumped in his seat & looked around, then straight at us and yelled HEY!, followed by what sounded like muttered cursing as he reached around in this big metal toolbox type thing mounted behind him, and wouldn't you know it out comes a rifle.

Needless to say I was out of there so fast I don't even remember the ride back other than the crack of the gunshot and the sensation of being sprayed with water on my 40mph flight out of there. When I finally met up with my friend again he was super pissed that I had ditched him but hey, wtf was he thinking?

The funny thing is, I had earlier been mocking my other friend who had ridden around in the general area before when he told about some old farmer that packs rock salt in his shotgun. I said there was no way it would work, it would backfire & jam and you're full of it etc etc...

As for the rock hurler, he is now a fine upstanding local member of the PD.


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

greasemeat said:


> One fine summer day back in high school, I managed to talk my friend into going for a ride deep into an unknown network of trails on the outskirts of town. I knew it used to be an illegal playground for motos back in the day, then the area flooded badly and was leveed/sealed up by the Army Corps of Engineers & forgotten about. So, we began the long aimless ride, enjoying the weather & following the reedy meanderings of a dried out riverbed for a few miles, passing under the quintessential "scary underpass" full of gang signs, trash & bulletholes that every town seems to have at its border... later, passing a burned out car... I remember at one point glancing nervously at an abandoned Blair Witch house looming over us from up on the riverbank... until eventually the dirt turned to gravel, then to mud, then a wide 4 inch-deep expanse of brackish water that strangely never got deeper... it seemed the area was completely void of life, not a bird or bug to be seen... just sun & silence. We continued for a while, at one point riding by some matted stinking dead-looking thing on the grassy shore but were too weirded out to investigate.. Later we came upon these big, creepy mining quarry ruins, red with rust & menacing, making us feel like we were trespassing... rustling, dried-out thistle bushes & cattail plants taller than us began to wall us in & screw with our sense of direction. The shadows got longer & darker over the water & I began to wonder if it was poisonous. The mood was extremely odd, feeling completely alone & yet if my buddy said he felt watched I would have agreed... the area had a definite effect & we hadn't spoken for ages.
> 
> It was at this point we spotted a little clutch of poplars up on the far bank, so we rode over, climbed up & wouldn't you know it, they formed a natural little shelter, the treetops closing over together above, forming a shady hidey hole. We agreed that if any satan worshippers lived in the area, this would be their meeting place. There was a little circle of stones & a burned up porno mag, a junkie's needle, dirty broken bottles of Mad Dog 20/20 and half a chewed up mattress, where we assumed the raping occurred. After a pleasant lunch of early-90's Powerbars with the afternoon sun setting, we prepared to head back when we heard a distant rumbling and froze. I was convinced it was a '42 Ford truck full of hilljacks come for our sweet virgin @sses but when broseph looked thru the trees on the far side, he said "check it out!" in an amused tone that almost put me at ease.
> 
> ...


Nice story, but why would your 'friend' hurl a clod at the farmer? Sounds like a really dumb thing to do, and he would deserve anything he got.


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## tjchad (Aug 15, 2009)

ppppppppppppppp


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## greasemeat (Oct 23, 2009)

rockerc said:


> Nice story, but why would your 'friend' hurl a clod at the farmer? Sounds like a really dumb thing to do, and he would deserve anything he got.


Yep I agree, he could've killed that guy & I always felt betrayed by that random act. I'm sure he was surprised at his own accuracy & was shocked when it actually hit, but man, why even pick it up. No idea what was running thru his mind... kind of why I didn't wait up for him, hearing that gunshot was crazy, I was mad and figured F him let him deal w/ it... very strange day all around


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## bentcog (Aug 13, 2010)

It is funny how the human mind takes a simple scenario and blows it out of proportion. Great stories everyone. Keep them up!


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## TTTURNER (May 13, 2009)

That feeling of being watched is way worse than all of the snakes in SoCal and the bears in Tahoe that I have run across. I was coming down the Ramona Trail near Idyllwild through some heavy brush and I heard a rumbling in the brush on the ridge right above me that seemed to be moving along with me. I stopped for a second and it stopped. As I started up, it started again. I hauled butt down the last section of trail. It must have been a mountain lion.


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## Nenbran (Dec 7, 2010)

bentcog said:


> It is funny how the human mind takes a simple scenario and blows it out of proportion. Great stories everyone. Keep them up!


So true. Makes my wonder sometimes...about more than just biking stories.


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## Fiskare (Sep 5, 2008)

Another from fishing, but in Whiskeytown National park, so I say it qualifies. A buddy came to visit, a fisherman and not an MTBer. We were working the edge of a hole on the opposite side of Clear Creak, below the Need Camp, and just a ways lower than Guardian Rock. Just as I was assuring my pal that we would not have any problems with bears (because they really do 'usually' run the other way), and medium size fella comes straight down the opposite canyon wall, dives into the river, and swims straight at us. We went as fast as we could up our side, our poles, bags, and my golden retriever and all. The bear followed us so we took off cross country toward our truck. And that was the end of it. The WT biologist said that they were aware of the bear and that the bear had learned to associate people with food from the outdoor camp located nearby. So that is the single and only time a bear has acted aggressively toward me. I bet the bear weighed a lot more than I and he was way tougher so I was a bit freaked. My dog didn't have a problem at all and seemed to resent the mad dash up the wall. He kept looking at me like he was saying, 'but dad, things are just getting fun'.


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## Kranky1 (Mar 22, 2011)

All mine are animal related, wild and otherwise. I do 90% of my rides alone. I was on one such ride in the foothills surrouonding moorpark CA climbing a gradual fire road with a lot of deep powdery dust/sand, so kinda of a slog. I looked up and about 50 feet in front of me a mountain lion cub followed by the mother crossed the trail. I froze. The cub kept going across the trail but the mother stopped and squared off staring directly at me. I was literally paralyzed with fear. I was too close to make an escape, she'd have been on me before I could turn my bike around, so I just sat there not really knowing how to act. I didn't want to lock stares with her cause I thought that might provoke her. It all turned out ok, she decided I wasn't threat or a meal and ambled off after a few seconds (read lifetime).
Another time I was on a different part of the same network of trails, alone, and small mountain lion came out of the weeds about 30 feet in front of me. A dead squirrel in its mouth. It got on the trail and headed the same direction I was traveling, then made an abrupt turn off to the other side of the trail and off into the weeds. It never looked at me at all. I could swear it really did not see me, though that seems unlikely.
Same trails (Happy Camp) I was solo again, started climbing a fairly step hill and heard a clattering noise like branches rustling together. I looked down into a little clearing and there was a small herd of mule dear, with two males locking antlers. Not scary at all, but pretty cool!!
This one scared the ships out of me. Me and a buddy are riding along, he's trailing me by about 30 feet or so. We drop down into a small gulley and as I start to climb the other side I just barely hear my friend yelling. I turned around to see two horses fully saddled with bridles but no riders charging toward me at full gate. They had that wild look in their eyes that horses get. I barely had time to dismount and jump to the side of the trail as they galloped past. I know that if I had not turned around when I did I would have been trampled. These horse were out of their minds. Turned out that at the bottom of the gulley a guy and his girlfriend were off to the side of the trail resting their horses in a little clearing that we couldn't see, and as we rode past it spooked the horses. Unreal. The horses ran for almost a mile before they stopped. I always wonder what could have been that day.


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## hardtailkid (Jan 25, 2010)

Kranky1 said:


> All mine are animal related, wild and otherwise. I do 90% of my rides alone. I was on one such ride in the foothills surrouonding moorpark CA climbing a gradual fire road with a lot of deep powdery dust/sand, so kinda of a slog. I looked up and about 50 feet in front of me a mountain lion cub followed by the mother crossed the trail. I froze. The cub kept going across the trail but the mother stopped and squared off staring directly at me. I was literally paralyzed with fear. I was too close to make an escape, she'd have been on me before I could turn my bike around, so I just sat there not really knowing how to act. I didn't want to lock stares with her cause I thought that might provoke her. It all turned out ok, she decided I wasn't threat or a meal and ambled off after a few seconds (read lifetime).
> Another time I was on a different part of the *same network of trails*, alone, and small mountain lion came out of the weeds about 30 feet in front of me. A dead squirrel in its mouth. It got on the trail and headed the same direction I was traveling, then made an abrupt turn off to the other side of the trail and off into the weeds. It never looked at me at all. I could swear it really did not see me, though that seems unlikely.
> *Same trails* (Happy Camp) I was solo again, started climbing a fairly step hill and heard a clattering noise like branches rustling together. I looked down into a little clearing and there was a small herd of mule dear, with two males locking antlers. Not scary at all, but pretty cool!!
> This one scared the ships out of me. Me and a buddy are riding along, he's trailing me by about 30 feet or so. We drop down into a small gulley and as I start to climb the other side I just barely hear my friend yelling. I turned around to see two horses fully saddled with bridles but no riders charging toward me at full gate. They had that wild look in their eyes that horses get. I barely had time to dismount and jump to the side of the trail as they galloped past. I know that if I had not turned around when I did I would have been trampled. These horse were out of their minds. Turned out that at the bottom of the gulley a guy and his girlfriend were off to the side of the trail resting their horses in a little clearing that we couldn't see, and as we rode past it spooked the horses. Unreal. The horses ran for almost a mile before they stopped. I always wonder what could have been that day.


I'd find some new trails.


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## Mellow Yellow (Sep 5, 2003)

*My two stories...*

Many years ago while riding the Victor Falls trails in Orting, WA (entire 80 acres trail system gone due to development) we came upon the freshly half eaten remains of a mule-deer. I'd never seen anything like that before. Made is aware that we were not alone in the woods at all!

A few years ago, while DH'ing at Whistler; my friends and I were sitting on the chair lift on our way up for another run. We suddenly starting hearing a car horn going off. At first, we didn't think anything of it but then we realized that we were way to far up to mountain to still be able to hear cars. Turns out to be the horn of the Jeep of one of the rangers who is trying to scare a momma black bear and her two cubs off the trails! What's worst, coming around from a blind corner comes this rider flying down the hill. He stops about 30 yards away from the mother and her cubs once he's able to see what's transpiring. We had been yelling from the chair lift but with his full face helmet he probably couldn't hear us. He jumped off the bike, and started running back uphill while holding on to his bike. I think the mother bear didn't chase him because she was more concerned with her cubs being chased by a Jeep.

To have a bird's eye view of all of this unfolding was spectacular.


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## photodog (Jun 2, 2008)

Mellow Yellow said:


> A few years ago, while DH'ing at Whistler; my friends and I were sitting on the chair lift on our way up for another run. We suddenly starting hearing a car horn going off. At first, we didn't think anything of it but then we realized that we were way to far up to mountain to still be able to hear cars. Turns out to be the horn of the Jeep of one of the rangers who is trying to scare a momma black bear and her two cubs off the trails! What's worst, coming around from a blind corner comes this rider flying down the hill. He stops about 30 yards away from the mother and her cubs once he's able to see what's transpiring. We had been yelling from the chair lift but with his full face helmet he probably couldn't hear us. He jumped off the bike, and started running back uphill while holding on to his bike. I think the mother bear didn't chase him because she was more concerned with her cubs being chased by a Jeep.
> 
> To have a bird's eye view of all of this unfolding was spectacular.


I turned that near "U" turn on A-line right under the chair, heard yelling and realized that it wasn't a new tree stump just inside the apex but a bear. I've worked around bears plenty but that was closer than I care to be!


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## tim208 (Apr 23, 2010)

rutkiller said:


> Anyone ever have similar problems? Maybe an injury in the middle of the woods with nobody around? Maybe a bum living in the woods? Hunters? Ghosts? haha...


why would running into hunters alone in the woods scare you?


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## Kranky1 (Mar 22, 2011)

This one is percieved terror followed by much hilarity. A friend and I were riding yesterday and we were both listening to tunes. All of the sudden I here a vicious sounding, loud dog bark. It sounds like he's right next to me on my right, but I don't see him. I jump on the pedals hard, I yell out and veer to the left almost hitting my friend. About two seconds later we're both laughing so hard we're cryin'.
It seems the mp3 player that I borrowed from my friend had a song that starts with a very loud dog bark.................:madman:


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## SparxFlyer (Dec 29, 2010)

Kranky1 said:


> It seems the mp3 player that I borrowed from my friend had a song that starts with a very loud dog bark.................:madman:


Bet the song was "Been Caught Stealin' " by Jane's Addiction!

Great tune and great funny story!


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## photodog (Jun 2, 2008)

It's been so long I had forgotten about this one. 

This is '90 or '91 (I was in Jr. High) and we had just made a turn up a trail we didn't know well in a popular state park. I was in the back of the group as we crossed a bridge and headed up a narrow trail. After about 10 minutes I'm probably a minute behind and I hear a bunch of yelling up ahead then my friends are headed by me as fast as they can with one guy with some blood coming out of his nose and a look of terror on his face. They are screaming at me to get out of there "GO GO GO GO!" I freak and head down as fast as I can not having any idea what's going on.

Turns out some hiker didn't say a word and just punched the lead of our group flat out with no warning. He then squared off with a big hiking stick still not saying a word. The 3 of us were 11-13 years old at the time, what a tough guy! We later found out that though the trail was not marked as off limits, all trails above a certain point were for hiking only so we figured it was some crazy militant hiker.


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

I was out on my bike on a day off on one of my tours, and I was out on the snowmobile trails up on Marquette Mountain in Michigan. I did not have a map with me, which was impossible to get in the time I had, and I was just following my nose using the old 'general direction' principle. At a certain point I figured I needed to head north to get back around the mountain, and so I took a small trail split which headed in the right direction. I dropped down into a heavily wooded canyon, which grew tighter and tighter as I went down, until it eventually petered out. I stopped and poked around looking for any continuation, and saw no way forward. Just at that moment, I spooked a deer or something in the brush, and that shook me some. Then I turned around to head back up, and the leaves and mud on the steep trail meant I started pushing the bike up for a bit. As I gave a big push on it up the slope, I heard a loud whirring/rattling sound by my feet, and being a Brit with no dangerous reptiles at home, I almost lost me lunch and jumped about 4 feet in the air thinking it was a rattler. When I started to breathe again, I noticed that the 'snake' was following me as I tried to run the bike up the hill. When I looked down in a panic, it was just a small branch stuck in the frame, rubbing against the spokes... I did feel stupid...


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## taletotell (Mar 3, 2009)

SparxFlyer said:


> Bet the song was "Been Caught Stealin' " by Jane's Addiction!
> 
> Great tune and great funny story!


I had the exact same thought!:thumbsup:


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## Kranky1 (Mar 22, 2011)

Actually it was a Ty Tabor song (lead guit. King's X). Its similar as far as barking. Love Jane's and Porno for Pyros. Good stuff!!


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)

Awesome stories man! Time to revive the thread... Anyone have a new one?


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## hardtailkid (Jan 25, 2010)

juancho142 said:


> Awesome stories man! Time to revive the thread... Anyone have a new one?


I saw a widdle bobcat on my ride to work a couple weeks ago. I just made a ton of racket and hauled ass up the trail, after it disappeared in the bushes next to a short but steep section. That's the extent of my trail horror stories :lol:


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## A1an (Jun 3, 2007)

Not really a tale of terror...more like just an odd frequency of the same story at the same park.

Maybe six months ago I ran over a squirrel on an evening trail ride. It darted out from the side of the trail as I was passing by and my rear tire ran it over. He/she ran up a tree and seemed fairly pissed off at me. 

A few weeks ago at the same park on another evening trail ride I come upon one in the middle of the trail after coming around a corner. He/she decided to run away from me in the same direction I was traveling instead of darting left or right. I tried to slow to avoid but I clipped its tail and ran it over with both tires. It was laying in the middle of the trail. Picked it up to move it and he/she seemed stunned. Not sure if it lived but somewhat ran back in the woods without full function of its legs.

Since this last one a few weeks ago I've had no less than 5 near misses with squirrels at the same park. WTF.


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## GrampasShop (May 21, 2011)

LOL at some of these stories. I could have a real blast with some of you. I call predators (coyotes, bobcats) and that dieing rabbit sound is the one I use the most. Get all camoed up and set that remote operated call out there 100 yards or so and let it rip when someone comes along and yes they shift into overdrive. 

The most spooked I have ever been was 2 years ago. Had gone into some public hunting ground and had sat up to call. I had been there for maybe 15 minutes when this fog rolls in, very thick fog. I was right at 1/4 mile away from the pickup, but it might as well have been 100 miles, you could only see maybe 10 yards at the most. Now I was out in a section (1 mile square area of farmland) of knee high grass, no trails, no landmarks that you could see. I just sat back and waited for about 45 min and then the fog lifted almost as fast as it rolled in. 

A couple of years ago I went up around Gunnison, CO over Thanksgiving weekend to call. Wife stayed at home, but she was all worried about what I could call in up there in the big hills. I kinda laughed that one off, but it does kinda make you a little bit nervous. You are the hunted when you are calling and not everything just comes running in. On the very last stand I made, I was going out to pickup my call and walk back to the pickup when I looked down. In the dirt close to the call was the print of a big kitty (mountain lion) from whenever it had rained last.


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)

Not really in danger but a spooky feeling:
Around February i was with some friend at a beach house spending a couple of days. This place we were is about 3 or 4 miles from the nearest populated town and has some pretty awesome trails: lots of valleys made of clay and limestone, the place itself it´s beautiful but it has a weird vibe:










Anyway, we were alone with this friend all afternoon at this place ridin´ around and it was getting kinda late, we had to meet some friends at the beach, so we decided to get out of there and go to the beach. The thing is that this place has large interconnected clay valleys separated by forest. To go back we could either ride back to the road by where we had entered or we had the idea to cut through the woods.
In that area there are not many animals to be aware of, some snakes, racoons, wild boars, feral dogs and such, no cougars or big cats. We tried to cut through the woods and as we moved forward it started to get really thick to the point we couldn´t keep on going and we kinda got lost. Suddenly where we are there is not a single sound, no wind, no birds, nothing. I felt like a really weird atmosfere, a feeling something is off. So I tell my friend we gotta get out of there. Moved back to the valley and back to the road.
I remember the feeling, like something was wrong, like i shouldn´t be there, kinda like feeling something watching us and the absolute loneliness of that place... it just felt weird.


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## Norm28 (Jun 15, 2011)

nothing happen yet but just in case.....








nice and small, fits anywhere. i would carry the M4 but its a little to big


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## aph72 (Jun 28, 2006)

It was the middle of summer and was a hot day, probably in the 90's. I hadn't eaten properly before my ride and my bike only had 1 bottle mount and I didn't own a camelbak at the time. I figured I would ride an out-and-back trail until my bottle was half gone then turn around and head back, leaving me something to drink the whole ride. Well I was feeling good an having a lot of fun so I thought the heck with it, I'll ride some more. After being without any water for probably an hour, I got back to my car. As I dismounted and walked across the parking lot, I started seeing spots and had a high-pitch squeeling in my ears. My legs got real weak and I thought I was going to pass out. I managed to unlock my door and turn on the AC full blast. After recovering for a few minutes, I drove to the nearest gas station, bought a bottle of gatoraid and a granola bar. That was a scary feeling.
I rode some cross country ski trails for the first time and was getting absolutey assualted by biting black flies. Since I was unfamiliar with the trails, I was stopping at maps posted here and there to figure out the fastest way away from the flies and back to my car. They were biting my butt right through my lycra shorts. At one point, I looked over my shoulder and could see a cloud of the flies chasing me. It reminded my of those old Looney Tunes cartoons where the bees form an arrow and sting Wile E. Coyote or Yosemite Sam. I rode so fast back to the parking lot, I could have won a gold medal. I loaded my bike in my car and sped off forgetting my helmet and gloves on the roof.
When I was about 14, I went on a youth group canoe trip the Boundary Waters in MN. I was bush-wacking my way solo through the woods and came upon a big boulder with a downed tree in front of it. I stepped on the log to get a boost to climb over the boulder. My foot went right through the rotten log and it had a bee's nest inside of it. I think I got stung 15-16 times and ran like hell through raw forest with no actual trail. The rest of the youth group had stunned looks on their faces when I came sprinting into the camping site. I was lucky to not be allergic to bee stings because we were a long way from getting any help.
I was riding a trail that I wasn't familiar with. There was a bit of a down hill spot long enough to get some good speed. It then went uphill shortly before taking a pretty sharp left turn. I came into the turn too hot and was sliding both the front and rear tires. I had visions of getting knocked silly by the big mature trees lining the trail. Getting close to the edge of the trail, I hooked up and shot off like Luke Skywalker on a speeder bike. I was grinning ear to ear from the adreneline rush and the relief of not hurting myself. Taking a second lap, I braked enough to take the turn at a slower speed. Coming around the corner, a female rider had biffed it right into the trees and was lying on the ground injured. There were already at least 6 people attending to her, so I continued on my way thinking they didn't need another looky-loo hanging around and "helping". Seeing her hurt like that got me a little freaked out, since I had just had a close call maybe 30 minutes earlier.


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## FNG RIDER (Apr 2, 2011)

I was climbing up Westridge on my weekly loop, I had a late start and the sun was burning thru. I was beginning to suffer from the heat when I passed a young girl hiking up the trail. I was in my heading trying not to look like I was suffering when I saw out of my periphery a thin brown blur. It strook my left foot. I was hit by a rattler, I thought, as I had seen a couple on the trail before. It scared the crap out of me and almost fell of the bike! When I looked back it was gone. Hmm couldn't have been a rattler. Later, I saw these brown lizards leap into the air as I passed close to them. 

My mind was playing tricks with me.


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## appalachia (Jun 4, 2011)

i was riding up in the Verdugos one day and on the descent i came around a turn. Standing in the center of the trail seemed to be a shirtless jesus with his face painted white. I had a good head of steam up and the look on his face made me realize i may have surprised him as much as he surprised me. I just made my direction and the fact that i wasn't slowing down evident and passed him by without a word. A couple turns down I stopped and kind of reflected on what I had just seen. I had no idea what that was. I told a couple guys about it at the local shop and they had seen him as well sans the white face paint. I've come across several campgrounds on the fireroads up there but never anything to be to unnerved about. He was quite strange looking and i have ridden that trail numerous times since then but have had no further contact. 
Times are tough. People are getting weirder. Ride armed but not overly paranoid. Just be smart and pay attention to your senses. They'll rarely fail you.


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

GrampasShop said:


> LOL at some of these stories. I could have a real blast with some of you. I call predators (coyotes, bobcats) and that dieing rabbit sound is the one I use the most. Get all camoed up and set that remote operated call out there 100 yards or so and let it rip when someone comes along and yes they shift into overdrive.
> 
> The most spooked I have ever been was 2 years ago. Had gone into some public hunting ground and had sat up to call. I had been there for maybe 15 minutes when this fog rolls in, very thick fog. I was right at 1/4 mile away from the pickup, but it might as well have been 100 miles, you could only see maybe 10 yards at the most. Now I was out in a section (1 mile square area of farmland) of knee high grass, no trails, no landmarks that you could see. I just sat back and waited for about 45 min and then the fog lifted almost as fast as it rolled in.
> 
> A couple of years ago I went up around Gunnison, CO over Thanksgiving weekend to call. Wife stayed at home, but she was all worried about what I could call in up there in the big hills. I kinda laughed that one off, but it does kinda make you a little bit nervous. You are the hunted when you are calling and not everything just comes running in. On the very last stand I made, I was going out to pickup my call and walk back to the pickup when I looked down. In the dirt close to the call was the print of a big kitty (mountain lion) from whenever it had rained last.


I don't get all this... you don't sound like you've got all your marbles old bean! Actually, I think YOU might be the creepy guy out there...


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

appalachia said:


> . Ride armed but not overly paranoid. Just be smart and pay attention to your senses. They'll rarely fail you.


Is this like saying, trust your senses, shoot first and ask questions later? Sounds like excellent advice to me... People ARE getting weirder...


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## sweetRDR (Feb 28, 2004)

*These stories are AWESOME!!!! but here's mine....*

I loved reading all these stories - but here's two of mine......

First - I used to live in Las Cruces, NM - kind of north east part of town - I'm sure the trails I'll be talking about are gone now with houses. Anyway - this was like 20 years ago - I got my first MTB for the desert and I had a great mixed shepherd dog - never used a leash on her cause she just hung with me and avoided people and dogs... Anyway - she would stay on the sidewalk while I rode in the street about a mile to the desert, then she'd get in front and just trot/run while I rode.... Anyway - it was a hot july day (after work - but way hot) and we were in our desert loop, she in front and having a fun time. Suddenly as she was running, it was like she was hit with something - she swerved, like being hit with a 2x4 - I was like "wha?" then it hit me - smell of death... you know it when you smell it - there was something dead out there - her ears went down and she slowed. It was rather stinky and freaky - suddenly we came along entrails - and a few feet more a dead bobcat near the trail. I figured it had been hit by a motorcycle or something as the trails we were on were sometimes frequented by them too.... we left the area shortly and my dog finally perked her ears up...

Second - non MTB related - my brother and I were backpacking in central colorado (Near Salida kind of) and we pitched our tent up high in a pass near a 4WD road - about 11,500 feet or so.... (we were in our early 20s) BEAUTIFUL spot - it appeared that the boy scouts had used the spot as they had dug out the rain drainage ditch deal and it was underneath a downed tree. Anyway - it became late and we hit the sack. Around two in the morning we heard large footsteps and breathing near the tent - then a "Whoopah, whoopah, whoopah" type sound real close. I mean 3 feet close! sounded like sticks being rubbed together, but right next to the tent. we were freaking out - I got the flashlight, and S-L-O-W-L-Y unzipped the tent to get a look...... I poked the flashlight out two inches and then got real close to the tent door - flipped it on and there was this *HUGE* brown eyeball not 5 inches from the tent! Of course we screamed like girls and the "thing" ran away a few feet.... I shined my light on it to see what it was and it was a large elk with half a rack and he'd come up within 3 feet or so to some tree roots - and then rub the rack against it (the whoopah whoopah sound) - I guess we had camped on his bed! then he would come close and we'd yell at him and he'd take off a few feet, then rub his antlers on the root then come close again. this went on for a half hour or so till he figured out we weren't leaving soon.... It is funny now, but until we figured out what it was - scared the $%%^&&^%$ out of us!


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## GrampasShop (May 21, 2011)

rockerc said:


> I don't get all this... you don't sound like you've got all your marbles old bean! Actually, I think YOU might be the creepy guy out there...


LOL, Just saying people are very curious by nature. I have had 2 times when I was out calling for coyotes and am well hid in the available cover. When that call starts making that dieing rabbit sound, people think they need to find it.. One of these time was while I was on the dry riverbed not to far away from town, so it kind of made sense for someone to be there. Anyway, I let them look for the call for a while then I said something. We both got a heck of a laugh out of it.


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## appalachia (Jun 4, 2011)

rockerc said:


> Is this like saying, trust your senses, shoot first and ask questions later? Sounds like excellent advice to me... People ARE getting weirder...


I would say choose flight over fight if at all possible. The legal ramifications are much easier to deal with. I don't ride with a gun. Just a boot knife on my pack strap. I don't think anyone would have the time to get to a gun and fire accurately when posed with a hostile situation. Especially one buried deep inside a camelbak. "Hold on a sec Mr. Hostile while I unclip, dismount and rummage for my firearm. one sec, one sec OK." I suppose a shoulder holster would remedy that but thats just a little much for me to imagine doing. I'll take my chances and rely on a blade if it comes to that. I may regret it but I'm not going to live in fear on every ride.


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## Nenbran (Dec 7, 2010)

sweetRDR said:


> I loved reading all these stories - but here's two of mine......
> 
> First - I used to live in Las Cruces, NM - kind of north east part of town - I'm sure the trails I'll be talking about are gone now with houses. Anyway - this was like 20 years ago - I got my first MTB for the desert and I had a great mixed shepherd dog - never used a leash on her cause she just hung with me and avoided people and dogs... Anyway - she would stay on the sidewalk while I rode in the street about a mile to the desert, then she'd get in front and just trot/run while I rode.... Anyway - it was a hot july day (after work - but way hot) and we were in our desert loop, she in front and having a fun time. Suddenly as she was running, it was like she was hit with something - she swerved, like being hit with a 2x4 - I was like "wha?" then it hit me - smell of death... you know it when you smell it - there was something dead out there - her ears went down and she slowed. It was rather stinky and freaky - suddenly we came along entrails - and a few feet more a dead bobcat near the trail. I figured it had been hit by a motorcycle or something as the trails we were on were sometimes frequented by them too.... we left the area shortly and my dog finally perked her ears up...


I'm a native Crucen. I've yet to come across anything dead while on the bike, but over the years of hiking, exploring and other various desert activities, I've seen more dead animals than I can count...never seen a bobcat though.


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## Adam_B. (Apr 7, 2011)

I posted this in another thread but I think it goes with the terror thread as well.

After highschool I had a summer job as a wildland firefighter for the Washington state DNR. One day we responded to a lightning strike fire way out in the middle of nowhere and we had to hike to it. Where we stopped on the side of the forest road to start hiking there was a trail that we followed for about two miles that looked like it would be a pretty cool trail to ride. I came back to the trail the next weekend I rode about 8 miles out and figured that was far enough and was going to turn around when I came across a spot wide enough too since I wasn't really able to at that spot because I was on the side of a really steep hill with a creek on one side and a steep bank on the other. I rode about another half mile and the terrain opened up to a field with an old homestead from way back in the day (I'm guessing 1800s). There was an old log cabin and a root cellar. I thought it was pretty cool so went to check it out. I checked out the root cellar first and too my suprise it was loaded with a bunch of modern stuff, chemicals and pipes and the like. I went to the cabin next and there was a friggin meth lab in there. It scared the hell out of me because I knew if the owner had happened upon me snooping around I would probably be dead so I jumped on my bike and hauled a$$ out of there. The whole way back to the road I was freaking out and it occured to me exactly why the trail was so well worn yet not on any of our maps. When I got back to town I reported it to the sheriff's office and they were actually able to set up a sting and catch the operator of the lab.


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## Adam_B. (Apr 7, 2011)

*non bike related*

On new years day in 2003 2 friends and I went snowmobiling at a snow park about 25 miles from town. It was a pretty cool place with a ton of trails for cross country skiing and snowmobiling and was very remote.

We were about 15 miles from the trailhead when my snowmobile had a pretty catastrophic failure. I went off a small jump and landed awkward with the right ski hitting the ground first. The force of the landing broke the ski almost off the snowmobile folding it out to the side. We got the snowmobile turned around but it was unridable since the front end just buried itself in the snow when I tried to drive.

After some thought we decided that we could kind of splint it off the good ski by tieing the front and back of it to the good ski. 2 straps under the snowmobile and 2 over the top. The only problem was we only had a short strap with us in case one of the machines got stuck. However there were some ratchet straps down at the truck that we used to tie the snowmobiles to the trailer so my buddy decided he would ride down and grab them. For some reason my other friend decided he would ride down with him. I don't know why but I really didn't want to leave my snowmobile abandoned out there so I decided to sit there and wait. Bad decision.:nono:

They took off down the mountain and I made myself comfortable on the snowmobile thinking that I would be there for only about an hour. 2 hours later still no sign of them and the weather was starting to get bad. The wind was blowing like crazy and the temp had dropped drastically. The wind was kicking my ass and I was freezing so I made a little indention into the bank and put some pine bows down and hunkered down to stay out of the wind. While I was sitting there apperently I was really comfortable and I actually fell asleep (also hungover and sleep deprived from the night before).

I woke up in a panic and noticed that it had gotten considerably darker. I checked my watch and it had now been almost 4 hours since they left. I got really worried. Not just about them but about the fact that if something did happen to them I had my choice of a 15 mile hike down the mountain in deep snow or to stay there overnight. I decided I had better start walking.

I had been walking maybe 15 minutes and I started to get this really wierd vibe that something was watching me.:skep: I stopped and looked around, really straining hard to see through the trees. As I turn to look out to the other side of the trail I see it. There's a damn mountain lion crouched down in the brush about 25 meters off the trail stairing right at me.:eekster: I was so scared I wanted to run away but I knew that was definately the wrong thing to do. So I stood my ground and raised my hands in the air and tried to yell. At first I was so overcome by fear I couldn't find my voice. I managed to let out a GET!! **** YOU DUDE!!!! Right then I heard the most amazing sound ever...snowmobiles coming up the trail. Apparently the cat heard it too because it stood up and sauntered off glancing back at me several times before it dissapeared in the woods.

As my friends rounded the corner I see that they are both on one snowmobile. It turns out that on the way back up the mountain one had broken down and they were unable to get it started. I didn't tell them about the mountain lion because I figured it had been scared off and I didn't want to freak them out. We went back to my snowmobile and rigged it up and started dragging it down the mountain. We made pretty good time since the only issue now was that mine couldn't steer and would occasionally veer off the trail and get buried. When we got to the other broken snowmobile we made one last ditch effort to get it started. While doing this the pull start rope actually boke off:madman: That machine was F'ed so we dragged my snowmobile to the trailhead, ditched it and went back to retrieve the other one.

We hooked up to the other snowmobile and started trying to drag it but with not much luck. Since it couldn't propel itself like mine could it was just dead weight. After fighting with it for several hours we managed to get it back to where my snowmobile was at. Then a decision had to be made. Someone had stay behind while the other 2 went to get the truck. The truck was 3-4 miles from the trailhead because my buddy didn't want to drive back into there on the unplowed road with a trailer. Since the only running snowmobile belonged to one friend and the truck belonged to the other the decision was made. I didn't want to stay but it just wasn't gonna work out riding that far with 3 people stacked on one snowmobile. It was hard enough doing it earlier for only a few hundred yards let alone 3-4 miles.

They set off for the truck and I sat there clutching the spotlight my friend had grabbed from the truck when he got the straps. I was scared shitless. Constantly scanning through the trees with the light. After about 10 minutes my nerves started to calm down and my scanning had slowed as I had become more comfortable. By this time it was nearly 2am and I was completely exhausted so I decided I was gonna lay down on the snowmobile seat and just relax. But before I laid back I scanned the trees one more time with the light. As I'm passing the light along I see the reflection of some eyes off to right of me.:eekster: I train the light on the eyes but I can't see any form of an animal. As I'm sitting there staring at these eyes I'm thinking there is no damn way that cat stalked us all this way. Then I had an idea. I got off the snowmobile and set the light on the seat keeping it pointed at the eyes. I turned on the ignition and gave the pull start a good yank and the snowmobile fired up. I hopped on the seat and pinned the throttle and the machine lurched forward and buried itself in the snow. I pointed the light where the eyes had been and they were gone.

For the next 20 minutes I sat there reving the engine and scanning the trees. My buddies pulled up in the truck and jumped out looking excited as hell. "Dude you should have seen it!!" one of them says. "What?" I say. "The biggest F***ing cougar I've ever seen ran across the road right in front of the truck!" he says.

We loaded the snowmobiles on the trailer and I told them about both of my encounters. I was so ready to get off that damn mountain.


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## Adam_B. (Apr 7, 2011)

*Ok one more*

This is also non bike related. Sorry.

When I was younger my family would go camping pretty regularly during the summer. Most of the time to ensure we got one of the good spots my dad would take the camp trailer out a couple days before we would go and set up camp. We had some friends that lived fairly close to where we camped so they would come by the campsite and make sure no one had messed with anything.

We got out there Friday night after my parents got off work and my brother and I grabbed the keys to the camper and rushed over to it to get our fishing poles out. When we got to the door I put the key in and turned it but realized the door was already unlocked I opened the door and stepped inside and my brother stepped in behind me. Then my brother says, "ummmm Adam...." Right when he says that this old creepy looking dude with big beard sits up in the bunk right in front of us.:eekster: We turned and booked it and told my Dad. He passed us off to our Mom and she ushered us into the truck and locked the doors. My Dad dealt with the old man and actually scared him enough that he had him sit on his hands on a stump while we waited for the cops to show up.

It turned out that the old guy had been living that way for some time now. Breaking into peoples cabins or campers and staying for a few days before moving onto the next cabin or camper. I was only like 7 years old when this happened and it scared me enough that I never went to get anything out of the camper whether it was at home or not before my Dad had already checked it out.


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## tarheelrider007 (Jun 29, 2011)

These stories are great. Been a long time lurker and thought I'd share my own tale of terror:

This one goes way back to my earliest days of mountain biking. I had just made my first major purchase in life which also happened to be my first real mountain bike: a Diamondback Sorrento. Anyone remember those? Spent a Summer mowing lawns and babysitting kids in order to get it. I LOVED that ride. I mean I really really loved it. Any excuse for a ride and I was gone. 

Anyway, I lived about 20 miles from a decent sized man made lake called Jordan Lake and used to take my dog swimming there on weekends to cool off during the Summer. Matter of fact I used to swim across parts of the lake with her following faithfully behind me. Well one day I decided rather than drive my dog down I'd ride my new bike down and just go for a swim by myself. Bad idea.

It might be time to note that about a month earlier while walking with my dog down to the lake I noticed some "official" looking man with two cages walking up the path down from the spot I usual start my swim from. Didn't really think much of it at the time other than that it must be somebody from Fish and Wildlife or whatever trying to trap fox or raccoon or something. Bad assumption, not to mention entirely wrong!!!

So anyway, I ride to the lake, stash my bike off in a little hiding spot to make sure it doesn't get stolen while I'm out swimming and decide I'm going for one of my longer swims across a wide section of the lake. At this point I realize I forgot my goggles but decide I'll just do without and keep my eyes closed most of the time. After all, its a HUGE lake and the only worry I have is being run over by a boat. 

So I'm out almost dead center in the middle of Jordan Lake swimming freestyle not really looking around that much accept to check for boats occasionally when all of a sudden out of nowhere I get hit by something huge. My first reaction as I'm being mauled is that I'm being attacked by some wild animal. It feels like I've been hit by Mike Tyson and scratched by razor blades at the same time. I thrash around still unable to see **** and take in some water and start coughing. I'm still being beaten to hell at this point and I still can't see anything as I've got lake water stinging my eyes and I'm cringing to avoid losing an eye to whatever is attacking me. My second reaction is that it can't be an animal as I'm in the middle of the lake and I panic thinking I've been hit by a jet ski or a small boat and been sliced and diced by a propeller. I still can't see ****.

So all of a sudden everything stops. At the same moment I get my vision back and I'm still panicked because I'm alone out in the middle of the lake thinking I've just been nailed by a boat or jet ski. I look at my hands and I see long scratches running all the way down my arms from my shoulders to hands. At this point the pain sets in and I realize I've been cut all over by back, all over the back of my head, my face, down my chest and down both my arms. My head and face are bleeding like crazy and my back is stinging badly. I begin to wonder if I might pass out or something from blood loss before I can swim back to shore and get another adrenaline spike. At this point I was like, "fuk it WAS a damn jet ski, probably some drunk little **** out having a blast and not paying attention" and fear is replaced by anger. I start turning around and realize there is NOTHING anywhere near me and I didn't hear the jet ski or any other boat in the minutes leading up to being hit. Only a few seconds have passed since the "attack" stopped. I'm the only person as far as I can see in any direction and all is quite. I THINK I hear some splashing and flapping at one point but when I turn to scan the surface there is nothing there.

So I begin to think rationally and try to assess what possibly could have happened to me. This takes about 10 seconds and I finally conclude that I have no idea what the hell just happened but I need to start swimming to shore before I pass out. I swim slowly at first with my head on a swivel looking out for whatever hit me to come back. After awhile I begin to get more worried about getting to shore quickly enough and start swimming freestyle again and trying to balance pace with speed.

I swim for about ten minutes when all of a sudden, WHAM, I get hit again. Something is beating the side of my head and scratching the SH1T out of my back. I scream and shout and flail my arms around blindly. I'm SUPER PISSED at this point because I can't see AGAIN (momentarily blinded by lake water in my eyes). After about 5 seconds the attack stops just as quickly as it started. I can FINALLY see again. I'm bleeding like crazy now and AGAIN I twirl around in a circle and there is NOTHING anywhere around. Not a DARN THING. 

So I'm treading water probably about a thousand yards from shore cursing like a sailor, bleeding like a stuck pig and really starting to wonder if I'm gonna make it. At this point I'm trying to get my head as high up out of the water as possible and just treading water turning as quickly as possible in circles trying to see anything at all when, suddenly, from UNDER THE WATER out pops what looks like a big white goose!!!

First three words out of my mouth: "WTF". 

All of a sudden whats been happening hits me like a ton of bricks and I CANNOT believe it. Some pathetic overgrown goose has been dive-bombing me (from the first impact it felt like it, literally, nailed my kamikaze style at full dive speed), scratching and pecking the sh1t out of me and then swimming underwater after the attack only to pop up out of range and fly off. 

So I start laughing like crazy for......maybe 10 seconds........then I get raging bull pissed and start screaming at it...."come over here so I can grab you and drown your ass" but not so politely. 

To my chagrin the duck/goose does EXACTLY what I have been screaming for it to do. It starts swimming right at me. I go from raging pissed and talking macho about how I'm gonna grab it by the neck, pull it under water and then drown it if it would just come a little closer to "oh Fuuuuukkk this is gonna hurt" in about 2 seconds. 

So the duck/goose mutant bird thing is coming at me and just before it gets to me I go completely calm and all fear just evaporates. I stick my hand underwater and just at it gets to my face I reach up grab it by the neck and start shaking the living daylights out of it. I don't even know if it was scratching my arm at this point. Probably was. Either way, I bring it in right up to my face and have a little face to face with this goose as I'm throttling the hell out of. I don't even know what I shouted but, for whatever reason, I let it go and it swam off. To this day I don't know why or what impulse made me do that. I can tell you that I FULLY intended to grab it around the neck throttle it and then drown it ounce I got hold of it but for whatever reason I brought it right up to my face, shook the hell out of it while gripping it as hard as I could, went eyeball to eyeball and just shouted at it for a few seconds and probably made some guttural growling noises. 

Anyway, it swan away after that and I turned back towards shore. Never saw it again.


Come to find out later that the official I saw before and been released two of the bastards as part of some relocation program because they had been attacking people. Apparently they are territorial. 

Never did find out exactly what species it was. It was damn big and damn aggressive I can tell you that. 

Anyway, I still have the scars today and my old diamondback is now rusting away under the porch. Even though I've moved on to much better (and much more expensive) bikes I still miss the old diamondback and can't bring myself to throw it away even though its well beyond fixing up. I had more adventures on that bike than all my bikes since combined.


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)

mtbnoobadam said:


> On new years day in 2003 2 friends and I went snowmobiling at a snow park about 25 miles from town. It was a pretty cool place with a ton of trails for cross country skiing and snowmobiling and was very remote.
> 
> We were about 15 miles from the trailhead when my snowmobile had a pretty catastrophic failure. I went off a small jump and landed awkward with the right ski hitting the ground first. The force of the landing broke the ski almost off the snowmobile folding it out to the side. We got the snowmobile turned around but it was unridable since the front end just buried itself in the snow when I tried to drive.
> 
> ...


Awesome story dude... You could make a horror movie out of it:skep:
Oh.. and the one w/the methlab... SICK!


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## photodog (Jun 2, 2008)

tarheelrider007 said:


> Never did find out exactly what species it was. It was damn big and damn aggressive I can tell you that.


Best story yet!


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## Zombie John (Jun 17, 2011)

mtbnoobadam said:


> I posted this in another thread but I think it goes with the terror thread as well.
> 
> After highschool I had a summer job as a wildland firefighter for the Washington state DNR. One day we responded to a lightning strike fire way out in the middle of nowhere and we had to hike to it. Where we stopped on the side of the forest road to start hiking there was a trail that we followed for about two miles that looked like it would be a pretty cool trail to ride. I came back to the trail the next weekend I rode about 8 miles out and figured that was far enough and was going to turn around when I came across a spot wide enough too since I wasn't really able to at that spot because I was on the side of a really steep hill with a creek on one side and a steep bank on the other. I rode about another half mile and the terrain opened up to a field with an old homestead from way back in the day (I'm guessing 1800s). There was an old log cabin and a root cellar. I thought it was pretty cool so went to check it out. I checked out the root cellar first and too my suprise it was loaded with a bunch of modern stuff, chemicals and pipes and the like. I went to the cabin next and there was a friggin meth lab in there. It scared the hell out of me because I knew if the owner had happened upon me snooping around I would probably be dead so I jumped on my bike and hauled a$$ out of there. The whole way back to the road I was freaking out and it occured to me exactly why the trail was so well worn yet not on any of our maps. When I got back to town I reported it to the sheriff's office and they were actually able to set up a sting and catch the operator of the lab.


I ride a lot of fireroads and four wheeler trails and my biggest fear is coming up on someone's methlab/drug stash or even worse, an actual drug deal.

This isn't exactly a story but we had a guy from my town disappear about six years ago. They found his motorcycle on one of those logging roads a few miles from my house. A couple of years later, they found his remains some 200 or so yards from the bike, off in the woods.

It was always rumored that it was either a drug deal gone bad or at least a drug-related murder.

So I always have that in the back of my mind while riding out there. And really, I think about it anytime I'm out in the woods. Drug dealers use those remote trails that we so love to explore.

Good to hear that they got those bastards.

EDIT TO ADD:

One place I used to ride alot (on my four wheeler) is an old railroad tram that runs behind my parents' house. One day I cut down a really narrow, thin trail to see what was out there. It got so dense that I had to stop and turn around. While doing so, I got a bad case of the willies. I was thinking about that guy and how his motorcycle had been found not far from there. My hairs stood up and I got really nervous. I made it back out of that trail and hauled ass home.

Today, after typing this post, I decided to research that guy's case a little more. It seems that it was ruled as an "unsolved homicide." And even though they found the guy's motorcycle miles away from my area, the body had actually been found in a dense area somewhere along that railroad tram where I was riding.

For all I know, that day I got creeped out, I may have been right where they found him.

I'm not going out there again.


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## Echo2 (Jul 21, 2010)

> Originally Posted by tarheelrider007
> Never did find out exactly what species it was. It was damn big and damn aggressive I can tell you that.


That was worth reading. Congrats on your first post!


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## tjeepdrv (Aug 14, 2008)

The only two things that "got him high in life were Jesus and Trans/Ams." He didn't mention the sink full of needles they found in his bathroom.


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## Zombie John (Jun 17, 2011)

tarheelrider007 said:


> Anyway, it *swan* away after that and I turned back towards shore. Never saw it again.


Funniest and most appropriate typo I've ever seen.


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## rotten1 (Jun 25, 2007)

tarheelrider007 said:


> At this point the pain sets in and I realize I've been cut all over by back, all over the back of my head, my face, down my chest and down both my arms..


Sorry to laugh at your pain, but in retrospect, his story is rather funny. My first thought reading this was that you were being attacked by a Pike...


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## Guerdonian (Sep 4, 2008)

Back in college my buddy and I would often do night rides up in the sandia mountains in New Mexico.

This particular ride was on a “new moon” so it was pitch black in the woods in the middle of nowhere (otero canyon for those familure with the area). On the drive up we were playing the “what if” spook your buddy game, trying to psyche each other out prior to the ride, spurred by a recent idiot putting fishing line across trails and injuring cyclists. Upon arrival the parking lot is empty, and other than a bit of road noise at the beginning, it is stark quite. 11 miles of quality trail in the dark we come to the turn around spot. We park up for the mid ride snack, and kill the lights to save battery life. While listening to eachouthers granola munching, we hear a rustling noise. As we both had already managed to spook eachother prior to the ride we were on full alert, and I could feel my ears stretching to take in the night noises. A few minutes later another noise confirms that a creature is looming nearby stalking us; salivating over our skinny lean mnt biker bodies. Thoroughly spooked but trying not to let the other guy see it we “casually” walk to our bikes and turn on the lamps and point them in the general direction of the rustling. Two large red eyes are gleaming back at us in the dark. Immediately we both think “WHAT THE F#(& HAS RED EYESHINE, cougars are silver, coyotes are gold/yellow, bears are amber, WHAT IN HELL IS RED!” Chipicabras, aliens, grizzly bears, zombies, start flying through my brain. A few seconds pass, and I hear in a faint whisper “we should probably go” Awoken out of my mental state, we hop on our bikes and fly down the mountain. Every stop for breath is met with an imaginary rustling in the woods. After arriving at the truck we literally chucked our several thousand dollar bikes in the bed and sped off.

Sooo, after some laughter, and “dude you were scared, you pansy” man talk to cover our actual thoughts of nearly being eaten, we return home and consult google for our mystery creature: A jackrabbit. All I can say is the combination of pre-ride spooking, feeding off of the other persons psyche, no moonlight, and a poor judgment of distance in the dark, made two beady little red eyes with a fluffy owner look like large portals to hell encased by a devil creature. 

One of my favorite mountain biking stories.


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## 29ftw (Apr 28, 2010)

rotten1 said:


> Sorry to laugh at your pain, but in retrospect, his story is rather funny. My first thought reading this was that you were being attacked by a Pike...


Awesome story. My brother has caught some big catfish in Jordan lake so I was thinking big fish too.. Freakin geese can be nasty..


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## the-one1 (Aug 2, 2008)

tarheelrider007 said:


> These stories are great. Been a long time lurker and thought I'd share my own tale of terror:..........................
> Anyway, I still have the scars today and my old diamondback is now rusting away under the porch. Even though I've moved on to much better (and much more expensive) bikes I still miss the old diamondback and can't bring myself to throw it away even though its well beyond fixing up. I had more adventures on that bike than all my bikes since combined.


:lol:

That was a rather....funny....story actually. Glad you got out of it, but I bet that anyone who you told this story to laughs at it. 
I picture a boy in the middle of a lake being attacked by a goose.


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## rotten1 (Jun 25, 2007)

Guerdonian said:


> "WHAT THE F#(& HAS RED EYESHINE, cougars are silver, coyotes are gold/yellow, bears are amber, WHAT IN HELL IS RED!" Chipicabras, *aliens*, grizzly bears, zombies, start flying through my brain.
> One of my favorite mountain biking stories.


Well, to ease your mind, aliens don't/won't actually eat you. It's a known fact that they will merely give you posterior a good probing. Then they erase it from your memory, so you have nothing to worry about.:drumroll:


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## Pooch (Apr 6, 2011)

I haven't yet had that much of a scare while riding but I did have one when I was out hunting. 
I live in So Cal right now but own land in Michigan that I still hunt. I grew up in these woods and know them better than my living room. A couple years ago I was deer hunting and was walking out to my hunting stand in the early morning, while it was still really dark. When I was almost at the stand, I heard the most blood curdling scream ever. I have heard rabbits scream when they are caught by another animal and they are scary but they have nothing on this sound. I mean even the best werewolf movies out of Hollywood pale in comparison to the sound I was hearing. The sound froze me in my tracks and I was sure I would meet up with some half-animal creature that only wanted to eat me while I was still alive and warm. I looked down at my rifle and realized that while it is a very powerful gun, I never load it until I reach my stand and day starts to break, so in essence I have a high price stick in my hands. When I reach my stand, which was a ladder stand, I climbed it like a squirrel and quickly pulled my rifle up all the while continuing to hear the screaming sound. I did chamber a round in the rifle although my better sense told me that the bullet wasn’t silver so it would only piss off the creature.
When it started to get lighter out, I could see what was making the sound. A coyote was standing on the other side of a small swamp that was in front of me (in Michigan when I was growing up, they were really rare and this was the first one I’ve seen on my property). I scoped him to get a close look of him and could almost see him laugh at seeing how fast he could get me to climb a tree. I watched him for quite a while until he wandered off. 
Whenever I’m on my property now I still expect that hear that sound and pucker up again.


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## 53119 (Nov 7, 2008)

local trail night ride which used to run along a bayou and an active railroad that sits literrally 30yrds or so just outside the tree line will get interesting. Hobos wandering into the trail to relieve or bath scares the **** outta ya. The trail is dense and vine hung in spots so when your lights peek thru lots of interesting shadows are happening. Pretty freaky to see a naked person holding a knife and a soup can in the middle of a switchback with no run-outs or alternate lines. The trail snakes tight and has quite a few quick narrow steeps that need your momentum to clear the next rise so you have to trust and let go on the line.

It _used to be_ a fun trail @ night for us. The trail is shut down now.


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## tacobob1982 (Sep 7, 2009)

*why*



appalachia said:


> I would say choose flight over fight if at all possible. The legal ramifications are much easier to deal with. I don't ride with a gun. Just a boot knife on my pack strap. I don't think anyone would have the time to get to a gun and fire accurately when posed with a hostile situation. Especially one buried deep inside a camelbak. "Hold on a sec Mr. Hostile while I unclip, dismount and rummage for my firearm. one sec, one sec OK." I suppose a shoulder holster would remedy that but thats just a little much for me to imagine doing. I'll take my chances and rely on a blade if it comes to that. I may regret it but I'm not going to live in fear on every ride.


___________________________________________________________________

Then carry the gun on a holster, mace can only spray so far and a knife is useless against an armed person, i can access my firearm very quickly by pulling it from my holster on my belt, my gun is lite and i cant notice it is there. If your scared of guns then i understand. If you are worried about criticism, most people are interested in what i am carrying and just ask questions. Your right you my not live forever but why not make it one more ride


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## appalachia (Jun 4, 2011)

tacobob1982 said:


> ___________________________________________________________________
> 
> Then carry the gun on a holster, mace can only spray so far and a knife is useless against an armed person, i can access my firearm very quickly by pulling it from my holster on my belt, my gun is lite and i cant notice it is there. If your scared of guns then i understand. If you are worried about criticism, most people are interested in what i am carrying and just ask questions. Your right you my not live forever but why not make it one more ride


I have a couple dozen firearms. I'm more afraid of cars on the road than I am of guns. I've never had a reason to pull my blade in self defense in over 20 years of riding. I carry a gun on overnight hikes and camping but thats about it. What kind do you ride with? 
I think it depends what said person is armed with and how effective they are with it as to whether or not a knife is useless. I'm pretty handy with mine but I know its limitations. I'm out there to ride. I'm not worried about what I may face. I respect whatever a person has to do to stay safe.


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## Zombie John (Jun 17, 2011)

appalachia said:


> I have a couple dozen firearms. I'm more afraid of cars on the road than I am of guns. I've never had a reason to pull my blade in self defense in over 20 years of riding. I carry a gun on overnight hikes and camping but thats about it. What kind do you ride with?
> I think it depends what said person is armed with and how effective they are with it as to whether or not a knife is useless. I'm pretty handy with mine but I know its limitations. I'm out there to ride. I'm not worried about what I may face. I respect whatever a person has to do to stay safe.


I carry a S&W J-Frame revolver. I think it weighs 13-14 ounces. I use an "inside the waistband" holster and carry it in the small of my back. It rides just fine.

Sure I worry that I may wreck and that it'll go off, but the chances are actually pretty slim. It's a hammerless double-action and the holster guards the trigger.

The story I posted earlier shows that the chances that I would need it might be greater than the chances that it would actually go off.

Honestly though, a gun is my absolute last resort. I'd give up my bike, wallet, anything before I actually pulled it. I'd have to see a gun first.

PS - I'm not arguing that you or anyone else should carry. Just stating that I do. I've heard too many stories like the methlab-cabin in the woods not to.


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## jmike1487 (May 18, 2010)

keep em coming!!!! these are making work go by so much faster!!


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## tacobob1982 (Sep 7, 2009)

I carry a 41mag Taurus 5 round revolver, i also carry mace for the wildlife i would hate to have to shoot a mama bear defending just trying to defend her cubs. By no means do i disrespect your opinion to not carry a side arm and by no means do i want to shoot a person ethier but there are those out there that would take advantage of those by themselves. Have nice time riding and may you never have to use your knife and me my revolver.


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## Guerdonian (Sep 4, 2008)

Thought of another short one. Out mountain biking in NM with my dad when i was a teenager up in the sandia mountains. We were on one of the higher elevation trails close to tree line (top of the trees near head level), when a monsoon storm comes rolling in with a vengeance. We were probably 20 minutes in either direction from getting back into taller trees. We try to make a run for it but about 5 minutes go by and we both feel the hair on our necks rising. At this point my dad says "ditch the bikes we need to get lower" We lose the bikes and start hopping down off trail to lose elevation as quickly as possible. After we get back to a taller wooded area (no we didn't sit under a tree) we proceeded to get dumped on with rain, and hear "point blank" lightning strikes hitting all around us. Half an hour later, the storm moves on and we hike back to our bikes. 

Had the spooky "hair raising" feeling before, but this was literally a Hair Raising experience.


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## FNG RIDER (Apr 2, 2011)

@guerdonian
Seems to be safer on the bikes then running on the ground under trees? aluminum and rubber don't conduct electricity, notwithstanding the water from the rain. I'm glad you survived! That is unless you have steel or carbon bikes! although the tires would still insulalte you. hopefully. 

I was also caught under a huge thunder storm up in the Big Thompson Canyon in Colorado. Big ass lightening strikes all around us. We were back packing when it swoop in on us in a huge deluge. we were in the deep forest but set up a shelter very quickly. luckily we did not get hit. later we learned that many people perished when a huge flash flood came down the Big Thompson and swept away campgrounds. We didn't think much of it at the time. probably because we were still young and dum.


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## jmike1487 (May 18, 2010)

reading this thread is giving me the creeps from riding in the woods alone!

here is my not so scary story but i will never forget the fear that i had that night!
Ok so I was biking/camping the C&O canal 185.5 miles from Cumberland MD. to Washingtion D.C. a few years ago with two of my good friends.
The first night went without a hitch. The second night we were camping outside of Paw Paw W.V. and we were sitting around talking about bears in the woods . decided to call it a early night since we had a lot of ground to cover the next day. 15 mins came and went and I was still awake listening to music on my ipod and all of a sudden I heard some rustling outside of my tent. I figured it was one of them messing with me so I yelled cut it out.. the noise got louder and I grabbed my Marine issue K-Bar and yelled if they didn’t stop I would stab them if they opened my tent! At this point it continued to happen and my friends were woken up from the same noise and me yelling.. we all came out of our tents at the same time with weapons in hand and there was nothing there.. looked around saw black bear tracks. It was apparently trying to get the bear bag we hung in the tree.. None of us could fall back to sleep so we packed up and rode till the sun came up and passed back out.. We woke up a few hours later and pressed forward and finally rolled in Paw Paw W.V. went to the only gas station in town and some of the local hill billys we asking us if we were alone and which way we were heading on the trail.. without any hesatiaion I was like yea we are going north. They then preceded to tell us of black bear attacks on bikers! Needles to say we put 60 miles between us and that town GOING SOUTH!


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## dstaks (May 10, 2011)

tarheelrider007 said:


> These stories are great. Been a long time lurker and thought I'd share my own tale of terror:
> 
> This one goes way back to my earliest days of mountain biking. I had just made my first major purchase in life which also happened to be my first real mountain bike: a Diamondback Sorrento. Anyone remember those? Spent a Summer mowing lawns and babysitting kids in order to get it. I LOVED that ride. I mean I really really loved it. Any excuse for a ride and I was gone.
> 
> ...


That was the funniest thing I have read lol....great job in writing it! More importantly glad your ok and never heard anything like that before :eekster:


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)

Please keep ´em comin´ guys!


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

FNG RIDER said:


> @guerdonian
> Seems to be safer on the bikes then running on the ground under trees? aluminum and rubber don't conduct electricity, notwithstanding the water from the rain. I'm glad you survived! That is unless you have steel or carbon bikes! although the tires would still insulalte you. hopefully.


1st - WHAT?? Aluminum doesn't conduct electricity?? Where the hell did you pick that up - ALU is a VERY good conductor. What do you think high-voltage powerlines are made out of? :skep:
2nd - Lightning travels thousands of feet to reach whatever it hits - you think it 'cares' about 2" of rubber? ut:


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## interlude27 (Aug 18, 2008)

sweet thread. havent been able to read em all yet, but yeah. I'm always just worried about bums on the trails that I frequent. Theres a section of it that goes right alongside a graveyard that is pretty sketchy, and you can tell that bums frequent the area by all the booze bottles. I always just carry a blade in my pack and clip it to my pocket when I'm in that area. Oh, and the deer here are ridiculous. 



 I was trying to get down that path and the damn thing just kept coming closer and closer stamping its feet and ****.


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## thatwhichisnt (Jul 27, 2011)

mtbnoobadam said:


> I posted this in another thread but I think it goes with the terror thread as well.
> 
> After highschool I had a summer job as a wildland firefighter for the Washington state DNR. One day we responded to a lightning strike fire way out in the middle of nowhere and we had to hike to it. Where we stopped on the side of the forest road to start hiking there was a trail that we followed for about two miles that looked like it would be a pretty cool trail to ride. I came back to the trail the next weekend I rode about 8 miles out and figured that was far enough and was going to turn around when I came across a spot wide enough too since I wasn't really able to at that spot because I was on the side of a really steep hill with a creek on one side and a steep bank on the other. I rode about another half mile and the terrain opened up to a field with an old homestead from way back in the day (I'm guessing 1800s). There was an old log cabin and a root cellar. I thought it was pretty cool so went to check it out. I checked out the root cellar first and too my suprise it was loaded with a bunch of modern stuff, *chemicals and pipes *and the like. I went to the cabin next and there was a friggin meth lab in there. It scared the hell out of me because I knew if the owner had happened upon me snooping around I would probably be dead so I jumped on my bike and hauled a$$ out of there. The whole way back to the road I was freaking out and it occured to me exactly why the trail was so well worn yet not on any of our maps. When I got back to town I reported it to the sheriff's office and they were actually able to set up a sting and catch the operator of the lab.


If I saw a old cabin with Chemicals and Pipes, and I wasnt CC, I would be out of there.


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

The only scary story that I have happened 3 or 4 years ago. I live in oakville which is one of the richest towns in canada but has a really high child kidnapping and molestation problem. I was out riding with a friend around his place near 16 mile creek and when we exited the trail i was really thirsty so we headed to this building that I'm pretty sure was a church. Anyways, I asked if they had a fountain that we could use, and this old guy looked at this friend and said he had water in his car... he started to walk us to it and I whispered to my friend something like "im not getting raped, lets get out of here" and we just booked it out of there. I know it might seem stupid, the guy could have just had water in his car but something felt weird about it and we were only like 15-16 years old. 

Reading all of these stories makes me think I should be more cautious. I'm always going on random trails that end up leading nowhere and riding at like 5 in the morning when no ones around. Just north of my house is farm land and its honestly some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen. There's this one abandoned farm house with a large pond on the property and house - like those iconic ones you see in movies - that I was planning on going in and checking out next time I passed it...don't think I'll be doing that anymore.


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## SuperSlow35th (Jul 22, 2011)

Back on my senior year of high school, me and a buddy found a trail off an older farm to market road in Denton, TX. We had driven by it on the way to a party at a friends house the week before and decided to take the bikes the next weekend and go check it out. There was a farm house across the road with a long driveway and when we arrived the owner just happened to be out checking his mail. We introduced ourselves and asked if we could park my buddies jeep in his driveway, he obliged, we unhooked the bikes and were off. We had ridden a fairly smooth (almost hiking trail smooth) well worn trail for about 30 minutes then came into a clearing with a VERY large older two story farmhouse. The worn trail went two places, directly to the front door and around behind the house. Now, we werent TOTALLY stupid as we took the route around the house (we should have turned around and booked it). We rode slow around the house to find a long set of railroad tie stairs down to another clearing. The stairs were actually pretty fun to ride but I started getting that "feeling" as we got closer to the clearing. As we got to the bottom we heard a high pitched OBVIOUSLY human scream from back up at the top. Being two ten foot tall and bulletproof teenage men, and being on the way back to the jeep, we threw our bikes over our shoulders and proceeded to climb back up the steps. As we got to the top of the stairs I swore I saw the back door of the house close. I promptly busted out the cell phone, called 911 and told them where we were, they said they have an officer at the main road within the next 15 minutes, keep in mind were 30 minutes inward form the main road. So we told the 911 operator with confidence that if the officer followed the trail, hed find the house. We posted up back at the entrance to the trail we had came in on, as to have an escape route if anyone/thing came out of the house. We heard another scream from behind the house. We rode slowly around the edge of the house to peek around and we see 6 indivdiduals carrying a large black bag (think suit bag) down the stairs. I freaked and went back aorund front and called 911 again to update the situation. The operator advised us to leave the area and wait for the officer who should be entering the trailhead. My buddy decides hes going to ride back up the trail to try and "motivate" the officer. I slunk back into the trail a little ways but stayed to keep watch on the house. About 10 minutes later my friend showed up with three officers in tow. We explained the situation. The three of them took off towards the staircase. We promptly left after they got our information. I got a call from the detective about a week later and as it turns out we stumbled onto a cult who was practicing whateverthehell it is they practice. The "suitbag" was full of small pigs and goats (dead of course) which I dont know if they were cooking them or "sacrificing" them. Either way since they had done nothing "illegal" the detective said they were unable to cite them for anything, and we should stay our asses out of places we dont know. I dont know about my friend but I was positive they were going to say that "suit bag" was full of some teenage girl they had sacrificed. Ever since then, we only bike on trails that are bike trails.


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## zardog (Apr 24, 2011)

Man, I gotta say I thought the diarrhea thread was entertaining but there were some good stories in this. One recurring theme I noticed throughout this though was that apparently everybody that drives an old truck out in the woods must be a shotgun toting, butt raping hillbilly that has nothing better to do than lure people to there campsites for a good ol' fashioned deliverance throw down. That's news to me, I know unexpectedly running into people in the woods can freak people out but even ******** just like to drink a little beer around a campfire and probably are just being courteous in offering someone a drink/seat, that's always been my experience anyways.

I don't really have any good stories to add but when I was little there was a "vampire clan" that ran around the woods out here so I used to weird myself out when I'd find old cabins and stuff in the woods. I know a couple of those guys are doing life sentences now but who knows what other weirdos might try to follow in their footsteps.


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## chickenwing71 (Jul 31, 2011)

Awesome thread. Nothing creepy happened to me yet, really... Only story I have is when I was 12 or 13 years old I went out biking with a friend under some high tension power lines. It was around 100F out, and neither of us thought to bring any water. An hour and a half out there, we somehow managed to get lost. Not only were we two 12 year olds lost in hot humid weather with no water, but we walked through a field of small pine-tree-like plants which I discovered I was allergic to. We finally found our way back, a couple hours later, dehydrated and scared, myself in the midst of a nasty allergic reaction. Now, I never go out without some water or at least an idea of where I'm going. Not the greatest story, but scared the crap out of me when it happened.


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

highdelll said:


> 1st - WHAT?? Aluminum doesn't conduct electricity?? Where the hell did you pick that up - ALU is a VERY good conductor. What do you think high-voltage powerlines are made out of? :skep:
> 2nd - Lightning travels thousands of feet to reach whatever it hits - you think it 'cares' about 2" of rubber? ut:


For sure aluminum does! There are some power lines a trail goes under near my house. And if my leg touches the frame while I'm peddling it will tingle. Than a few weeks ago there were lightning storms all around but not very close to me. But still must have charged the air or something, or maybe just the general humidity made the air more conductive? Cause my brake levers were shocking me, even the rails through my seat!  I had to stand and climb up the trail without touching the brake levers or anything metal till I got away from the power lines!  Not much of a terror on the trail, but was cool!


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## charlesinoc (May 17, 2009)

your awesome! thanks for not killing the mutant goose!!!! soo funny! 



tarheelrider007 said:


> These stories are great. Been a long time lurker and thought I'd share my own tale of terror:
> 
> This one goes way back to my earliest days of mountain biking. I had just made my first major purchase in life which also happened to be my first real mountain bike: a Diamondback Sorrento. Anyone remember those? Spent a Summer mowing lawns and babysitting kids in order to get it. I LOVED that ride. I mean I really really loved it. Any excuse for a ride and I was gone.
> 
> ...


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## COTarHeel (Apr 30, 2011)

tarheelrider007 said:


> Anyway, I lived about 20 miles from a decent sized man made lake called Jordan Lake and used to take my dog swimming there on weekends to cool off during the Summer.


A: That story is AWESOME! I started to wonder if it was a bald eagle while reading, but it is such a better story with it being a "duck/goose mutant bird thing."
B: I worked as an assistant ranger at Jordan Lake one summer in college and, personally, I would never swim in it. At least not near any of the campgrounds.

Personally, as far as dangerous, nothing too bad. I take it easy when I'm alone out there. I did run over a rattlesnake once, but it wasn't solo.

I have two mildly creepy stories. The first happened biking alone in Carolina North in Chapel Hill, NC. There are random "trails" that go all over on the school side, and one day I decided to spend some time exploring them. At one point the path started being dotted with rocks along the side which grew in size until I reached a large pile of rocks and boulders that were on either side of the path. At first I was happy to see this rock pile as I had come across it once before while running so it helped me gain my bearings. (In exploring the "trails" I was fairly turned around but knew at some point I'd end up being spit out onto a service road or trail I knew.) However I started to get creeped out when small white candles appeared on the rocks. Once I got to the rock pile there were hundreds, and they had all been burned and melted/dripped down all over the rocks. WTF?! My imagination ran wild with images of wackos in robes sacrificing rabbits and jumping onto me from the tops of the rocks. Luckily the trail started downhill so I sped away. I came across the rocks again sometime later, and no candles.

The other happened back in high school in Pisgah Forest. It felt like it was straight out of a bad horror film. My girlfriend and I were enjoying a pleasant night in my car, parked along one of the gravel roads off 276. For whatever reason, it soon got hot inside the car, so I rolled down the windows a bit. With the windows down we could hear drumming in the distance. Not like someone playing music loud, just drums. We thought it kinda strange but not crazy since there are lots of car-camping sites along the road a little further up.

Then, a frantic-looking dog appears, the moon was out so we could see. It walks up to the driver side door, looks at me through the window, runs around the car a few times, and disappears back into the woods. Now we are starting to get a little freaked out. I mean, it's just weird! We both start to get "that feeling"....

And then, the kicker. A ranger comes flying around the curve and slams on his brakes just past us. He throws it into reverse and turns his truck into the parking area right alongside us. He rolls down his window and yells, "Are you two alright?!" 
"Yes." 
"Are yall locals?" 
"Yes." 
(Pause)
"Are you SURE that you're alright?" 
"Um... yes sir." 
"OK" he yells as he floors it and continues down the road.

As we look at each other speechless about why he would ask us that, a sheriff - blue lights flashing - flies by without stopping. I mention that it would be interesting to follow them, but my girlfriend disagrees, so we leave.


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## buysmallrefrigerator (Aug 1, 2011)

never ride alone


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

This one time a few friends and I were driving down this old coastal road, I was a bit drunk and all of a sudden we hear a BANG, stop the car and get out. Turns out we hit an old fisherman, we check his vitals, dead, so we decide to bury him in the ocean and not tell anyone about it. Long story short, he comes back to life and kills us off one by one with a hook.


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## square (Jun 5, 2010)

nikojan said:


> This one time a few friends and I were driving down this old coastal road, I was a bit drunk and all of a sudden we hear a BANG, stop the car and get out. Turns out we hit an old fisherman, we check his vitals, dead, so we decide to bury him in the ocean and not tell anyone about it. Long story short, he comes back to life and kills us off one by one with a hook.


i HATE when that happens!


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## GRAVELBIKE (Oct 7, 2006)

Lost & Found or Warning?


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## PedalDangit (Jun 2, 2011)

*Not from the trail, but...*

I was riding down the street of an unfamiliar neighborhood one afternoon when I look back and about 100 feet behind I see a pit bull running at me full steam. My first thought was something along the lines of "Oh S**t!!!!" I take off as fast I can go and that dog catches up to me so fast I might as well have been standing still. I look to my side and there he is right next to me, and I though, "ok, he's going to latch onto my leg or something, cause me to crash, yadda yadda yadda...I'm dead." Well I keep pedaling for maybe 20 more yards or so and realize he's just running along with me with no intention of attacking. In fact I think his tail might have been wagging. I sure as heck didn't stop to see how friendly he may or may not have been, and I take a right turn down a cross street. He follows, but then veers off into someone's front yard where there happens to be a family with small kids out playing. I just kept going and hoped his mood didn't change when he encountered the family. Part of me thinks I should have stopped, because I can imaging there might have been some panicking on their part when they see a pit bull charging at them. Yikes. :eekster:


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## Eckstream1 (Jul 27, 2011)

Well I have a couple... Nothing like "Deliverance".

1) I was riding my local mountain solo when I broke a frame right at the headtube clean through on a fast (30+mph) downhill.... I was unconsious and woke up laying in a crumpled heap, covered in dirt and blood. I couldn't remember what happened until I saw my bike and pieced together what happened. I was a couple miles in and it's pretty empty out there. It took me a couple hours to drag myself out...
I was pretty lucky that I wasn't seriously injured other than some cuts and a bump to the head.

2) This was just the other day...
I live in a suburb of Reading,Pa which is ranked #6 for most crime/murders per capita in the country. I was riding the Thun Trail that runs through Reading.
I was cruising along and rounded a corner to be greeted with TWO dudes dressed in black pointing a shotgun and a submachine gun at my head! I just about sh*t my pants... I then realized they were a SWAT team and I had stumbled into a crime scene...
Turns out that a 17yo had went to a party and shot three people, killing one... And ran to the nearby woods to hide out.

I carry a handgun on a daily basis since I live near an area with problems and have never been so close to pulling on someone... I'm just glad I realized they were good guys!


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## habsfan (Jun 10, 2011)

rutkiller said:


> This is exactly what I'm talking about. I started this thread because of something that happend to me this past Sunday. I was out riding (solo) at a local trail and I swore that somebody was watching me. I stopped a few times to collect my thoughts and my breath, and it was the creepiest feeling. Like I said in my original post, I guess all of those stupid movies I watched as a kid are coming back to haunt me. Something about being alone in the woods is creepy. Anyway, on Sunday, I had this feeling that if I looked long enough, I would see someone standing in the woods watching me. You know...the whole hockey mask and 3 foot blade thing..... As I was exiting the trail after a great ride, I encountered a man sitting on a bench by himself. While nothing was particulary creepy about this guy, it just made me wonder, ya know?


I hear ya - there is a neat singletrack trail in Arcadia (RI) that goes thru an old abandoned campground (the kind that has the old wodden huts). Back when I started going to Arcadia, I went thru that portion of the trail and stopped to rest, and I got the feeling of someone watching me and the hair on my neck stood up and all the inate alarms went off in my head. I got the hell out of there and almost 20 years later, I still will not go on that section of the trail. There is just something that won't allow me to get over that feeling of paranoia.


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## el_burras (Mar 17, 2011)

habsfan said:


> I hear ya - there is a neat singletrack trail in Arcadia (RI) that goes thru an old abandoned campground (the kind that has the old wodden huts). Back when I started going to Arcadia, I went thru that portion of the trail and stopped to rest, and I got the feeling of someone watching me and the hair on my neck stood up and all the inate alarms went off in my head. I got the hell out of there and almost 20 years later, I still will not go on that section of the trail. There is just something that won't allow me to get over that feeling of paranoia.


OOOHHH GREAT! now I can't get the idea out of my head of someone watching me when I'm riding solo! Lately I've had that feeling in my daily singletrack ride, BUT NOW ITS STUCK IN MY HEAD.

Also have the feeling someone is riding next to me...!!!

Now I carry a 6" knife with me just in case I need to fight Freddy or Jason...!!

Thanks a lot guys LOL


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## crewjones (Aug 24, 2007)

You gotta Purty Mouth Boy


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## Katt (Jul 3, 2011)

crewjones said:


> You gotta Purty Mouth Boy


Remember your GPS can tell you where you're at or what direction you're going but it can't detect danger. It doesn't count teeth!


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

appalachia said:


> I would say choose flight over fight if at all possible. The legal ramifications are much easier to deal with. I don't ride with a gun. Just a boot knife on my pack strap. I don't think anyone would have the time to get to a gun and fire accurately when posed with a hostile situation. Especially one buried deep inside a camelbak. "Hold on a sec Mr. Hostile while I unclip, dismount and rummage for my firearm. one sec, one sec OK." I suppose a shoulder holster would remedy that but thats just a little much for me to imagine doing. I'll take my chances and rely on a blade if it comes to that. I may regret it but I'm not going to live in fear on every ride.


A BOOT KNIFE? Who does this ****? I remember a discussion I had in a tutorial for a pol sci class where a girl was saying how she's too afraid to walk alone at night and every other girl agreeing with her which really shocked me. Ever since then I try to seem as unintimidating as possible when I ride by a women... carrying a ****ing blade on you or a gun honestly seems insane.


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

MileHighMark said:


> Lost & Found or Warning?


Before I got into one of my more serious wrecks I was riding along and saw a glove on the ground pointing in the other direction which I thought was a bit odd. I ended up crashing into a pillar by the side of the road going on like 20mph, getting winded and vomiting like a half km from there :madman:


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

nikojan said:


> A BOOT KNIFE? Who does this ****? I remember a discussion I had in a tutorial for a pol sci class where a girl was saying how she's too afraid to walk alone at night and every other girl agreeing with her which really shocked me. Ever since then I try to seem as unintimidating as possible when I ride by a women... carrying a ****ing blade on you or a gun honestly seems insane.


I DO! it sits perfect on the shoulder strap and is there when you need it.

I'm all for not trying to be intimidating to others on the trail, but 99% of people aren't going to notice the knife as we pass. And those that do will just have to get over it... :thumbsup: I used to have pepper spray too, but never used it and it went bad. The knife doesn't expire!!! 

It has come in handy countless times, (I would assume most people do have a knife in their camelback?), and though I've never used it against someone I have pulled it a couple times now and pretended to do something with it so it was visible and ready to use!

YES, it is completely possible that pulling the knife might encourage a potential attacker to pull their knife, gun, etc. But that's why the tactic of pulling it early and using it in a non-threatening way beforehand is such a good idea! And at my age I'm mostly over having to "look cool", and I'll likely bail rather than end up in a bad situation. BUT, I'd rather know it's there if I need it.

The people you have to worry about are mostly cowards who will only do something in a group when they have you outnumbered. A knife helps with the odds, plus your always supposed to fight back in a mountain lion attack. And since they've got teeth and claws a knife helps with those odds too!

You can't be so worried about someone else's sense of security that you abandon your own...


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

Thats whats wrong with america, that mentality that you have to be protected and armed because obviously someone else has a knife. If you live in an area that doesn't inspire that sort of mentality than everyone is better off. 

Here come the negative rep, not that I care. Americans that are socially republican and share that viewpoint are retards; rep away


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

> You can't be so worried about someone else's sense of security that you abandon your own...


What do you think is going to happen on the trail? A mad man is going to come out of nowhere and attack you with a 15" machete? I'm 6'5 and intimidating as is, I don't need to carry a blade or a weapon in general and introduce this illogical mentality into my community.


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## Adam_B. (Apr 7, 2011)

stiingya said:


> A knife helps with the odds, plus your always supposed to fight back in a mountain lion attack. And since they've got teeth and claws a knife helps with those odds too!


I doubt you'll be able to get your knife ready to protect yourself when a mountain lion has your face in it's mouth. If one is going to take you down you're not going to hear or see it unitl you feel it.


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

@ niko, yea cause the rest of the worid is such a peacefull place, not a repub, 6'5 don't mean crap if your out numbered , im6'3, what imaginary place do u live in the US that doesn't have crime? Have u not read any of this thread? Granted its mostly false alarms, but that's why I just carry a small knife, cause wre mostly pretty safe. BUT...

@noob, that's the point of having it on the pack strap where u can get it. Your odds of surviving a mt lion attack greatly increase if you fight back, id go for a branch or use my bike first, but id at least try...


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## Eckstream1 (Jul 27, 2011)

nikojan said:


> A BOOT KNIFE? Who does this ****?carrying a ****ing blade on you or a gun honestly seems insane.


It seems insane to someone in England or Canada... But here in Reading, Pa it pays to be prepared!

I was cruising along on a rail trial the other day when I was confronted by two armed members of the SWAT team... They were looking for a man that had just murdered someone and seriously injured two others.

Here is a link to the story... I'm not BS'n!
Teen murder suspect Perkins arrested in Florida

"On Aug. 1, police and members of a fugitive task force swarmed Angelica Park after a person in the park was approached by a male matching Perkins' description. The possible sighting forced a lockdown at Alvernia University.

A similar search was conducted July 30 in a wooded area near Oakbrook"


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

Eckstream1 said:


> It seems insane to someone in England or Canada... But here in Reading, Pa it pays to be prepared!
> "


No disrespect intended, but I doubt the sense of personal safety in England will be the same for a very long time after the recent trouble. For sure you dudes in Canada have less to fear from personal violent crime, but your odds of getting your car stolen, or your house broke into or burned is worse than the US. It's not all smelling of roses up north.

At any rate it's just a knife on a backpack worn out in the woods, that's a pretty normal occurrence...


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

^^^ Agree, a knife in the woods=good idea - on bike or not.

BUT the next person who bickers gets a fat -18 rep
The next who post a cool 'TALE' will get +18 - I wish I could do more 
(but I bet others can help you out)


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## Adam_B. (Apr 7, 2011)

neg rep, pos rep eh don't really care either way... I agree that a knife is a great tool to have while in the woods but thinking that you're going to fight off a mountain lion with it is just silly


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

a cool 'TALE'

Thanks for the rep...


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

stiingya said:


> @ niko, yea cause the rest of the worid is such a peacefull place, not a repub, 6'5 don't mean crap if your out numbered , im6'3, what imaginary place do u live in the US that doesn't have crime? Have u not read any of this thread? Granted its mostly false alarms, but that's why I just carry a small knife, cause wre mostly pretty safe. BUT...
> 
> @noob, that's the point of having it on the pack strap where u can get it. Your odds of surviving a mt lion attack greatly increase if you fight back, id go for a branch or use my bike first, but id at least try...


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

mtbnoobadam said:


> neg rep, pos rep eh don't really care either way... I agree that a knife is a great tool to have while in the woods but thinking that you're going to fight off a mountain lion with it is just silly


Mountain Lion Attack Survival "Pick up a branch or rock, pull out a knife, pepper spray, or other deterrent device. ... weapon: people have fought off lions with nothing more than rocks and sticks. ..."

HOUSTON (June 8, 1998 9:20 p.m. EDT - Armed only with a pocket knife and a mother's powerful instincts, Mary Jane Coder fought off a mountain lion that tried repeatedly to attack her young daughters on a remote Texas trail.

First hit on google... roll yer eyes all ya want. They say to fight back even against a bear if it does more than sniffing and pawing. Your not looking to "win" the fight, it's that if you hurt it the animal will likely back off and give you a chance.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I was up at Angel Fire doing some lift assist DH. Near the top of my second run I ended up stretching the casing of my back tire. And in the middle of trying to fix it I get a migraine. Popped a pill, eat, drank, rested; but the migraine wouldn't go away. Ended up having to walk out, but after a bit the migraine starts getting worse and I walk off the trail and lay down and close my eyes.

First thing is friggen ants! Woke up getting bitten. (no I didn't try to stab em with my knife) I was so out of it all I could do was roll a ways. Then as I was laying there I felt something on my leg I reached down and about had a freak out cause I thought it was a snake for a sec. Just a newborn tree, and in my anger I pulled it out of the ground and ended up getting dirt in my eye.  After a bit I fell asleep.

Here's where the "terror on the trail" happened. While I slept a thunderstorm came in, (when I had gotten on the lift he warned me it was coming in), and I got woke out of my sleep by the loudest thunderclap in the history of the earth. Holy CRAP did it scare the heck out of me. I saw the dark clouds and the way the storm was coming through the trees and immediately got up grabbed my bike and started pushing back down the mountain again... 

Several hours later it occurred to me how much easier that day would have been if I would have hiked back UP and rode the lift back down to the bottom... :incazzato:

@niko, um good one, you really got me there...


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

...anyone have an idea what the hell he cut the guys throat with?


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

don't look if you don't want the movie spoiled...

it's supposed to get cut by the chainring, not a great movie, but cool to see mountainbikes!


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## Cujo (Jun 10, 2004)

Extremely cheesy movie. But I watched the whole thing because it had mountain bikes in it.


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

[neg-rep from some nameless coward]
"	Tales of Terror from... 08-13-2011 06:23 PM You don't get to determine what people talk about by threatening their rep."
Pot meet kettle?

Anyways, RELAX! I was just trying to get this thread back on track and to stop the pointless bickering in a somewhat funny way. I have not negged anyone here and if I were to do so, I would certainly leave my name as I always do :thumbsup:


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

highdelll said:


> [neg-rep from some nameless coward]
> "	Tales of Terror from... 08-13-2011 06:23 PM You don't get to determine what people talk about by threatening their rep."
> Pot meet kettle?
> 
> Anyways, RELAX! I was just trying to get this thread back on track and to stop the pointless bickering in a somewhat funny way. I have not negged anyone here and if I were to do so, I would certainly leave my name as I always do :thumbsup:


yea clearly your worried about this thread being on track posting this...???

I didn't know there was a place to leave your name, I assumed it added it automatically?

No I don't think it's a pot/kettle thing. I have to say I don't really know how the rep thing works, and if you could or could not give someone a -18. But I don't think it was a cool thing to threaten others with so I gave you a neg for it.


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## Cujo (Jun 10, 2004)

:smallviolin:


highdelll said:


> [neg-rep from some nameless coward]
> "	Tales of Terror from... 08-13-2011 06:23 PM You don't get to determine what people talk about by threatening their rep."
> Pot meet kettle?
> 
> Anyways, RELAX! I was just trying to get this thread back on track and to stop the pointless bickering in a somewhat funny way. I have not negged anyone here and if I were to do so, I would certainly leave my name as I always do :thumbsup:


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

you're right - I should have never said anything - thanks for stepping out from the shadows.
I could show you how to sign your name to a rep?? :ihih: (nah, that wouldn't be nice )
I can give/take 18 - you can give take 9 (rep power)


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## hardtailkid (Jan 25, 2010)

I think I may want to move, so I can have some kind of a "Tale of Terror from the trail." Literally have nothing good.


All that has happened to me was I saw a little bobcat one morning on my ride to work (I take some trails every once and a while).


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

Done HTK


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## Anonymous (Mar 3, 2005)

Back in the late 80's I was riding in Telluride and I saw Oprah in spandex.


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## Cujo (Jun 10, 2004)

:yikes:


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## COTarHeel (Apr 30, 2011)

Cool story Hansel 

Aaaand Hansel's cool stories are finally gone.


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## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

Nothing to see here.


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## floydlippencott (Sep 4, 2010)

Banhammer in 5, 4,


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## floydlippencott (Sep 4, 2010)

Cleanin up.


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## roadie scum (Jan 21, 2011)

Ganymede_Illusion said:


> Shut up, ******


Oh no you did not! :nonod:


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## Cujo (Jun 10, 2004)

:nono: Seriously??


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## SilkMoneyLove (Nov 1, 2010)

WTH? This thread just went crazy. Please don't use the N word. It is hurtful to innocent people.

I was on a ride once and was threatened by an angry turd that wanted to see daylight. It was a tense ride back to a bathroom, but I survived.


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## hardtailkid (Jan 25, 2010)

Aw I missed all the excitement


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## roadie scum (Jan 21, 2011)

N.m.


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

...


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

roadie scum said:


> Oh no you did not! :nonod:


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## FNG RIDER (Apr 2, 2011)

Wow! This thread has really tanked. I'm out of here!


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

...


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

...


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## COTarHeel (Apr 30, 2011)

Someone please tell a story to get this thread back on track!!


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)

COTarHeel said:


> Someone please tell a story to get this thread back on track!!


+10:thumbsup:
Cut the BS and back to the tales...


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

FNG RIDER said:


> Wow! This thread has really tanked. I'm out of here!


WAIT!!!

I will do my best to revive it... (after all I did post OT - albeit good intentioned)

OK, so I've been a MTN biker all my life (since I grew up in the mountains ), in fact I probably had one of the first rear suspension bikes - a 1978 Royce Union Mach3 BMX









ANYways, If you know anything about the Emerald Triangle in NorCal (Humboldt, Mendicino, and Trinity Co's), you know that those counties were/are? the highest producing of high-quality MJ counties in the country. At the time (c. '78-87), it was still VERY illegal in Cali and farmers were well armed.

So, a buddy and I went off exploring as we (or I alone would do) did pretty much every weekend - following an old flume to a deer trail that meets w/ a logging road etc - 
This one time we were out pretty deep into the wilderness - I'd say 5mi (then it felt like 25mi). Up and over 2 ridges.
We were prepared, had our lunches, fluids, our guns (yes we carried rifles @ 10yo) and whatnot. We had just crested this ridge to see in the valley below, a massive 10,000 plant operation. My friend and I were both a bit unwary then as we knew that farmers set boobie traps and what-not. As intimidated as we were, we both were amazed at the expanse.
Not 5 minutes (time is probably off) after we got there, a 3-wheeler (first time I'd seen one) with a dood carrying a shotgun riding on a front rack and another jeep (willys) behind with a dood that had some sort of machine-gun looking weapon roll up.

"What are you boys doing out here?
"Uh, Just exploring, riding around"
"How'd ya find this place?"
"We just were exploring - going where ever..."
"Where'd you come from?"
*points* - "way back there"
"Well, You best get the hell outta here and don't come back if ya know what's good fer you"

The whole time the guy w/ the shotgun had it pointed at us - the guy talkin (3-wheel driver) seemed intimidating, but also understanding that our story was true - that we were just kids exploring. - I dont think they expected anyone from 'civilization' to be that far out - esp w/ no real trails/ roads.

So we boot-scooted got home and told our parents ...but somehow 'forgot' where these guys were


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## Haligan78 (Jun 13, 2011)

Eckstream1 said:


> I carry a handgun on a daily basis since I live near an area with problems and have never been so close to pulling on someone... I'm just glad I realized they were good guys!


Me too.....Rarely leave home without it and I DEFINITELY never go in the woods without it. I carry mine outdoors more for the cats and bears but it works great on bad guys too.


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## COTarHeel (Apr 30, 2011)

highdelll said:


> OK, so I've been a MTN biker all my life (since I grew up in the mountains ), in fact I probably had one of the first rear suspension bikes - a 1978 Royce Union Mach3 BMX


Please say you still have that bike!!


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## Andy Pancroft (Aug 3, 2011)

habsfan said:


> I hear ya - there is a neat singletrack trail in Arcadia (RI) that goes thru an old abandoned campground (the kind that has the old wodden huts). Back when I started going to Arcadia, I went thru that portion of the trail and stopped to rest, and I got the feeling of someone watching me and the hair on my neck stood up and all the inate alarms went off in my head. I got the hell out of there and almost 20 years later, I still will not go on that section of the trail. There is just something that won't allow me to get over that feeling of paranoia.


Just 'cause you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not watching you!!! LOL


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

@TarHeel
I wish... - I believe there were only like 500 made maybe less (I could be totally wrong - just going off off of the VERY limited info about that bike)
I thought it was cool as hell (tho a tank) - I did bigger drops than my buds - but their bikes were lighter, and could go higher/further and pedal away faster... I got to beat them rarely - but when landinggs to flat/drops - I won :thumbsup: - I actually jumped that thing over 12 tires (plywood/cinderblock ramp)...
No, I am not exaggerating... ask anyone around who saw...I think that was like 30+ feet...good day


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

I junked that bike and got a redline (popular at the time) - can't even remember the mofel - but I'll never forget the Mach 3


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## Painless31 (Aug 5, 2011)

I have always been a fan of the outdoors from hunting, fishing riding bikes, 4 wheelers you name it. I remember one time that I was actually scared I was going to die. Mind you I have done things to myself that nearly killed me but when it isn't up to you wether you live or die it is a whole different matter completely. My best friend and I have hunted together for over 20 years, we always have a plan when we go to a new place. We get up early as we have a 1.5 hour drive plus we need to get in and get the climbing stands up a tree. We were bowhunting so no firearms are allowed. We get to the spot where we park the truck and decide which way we are going. When we get to the clearing where we are separating I start smelling marijuana. I tell my buddy and he says I am crazy, I told him I have smoked enough of it to know what it smells like. He just says screw it we are here he is hunting. I finally agree and we separate. It is still pitch black and I have gone 3-400 yards when I hear a voice. I think great my buddy has gotten turned around and is on my side. I hear "hey" in a tone just above a whisper. I turn in that direction and say Troy you are going the wrong way, turn 180 degree's and head back the other way. This is where it gets a little interesting. The next thing I hear is that unmistakeable racking of a Remington 870 slide and the words" my name ain't Troy". I then said well who the hell are you? The voice says "the guy thats about to dump some 00 buck shot in your guts, unless you turn back the way you came". I immediately start backing up, just saying above a whisper "I am leaving, apologies". I get back to the clearing and wait for day break. I managed to find my buddy and tell him what happens. At this point he thinks I am lying to him, and just asks if I was scared of the dark or something, to which I reply "then you get down and go hunt over there". By this time he believes me and starts coming down the tree. He wants to know what we should do, I was scared ****less at first but now I was mad. I told him I was going to the truck to get his pistol and confront this a**hole. My buddy, always ready for a fight smartly talks me out of the confrontation. As we are walking back to the truck we see the reason for the guy(s) being out there. It looks like a 1/4 acre field of pot. Any other time I would have been elated, but at this point not know how many folks we had watching us, we thought it best too mozzy on. Once back at the truck my buddy calls the land owner and finds out that this is a notorious dope growing spot and that the DEA had been there several times and at one point had to have a helicopter haul out one of the largest finds in the county. Needless to say I was somewhat nervous from then on when hunting new areas. 

Never seen anything too crazy while riding, a few snakes and some small animals. Other than that it has been pretty tame.......


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## charlesinoc (May 17, 2009)

*December 15, 1995 Redbox - Short cut canyon loop.*

Sherman Lee kept on calling, and calling and leaving so many messages on my answering machine that fateful day for one of his spectacular mountain bike rides! I gave in at about 11a.m. I decided to at least ride the route, solo. Do you know of a person who is just jazzed about a trail? Well this guy really loves nature. He's always enthusiastic about it. I had perfectly calculated the time required to finish this route in my head. I'd start by 1p.m from the redbox trail head. and should be finished by 5p.m. at the latest. All I needed to do was, descend for about 6 miles, climb for about 4 descend for a few miles and the climb up short cut canyon fire road for about 6 miles. Then the long trek back along Angeles Crest Highway to Redbox parking lot.

I start my ride at about 1:30 p.m. and what a gorgeous day it is, and especially spectacular at about 5,000 at the Angeles National Forest. I remember wearing my Pearl Izumi jersey, gloves and wind breaker. I completed the first climb intending on turning left at Short cut canyon fire road. I just kept on going, and going. I think being in the back country distracted me because of the awesome views from around 5,000 feet. I haven't really seen another biker, except for really huge pawprints on the ground which spooked me. It sent the hair from the back of my neck just standing! At one of the over looks, I could see downtown Los Angeles. What a sight to behold from afar. Then, at a distance I saw the In N Out burger sign which I believe was in Azusa,Ca. That gave me the suspicion that I missed my left turn to Short Cut canyon fire road.

I then calmly backtracked and found short cut canyon fire road. I proceeded to descend down to the canyon and anxious to climb the 6 mile to Angeles Forest Highway. While at the canyon, I saw a really fat couple having sex in the bushes. Anyway, I didn't have time so I left rather quickly. I reached the canyon at around 430p.m. and started my climb. At 5p.m., it was pitch black in the middle of the Angeles National Forest. Sunset was around 430 p.m. The temperature dropped to about 30 degrees and I'll never forget the view of Los Angeles basin at night in the lights. It was awesome. It seemed like such an innocent city from a far.

To make things worst, don't ask me why I could not climb this fire road. It seemed too steep for me. So here I am, with no flashlight and really light winter clothing just shivering to death due to the bone chilling cold.

I realize I am a visitor of wild animals, this is there home. But Holy crap, what's the deal with the all the running and parting of the bushes. When it's pitched black, and I can't see the bicycle in front of me it is terrifying! On more than one occasion, I must have yelled out of control cause it seem something was headed straight for me. I have to admit, I really yelled out of fear for my life. I can hear bushes would move in front of me, behind me. I was pretty sure it was a mountain lion. What else could be following me? I did see huge tracks earlier in the day. This is the back country, hardly any dogs. I feel like I'm being hunted down like prey. It got worst underneath trees. It was beyond pitch black. The painful cold, oh my fingers. I slowly but surely made my back to the highway. It was about a 6.5 mile climb. This was endless. Just went on, and on.

After a couple of hours, I see the dark highway. WOOHOO!!!! So I try to flag down a motorist or so, but no one stopped.  I rode back to the car, must have been at least 6 miles. Sure felt like it. Made it back to the car, and hurriedly drove to Ocean Corral Restaurant in Pasadena. Ordered a bucket of soup because I was chilled to the bone and needed to warm up. Also ordered my favorite dishes before heading back to Northridge or home.

I got home, and there was a ton of messages from Sherman. I'll never forget how hard he laughed on the phone. I miss him, he's one of those people that really loves to ride the trail.

Rest in Peace Sherman.


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## Bmxbikemike (Dec 28, 2010)

I'm glad there is a place to put spooky stories down instead of keeping 'em all in the head.

A friend and I had just started to get into night riding and had been a few times before on very familiar trails. We had ridden the Sandia foothills here in New Mexico all summer and night riding brought a fresh new thrill to riding them. Being in the desert, it also made it daring not to clip any cacti on the edge of the trail whilst keeping a good clip! 

One night ride we are in the middle of a ride and come up the trail to stop on top of one of the small foothill crests to take a rest. To save battery we turn off our ligths and to let our night vision come back. It's a great place to stop because you can see just about everything down below; the city lights, the traffic, as well as the whole foothill areas spread out. It was a full or near full moon that night. We could barely make the trail we'd come up with our eyes meandering over the other small hills to almost where we had started. It was a familiar ride so it helped to know where to look too!

As were looking and talking about how good our progress was and how this is alot better than being at work we see some other lights cruising the foothills down below in the distance and coming at us. I know that it was near winter season as it was sorta chilly so we had on knee warmers and long sleeves. It wasn't wet or anything but the trails weren't as busy as they had been in the summer. We thought, "Oh cool, some other dedicated night riders out there". Since we knew they would be coming up to where we were at we decided to wait and see if they wanted to say hey and all that. 

I counted four fairly bright lights and thought they must have some decent NiteRider lights or similar. Both of us were working at a bike shop so we knew what quality lights were (and what they cost!). I said to my buddy that maybe they have a group that rides at night all the time and it would awesome to speak with these guys and maybe ride with 'em. They were moving pretty damn fast so maybe it was a team training or something.

So we waited and watched as they make it over the terrain we had done previously. I notice that they are all spaced pretty evenly. I can't make them out as all I can see is their lights. I'm leaning more towards a team ride because all the lights are the same color and brightness. No one seems to be falling back or catching the guy in front of him. We know that they have a fun bend then down into a small valley dip, up over, down another small valley dip and then the climb to us left. It's the only trail there so it was fun watching what they were going to do next. So we watch them go around the bend, which wasn't out of our eye sight and drop into the small valley out of sight. We know that dip to be 30 seconds to complete from down to top. it's just a down and up; nothing technical or even pedaling required really. So we wait for them to crest. And wait. and it's been a minute and wait. They never come up. ****, did they all crash? 

So we fire up the lights and head back down. We come up the top of the other side of the valley and look down and see....nothing. Absolutley nothing! To the sides is dense with desert brush and cacti and rocks. There is no detour, no river bed, nothing a mountain bike would enjoy cutting through, much less at night. We stand there saddling our bikes trying to peer at and around the area and come up with goosebumps. We don't see anything but our own tracks in the sand from coming up earlier. 

We ride back to our car and head home in confusion and disbelief. I know New Mexico has all sorts of folk lore surrounding it but most of the time it's campfire tale material. Plus, there is Roswell and Area 51 and all that so there are some fun people who speculate some wierd **** is happening but you say "sure, buddy" and it doesn't ever affect you. But that night ride I won't forgot because it started so innocuous and ending up being something I can't forget.


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## Cujo (Jun 10, 2004)

That is spooky.


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## ehigh (Apr 19, 2011)

1. My friend and I are riding a looking trail. We come across a man walking _very_ slowly with sandals, blue jeans, a hooded jacked with the hood up, sunglasses on, and a cooler. When we waved a and said, "hello!" to him, he hardly nodded. More of a slight roll of the head to the side. Said to my friend, "see the unabomber today?"

2. riding down a trail out in BC when I come around a corner and see a black bear. first encounter with a bear, but it was pleasant. it took off and a man and his girl+a dog came up close by. he said his dog could scare off bears so I stayed near them a bit. 
found myself on a trail called, "bear bait trail" and it said on a sign, "you are the bear bait don't ride alone"

3. found a bunch of porn at the top of a local trail-just odd


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## kia74 (Dec 25, 2008)

nothing really happened but terror for me just the same.

There is a section of trail Loch Raven reservoir, Baltimore, where every time I hit that section I get a feeling of dread and sensation of some one watching me.
I can even pinpoint exactly where it starts and ends like as if I am going in the front door of some house and exiting out the back.
First time I felt this, I brushed it off as being in a new, unknown area; second time, feeling is unmistakeable.
Few more time riding there, I tried to determine why I feel this way and attempt to get over my fear but it is too overwhelming and I have not been there since( been about 2 years)


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## interlude27 (Aug 18, 2008)

b-kul said:


> this jackwagon took a pee like 20 yards right in front of me...


DUDE I had that happen too! Totally killed my passion man!


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## pattongb (Jun 5, 2011)

16driver said:


> Hi...I am a 500 lb black bear that lives in the woods of Washington. Last fall, on a clear, crisp autumn day I was eating some left over huckleberries when suddenly I smelled a hideous, strange odor. Kind of like a blend of Aspercreme and BO. Also I heard a funny sound....The clanking and squeaking of a much needed oiled drive train and, a terrible attempt of singing a rendition of ACDC's Highway to Hell. I was bored and thought I would investigate further. As this "human" approached, I dropped onto the trail when he was about 40 yards away. Now I have seen some pretty surprised looks on the faces of rabbits and small animals that I am going to eat, but this one took the cake!! This poor guy slammed on his brakes and said something like "Oh Sh*t!!" Usually these bike riders just turn around and high tale it out of there, but this one decided to tip over and play dead.(I wouldn't recommend this technique, it just makes you easier to eat) I then figured out he wasn't "playing dead" but instead had his feet still attached to the bike somehow and was jerking and gyrating on the ground. He was also shouting, "Fu%k, Good Bear", like he knows me or something. I snorted and growled a little, just having fun, when this guy springs to his feet and jerks the bike over his head!! Oooohhhhh, now I am scared. Your supposed to do that with cougars not bears you moron. He then slammed his bike onto the ground, spun around and in a hasty attempt to escape, his poor foot slipped off one of the pedals. That looked like it hurt. I haven't seen my human friend since then, but me and my bear buddies had a pretty good laugh around the den that night.


^^ CLASSIC!!! This is going into my favorites folder!


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## kingspeak93 (Aug 24, 2011)

jgsatl said:


> you totally should have gotten tied up. the expression on your buddy's face would have been awesome...[/QUOTE)
> 
> Lol if he agreed to that he'd be crapping his pants to.


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## kingspeak93 (Aug 24, 2011)

About 4 years ago, I used to live in a much smaller town (Richmond IL). About a block from my house I used to have special access to a cow pasture. I could do whatever I wanted in there as long as I left no litter. 
One day I decided to work on some whoops on the top of a hill. I took a break and laid down around 7:00 pm. I woke up around 10:30, very confused. So I got up, checked my phone and realized what happened (I was over an hour past curfew). The first step I took to get home, I spooked the hell out of some thing that was about 10 feet behind me. I JUST FROZE. Whatever I spooked ran down the hill... so I looked down the hill with my l.e.d. and saw literally about 15 pairs of eyes looking up at me. They were coyotes. I ran towards the gate outa there and jumped the fence, only to look back and remember I left my bike, shovel, and litter in there. In the morning I went to go pick up my crap (before school), and it turned out the farmer ran over my bike with the tractor, and kicked me out of the farm forever. The feeling of knowing you were being hunted is the most awful thing iv ever felt


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## Bikrspeeder (Apr 29, 2009)

rockerc said:


> I was out on my bike on a day off on one of my tours, and I was out on the snowmobile trails up on Marquette Mountain in Michigan. I did not have a map with me, which was impossible to get in the time I had, and I was just following my nose using the old 'general direction' principle. At a certain point I figured I needed to head north to get back around the mountain, and so I took a small trail split which headed in the right direction. I dropped down into a heavily wooded canyon, which grew tighter and tighter as I went down, until it eventually petered out. I stopped and poked around looking for any continuation, and saw no way forward. Just at that moment, I spooked a deer or something in the brush, and that shook me some. Then I turned around to head back up, and the leaves and mud on the steep trail meant I started pushing the bike up for a bit. As I gave a big push on it up the slope, I heard a loud whirring/rattling sound by my feet, and being a Brit with no dangerous reptiles at home, I almost lost me lunch and jumped about 4 feet in the air thinking it was a rattler. When I started to breathe again, I noticed that the 'snake' was following me as I tried to run the bike up the hill. When I looked down in a panic, it was just a small branch stuck in the frame, rubbing against the spokes... I did feel stupid...


Lol, it's funny how we can psych ourselves out, been there!


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## mikemike (Aug 28, 2011)

i'm thinking about taking the spacers off between the top of my head tube and my stem and moving them between the fork and the bottom of the top tube on my 4300 to make the frame feel bigger. anyone try this before? thoughts?


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

mikemike said:


> i'm thinking about taking the spacers off between the top of my head tube and my stem and moving them between the fork and the bottom of the top tube on my 4300 to make the frame feel bigger. anyone try this before? thoughts?


Thought would be to post this in the proper thread or start your own...unless the thought of moving the spacers is terrifying.


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## Whumpus (Aug 2, 2011)

No real dangerous rides. But, my last real ride, killed a chipmunk! Bad day for him. My friend was riding behind and saw the graphic accident. Eye popped out, he said. Turns out I ran over his neck, and left him twitching. Honestly, I didn't know! Probably the most chipmunks I have seen on any trail though.


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## Lowkey1505 (Oct 4, 2010)

Bmxbikemike said:


> I'm glad there is a place to put spooky stories down instead of keeping 'em all in the head.
> 
> A friend and I had just started to get into night riding and had been a few times before on very familiar trails. We had ridden the Sandia foothills here in New Mexico all summer and night riding brought a fresh new thrill to riding them. Being in the desert, it also made it daring not to clip any cacti on the edge of the trail whilst keeping a good clip!
> 
> ...


I bet aliens have sweet mountain bikes! Im guessing they hover because you never found any tracks, I want one!


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## eporter (Nov 12, 2007)

Sometimes HABs sneak up on you.

August 2010 we were riding on the Lewis River Trail in southern Washington state. It was during a heat wave, and there were lots of crazy wind gusts happening randomly.

The girlfriend wanted to clean this part of the trail, so we worked on it for 10 minutes.










We rode further up the trail a bit, turned around, and found this in the same spot 30 min. later:










One giant tree had fallen over and taken out a bunch more, all landing on ~100 feet of the trail, right where we had just been.










The rest of the ride we kept getting spooked by wind gusts and crackling limbs...


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)

*HOLY SH*T!!!!* 

That IS scary...


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## NicoleB (Jul 21, 2011)

this doesnt really top anybody's story, but one time me and my boyfriend were out at night on a trail that borders a river (narrow, somewhat technical trail with a steep slope down to the river). and there were so many coyotes howling nearby, and a huge junebug flew down my shirt and started flapping in my bra, and i started screaming bloody murder, which made my bf get really mad. he was like "do NOT scream like that on the trails!" 

Then my *****ty light burnt out. and i wasnt a very good rider at the time, so he took pity on me and gave me his light. he was all grumpy about the light situation that he suddenly jumped off the bike and ran down towards the river. i was like, wtf? i followed him down and he grabbed me and threw me into the moving water too. we were just laughing and flailing in the freezing May water. then my new light ***** the bed as we were trying to get out of there. these were NOT good trails to be blind on, and i swear sasquatch was just waiting to eat us. so many coyotes too. it was the creepiest ride.


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## Addy (Jan 28, 2004)

When I was about 13-14 there was a serial killer, called the trailside killer or the mountain murderer in my hometown. So it’s kinda hardwired into me to be paranoid. So as much as I love being on the trail alone that’s always with me on some level.

This one is just kinda wacky cuz it made me laugh and freaked me out. Was riding in the Marin headlands on a fire road, out of the blue bagpipes start blaring from a thicket of Scottish broom (oh the irony!). It just stopped me in my tracks, no idea what to make of it. Slowly turned around and GTFO’d. My next ride there I was glad to see the evil brush had been cleared!

So after 30+ years of being paranoid, crazy bagpipes player is all I got.


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## Waltah (Aug 5, 2011)

NicoleB28 said:


> he suddenly jumped off the bike and ran down towards the river. i was like, wtf? i followed him down and he grabbed me and threw me into the moving water too. we were just laughing and flailing in the freezing May water.


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

Waltah said:


>


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## Dirt Fiend (Aug 2, 2011)

Ok, my story does not have a bicycle, but it does have the great outdoors, a big toothy critter, youthful dumbassery and genuine danger, so I hope you enjoy:

Last night out on a two-week canoe trip through the Boundary Waters. Just a bunch of us teenagers and a couple college students as counselors. A great group and it really had been a wonderful time.

So we're all collected up in a tent telling each other what we've learned about ourselves and each other - basic feel-good stuff on our last night. All is going well when the kid next to me starts up with "Quiet! I hear something!"

"Liar!"

"No no no I mean it there's something out there!"

BANG CLANG CRASH. We're all silent now. 

The girl at the tent opening sticks her head out for a look. She brings her head in and the combination of shock, surprise, fear and excitement on her face tells us all we need to know. She says it but she doesn't need to. BEAR!

We pour out of the tent like righteous fire ants and we're on that bear like stink, yelling, screaming and banging anything we can get our hands on. I'll never forget the sight of that bear up to his eyes in a full pan of pistachio pudding (whoever packed that for a bunch of teenagers was seriously off their nut, but I digress) - anyway, we disturbed him and managed to drive him off. 

We're feeling stupid, because the whole trip we'd been very conscious of cleaning up our meal messes immediately and hanging the food packs in the trees. Last night out, discipline gone to hell and we've got a bear in camp. Debate starts immediately about whether or not we should move camp and to where, when the bear makes a second appearance. Now he's got his head in my pack (no food in there thankfully) so aside from bear snot he doesn't damage it. 

We manage to drive him off again, but he was very reluctant to go, and it's obvious he's won - we have to go. So we break camp. In a bit of a hurry, as he didn't go far. We could still hear him walking around the camp outside the range of firelight. 

I go down to the water after extinguishing the fire, and four of the canoes have already shoved off. The first three are already out of intelligible earshot. More discipline breakdown. It's a moonless night but clear, so by starlight we can see them out on the lake. Can't see anything up close though - it's very dark. We didn't have flashlights and in a moment I was going to be very glad for that.

Two kids are already in place to paddle, so all I have to do is jump in. NBD. We've been at this for two weeks now and everybody is pretty good with a paddle. So we're off. And just that quickly I realize we could be in trouble.

"Guys?!"

"What?"

"Don't rock the canoe. Ok? Listen to me - do NOT rock the canoe - PLEASE!"

"What's up?"

"Ok, I've got my hands on the sides, and my fingers are in the water. We're overloaded bad!"

"Ok. My hand has gone in the water too. I knew we were deep. Just keep your hands there and let us know if we start to capsize."

In everyone's haste to break camp, the first three canoes shoved off virtually empty. Most of the gear was in our canoe. It's solid dark out, we're paddling across a lake by starlight, I'm sitting on top of a canoe full of packs and we had about 1" of freeboard. The bear didn't scare me near as bad as the situation I was in now.

We made it, but how I didn't leave grip marks in the side of that canoe I'll never know.


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## qbngringo (May 28, 2010)

I live in Florida and was riding Alafia River Park last year with my buddy Danny. The park was empty except for the wildlife. We encountered lots of deer, turtles, and rabbits. We got so use to the wildlife that we began bunny hoping turtles on the trail rather than stopping for them. It seems like the animals just wanted to hang out on the trail, i have ridden this park several times and seen almost no wildlife before. It was so bad that I almost ran over a few rabbits that darted out of the brush onto the trail.

I loved all the wildlife but it was making riding dangerous. After riding for an hour we jump on one of the harder trails the park has to offer. I take the lead and am in the zone. I come around a sharp corner going pretty fast and before i can even realize there is a steep, off camber drop right ahead of me, I see a 4 foot water moccasin coiled up on the trail. These snakes are very poisonous and I have had them strike at me before so I know they can be aggressive. I immediately brake as hard as possible, wanting to avoid the dangerous snake a few feet from me, my frantic attempt to stop gives it enough time to high tail it into the forest. 

Glad to be done with that startle I realize I am not in the best position; i am off balance and desperately trying to get my bike to stop before the steep decent right in front of me. Before I am able to fully stop and with my feet off the pedals, I slide over the edge. My weight was forward and i immediately almost went OTB, lucky I was able to catch myself on the way down and drop the bike. I managed to awkwardly hobble and jump down the hill, if i was riding anywhere with more than small hills i would have ended up on my face. Danny heard my manly yelp on my way down, so he slowly came around the corner to find my bike in a small tree and me at the bottom with a panicked look on my face.


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## washedup (Jan 2, 2006)




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## ric426 (Jul 13, 2007)

One time while riding solo I came flying around a corner on a deep woods trail and came face to face with a couple of armed and fairly drunk hunters. For the first 30 seconds or so I had a continuous stream ugly scenarios running through my head until I found out that they were city boys who were badly lost. It turned out that they were way more freaked out to be lost in the woods than I was to run into them. They were really happy to see someone else and needed my help to get back to where they started. I gave them trail directions (had to repeat them several times) and went on my way. I never heard about any missing hunters so I assume they found their way out.


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## Guerdonian (Sep 4, 2008)

When I was in early college i went on one of my first night rides with my dad in the Sandia Mountains (NM). On our drive up he tells me a story of how he almost ran into a huge black bear last time he rode the trail we were about to do. He said the bear was right behind a log, and when he came around a bend the bear freaked out and went crashing through the woods. During our ride, he stops in the trail and says "this is about where i saw the bear". He was behind me, and since it was pitch black out i didn't notice him pick up a large rock and throw it into the brush. His timing was perfect, because he says, "did you hear that" right when he chucked the rock, a second later it made such a racket i almost crapped my pants. A good "gotcha son" moment.


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## rydbyk (Oct 13, 2009)

*Bear paw on forehead...*

Telluride, CO

1997

Brother and I were on mtb trip.

Sleeping in family's old WW2 canvas tent. Why? Just because..

Tent was so short in length that my head pushed up against the base of the tent as I slept. Probably looked like a soccer ball from the exterior...

Anyways, I was sound asleep when I heard a very loud, bass filled sniff in my ear. I heard it again and thought I was dreaming. I opened my eyes and immediately had my head pushed down into the earth. I immediately thought "Ohh shi...!!"

The bear (black bear) had its paw on my head!

I was pinned there for about 2 seconds maybe until it released its weighted paw off of my head.

I grabbed my brother's ankle that was next to my face and yelled "Bears!!" at the top of my lungs. My brother went from sound asleep to full alert in approx .00001 seconds, yelling "Where is it!?! Where is it?!?"

Still not sure who had the more unpleasant/abrupt wake up that night...haha.

Bear ended up running away..


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

A movie to make you think twice about riding alone... http://forums.mtbr.com/passion/movie-mountain-bikes-bit-740194.html#post8473400 EDIT/ending is sad, a bit redeeming though for all it's clichés and lackluster meandering.

OK, actually it would only make you think twice about riding alone without a chain tool... 

They did do a good job of casting the final bad guy though, freaky! Looks like an alien love child.


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## COTarHeel (Apr 30, 2011)

This thread can't die!!! Keep em coming!


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## BmoreKen (Sep 27, 2004)




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## Malazan (Oct 17, 2011)

A lot of these stories make me glad I CCW with my SIG .40 while riding


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

Malazan said:


> A lot of these stories make me glad I CCW with my SIG .40 while riding


"A lot" You mean the .002% of the time when it's more than just a noise in the woods...  I know, it only takes one time you need a gun and don't have it, but lets not act like the woods are filled with flesh eating zombies waitng to munch on unsuspecting mtbrs...


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)




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## dth656 (Feb 12, 2009)

summer of 09, i was riding in annadel state park in nor cal, crawling my way up the approach to a rock garden on marsh trail. i'm busy staring at my front wheel until i get to the rock garden, at which point i look up so i can aim for the easiest to climb line. well, about 20' in front of me, sprawled across the entire trail, was a freshly eviscerated buck. its head was completely intact, but everything else was just bones and blood. there were a few scraps of skin around the rib cage, and i remember seeing blood dripping from some of the ribs (so it must have been relatively recent). i freaked the f*ck out, dismounted, and started running up the trail past the non-techy section. i really didn't want to be desert. 

once i got back on my bike, i cranked like mad until i got to the next resting point where a bunch of bikers were pulled up, all w/ the "did you SEE that??" convo going.


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## electrik (Oct 22, 2009)

*Unknown*

A few years ago, when halogen lights were a hot ticket I was out trying my new one on a weeknight. There wasn't much nearby, but there was the local gravel pit which offered some huge steeps and largish boulders. The pit was quite large, about a kilometer or so across and the bottom had filled up with water. Anyways.

I had just finished a little run down the side and was pedaling back out when I took a break. I turned around to see how far i'd made it and caught something down by the bottom near the water's edge(drinking?) of course at this distance i could only make out a large shadow because the moon was out. It was about 4 ft high and probably just as long. Well, I am wondering what this is for about half a second when it immediately stopped what it was doing and looked right at me. It's eyes now caught in the beam of my lamp illuminated brightly. At this point i notice the pit is eerily silent, no sound, not even a breeze. As soon as this creature's eyes light up in my beam it started off - straight for me. It's eyes extinguished as it ran, all i could now see in the moonlight was a large shadowy mass racing around the pond at the bottom to get to me.

In horror i rapidly turned around and pedaled that mother****ing bike as fast as i could up and out of that pit without ever looking back. I swear to God i could feel this thing's breath on the back of my neck the last hundred meters before i burst out onto the roadway where some traffic was. To this date i have no idea what it was, it didn't chase me further, it made no sound whatsoever, was it there watching me the whole time? why didn't i notice it earlier? Never went back to that pit at night!  I did buy a more powerful light so maybe next time i'll get a good look at the unknown!


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## GoingOffRoading (Oct 16, 2011)

Ha! How many near death experiences have I had...

I use to 4x4 through the Rubicon Trail near Lake Tahoe, Ca... Was given bad directions at little sluice (for those who are familiar) and almost endo'ed down a hill in a vehicle that didn't have a roll cage. A buddy applying 100lbs or so of pull via rope is what literally kept me from going over.

Ran into bears hiking... Working on my CCW because of that

Was cutting rotted out trees at a boy scout camp when the one I cut's rotted section collapsed sending the 4' tree falling my direction... Got lucky and the three I jumped behind didn't buckle under the weight of the larger tree.

Nothing bike related... Yet


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## yannkerveno (Nov 17, 2011)

well just about my short story. I'd done a long solo trail three days before here in Pyrénées (south France), and an friend call me for a ride, "short one" i said, because my legs were still hurting from the saturday's ride. It a was a cloudy morning at the beginning of 2011 march and we took a singletrack for coming back home after 35 mn of ride. I was exhausted, really, and decided to go first for the way down. I remembre i was thinking about my job and what i'd to do during the day. And then nothing, i was riding quite fast in a singletrasck with lot of stones and i went OTB. I just remember the noise, crack, of my elbow (i learnt a bit later, at hospital, i broke it in 8 pieces…). Lucky me ! My friend i was riding with is a doctor. He managed to warn the rescue team, helicopter and more to get me out of that place. It just took may be one hour and half or me to get in a safe place, curiously the broken elbow didn't hurt so much as i was not moving at all, in my remembers, but i was almost suffering from cold…*Surgeon, (a great one) needed nearly 3 hours to deal with the puzzle i've done with my bones…

Now, i just remember my ride three days before the accident, the places i ride through, if i had an accident there, nobody could have find me, and event, it would have take so many times i could die because of the cold my friend said, would probably have been in a really serious trouble… Then, since, i started to ride again in august event if it's not easy yet, i DO NOT i WON'T RIDE anymore a singletrack alone, i will always have a SURVIVAL BLANKET in my bag and for my girlfriend, i find an iphone app that allow her to see were i'm in a google map when i'm riding. And i feel, and think i will feel a bit scary when i now see stones crossing the track without looking if i'm around there  That's it !(sorry for my english, i almost speak french in my every days' life


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

electrik said:


> A few years ago, when halogen lights were a hot ticket I was out trying my new one on a weeknight. There wasn't much nearby, but there was the local gravel pit which offered some huge steeps and largish boulders. The pit was quite large, about a kilometer or so across and the bottom had filled up with water. Anyways.
> 
> I had just finished a little run down the side and was pedaling back out when I took a break. I turned around to see how far i'd made it and caught something down by the bottom near the water's edge(drinking?) of course at this distance i could only make out a large shadow because the moon was out. It was about 4 ft high and probably just as long. Well, I am wondering what this is for about half a second when it immediately stopped what it was doing and looked right at me. It's eyes now caught in the beam of my lamp illuminated brightly. At this point i notice the pit is eerily silent, no sound, not even a breeze. As soon as this creature's eyes light up in my beam it started off - straight for me. It's eyes extinguished as it ran, all i could now see in the moonlight was a large shadowy mass racing around the pond at the bottom to get to me.
> 
> In horror i rapidly turned around and pedaled that mother****ing bike as fast as i could up and out of that pit without ever looking back. I swear to God i could feel this thing's breath on the back of my neck the last hundred meters before i burst out onto the roadway where some traffic was. To this date i have no idea what it was, it didn't chase me further, it made no sound whatsoever, was it there watching me the whole time? why didn't i notice it earlier? Never went back to that pit at night!  I did buy a more powerful light so maybe next time i'll get a good look at the unknown!


Ah, the power of the imagination! If it was some kind of animal predator, (mountain lion?), that is not usual behavior for it, and it would have caught you if it wanted. Maybe a dog? Perhaps he was lost and was thinking you were his buddy?!? Again, if he had wanted, he would have caught up. You say 'his eyes extinguished' as he came for you. Probably he was looking down as he moved so you couldn't see the eyes... Hmmm. Having rationalised that, there is really no need to have been scared you see!

On the other hand, if that was me, I would have beat you out of the pit...


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## electrik (Oct 22, 2009)

rockerc said:


> Ah, the power of the imagination! If it was some kind of animal predator, (mountain lion?), that is not usual behavior for it, and it would have caught you if it wanted. Maybe a dog? Perhaps he was lost and was thinking you were his buddy?!? Again, if he had wanted, he would have caught up. You say 'his eyes extinguished' as he came for you. Probably he was looking down as he moved so you couldn't see the eyes... Hmmm. Having rationalised that, there is really no need to have been scared you see!
> 
> On the other hand, if that was me, I would have beat you out of the pit...


I have no clue!! I had a pretty good distance on it, but it moved really fast and it seemed like it should be closing on me any time. I didn't look - just pedaled harder(my only option!)

No need to be scared? Well i sure as **** wasn't going to hang around to find out what it was... lol


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## XLR99 (Sep 21, 2010)

electrik said:


> I have no clue!! I had a pretty good distance on it, but it moved really fast and it seemed like it should be closing on me any time. I didn't look - just pedaled harder(my only option!)
> 
> No need to be scared? Well i sure as **** wasn't going to hang around to find out what it was... lol


That's pretty wild...
Makes me glad all we have in our woods are deer, kamikaze squirrels and annoying teenagers.
For some reason this reminded me of an aviation survival talk I was at last year. The speaker was a SERE instructor and had lived in Alaska for several years. His advice was to always travel with someone you know you can outrun, no need to outrun the bear, just outrun your buddy . Then he lit off a bunch of magnesium flakes inside the FAA offices :thumbsup: .


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## Hutch3637 (Jul 1, 2011)

Posted this in another forum (lights and ever get scared at night riding) 
Which made me think of this thread. Here is my response to that thread.

Actually, the other day. I live about two miles give or take to my trail head. On route I ride through some bad area's (thugs and what not) and through a park. Well, on my way through the park i'm just going along and I look up and there's some huge dude standing in the middle of the dirt path no lights nothing, mind you it's around 3-3:30AM. I carefully passed the guy and was like Hi... So as I leave the path and head over across the road to the trail head I notice there is a 18 wheeler parked in the dirt/gravel parking lot so it could have been him. So I head off into the trail. The guy why was he there was in my mind but that didn't get me. As I'm doing my usual loop I come to a top of a climb and take a break for a second to sip water. Next thing I hear is some stigs and leaves crunching on the down side the trail. I shine my lights over there and guess what? It's that dude! Mind you i'm about 2-3 miles in the middle of the woods with windy single track. I'm like wtf. Needless to say hauled ass back the way I came down the climb. Luckly there's a brigde crossing which takes you out to a road down the path so I made it there in record time and as i'm riding home I just keep thinking what did this guy want or who was he?


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

Hutch3637 said:


> Posted this in another forum (lights and ever get scared at night riding)
> Which made me think of this thread. Here is my response to that thread.
> 
> Actually, the other day. I live about two miles give or take to my trail head. On route I ride through some bad area's (thugs and what not) and through a park. Well, on my way through the park i'm just going along and I look up and there's some huge dude standing in the middle of the dirt path no lights nothing, mind you it's around 3-3:30AM. I carefully passed the guy and was like Hi... So as I leave the path and head over across the road to the trail head I notice there is a 18 wheeler parked in the dirt/gravel parking lot so it could have been him. So I head off into the trail. The guy why was he there was in my mind but that didn't get me. As I'm doing my usual loop I come to a top of a climb and take a break for a second to sip water. Next thing I hear is some stigs and leaves crunching on the down side the trail. I shine my lights over there and guess what? It's that dude! Mind you i'm about 2-3 miles in the middle of the woods with windy single track. I'm like wtf. Needless to say hauled ass back the way I came down the climb. Luckly there's a brigde crossing which takes you out to a road down the path so I made it there in record time and as i'm riding home I just keep thinking what did this guy want or who was he?


He was definitely going to murder you. The 18 wheeler is a giveaway. Truck drivers are notorious murderers. Where I was in England, the cops would always "Cherchez Le Truckie", cos they can move around the country easily, and commit their foul deeds away from home... The only thing that does not quite gel is his ability to move that quickly thru a night forest, since being fleet of foot is not normally a common attribute of the long haul trucker. He must have had an equally murderous twin brother, or you are a very slow rider... That explains everything!


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## Hutch3637 (Jul 1, 2011)

^^^ The truck was from California and this guy was not the normal fat driver. Current lights on the bike only let me ride so fast. He could have just cut through the woods. Either way, I'm alive even if he had bad intentions.


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## sayzawn (Jul 15, 2011)

He probably wanted to play hide the salami. He thought you were giving him a hint so he followed you into the woods. Some guy had the wrong idea with me one time at a public park, but this was in broad daylight in a bathroom, so not scary, just pretty uncomfortable.


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

*Weird*

I created this post a few years ago, never thinking it would get the attention it did...approaching 100,000 views. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person who gets spooked out in the woods. Wow... These stories are amazing. It kinda makes me want stay out of the woods!


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## boblepesh1 (May 16, 2010)

On my second ever night ride, I was with my dad climbing out of Skeggs from the bottom to get back to the truck, and started to hear rustling in the bushes. When I am alone I am like you guys, always thinking about the last horror movie I saw (PARTICULARLY THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT), but when I'm riding with other people i begin thinking about the bigger kitties that live in the mountains we ride in. This particular time, I am about a football field or so behind my dad climbing out methuselah, when I hear the typical rustling and cracking of branches, so I turn around and scan with my light to check for any green eyes but don't see any. This relieved me but right as I turn back to face the trail I look down right as my front wheel rolls over what appeared to be a deer femur. "The Shining" music was playing in my head for the rest of the climb. Needless to say I was a little quicker up the hill than usual.


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## WarBoom (Dec 13, 2011)

I've been out at a local mx trail area and came around a blind turn when all of a sudden I run smack into a downed tree and I get knocked out cold for god knows how long and when I regain what little sense I have I look around and see my damn dirtbike is gone and there are tracks where it landed and the foot prints and then it riding off the other way
So I get pissed and call my dad to come get me on his 4 wheeler i was about 11 miles from camp and look at my phone and realize I've been k/o for about 2 hours 
So I start walking back and after about half mile or so find my bike in the center of the trail and running marks leaving it 
I turn it over and have a look at it and see my jury rigged neutral safety wire came loose so I put it back on and started to go back to the camp 
I meet my dad about halfway back and we go back to camp where we were at and meet the police and get checked out by medics and find I have a slight concussion and then go back to where all this happened and find that the bad guy had the tree on a pulley system and dropped it in front of me 

And ever since then I either carry or I go with a buddy anytime I am out doors in unfamiliar woods or trails 

And sorry for the bad spelling and grammar I'm a work on my iPhone lol


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

rutkiller said:


> I created this post a few years ago, never thinking it would get the attention it did...approaching 100,000 views. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person who gets spooked out in the woods. Wow... These stories are amazing. It kinda makes me want stay out of the woods!


+1! thanks for a great thread!


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## rlb81 (Aug 18, 2008)

yannkerveno said:


> Then, since, i started to ride again in august event if it's not easy yet, i DO NOT i WON'T RIDE anymore a singletrack alone, i will always have a SURVIVAL BLANKET in my bag and for my girlfriend, i find an iphone app that allow her to see were i'm in a google map when i'm riding. And i feel, and think i will feel a bit scary when i now see stones crossing the track without looking if i'm around there  That's it !(sorry for my english, i almost speak french in my every days' life


This is always in the back of my head since I ride alone 99.9% of the time. I'm not usually in extremely remote areas, but I ride a few places where I don't see another person for my entire trip. It's even worse in winter when you know you're probably the only person out on a particular day. The survival blanket is a great idea, I'm going to get one. Thanks!



WarBoom said:


> back to where all this happened and find that the bad guy had the tree on a pulley system and dropped it in front of me


This is messed up...Where did this take place?


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## TNRabbit (Dec 9, 2011)

Nothing crazy or life-threatening, but once about 4 years ago I was riding a back road in Golden Beach, MD, on my way out to some off-road area & saw two mallard ducks ahead on the side of the road, one male, one female. As I approached, the female walked calmly further off the side of the road, but the male began walking, then RUNNING, away from me. As I approached (@12-15 mph), he took flight & turned directly into my path. He was about a foot off the ground when my front wheel knobbies caught his tail, dragging him down where I squarely ran over his entire body with BOTH WHEELS! I coasted to a stop, not wanting to grind into him any further & stopped about 20 feet ahead. I watched him flail around, then walk off the road, trying to fly (unsuccessfully). I continued to watch for a couple of minutes to see if he would be ok. He was unsteady on his feet, but appeared to be semi-fine, & when I tried to catch him to check he stayed just out of reach, so I left him. Not sure if he made it or not, but I would equate that to a dozen large Harleys running straight over the middle of my back~ I can't imagine he was unscathed, as I'm a 220 lb Clyde....


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## dstaks (May 10, 2011)

Any new stories for 2012, good reading


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## Fiskare (Sep 5, 2008)

dstaks said:


> Any new stories for 2012, good reading


No, no stories from 2012. The world is all better now.

Funny how the stories get just a lil bit better with time. You should all have seen the fish I was pulling out of alpine lakes in the SNs back in the late 70s and 80s!

They (the fish) actually were better back then..........but time helps too.

I like to ride my bicycle.


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## knockbox (Nov 20, 2011)

I had scary encounter with a lumberjack once. I was about to cut down a trail that I've ridden quite a few times over the past 17 years without seeing anyone, ever. Its a typical forestry trail, nice loamy dirt, downhill, some old machinery and a rotting caravan... you get the picture.
Anyway I turn up near the entrance to find the gate open and a truck parked up, so I head back to the road and think about another route to get to the bottom. Then the truck drives past me, game on. I wait 'til he's out of sight then head back to the start of the trail, jump the gate, get on my bike and then I hear the truck skidding to a stop behind me! The guy gets out and is over the gate and in my face screaming before I know whats happening! He's about about 5ft tall and 5ft wide so God knows how he moved so fast. So he's all red faced, screaming and spitting, jabbing his fat stubby fingers at me, his dogs are going mental inside his truck, he's telling me if he finds me in here again he'll rip my head off and drive over my bike. I'm trying to calm him down before he has a heart attack. 
In the end we make friends and he tells me he'll let me through, but his mate is still working at the bottom so let him know its ok. Yeah, I turned around and went a different way!
I went to my LBS later in the week to ask about this guy, turns out some lads are pressing charges against him after he ran them off the road with said truck! Nutter.


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## dstaks (May 10, 2011)

knockbox said:


> I had scary encounter with a lumberjack once. I was about to cut down a trail that I've ridden quite a few times over the past 17 years without seeing anyone, ever. Its a typical forestry trail, nice loamy dirt, downhill, some old machinery and a rotting caravan... you get the picture.
> Anyway I turn up near the entrance to find the gate open and a truck parked up, so I head back to the road and think about another route to get to the bottom. Then the truck drives past me, game on. I wait 'til he's out of sight then head back to the start of the trail, jump the gate, get on my bike and then I hear the truck skidding to a stop behind me! The guy gets out and is over the gate and in my face screaming before I know whats happening! He's about about 5ft tall and 5ft wide so God knows how he moved so fast. So he's all red faced, screaming and spitting, jabbing his fat stubby fingers at me, his dogs are going mental inside his truck, he's telling me if he finds me in here again he'll rip my head off and drive over my bike. I'm trying to calm him down before he has a heart attack.
> In the end we make friends and he tells me he'll let me through, but his mate is still working at the bottom so let him know its ok. Yeah, I turned around and went a different way!
> I went to my LBS later in the week to ask about this guy, turns out some lads are pressing charges against him after he ran them off the road with said truck! Nutter.


Hmm, maybe he found you attractive and wanted to spare you


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## Funrover (Oct 4, 2006)

WOW!!! Some creepy stuff here. I often ride solo, I find earbuds help me a lot at night not be so spooked. For me it is some of the 4 legged cretures out there that will catch me off guard. I had a Coyote dart at me for a short bit once. Scared the hell out of me.


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## ZmyDust (May 13, 2011)

When this happened Mountain Biker gets taken out by BUCK - CRAZY Footage - Only in Africa - YouTube

Sorry, but that one never gets old.

Ok here's my story. Not as crazy as some of yours but i pedaled away womdering "what if?" I was about three miles out into the trail riding solo. Very twisty single track in heavy woods so can't see too far ahead. I railed around a corner and see a dude standing completely still in the middle of the trail looking off to my left. He looks at me and just points with one arm into the woods. Split second curiosity gets the best of me and I lay on the brakes before I slam into him. At this point we are about two feet apart an he's still pointing. He whispers "look," so I do, and have to kind of hunch over to get his line of sight, and realize he's standing right over me and I'm looking into the woods. Could have put a knife right in my neck before I knew it. Turns out he was nature watching and there was a family of deer relaxing 20 yards out. I never would have saw them at my pace.

Rode away with this thread in mind and thank the stars that regardless of all the crazies we hear about on the news, not everybody is out to get me! :thumbsup:


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## Scott O (Aug 5, 2004)

ZmyDust said:


> I railed around a corner and see a dude standing completely still in the middle of the trail looking off to my left. He looks at me and just points with one arm into the woods. Split second curiosity gets the best of me and I lay on the brakes before I slam into him. At this point we are about two feet apart an he's still pointing. He whispers "look," so I do, and have to kind of hunch over to get his line of sight, and realize he's standing right over me and I'm looking into the woods. Could have put a knife right in my neck before I knew it. Turns out he was nature watching and there was a family of deer relaxing 20 yards out.


Actually, you did have a reason to be scared. If you had stayed a minute longer, the guy would've killed you. I know this because that guy was me!


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## NicoleB (Jul 21, 2011)

Scott O said:


> Actually, you did have a reason to be scared. If you had stayed a minute longer, the guy would've killed you. I know this because that guy was me!


i always associate people with their avatars. so basically, you Scott, ARE that guy in your avatar. and i picture that guy typing your stuff.

ok, carry on.


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## ZmyDust (May 13, 2011)

Scott O said:


> Actually, you did have a reason to be scared. If you had stayed a minute longer, the guy would've killed you. I know this because that guy was me!


Then you of all people will understand why I didn't stick around to chat!


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## BigBoyBMX (Jan 11, 2012)

m-wilhelm said:


> Several years ago I'm night riding with 2 friends at Brandywine in DE. We usually had a few drinks before riding and I was young and dumb. I was in front of the other guys with a nice gap I come down a hill with a creek crossing. After the creek you make a right turn into a big field. After I turn I see a black guy carrying a shotgun and he tells me I scared him. My friends showed up and this guys said he was hunting raccoons or something. We kept riding and had no issues, I probably should have been more scared but I had a couple of drinks in me and was quite young.


there is no "hunting of racoons" thats bullshitt...the only hunting of brandywine is sanctioned hunts in Dec or Jan. when the park is completly shut down for 2-3 days at a time...you should have called 911 or the DNREC dispatch at 1800-523-3336...but then again, night riding in BCSP is illegal so use dispatch at your own risk...


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## knockbox (Nov 20, 2011)

dstaks said:


> Hmm, maybe he found you attractive and wanted to spare you


I haven't been back since! I know what happens, I've seen too many episodes of Dexter


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## freighttrainuphill (Feb 3, 2012)

I'm just getting back into mountain biking after 15 years of road cycling, so I don't have any creepy trail stories yet, but I have one from a road ride up in the mountains last summer.

I like to take lots of solo rides up in the hills and mountains to do tough climbs. This one was rated one of the toughest, if not _the_ toughest climb in Placer County. It is an un-named road nicknamed the "Corkscrew Wall" by local cyclists. This is a remote road miles from civilization, and it climbs 2,200' in 4.5 miles. It is so lightly traveled that I didn't see any cars until I was near the top, where I saw a grand total of two vehicles.

As I was about to pass the water tank before a short descent, I heard a very close gunshot.  I looked around and saw some people in a parking area at the bottom of the short descent. I didn't see any guns though.

As I continued to climb I heard numerous gunshots, only more distant this time. I'm guessing it was hunters or people goofing around. That close one scared the shyt out of me though!

The sound of the gunshots was captured starting at 3:44 in this ride video. *Be forewarned, there is plenty of female cyclist heavy breathing on this video, so don't say I didn't warn you!*

Oxbow Corkscrew Wall climb 7-31-11 - YouTube


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## Fiskare (Sep 5, 2008)

freighttrainuphill said:


> I like to take lots of solo rides up in the hills and mountains to do tough climbs. This one was rated one of the toughest, if not _the_ toughest climb in Placer County. It is an un-named road nicknamed the "Corkscrew Wall" by local cyclists. This is a remote road miles from civilization, and it climbs 2,200' in 4.5 miles. It is so lightly traveled that I didn't see any cars until I was near the top, where I saw a grand total of two vehicles.


I'd give you positive rep for riding that road, the heavy breathing, and the cursing under your breath. Sounds like my wife going up hill. But apparently I have not yet earned my stripes for 'repping' someone....so consider yourself virtually positively 'repped'.


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## freighttrainuphill (Feb 3, 2012)

Fiskare said:


> I'd give you positive rep for riding that road, the heavy breathing, and the cursing under your breath. Sounds like my wife going up hill. But apparently I have not yet earned my stripes for 'repping' someone....so consider yourself virtually positively 'repped'.


Thanks.  Most forums have a daily rep limit, so maybe you're over the limit for today. You've got more posts and more rep power than me, so it should work after the "rep timer" resets. 

I forgot how much I cussed under my breath after I heard that gunshot!  Good thing I was at the top of that part of the climb, because that was a scare that took my breath away!


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## Fiskare (Sep 5, 2008)

freighttrainuphill said:


> Thanks.  Most forums have a daily rep limit, so maybe you're over the limit for today. You've got more posts and more rep power than me, so it should work after the "rep timer" resets.


I've never 'repped' anyone. I think I don't have enough rep myself to rep another. And I like your handle. My wife sometimes goes by 'Hill Slug'. Smooth tracks!


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## freighttrainuphill (Feb 3, 2012)

Fiskare said:


> I've never 'repped' anyone. I think I don't have enough rep myself to rep another. And I like your handle. My wife sometimes goes by 'Hill Slug'. Smooth tracks!


Thank you.  I like your wife's handle too. There's a couple people on teamestrogen.com with the usernames "Hill Slug" and "Hill-Slug". There's also a "HillSlugger" and a "Hillhugger".

You have more than enough rep to rep someone. Once a person reaches a certain number of posts (usually 50), they have enough. Otherwise the rep they leave is grey with no points. To rep someone you click on the gold thumbs-up icon on the bottom left side of that person's post. A little box will pop up and you can leave a comment if you wish. I always leave a comment and my username, since there's no other way for the person to know who repped them.

Back on topic, I'm really loving this thread! I've read the first 5 pages so far, and I intend to read the rest as time allows. Great stories! :thumbsup:


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## Fiskare (Sep 5, 2008)

freighttrainuphill said:


> Thank you.  I like your wife's handle too. There's a couple people on teamestrogen.com with the usernames "Hill Slug" and "Hill-Slug". There's also a "HillSlugger" and a "Hillhugger".


That's where my wife got 'Hill Slug'. She was part of Team Apocalypse when she was hit by an RV on the side of HW1 at Big Sur and left for dead. She later wrote about it, and the fact that she was a wearing a Team Estrogen jersey at the time, and Team Estrogen sent her some swag, including a 'Hill Slug' T-shirt.

Oh, and you have been repped!


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## freighttrainuphill (Feb 3, 2012)

Fiskare said:


> That's where my wife got 'Hill Slug'. She was part of Team Apocalypse when she was hit by an RV on the side of HW1 at Big Sur and left for dead. She later wrote about it, and the fact that she was a wearing a Team Estrogen jersey at the time, and Team Estrogen sent her some swag, including a 'Hill Slug' T-shirt.
> 
> Oh, and you have been repped!


Grrr! I hope they caught that driver and hung him to dry!  I hope your wife recovered and is still able to ride. Send her my regards. I'm "luv2climb" on teamestrogen.com. 

Thanks for the rep. Gotcha back!  A bug in the forum software popped up that happens from time to time. I started to write a comment in the little box and the box disappeared. If this ever happens to you when you're trying to rep someone, just click on the thumb-up icon and the box will come back and stay there like it's supposed to.


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## CCS77 (Dec 12, 2011)

nikojan said:


> ...anyone have an idea what the hell he cut the guys throat with?


JUST put this on my instant que through Netflix! watching tonight....thanks


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

freighttrainuphill said:


> ...*Be forewarned, there is plenty of female cyclist heavy breathing on this video, so don't say I didn't warn you!*
> 
> Oxbow Corkscrew Wall climb 7-31-11 - YouTube


PRO TIP:

-Overlay this vid's audio w/ your favorite (but has 'bad' sound) Tube8 video with muted volume, and it's Awesome! But, If you can endure the 'race' and finish AT 3:44 - It's MAGIC!!:thumbsup:


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## freighttrainuphill (Feb 3, 2012)

highdelll said:


> PRO TIP:
> 
> -Overlay this vid's audio w/ your favorite (but has 'bad' sound) Tube8 video with muted volume, and it's Awesome! But, If you can endure the 'race' and finish AT 3:44 - It's MAGIC!!:thumbsup:


LOL! I didn't know what "Tube8" was, so I put it in the search field on YouTube. Lots of NSFW results!


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

freighttrainuphill said:


> I'm just getting back into mountain biking after 15 years of road cycling, so I don't have any creepy trail stories yet, but I have one from a road ride up in the mountains last summer.
> 
> I like to take lots of solo rides up in the hills and mountains to do tough climbs. This one was rated one of the toughest, if not _the_ toughest climb in Placer County. It is an un-named road nicknamed the "Corkscrew Wall" by local cyclists. This is a remote road miles from civilization, and it climbs 2,200' in 4.5 miles. It is so lightly traveled that I didn't see any cars until I was near the top, where I saw a grand total of two vehicles.
> 
> ...


Wow, that first one was close!!! I would have stopped and yelled out something for that one!!!

I assume lots of people got guns this previous Xmas, cause there was some serious shooting! Drove by a group of out of place people parked with several vehicles, (just not looking like they were outdoors people, maybe for a picnic or something?), but just thought they were getting ready to go on a whole family hike the day after Xmas or something? I park there sometimes and start to ride, but kept going since there was a big group. So I park and go ride, and it was windy, so I didn't hear any gun shots for a while. Then all of a sudden the wind drops and it sounded like the fourth of July, only with occasional twangs from ricochets!

Crazy thing is were not that far out of town, (I've experienced it and probably complained in this forum of people shooting here before), if they were shooting into a true backstop it would have been either towards subdivisions or back towards a state park, AND there is a legal place to shoot outside with proper backstop/box for 5-6 bucks not 3 more miles...? (I could hear all the shooting from the west where the shooting range is, LOTS of shooing that day!)

Anyway, by the time I hear them shooting there is going to be a small extinct volcano between them and me most of the time and I was headed away so I just kept riding. But then later on in front of me there's more shooting. It's down in a series of valleys I guess, a part of the mesa that drops off. So probably pretty safe place to shoot, but if they were shooting away from town and into backstop there's a chance the rounds were coming back my direction! So at that point I did turn back and then took the next spur south to get away from both shooting groups for awhile at least. I've done my share of shooing in the desert. (FARTHER out in the desert), and always with a good backstop. So I suppose my shooting might have spooked somebody out riding too...? But I think I'm getting more accustom to riding while hearing people are shooting.

Course not as close as the shot in that video!!!


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## freighttrainuphill (Feb 3, 2012)

stiingya said:


> Wow, that first one was close!!! I would have stopped and yelled out something for that one!!!


I thought about that, but then I also thought of the worst case scenario of "were they trying to scare me, or worse, hit me?" So I kept my trap shut and kept going, while keeping eyes and ears wide open of course!

That was my first time on that road, so I have no idea where hunting is permitted or prohibited. I would think that hunters wouldn't be shooting so close to the road, but then again I know absolutely nothing about hunting, even though my father is a hunter. I only went fishing as a child. I was never taken on hunting trips.


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

freighttrainuphill said:


> LOL! I didn't know what "Tube8" was, so I put it in the search field on YouTube. Lots of NSFW results!


youtube? - url bar or search for real NSFW


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## freighttrainuphill (Feb 3, 2012)

highdelll said:


> youtube? - url bar or search for real NSFW


Nah, that's all right. If it's anything like the YouTube results, it's more geared towards men than women. 

Back on topic, I'm reading more of these stories now. Thanks to those creepy stories and that woman on the other forum who warned me about mountain lions, I have been knife shopping. Of course I live in CA so I think we're only allowed to carry a blade 3" or less in length. I want a fixed blade, not something I'll have to unfold first when seconds count.


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## alvinlovesu (Oct 4, 2011)

wet sunday morning, alone in the middle of the trail when a group of macaques (ferocious little sons of *****es) decided to sun themselves in the middle of the trail. Being the eco-friendly hippy that i am, i decided to alight and push the bike through them.

The alpha male decided that i was looking at him the wrong way, and jumped on my camelbak. Thank goodness he didn't get a handhold and fell off after awhile.

sprinted out of the trail faster than i ever did and came back to retrieve my bike with a solid piece of broken branch in hand.


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

freighttrainuphill said:


> NIf it's anything like the YouTube results, it's more geared towards men than women.


that's why I was clarifying - youtube results are :skep:


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## cerrogordo (Feb 3, 2012)

There is a trail on town called Rincon who is kind of dangerous if you're out alone riding. A lot of people use this trail to do other stuff instead of MTB'ing. Sometimes I get to the trail and desist of riding if I hear people in their motocross and atv's; they are usually armed and dangerous. One time I was riding and when I was about to go on a downhill I suddenly stopped for no reason at all. I gather my thoughts and continue on riding. When I got to the bottom I missed a group of horsebike riders just by seconds. Another time on this downhill, when I got to the bottom there were some jerks trying to rock crawl in their jeeps uphill. One of the woman in the group entered the single track todo her business and got hella scared when I passed her by at 15 mph while she was squatting to piss. That ride was crazy, in another part of this trail a guy entered the trail with his pick up and was burning a pile of trash. I got lucky I smelled the smoke and had enough time to slow down. Needless to say, I don't plan on riding solo on this trail again.


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## huntermos (Mar 7, 2011)

cerrogordo said:


> horsebike riders


 I really must see these horsebike riders...


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

huntermos said:


> I really must see these horsebike riders...


Awwwwww, beat me to it! 



freighttrainuphill said:


> Thanks to those creepy stories and that woman on the other forum who warned me about mountain lions, I have been knife shopping. Of course I live in CA so I think we're only allowed to carry a blade 3" or less in length. I want a fixed blade, not something I'll have to unfold first when seconds count.


Looking it up, seem that out in the boonies it's OK for a bigger open carry fixed blade knife in CA. It's in urban settings that the restrictions are more plentiful = makes sense. (perhaps fix it to your camelback so it's always there but obviously part of your bike gear?)


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

cleaning up off topic rant...


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## freighttrainuphill (Feb 3, 2012)

stiingya said:


> Looking it up, seem that out in the boonies it's OK for a bigger open carry fixed blade knife in CA. It's in urban settings that the restrictions are more plentiful = makes sense. (perhaps fix it to your camelback so it's always there but obviously part of your bike gear?)


That's what I was hoping. I got this knife the other day. Blade is 4.5" long. I was planning on open carrying so it wouldn't be considered a concealed weapon.

My only concern now is how to legally transport the knife to the trailhead in my truck. I don't have an extended cab or a camper shell. I looked around in the California Penal Code, but I couldn't find anything.

I don't want to bother any cops who are on lunch break with legal questions. From what I have read on law enforcement message boards, cops don't like being bothered during break. Makes sense, as they need to get away from the public sometime during the day.


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

freighttrainuphill said:


> That's what I was hoping. I got this knife the other day. Blade is 4.5" long. I was planning on open carrying so it wouldn't be considered a concealed weapon.
> 
> My only concern now is how to legally transport the knife to the trailhead in my truck. I don't have an extended cab or a camper shell. I looked around in the California Penal Code, but I couldn't find anything.
> 
> I don't want to bother any cops who are on lunch break with legal questions. From what I have read on law enforcement message boards, cops don't like being bothered during break. Makes sense, as they need to get away from the public sometime during the day.


You might want to call and ask about local ordinances, and/or the area you go biking at. There are some further local city/county restrictions in some areas of CA. (apparently open carry in LA is still on the books as illegal even though a court case was dropped cause the State Law over rules the city law. Multiple examples of city ordinances being overruled.) Even the part about being near the waist has been fought successfully as it's only an example and not written as a requirement.

Looked at lots of posts/articles on the subject, it seems Vehicles or transportation with knives is not referenced in CA State Laws. So as long as it's not concealed on your person while your in the vehicle it's legal. Most people suggested just keeping it with your outdoor gear. I read about motorcycle riders who reported being harassed about open carry knives, but no bicycle riders! 

If you use a camelback I'd suggest attaching it to the lower part of the shoulder or hip strap if it has one? (get creative with zip ties so it doesn't bounce around!) It will be visible for open carry, near the waist, always be there when you need it, and always be part of your outdoor gear while transporting it. Set/forget.

But above all, if it's part of your bike gear and your out in the boonies you'd really have to catch a cop in a bad mood to even look twice at it!


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## CCS77 (Dec 12, 2011)

cerrogordo said:


> There is a trail on town called Rincon who is kind of dangerous if you're out alone riding. A lot of people use this trail to do other stuff instead of MTB'ing. Sometimes I get to the trail and desist of riding if I hear people in their motocross and atv's; they are usually armed and dangerous. One time I was riding and when I was about to go on a downhill I suddenly stopped for no reason at all. I gather my thoughts and continue on riding. When I got to the bottom I missed a group of horsebike riders just by seconds. Another time on this downhill, when I got to the bottom there were some jerks trying to rock crawl in their jeeps uphill. One of the woman in the group entered the single track todo her business and got hella scared when I passed her by at 15 mph while she was squatting to piss. That ride was crazy, in another part of this trail a guy entered the trail with his pick up and was burning a pile of trash. I got lucky I smelled the smoke and had enough time to slow down. Needless to say, I don't plan on riding solo on this trail again.


If your a youngster I could see how some of these instances would frighten you, but in reality not everyone on a motorized vehicle in the trails is out to get you.


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## cerrogordo (Feb 3, 2012)

Haha on my defense I was under the effects of some Tylenol PM's and english is not my first language. 

Well CCS77 here in Puerto Rico the situation is very different. Most of the people out in ATV's are armed and short fused. If you are down here riding and encounter somebody in an ATV, just say a friendly hello and continue your way. Riders here have experienced guns pointed at them when they called them out on MTB only trails.


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## CCS77 (Dec 12, 2011)

lol...I understand now. Things are much different in the good ole US of A.


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## D-REW (Feb 21, 2012)

man you guys got some very entertaining and crazy stories here. i just learned a few things reading som e pages hah.


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## Jaybo (Mar 5, 2008)

I was riding solo at night in freaking Forest Park in Portland. I was being dive bombed by bats in my lights. I am freaked out by bats. I'm sure they meant me no harm but they are ugly and dart around like crazy. I got a great workout getting out of there...I kept telling myself i was being an idiot.


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## brucoh (Mar 31, 2008)

I live on the east side of the city lake in the town I'm in. Not a big lake, it has a 3.5 mile paved bike trail around the whole thing. I work nights, but on my nights off, I usually stick to the same schedule and stay up late. I'll usually put on my headphones and go out at about 3am and do 5 or 6 laps around the lake. No one is out there and I can ride as fast and hard as I want. In the daytime, you're dodging joggers, kids and people walking their dogs. I also love riding it in the middle of the night because all the nocturnal animals come out as one side of the lake is a wooded area and creek leading out of town. 

Anyway, most parts of this paved trail is lit up with orange tinted street lights. One night, I was hauling butt down the trail (the lake 10 feet to the right of me, woods to the left) with my ipod cranked up. When out of the bottom corner of my eye I noticed something about knee high and 3 ft long was running right beside my front wheel half way on the path and halfway on the grass. I glanced down and couldn't make it out even though everything was lit up with the street lights. It seriously looked like in the movie Predator when the alien is invisible but you can see a clear blob blending into the background where he is. This thing was running a foot to the right of my front wheel and matching my pace of at least 20 mph! I start yelling cause I'm scared s**tless, WTF is this thing!! An invisible alien??!! A ghost??!! Chupacabra??!! I'm not stopping because once I put my foot down it's gonna attack me, I think. I'm screaming like a girl and trying to out run it. About that time it shoots in front of me to the left (I don't know how it didn't flip me, my front wheel must've missed it by a hair) and it shoots off into the woods. At the split second it's on the left side of my bike I make out what it is. A damn fox! The orange tint of the street lights which washed over everything, the concrete path, the dead grass, the color of the fox's hair, made the animal perfectly camouflage into the ground even though he was right beside me. I guess he was taking a drink from the lake, heard me coming and tried to run off into the woods but I came up so fast that he ended up having to run beside me until he could dart in front of me. I seriously thought this was some kind of alien or supernatural being as we raced each other. Scared the crap out of me. The lighting just made everything perfect. I rode about 100 more yards and had to take a break and calm down for a while.

There was a couple of weeks in the fall where I'd ride within about 30 feet of a huge owl standing under one of the street lights every night. He'd just follow me with his eyes as I rode by, then on my next lap, he'd be gone. He was always under the same light. I also had a coyote cross the path about 20 feet ahead of me one night. He acted like he didn't even see me and kept on trotting.


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## ZeroNine3 (May 18, 2009)

brucoh said:


> Anyway, most parts of this paved trail is lit up with orange tinted street lights. One night, I was hauling butt down the trail (the lake 10 feet to the right of me, woods to the left) with my ipod cranked up. When out of the bottom corner of my eye I noticed something about knee high and 3 ft long was running right beside my front wheel half way on the path and halfway on the grass. I glanced down and couldn't make it out even though everything was lit up with the street lights. It seriously looked like in the movie Predator when the alien is invisible but you can see a clear blob blending into the background where he is. This thing was running a foot to the right of my front wheel and matching my pace of at least 20 mph! I start yelling cause I'm scared s**tless, WTF is this thing!! An invisible alien??!! A ghost??!! Chupacabra??!! I'm not stopping because once I put my foot down it's gonna attack me, I think. I'm screaming like a girl and trying to out run it. About that time it shoots in front of me to the left (I don't know how it didn't flip me, my front wheel must've missed it by a hair) and it shoots off into the woods. At the split second it's on the left side of my bike I make out what it is. A damn fox! The orange tint of the street lights which washed over everything, the concrete path, the dead grass, the color of the fox's hair, made the animal perfectly camouflage into the ground even though he was right beside me. I guess he was taking a drink from the lake, heard me coming and tried to run off into the woods but I came up so fast that he ended up having to run beside me until he could dart in front of me. I seriously thought this was some kind of alien or supernatural being as we raced each other. Scared the crap out of me. The lighting just made everything perfect. I rode about 100 more yards and had to take a break and calm down for a while.


For a second, I thought you were going to say that it was your shadow. lol...


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## godsang (May 24, 2010)

On a mt bike, nothing really. Just a repeat arsonist setting fires at our local mt bike trails about 15 different times over the course of a month. I was pretty much forbidden to ride there alone at night by my husband and a bunch of friends...

But the scariest thing to happen on a bike ride.... This road ride was cursed! About 1 mile from the end of the group ride, we're going down a fast hill. Two deer come running out from a front yard. They bound across the road (a fast moving road in a pretty built up area mind you), and were on a collision course with our group. Those who saw them, yelled, "Deer!" and "Stopping!" The girl in the front of the group had her head down and was pedaling hard. She didn't see the deer in time. The first deer ran across her path. The second one wasn't going to make it, so it leaped into the air and tried to jump over her head. It's hoof clipped her helmet and she went tumbling end over end down the road. Her bike was a mangled mess. She broke her scapula. The deer sort of tripped from hitting her. It fell to the ground, flopped around like a fish out of water, and then jumped up and took off. We stabilized the girl and waited for the ambulance to come. 

Then we got going again. Then about 1/8th of a mile from the end of the ride, one of the older men pedaled so slowly that he fell over. He hit his head. I rode up to him and got off my bike to see if he was ok. He was saying, "That was so stupid," and then he laid down and looked like he was losing consciousness. We called the ambulance again. While we waited for it to come, he got worse. He couldn't speak and then he started to vomit. We were turning him on his side so he wouldn't choke. The EMT's came and took him away. It turned out he had a stroke. It turns out he had some medical issues before that we didn't know about too. 

Wow, that was the weirdest day on a bike. We all felt like that ride was cursed!


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## quikcolin (Jul 14, 2011)

Man lol - I'm Canadian and hearing about all these gun stories is crazy! Before I say anything, just know that I would love to have a gun, and shoot targets at a gun club. I'm expecting a ton of gun carrying Americans to jump all over me on this one... but here we go:

It's no wonder there are soo many deaths in the USA due to guns lol. Everyone seems to have one! Protection is one thing, but for all those people you see on YouTube videos just spraying bullets into the forest and laughing.... come on, really? Saying that, if I lived where Stiingya is... I would probably want to carry a gun with me too if I was deep in the woods on foot - hell, everyone else is lol.

Stiingya - I really enjoyed your stories.


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## wintersolstice (Feb 26, 2012)

quikcolin said:


> Man lol - I'm Canadian and hearing about all these gun stories is crazy! Before I say anything, just know that I would love to have a gun, and shoot targets at a gun club. I'm expecting a ton of gun carrying Americans to jump all over me on this one... but here we go:
> 
> It's no wonder there are soo many deaths in the USA due to guns lol. Everyone seems to have one! Protection is one thing, but for all those people you see on YouTube videos just spraying bullets into the forest and laughing.... come on, really? Saying that, if I lived where Stiingya is... I would probably want to carry a gun with me too if I was deep in the woods on foot - hell, everyone else is lol.
> 
> Stiingya - I really enjoyed your stories.


Actually, I'm not only pro-gun, I have my CCW permit. However, I think you're 100% right - the issue is, unfortunately, that it's insanely hard to keep the guns out of the hands of criminals while still making them available to law abiding citizens. If you make laws restricting them, the law abiding will stop carrying/buying them, but the criminals won't.

Canada has fewer issues because Canadians are just cool people 

We have similar issues here with trails - they keep closing trails because people are trashing them, but once they close the trails, people *still* trash them. The law-abiding people weren't the ones trashing them in the *first place*!

But I digress - this thread is awesome, and reminded me of  this one  on Jeep Forum. You can find the coolest stuff when you go away from the cities


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## Gunnar-man (Mar 21, 2008)

My two friends and I were riding in Canmore, west of Calgary, in an early spring ride up on the Benchlands. We were climbing and talking and I was leading. 

As I came around a corner, there were two cubs and a grizzly sow climbing up in the brush next to the trail. They obviously didn't hear us talking because they didn't react until I started yelling "BEAR". At that point, the sow stood up on her hind legs and the three of us were scrambling to get our bikes turned around. The good thing was that the grade was relatively steep so once we started heading down, we picked up speed fast and were able to get away.

We got back down to the bottom and a ranger had just put a sign, warning of the grizzlies in the area. 

I have never been that scared before and hopefully, will never again.


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## quikcolin (Jul 14, 2011)

wintersolstice said:


> Actually, I'm not only pro-gun, I have my CCW permit. However, I think you're 100% right - the issue is, unfortunately, that it's insanely hard to keep the guns out of the hands of criminals while still making them available to law abiding citizens. If you make laws restricting them, the law abiding will stop carrying/buying them, but the criminals won't.
> 
> Canada has fewer issues because Canadians are just cool people
> 
> ...


Thanks man :thumbsup:

It's really too bad about the trail issues, you're right, it's too bad they couldn't be monitored or regulated at a "front gate" so that the riders and hikers can use it, and the "others" can't


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## wintersolstice (Feb 26, 2012)

quikcolin said:


> Thanks man :thumbsup:
> 
> It's really too bad about the trail issues, you're right, it's too bad they couldn't be monitored or regulated at a "front gate" so that the riders and hikers can use it, and the "others" can't


True enough - but being Canadian, you're probably familiar with the HUGE open area that makes up most trail areas. I mean, here in AZ, there are literally millions of acres with no people at all, and once you leave a highway or trail, you could go for weeks without seeing anyone. You'd have to wall the 3 or 4 main highways to keep people from simply taking off where ever they wanted.

This actually reminds me of the scariest incident I had mountain biking (recently):
I was off on a trail in Tonto National Forest, just kind of cruising down one of the areas that I normally leave for ATV types.
I got a bit turned around (and was kind of overheated), and just randomly started taking marked trails that looked to be heading north/west hoping to hit something that looked more familiar (which is *stupid*).

About a mile from where I had started doing this, I came upon this total trash pile with a seriously nasty looking pop-up trailer in the middle. Some dude was sitting outside by a motorcycle, and just started yelling and screaming at me as I rode past.

Seriously wished I had a motor under me at that point! Took way longer than I would have liked to get away from him, and I was afraid I'd hear a motorbike engine come along any moment.

Fortunately, I got clear back to one of the major trails (the recently bladed road off 4 peaks) and was able to book it back to my car.


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## electrik (Oct 22, 2009)

quikcolin said:


> Man lol - I'm Canadian and hearing about all these gun stories is crazy! Before I say anything, just know that I would love to have a gun, and shoot targets at a gun club. I'm expecting a ton of gun carrying Americans to jump all over me on this one... but here we go:
> 
> It's no wonder there are soo many deaths in the USA due to guns lol. Everyone seems to have one! Protection is one thing, but for all those people you see on YouTube videos just spraying bullets into the forest and laughing.... come on, really? Saying that, if I lived where Stiingya is... I would probably want to carry a gun with me too if I was deep in the woods on foot - hell, everyone else is lol.
> 
> Stiingya - I really enjoyed your stories.


Dude, Canadians own more guns per captia(Michael Moore). The important difference is they're all primarly longguns/rifles not handweapons which, it seems, are primarily used in the commission of crime. The law is stricter here as well, for instance up until a few weeks ago it was possible to receive two years *minimum* for, say, having a loaded gun in your car. Perhaps you've heard of the long-gun registry program also.

If you want to own some pistols move to the states, but becareful because the whole situation is ironic. Many owners end up getting shot or shooting themselves with their own pistol. I am guessin' you're young or have a criminal record otherwise you could join a gun club.

Just be careful what you wish for is what i'm saying.


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## quikcolin (Jul 14, 2011)

electrik said:


> Dude, Canadians own more guns per captia(Michael Moore). The important difference is they're all primarly longguns/rifles not handweapons which, it seems, are primarily used in the commission of crime. The law is stricter here as well, for instance up until a few weeks ago it was possible to receive two years *minimum* for, say, having a loaded gun in your car. Perhaps you've heard of the long-gun registry program also.
> 
> If you want to own some pistols move to the states, but becareful because the whole situation is ironic. Many owners end up getting shot or shooting themselves with their own pistol. I am guessin' you're young or have a criminal record otherwise you could join a gun club.
> 
> Just be careful what you wish for is what i'm saying.


You might be right about the number of firearms in Canada vs the USA.... per captia, but keep in mind that the state of California has more people in it than ALL of Canada combined. (which is mind blowing really lol)

I'm 32, and have no interest in owning a gun of any kind - unless (like I said) it was kept in a locker at a local gun range (which I don't even believe we have in my area) which I would simply use to shoot at targets. The gun would never come home with me - ever. Oh and no, I do not have a criminal record lol 

I guess what I was getting at is this. In Canada, at least Ontario (I live in London, ON - 1.5 hours from Toronto) we cannot carry a firearm around. Just doesn't happen (unless we're talking about gang bangers in Toronto or something - but even that's rare to hear about on the news). Canadians have zero interest in carry a firearm... just the way it is. Compared to a state like Texas, where virtually every pickup truck has a gun rack in it... that's all I'm saying. Here in Canada, people don't love guns like Americans do. Is that a good thing? Bad thing? It's not for me to say... I was just commenting on the difference between the US and Canada

I love the USA, I travel there multiple times per year to MTB, Scuba Dive, and even to goto Disney - yes, I said Disney lol. But as similar as we are (Canada and the US), we are very different in many respects. Guns being one of them.


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## NicoleB (Jul 21, 2011)

most of my trail terror stories happened more as a kid on a bike. Nothing really since i've picked riding back up (other than night time animal sitings/noises)

as a kid, my favorite thing to do was harass bee nests. basically, i'd go up to one, toss a stick at it, then when the bees come out, us kids woudl run, hop on our bikes, and get the hell out of there. THen repeat. it was always MY idea to do this...and i never got stung. However my friends all did .

maybe my scariest was when 3 of us kids rode out to the swamps in the state forest like we always did, and we found a shack. At the time, i was a fire bug. i was always looking for lighters and matches. I saw that this shack was locked and inside was a lighter. so i picked up an axe that was laying there, and tried to break the lock down. (i was probably 11 years old, and obviously a little shyt  ).
well, we suddenly heard a guy yell at us. THis shirtless mountain man came appeared out of nowhere, and the three of us ran and crouched into the bushes. THe man stared in our direction and said "dont bother...i totally see you". so we shamefully came out of our hiding spots to apologize (should have ran!) and he explained that he lived there during the summer and told us the whole story about how he lived, blah blah. He ended up taking my friend's bike and fixing the gears right there. we thanked him and went our merry ways.

a year or so later, we were riding down the street, and saw a man ride by on his bike, and he yelled "how are those gears workin for ya?" I wonder what ever happened to him. obviously he ended up NOT being a creep, but looking back, we probably shouldnt have hung out and talked with him


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## wintersolstice (Feb 26, 2012)

NicoleB28 said:


> a year or so later, we were riding down the street, and saw a man ride by on his bike, and he yelled "how are those gears workin for ya?" I wonder what ever happened to him. obviously he ended up NOT being a creep, but looking back, we probably shouldnt have hung out and talked with him


Of course you should have - not all people are bad, and people are too quick to be afraid. I lived much of my life out in the middle of nowhere (horse ranch where I lived part time), and the crazy hillbillies are usually really good people.

Sometimes pretty odd, but usually cool.

Now, if he'd been freaking out about you kids breaking his lock - yeah, hotfooting it wouldn't have been uncalled for. But bear in mind that you were the one who was being out of line


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## NicoleB (Jul 21, 2011)

^ As a kid we we didnt know better. He was actually a cool guy, and yeah, we were little shyts! but i think if i were a parent, i probably wouldnt have wanted my young kids hanging with some wild mountain man.....amazing how that changes!


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## wintersolstice (Feb 26, 2012)

So - if nobody minds a road bike horror story:

I used to work up in Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento, so I rode my bike across West Sacramento and up the American River Bike trail to my work up there (just by Lake Natoma). That was a fairly long ride, and required me to leave before dawn, and I got home a bit after dark. West Sac is a pretty bad area, and the section I was riding was pretty scary in general. Not so much in the mornings when all the crack heads and gangster wanna-bes were still asleep, but in the evening.

So one evening I'm biking home, at about 25 miles into my ride, and stopped at a red light. I'm obviously wearing silly spandex gear, because you don't do a 30 mile bike ride in slacks.
The 6 thugs walk up to me while I'm at the light, and they're like "Hey man, that's a nice bike! Let me take a ride!" and "Hey, wanna let me ride that few mins". So i just kinda ignored them, until one of them pulled out an aluminum bat from behind him and started thwacking it into his palm
I was staring at that red light so hard, it's not even funny.
Then they started walking into traffic towards me, waving the bat, and I just took off right past the car in front of me, and totally blew through the red light.

Figured that if a cop stopped me, at least I'd be talking to a cop!

I also got mugged pretty bad in that part of town, but that was right after getting off a bus. I never took the bus there again


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## electrik (Oct 22, 2009)

quikcolin said:


> ...


Ok, not caring...

Now leaving gun discussion that should never have begun.


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## BmoreKen (Sep 27, 2004)

wintersolstice said:


> So - if nobody minds a road bike horror story:
> 
> I used to work up in Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento, so I rode my bike across West Sacramento and up the American River Bike trail to my work up there (just by Lake Natoma). That was a fairly long ride, and required me to leave before dawn, and I got home a bit after dark. West Sac is a pretty bad area, and the section I was riding was pretty scary in general. Not so much in the mornings when all the crack heads and gangster wanna-bes were still asleep, but in the evening.
> 
> ...


Ha, kinda reminds me of a day when my buddy and I got lost in a bad part of Baltimore (yes there are good parts _and _bad parts ).


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

quikcolin said:


> *It's no wonder there are soo many deaths in the USA due to guns*


that is a sad truth... no matter what other opinions you may have about gun rights.


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

electrik said:


> Ok, not caring...


that was pretty rude...


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## the-one1 (Aug 2, 2008)

quikcolin said:


> It's no wonder there are soo many deaths in the USA due to guns.


Guns don't kill people, mountain lions and rabid raccoons do.


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

the-one1 said:


> Guns don't kill people, mountain lions and rabid raccoons do.


good thing this little guy is not pack'n... dangerous!!!


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## quikcolin (Jul 14, 2011)

LOL hahaha, that Racoon cracks me up!!!! Awesome picture!!!!


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

electrik said:


> Ok, not caring...
> 
> Now leaving gun discussion that should never have begun.


X2....drop the anti-gun rhetoric and let's stay on topic!

Thank you! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Please read the thread title before posting.

EDIT: Ooooh that raccoon is cute!


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## moofish (May 3, 2011)

The first time I rode The real Devils gully track I stopped to answer the phone I went to put my foot down and almost stepped on a Brown snake (deadly) and freaked out I rode away down a trail I dont know with my phone in one hand and only one foot on the pedals along the edge of a drop off and my pack half hanging off my back I dont know how I didnt fall off but I learnt to answer the phone where I can see its clear.

Non-bike but wierd story. A mate and I were fishing for a weekend at a great salmon beach and after we caught a couple we had a few drinks/pipes and he started playing the didgereedoo it was real late and the sound went around the whole campsite that would have freaked a few other campers. He didnt want to wake people up so we crashed for the night. The next morning we were woken at about dawn by a really wierd sound very loud it was like ooo oo oo almost like an ape or something you would hear at the zoo I figured someone was getting us back for the didge. We got out of our swags and we could see all the other campers out of their tents trying to work out what this oo oo oo sound was. We decided we would find out so we go in the diection of the sound. We split up and went around some tall sand dunes and thru bushes over fences and by now Im getting closer to the sound and it is amazingly loud oo ooo oo What the **** is that sound!! Then I hear my mate laughing and I think Wha? I see the huge buck Kangaroo and it looks like he is stuck in a fence The poor bugger but why is my mate laughing hes a really greeny and not cruel? Im thinking how are we goona help him out hes huge and big roos can be quite dangerous. Then I see the much smaller doe roo underneath the male getting fully dominated. Thats what he was laughing about. We walked back to the campsite leaving the roos to their intimate moment and took great pleasure in telling the other campers what we saw.
As for wierd sounds in the bush any Aussie who has heard the noises that possums make when their pissed off at night for the first time will have thought what the f.. is that!


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

I use to go riding early in the morning around 5:30-6:00am. Anyways this one time after getting all ready and packing a few things for the ride I go to open my front door. The first thing I see is this black cat just sitting on my porch. I figured what the hell its probably just a coincidence so I head into my garage and get my bike out. I kick off and about 1 minute into the ride it starts raining hard. I turned my bike right the **** around and slept in that day. 

I'm usually not one to be easily spooked but now that I think about it I have pretty bad luck with these sorts of 'signs'. This one time I was riding my bike on these early trips, saw a glove pointing in the opposite direction and just blew it off. 10 minutes later I was heading down a steep road, got startled by car passing me, hit the breaks which locked up and put me in a tail spin chest first into the embarkment on the side of the road. I got winded and cut up pretty bad but was still able to make it back.


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## moofish (May 3, 2011)

went for a ride today in the bush near me.As I went uphill I hit a sandy patch and missed the line I chose. I stopped to push the bike and looked to the line I was going to take and there was a HUGE blacksnake what I saw of it was way longer than my bike and thicker than my wrist .If I took the "right" line I would have gone right over it! Man for the next few Kms every stick looked like a snake


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## AlwaysInjured (Mar 12, 2012)

The worst I've had was that "watched" feeling. I was riding on doubletrack on the hill behind my house, which normally has a great vibe. I took a turn to make a loop that, while I hadn't made that turn on a bike before, I had walked many times. I was biking through what is normally light airy woods, but it felt closed in and dark. My heart was beating way faster than normal, and every little sound from the wind or small animals freaked me out. As I got further along the loop, it kept getting worse and worse. I turned around, and almost immediately felt fine. Just an odd experience, and kinda creepy to me, but nothing came of it.


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)

This needs a bump.


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## ytowntj (Mar 30, 2012)

This needs a bump:thumbsup:

Not much to add other than we've come across some very hostile people multiple times when hiking/camping/biking in the forests of VA WV and Kentucky. Mostly over land disputes and us supposedly tresspassing when we were on forest land. Twice now in extremely remote locations (Think 5+ mile hike to the nearest fire road which is 20-30 miles to pavement and another good ways to a small town) we have been stalked/followed.

One tried to (what I can only hope) ransack our food supply while we were sleeping in our tent. He apparently tailed me thinking I was alone when he passed me going the other direction on the opposite side of the mountain earlier in the day. My GF had taken my german shepherd with her to collect water for purification so she wasnt with me. We awoke later, in the middle of the night to Misty (shepherd) freaking out and snarling. I start hollering thinking a black bear found its way to our food and proceed out the tent to see the man from earlier dashing off into the darkness (only light was from dying coals). I didnt sleep a wink after that. I no longer do overnights in a tent without my dog and I never venture places like that unprepared

The other time we had two hikers that seemed VERY prepared with frame packs etc pass us on the trail as we were headed out. It seemed sorta odd because they had very worn and dated gear and work boots on, not youre typical long distance Appalachian trail sorta gear. They were friendly enough and we talked a few minutes in passing mentioning a cold front moving in. They indicated they were heading out for a long weekend and mentioned the route they were taking which took them SW from our location, opposite of the direction we were headed. We continued on our way heading back to my jeep parked in a turnoff on a remote forest/4x4 trail. The last decent back to the vehicle was about a half mile and loss somewhere between 1000-1500 feet, pretty steep. My GF having a knee issue (runner) finds it easier to do steep un-technical descents at a good clip (read - hauling). We book it down the last descent and toss our bags in the jeep and start to pull out as dusk is approaching. Not 10 seconds after I buckle up do I catch a glimpse of one of the guys from earlier about 100 yards behind our vehicle clearly trying to stay out of sight. I start it and we book.

Not sure of the intentions of either encounter. Id like to think the first was just an attempt to scrounge some food and the latter was them changing their mind about the encroaching weather and possibly wanting a ride back to civilization. We later thought that maybe they were living in the forest and were packing in supplies. Still not sure why they followed us back...sketch for sure.


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## Anonymous (Mar 3, 2005)

Last year I saw Kathy Bates, hiking in yoga pants. 

Thing like that changes a man.


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

About a year ago, I was at my friends house who lived just a little bit outside of town. We had hung out all day and 11 was my curfew. So, by that time, it was pitch black. I started to bike home and I was on the right side of this road. After like 3 minutes of biking, I started to come up to the graveyard on my left. Thats when I noticed there was a man standing on the edge of the graveyard. I got a little creeped out but being that I lived in a small town I didn't think anything of it. But as I got closer, he started to cross the road like he was going to cut me off. I got really freaked out so I peddled even harder. He then goes from a walk to a jog to an all out sprint. At this point I am full of adrenaline and as I bike past him he lunges at me and almost knocks me off of my bike. I felt like I was in a bad dream. I looked behind me and he was sprinting after me. Luckily I was coming up to a giant slope and I knew I would speed up. After what seemed like forever he stopped chasing me and just stood there staring at me. I was filled with a surge of relief and fear. A few days later I sort of forgot about the whole thing and it eventually erased itself from my memory. The only reason why I remembered it was because today I heard on the radio that a little boy was found dead right across from the graveyard, he had been stabbed 12 times and his jaw and neck was broken...

credit goes to /nosleep


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## Bethany1 (Jan 18, 2012)

I live rurally and the only roads out of town are the highways. My two biggest fears are the farm tractors and semi trucks.

DH and were riding down the road and I heard a funny noise. The next thing I know there's this huge tractor/combine going around us. I about had a heart attack. However; it was nice to know that he saw us and went around. I still shudder about how a tractor would stop if there were cars behind him and cars on the other side. Now that it's spring, I may not be riding on the roads. 

I was riding alone up the highway late last summer and realized I needed to head back home. As I was crossing the highway my foot slipped off the pedal and I nearly skidded out of control. All I could think about was if there was a semi truck coming at 60+ mph around the curve and I'd be road kill as I tried to get across. I was so freaked I didn't ride my bike for about 2 months or so. 

Thankfully the bike trail is open now as it was closed all last summer due to the Missouri River flooding. However; it's a pretty desolate trail with 6 miles of cornfield, 4 miles of wooded areas and spotty cell phone coverage. There are no side roads if something goes wrong and you need help for those 10-11 miles.


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## cerpindicular (Apr 4, 2012)

fastale said:


> One of my friends was riding one time when he crossed paths with a buck and knocked him off his bike. Fortunitely the antlers did no damage and the buck continued on his path. I tell yea, they're mean bastards.


First off I'm new so hi everyone. I was reading and came across this one and it reminded me of a time I was riding and came across a deer. It is was in kansas so no mountains but I was on a set of nature trails that i liked for the highspeed sections i had found. They were in the city so seeing a deer on them was pretty odd to me. Anyways I was comeing into a smooth high speed down hill section with a swooping turn at the bottom so i knew i could hit at high speed i was tooling along fast enough that no matter how hard i peddled i couldn't go any faster. Anyways i come around the bend and in the middle of the trail is a massive buck with the biggest set of antlers i have ever seen...I had to be around 12 so thats not saying much but at the time it was a monster. I have no clue how it didn't hear me coming but when he popped into view there was no way for me to stop in time. I remember thinking this is going to be a fun one to explain when he managed to bounce out of the way at the last second i think i only missed him by a foot i could have reached out and grabbed him i was so close. Scared the bejesus out of me.


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## cerpindicular (Apr 4, 2012)

I used to bmx race also and at where the track was in Topeka there were some more trails that some people had cut in the woods running along a creek. My buddy and i decided i had had enough practice for the day at the track and wanted to race through the woods so we tore off. He was in front of me but i knew i was faster so coming up to a 90 degree turn in the woods I decided i was going to pass him on it. I came in waaaaaay to hot and new i would have to take the turn wide but that i could pass him there so i headed into the tall weeds to go around him. I made it about a foot into them when the ground disappeared from under me. I couldn't see the 20 foot drop on the other side of the weeds and ended up falling. Buddy say he looked back in time to see my back tire vanish and hear me scream. Said he panicked till he realized i was laughing my butt off instead of crying. I feel into a mud bank front tire first and was buried up to my elbows in black stinky mud and stuck.


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## cerpindicular (Apr 4, 2012)

burtronix said:


> Rabbits make that sound if a dog or a cat get them too. I grew up hearing that sound a couple times a year. Sometimes we knew what got the rabbit & other times we didn't.


according to my 6 yo's reaction the scariest noise in the world is hearing a donkey wailing out in the middle of no where for the first time....will have to admit i knew what it was and it was still freaky.


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## wkumtrider (Dec 27, 2007)

nikojan said:


> About a year ago, I was at my friends house who lived just a little bit outside of town. We had hung out all day and 11 was my curfew. So, by that time, it was pitch black. I started to bike home and I was on the right side of this road. After like 3 minutes of biking, I started to come up to the graveyard on my left. Thats when I noticed there was a man standing on the edge of the graveyard. I got a little creeped out but being that I lived in a small town I didn't think anything of it. But as I got closer, he started to cross the road like he was going to cut me off. I got really freaked out so I peddled even harder. He then goes from a walk to a jog to an all out sprint. At this point I am full of adrenaline and as I bike past him he lunges at me and almost knocks me off of my bike. I felt like I was in a bad dream. I looked behind me and he was sprinting after me. Luckily I was coming up to a giant slope and I knew I would speed up. After what seemed like forever he stopped chasing me and just stood there staring at me. I was filled with a surge of relief and fear. A few days later I sort of forgot about the whole thing and it eventually erased itself from my memory. The only reason why I remembered it was because today I heard on the radio that a little boy was found dead right across from the graveyard, he had been stabbed 12 times and his jaw and neck was broken...


This has to be one of the scariest stories on here. Holy crap!


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## sooner518 (Aug 1, 2007)

This doesnt involve backwoods hillbillies or bears or mountain lions, but its the most freaked out Ive ever been on a trail.

It was last spring, north of Dallas at Northshore trail, which is a really popular trail. It was kind of a humid, partly cloudy morning and I got to the trailhead around 11 AM. Started riding and the trail was in great condition and the cloud-cover made for a real pleasant ride through the trees. I got probably 30 minutes into and came upon a large clearing (the boy scout camp at Northshore) that overlooks the lake. Across the lake, I see one of these:









Im from Oklahoma so Ive seen my share of wall clouds, so I immediately turn around. Within 30 seconds of me turning around, the wind starts picking up like crazy, leaves flying all over the place. I am hauling ass as fast as IVe ever gone and Im starting to hear thunder in the distance.

I make it about 10 minutes and it starts sprinkling. Lightninig and thunder are all over the place. I probably hear thunder every 5 seconds at least. Then it starts raining moderately. Then it starts absolutely pouring on me. Im in a forest surrounded by tall trees. I didnt really know what to do other than keep going. I am absolutely drenched, my brakes arent working worth anything and the wind is going crazy. The water is just flowing 6 inches deep down the trail.

Then in the midst of all this, I hear the tornado sirens going off from the nearby neighborhoods and I was still a good 15 minutes away from my car. I just kept riding as fast as I could. When I got about a quarter mile away from my car, the wind died down and the rain started to slow a bit. I got back to my car, completely waterlogged and my drivetrain full of sand. Thank goodness I didnt take my iPhone with me in my camelback as I usually do!

I found out later that a tornado had touched down about 3 miles away from where I was riding. I LOVE huge thunderstorms, but riding my bike in one is not a fun experience.


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## cerpindicular (Apr 4, 2012)

I got one i forgot all about (trying to fulfill my 5 post requirement so i can start a thread about something)...I was in the same area where i almost hit the deer out paintballing that day with a girl i was seeing at the time. Anyways we noticed one of the blue rollaway rubbermaid trash cans elaborately tied to the trunk of the tree. Didn't think much of it at first just figured a random person got sick of all the trail trash and decided to put a trash can out there hoping people would use. Then while running by dodging paintballs i realize the way it is tied there is no way to open it. I'm extremely curious by nature (gets me into more trouble then i care to admit) and decide to take a peak inside. Takes me a good 10 mins to get the heavy rope undone. I open the top and there is a large black heavy duty trash can tied off in it. Start to open that up and all i see is a thick tuft of red hair. WE book it back to the parking lot and call the cops and tell them i think i just found a body escort the officer out there come to find out its a huge (had to be over 100 lbs) dog in the trash can. Was pretty spooky mainly because i grew up in the area and used to spend hours and hours on the trails and never saw anything like that before.


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## Magnum Ti (Jun 30, 2011)

*In my experiance..*

I am a bit nuttier than most..I think. I love the moonlight, especially while riding and NO lights. However mountainbiking, would be impossible, so I keep to the flats like the C&O and the NCR trail in Maryland. I have made these moonlit rides on many occasions and technically your not supossed to ride on the NCR trail after dusk, but I haven't experianced anything life threatening..yet. I have however

Hit a dead deer (along the road)
On a couple of occasions have had deer run out infront of me while riding
Almost hit a bum in the dark on the trail (hey it was pooring and lightning)
Almost hit trail blocking arms (the moon light is very mesmerizing)

Last week I didn't have my bike at my appartment so I went out for a moonlit walk (8 miles Wednesday, 12 miles on Thursday) on the C&O. Thursday on my way back I still had 6 miles to go and I consistantly kept on watching behind me, however a light showed up that appeared to be an LED bike light, but it didn't get closer nor farther away. This lasted for about 5 mins. If it was a bike it would have surely cought up with me, but it dissappeared. So I made double pace for the rest of the way back to the car. I carried a light but didn't use it.


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## cerpindicular (Apr 4, 2012)

sooner518 said:


> This doesnt involve backwoods hillbillies or bears or mountain lions, but its the most freaked out Ive ever been on a trail.
> 
> It was last spring, north of Dallas at Northshore trail, which is a really popular trail. It was kind of a humid, partly cloudy morning and I got to the trailhead around 11 AM. Started riding and the trail was in great condition and the cloud-cover made for a real pleasant ride through the trees. I got probably 30 minutes into and came upon a large clearing (the boy scout camp at Northshore) that overlooks the lake. Across the lake, I see one of these:
> 
> ...


Theres nothing like being in the middle of no where (boy scout camp for) with calm weather then suddenly having mother go menstrual on you. I don't know how far it was to the storm shelter but it felt like 100 miles not a single tent left standing and my oreos stashed in my pack were water logged


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

wkumtrider said:


> This has to be one of the scariest stories on here. Holy crap!


Definitely spooky, but if it came off of nosleep that means it was made up...


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## Barn Barn (Apr 3, 2012)

I got off my bike and was clearing some trail the other day looked down and there was a snapping turtle the size of a dinner plate right next to my foot.


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## golfduke (Mar 20, 2007)

I am OCD about risk taking, to a fault. I am ridiculously over-prepared, always have an out or fallback/escape plan, and I definitely keep in mind extra care when I hit the trails solo. 

I never used to be like that. It took one hike to change me. A good friend of mine was a hutmaster for an AMC hut in the White Mountains for a summer in college. He would occasionally send an email to myself and another buddy for small supplies and such that he couldn't ask for on the standard supply runs (read: booze and condoms). Being hikers ourselves, we'd hike up there with a couple handles of cheap alcohol in exchange for a couple hot meals and a sleeping bag space in the hut. One Friday afternoon, we parked at the trailhead and started our hike up. The weather was perfect, but we got a little bit of a late start. Cliff-noting the story, we ended up exposed and above treeline, in the dark with 2 small headlamps, and a storm had blown in to the point that we were guiding ourselves up trail via the lightning flashes looking for the rock markers. We were prepared for a summer day hike, not a full on 70mph wind-gusted Thunder/hail storm above the alpine zone on Mount Washington. It was the most terrifying experience of my life- walking the trail shin-deep in run-off water while lightning is striking every 10-15 seconds right on top of you... Completely unable to navigate the trail, and a good 25 minutes down to the treeline for cover, no light or cell phone to bail you out. Just terrifying.

We decided to stay stationary and wait/pray for the storm to relent next to a small rock windbreaker that was elevated enough to keep us out of running water. After about 30 minutes of the most violent thunder and lightning that I've seen/heard to this day, the rain slowed down enough for us to start navigating the trail again, albeit slowly and slippery-ily. The biggest kicker of the whole story? We were only about 1000' in trail length to the Lake of the Clouds hut when we took cover... The storm was so violent, we couldn't even see/hear the hut, lights, or anything. 

I'll be honest. I prayed that night for the first time in years...


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## AlwaysInjured (Mar 12, 2012)

I meant to quote a picture in here, disregard this reply.


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## AlwaysInjured (Mar 12, 2012)

mtbkauai said:


> mindless killers.


that is awesome!!!


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## ghettocop (Jul 26, 2011)

MAN!!!! These stories are freaking awesome! Love me some tales of terror from the trail thread!  Thanks everyone! I will spend the next half hour +repping every one of you I can.


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## AlwaysInjured (Mar 12, 2012)

rwl123456 said:


> I was flying down a steep decent that leads into a stretch of multple jumps off large boulders. Right when the jumps end I pulled off and sat down about 10ft off the trail to check my bike and sit down to just enjoy the weather and have some water.
> 
> A few minutes of just sitting there I hear WHHIIZZZ as a rider zooms by me, then WHIIIZZZ as his friend blasts past me, I then see a third rider of the group but he hits a jump right in front of me his friends passed. The jump sends him straight off the trail and over his bars.
> 
> ...


My friend did that riding slowly down the road... It was nasty looking :eekster:


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## PDKL45 (Jun 1, 2008)

Great stories. I have never experienced anything really threatening on the trail (being stalked by mountain lions?!), as I ride in Korea, which, while very mountainous, is also very built up, so there is very little wildlife except for awesome little Siberian Chipmunks and Squirrels and you are always climbing mountains forming "islands" in built up areas, especially in Gyeonggido, surrounding the capital, Seoul.

I actually caused terror one morning, while living in a small industrial city in the south of the country and teaching English in a cram school. My friend--a fellow Caucasian--and I were riding a new trail and we took a wrong turn coming off the hillside, ending up in head height grass. An elderly Korean farmer, peacefully tending his crops, turned around just as we exited the grass. Poor guy got the shock of his life to see two white guys (a very uncommon sight in the rural area we were in) on bikes come out of nowhere. He dropped his hoe and jumped backwards, kind of yelling in surprise. I apologized in polite Korean, but he was having none of it. His curses chased us out of that little valley...

Years later, while training for an endurance race, I was regularly night riding with a group of Koreans in mountains close to Seoul. Coming down a fairly steep section of the trail, something the size of a small dog whipped across the trail in front of me. I was slightly unnerved, but didn't say anything, for fear of being ridiculed. It happened once again a few weeks later, and then a third time. The third time, though, I was slowed right down, about to make a sharp left hand turn off the ridge when a little brown and tan colored wild piglet slowly and calmly trotted across the trail ahead of me, solving the mystery and prompting a certain amount of relief. I told my riding group at the trailhead, while packing up the SUV, and one of the Korean guys admitted to having seen "spooky" things running across the trail as well, laughing as he realized what we had seen.


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## FireSpitter (Feb 15, 2012)

To those who believe in (Or have a liking to) supernatural stuff, you may wanna visit:-

True Tales From The Darkside


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## lmsweatherman (Jun 22, 2012)

I have rolled over a bunch of rattlesnakes sunning in the trails...


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

I started this thread for kicks. But now I hate it. I hate reading these stories and then going for a ride. Every single story sticks out in my mind when I'm bombing down some singletrack or grinding up a long, slow hill. Someone is watching me, or there's some crazy bear in the woods ready to attack, or a pack of coyotes, or Kathy Bates, or poisonous snakes, or I'll break a bone, or some homeless bum in the woods will capture me... Enough!!! :thumbsup:


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## cncwhiz (Sep 8, 2010)

I feel the same way. Now, every time I ride I think of these things..especially when it gets near sunset. just creepy..lol


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## dirtyjack (Jan 22, 2010)

I can't even take my trash out to the end of the driveway at night without looking over my shoulder. But keep 'em coming!


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## BCTJ (Aug 22, 2011)

Here's a post from a life-threatening situation I experienced last August on the Black Canyon Trail in Arizona. 

I ran out of water today on the Black Canyon Trail. I was certain that I had more water in my Camelback but suddenly, when I sucked, no water came out. In the meantime, the temperature was getting hotter and I was still about 4 miles from the trailhead where my car was parked.

As the temperature continued to rise (it was about 10:30 at this point) I began to feel weak, fatigued, tired and nauseous. I also started to get some chills. However, I figured if I could just make it to the top of the Skyline Segment, I could just coast downhill from there and, for the first time ever, drink water direct from the Agua Fria River.

Fortunately, I made it to the top of Skyline, but I was feeling weaker. I wondered if I would even make it to river. It got so bad that it felt difficult to even go downhill. I had to stop and take rests. I just kept telling myself I was only a few minutes from the river, and if I got there, everything would be fine.

I was also wondering where all of the other mountain bikers were. I had passed three others around 8:00 AM and figured I would run into more and ask for some water, but, alas, the mountain was empty. Just me, my bike and the sun.

I arrived at the river around 11;30 and thankfully began drinking large portions. It tasted awful....it had sort of an algae/moss-like taste along with an earthy feel, no doubt because the river was rather muddy. But, I really needed to drink right away. Unfortunately, after drinking the first bit, my stomach could not handle it and I vomitted it all. 

However, I kept drinking, removed my shoes and socks and laid down in the river. After about a half hour in the water, I started to feel a little better. I refilled my water with the Algae-stuff and managed to limp the remaining mile and a half back to my car. 

So, the moral of the story is, be thankful a river runs through Black Canyon. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I would have done. I've never had to call search and rescue before but I' not sure that my phone had reception there anyway.


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## dsintov (Apr 13, 2010)

i grew up in a small town in denmark and my fiends and i would ride our bikes every where.one day while riding my leg brushed against the leaf of a giant hogweed and within an hour i developed a huge and extremely painful blister. the blister and pain lasted about 4 months and left me with a scar that looked like what you would get from a 3rd degree burn.this was 30 years ago and if i look closely i can still see some scarring on my leg.2 years later a friend of mine crashed on a dirt bike and landed in a whole bunch of giant hogweed (i was not there when it happened)my friend spend the next 6 months in hospital due to the burns from the giant hogweed and lost the sight in one eye and had burn like scars on most of his body that will likely be there for the rest of his life.
for the last 20 years i have been mountain biking here in canada without a care in the world.then i heard that giant hogweed have been spotted in eastern canada and n.e. u.s. i have not seen any here myself but i still have a hard time enjoying riding in the woods since i heard that these plants are here now.i am constantly looking to see if there are any around the trails and even just thinking about them gives me the creeps.
if you ride in eastern canada or north eastern u.s. do your self a favor and look up this evil plant on Wikipedia and learn what it looks like and if you see one stay far away from it.
it may sound silly but nothing scares me more than seeing a giant hogweed


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## ACC in NC (Jun 28, 2012)

I was riding once solo on my road bike down a big straight hill on a two lane country road. It was a hot sunny day but there were a lot of trees and there was broken shade and I couldn’t see to well. At about 30 to 35 miles per hour on a road bike there isn’t much room for error! All of a sudden I see this big bird in the middle of the road (vulture or something) and it’s trying to take flight with something he’s got a hold of. As he is trying to take off I see it’s a rather large snake and I can’t tell if it’s dead or alive, I go left, he struggles left, I go right, and he struggles right. He’s just above my head and I’m ducking from getting smacked in the face and then he drops it down the side of my arm. I thought I was going to have to change my shorts! I hate snakes!


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## JeremyC (Apr 26, 2012)

LOL, love the aerial snake bombardment tales! Most of my trail terror stories have less to do with wildlife and roving maniacs than trail hazards and cliff falls, but I did have a very scary/cool experience once on a backpacking trip...

It was the last night of a 10-day backpack trip in Mineral King in the western Sierras. We had packed back to the campground where our cars were parked for the last night, and I had decided to just roll out my pad and sleeping bag and sleep under the stars for that last night. Right about dawn, I became suddenly alert. There was a rythmic "ka-thump-ka-thump-ka-thump" transmitted through the ground which I could not hear, so much as feel. Odd, I thought, somewhat sleepily. The plodding vibration became more and more pronounced, and then audible, and kept steadily increasing in volume and intensity, ultimately reaching the threshold where I came full awake. Opening my eyes, I was just in time to see the buck, who had been charging down the hill I was sleeping at the base of, sailing directly over me, followed by his mate and a doe. 

I could have been killed had they not sensed me, but I wouldn't give up that experience for anything.


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## ACC in NC (Jun 28, 2012)

Over 700 posts, I’m going to have to take some time and look through some. I’m sure there are some hilarious ones!


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## Hutch3637 (Jul 1, 2011)

Looking for an identification maybe of some sort of two animals I ran into tonight. 


Tonight on my usual lap (6 miles) I was going through the lower section that is littered with roots so I was going slow and heard branches snapping to the right of me. As I stopped so did the sounds, so I began to go up the trail and again the sounds where very loud to the right of me. So I stopped again. Whatever animal this was they seemed to be big in size by how loud it was and moving through really dense brush. So I shined my lights towards where it was coming from only to see two sets of huge yellow eyes starring back at me. I got this weird feeling that this wasn't a normal animal so I shouted HEY. They did nothing. So I threw a rock towards them and nothing. Five minutes of the starring competition went on till they moved up into a tree just starring back at me. At this point I understood whatever animal this was, was standing its ground and the trail goes right by there. I proceeded to turn around back the other way. This left me uneasy the rest of the ride which I cut short. Even if this was some non threatening animal it was large by how loud it was moving, with wide spaced yellow reflective eyes and it could climb. This area is northeastern NY btw so if anyone could help me with this.


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## PDKL45 (Jun 1, 2008)

@ ACC in NC

The mutant duck/swan attack is pretty good, but my fave would have to be the guy spooked by his own shadow...


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## HTR4EVR (Jun 15, 2007)

Those damn bugs carrying lime disease... Bitten twice ... Lots of antibiotics...


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## sjhiker (Apr 25, 2008)

*Backpacking in Yosemite*

My first love will always be backpacking. The kind where you carry everything on your back, tent, food, etc... Six of us decided to go back country camping in Yosemite, which while beautiful is known for it's bears due to stupid humans making it to easy for them to find food in your belongings.

So food and scented items (like deorderant, toothpaste etc..) go in the bear canister or hang from a rope on a high branch. All backpacks have all their pouches opened, because you want the bag to examine in every pouch/compartment you have and not find anything rather than rip it apart and still find nothing.

Anyhow, so at about 7am-ish, my then gf (now my ex) and I wake up to the sound of very heavy breathing and huffing and snorting just outside of our tent. It's to the side of us so we can't see what's out there. Just the sound, huff, snort... huff... snort... There's also a sound of heavy, but soft foot steps around our tent. We know it's a bear and we remain quiet. The bear, who's back was probably 3-4ft high, walks over to the firepit and sniffs the ashes from last nights fire. Nothing there.

It then proceeds to walk over to a friend of ours that was sleeping in a bivy sack. For those that don't know what one is, a bivy sack is a sack that your sleeping bag goes into if you're not using a tent. Like a pillow case for your pillow. Just protects you from morning dew. The bear then begins to sniff my friend, who's still fast asleep and snoring. The bear sniffs his feet, his legs, his torso, his chest and then puts its' nose within about 3inches of my friend's nose. All the while, he's still fast asleep. If he wakes and see's he's face to face with a bear, we'll just carry his body out in a trashbag.

The bear completed its' inspection of our site, realized there was nothing to eat and wandered back off into the woods.

For those that have either fed the bears, intentionally or accidentally:










I thank you for acclimating bears to our presence.


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## the-one1 (Aug 2, 2008)

> If he wakes and see's he's face to face with a bear, we'll just carry his body out in a trashbag.


I Lol'ed at that :-O


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## Suffikins (Jun 6, 2012)

Thanks for the thread. Its funny that we all engage in a hobby where breaking bones and serious injury types are a very real possibility but what makes me the most afraid on my morning 4 mile climb in the woods is the extremely slim and ridiculous possibility that I'll have to throw dukes with a mountain lion to defend my life (and bike). :crazy: I know.


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## HTR4EVR (Jun 15, 2007)

*In captivity @ Discovery Kingdom*



Suffikins said:


> Thanks for the thread. Its funny that we all engage in a hobby where breaking bones and serious injury types are a very real possibility but what makes me the most afraid on my morning 4 mile climb in the woods is the extremely slim and ridiculous possibility that I'll have to throw dukes with a mountain lion to defend my life (and bike). :crazy: I know.


I know. The cat is huge...:eekster:


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## Haus Boss (Jun 4, 2010)

HTR4EVR said:


> Those damn bugs carrying lime disease... Bitten twice ... Lots of antibiotics...


You should be happy you don't live on the east coast. At least on the west coast we have blue belly lizards, which ticks love to suckle from. The blue bellies actually have something in their blood that neutralizes and kills off lymes disease. So instead of 90+ percent of ticks carrying Lyme, it's closer to 2% out here.


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## HTR4EVR (Jun 15, 2007)

Haus Boss said:


> You should be happy you don't live on the east coast. At least on the west coast we have blue belly lizards, which ticks love to suckle from. The blue bellies actually have something in their blood that neutralizes and kills off lymes disease. So instead of 90+ percent of ticks carrying Lyme, it's closer to 2% out here.


Good to know, thanks...


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## Scott the Great (Dec 29, 2009)

This is more funny than scary, but it's true. 

When i was about 15, me and a couple friends rode our BMX bikes 4-5 miles to a dirt field that had some jumps - this was before there were bike parks and all that. So we're a ways from home, on BMX bikes, and my friend Chris' chain is totally loose... This is pre-quick release, the BMX days, and the only way to fix the problem is to tighten the bolt on the back wheel. Ugh...

So we're riding home (this is in Oklahoma) and we had to ride a mile or two on the shoulder, and we had to ride slowly so his chain didn't come off. So Chris is in front, and some ******* dude in a jacked-up truck that's fully adorned in Skoal Bandits stickers drives up next to us, calls us "Fk'n [email protected]$!!" --- and throws a wrench at Chris. 

We all stop and say a bunch of things you'd expect a 15 year old to say, "dickweed" or whatever; but then my other friend Dave goes and picks up the wrench --- and it's a 1/2 inch wrench, the EXACT size we need to fix Chris' bike. So we fixed his bike, and rode home happy. 

So yeah, the moral of the story is the universe will give you exactly what you need, but it might just call you a "F'kn [email protected] in the process...


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## StuntmanMike (Jul 2, 2012)

Nothing too scray, although at the time it made me pretty nervous.

This was years ago, maybe '98 or '99, and I was riding with a few guys out in Freetown State Forest, in Freetown, MA.

We were pretty deep into the woods when I had a non fixable failure on my Marin Eldridge Grade. I don't remember exactly what, I either lost a crank bolt or broke one of my pedals, but anyway, I had to walk it out. 

I told the other guys to go on with the ride, I'd walk out back to the parking lot. By this time it was already aproaching dusk, and we all know how fast it gets dark in the woods. 

So now it's night fall, and almost full dark, and I'm still hoofing it out of there. Big deal, right? Well, anyone from MA will appreciate this...at the time Freetown was known for having a bunch of satanists...some pretty crazy stuff went on out there at one time. So, here I am, alone and walking out in the dark. Lets just say that was probably the longest walk of my life.


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## Guerdonian (Sep 4, 2008)

Hutch3637 said:


> Looking for an identification maybe of some sort of two animals I ran into tonight.
> 
> Tonight on my usual lap (6 miles) I was going through the lower section that is littered with roots so I was going slow and heard branches snapping to the right of me. As I stopped so did the sounds, so I began to go up the trail and again the sounds where very loud to the right of me. So I stopped again. Whatever animal this was they seemed to be big in size by how loud it was and moving through really dense brush. So I shined my lights towards where it was coming from only to see two sets of huge yellow eyes starring back at me. I got this weird feeling that this wasn't a normal animal so I shouted HEY. They did nothing. So I threw a rock towards them and nothing. Five minutes of the starring competition went on till they moved up into a tree just starring back at me. At this point I understood whatever animal this was, was standing its ground and the trail goes right by there. I proceeded to turn around back the other way. This left me uneasy the rest of the ride which I cut short. Even if this was some non threatening animal it was large by how loud it was moving, with wide spaced yellow reflective eyes and it could climb. This area is northeastern NY btw so if anyone could help me with this.


I am pritty sure Racoon have yellow eye shine. They also move in groups typically, and in urban environments can be rather indifferent / fearless to humans. Only thing that doesn't match up is the size.

Some dogs have Yellow for eye shine as well.

I had a very similar experience with a evil creature with red eyeshine: https://forums.mtbr.com/8196502-post521.html
Here is a hint:


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## HelloMyNameIsSean (Sep 14, 2011)

Scott the Great said:


> This is more funny than scary, but it's true.
> 
> When i was about 15, me and a couple friends rode our BMX bikes 4-5 miles to a dirt field that had some jumps - this was before there were bike parks and all that. So we're a ways from home, on BMX bikes, and my friend Chris' chain is totally loose... This is pre-quick release, the BMX days, and the only way to fix the problem is to tighten the bolt on the back wheel. Ugh...
> 
> ...


Lol awesome story.


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## Hutch3637 (Jul 1, 2011)

Guerdonian said:


> I am pritty sure Racoon have yellow eye shine. They also move in groups typically, and in urban environments can be rather indifferent / fearless to humans. Only thing that doesn't match up is the size.
> 
> Some dogs have Yellow for eye shine as well.
> 
> ...


Defiantly wasn't no jack rabbit. As long as I've been riding back there I've only see skunks, squirrels, rabbits, birds, chipmunks, and the other day I just about rear ended a deer laying on the path. As for being a raccoon that's a thought but like you said the size doesn't match. I know some animals sound bigger at night but this was something big. It was snapping branches not on the ground but of tree's still standing. I went to were this was the other day and it's nothing but dense brush with no tracks to be found. There has been random bears in this area but their eyes are red at night. The only two that make sense to me in my region would be the Bobcat or Lynx.


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## Guerdonian (Sep 4, 2008)

Hutch3637 said:


> Defiantly wasn't no jack rabbit. As long as I've been riding back there I've only see skunks, squirrels, rabbits, birds, chipmunks, and the other day I just about rear ended a deer laying on the path. As for being a raccoon that's a thought but like you said the size doesn't match. I know some animals sound bigger at night but this was something big. It was snapping branches not on the ground but of tree's still standing. I went to were this was the other day and it's nothing but dense brush with no tracks to be found. There has been random bears in this area but their eyes are red at night. The only two that make sense to me in my region would be the Bobcat or Lynx.


Na; not a jackrabbit for you, but it was for me, still scared the daylights out of me.

Bobcat or lynx makes sense with some of it, but for them to be in a pair is rather strange, as the are mostly solitary. Dogs maybe? Weird how inconsistent eyeshine color to animal information is. I would think with all the data and research nowadays that would be something easy to find.

Still, not many creatures i can think of that won't run from something being chucked at it.

I think they had to be Vinayakas.


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## kerryp (Jan 17, 2012)

Not bike related, but I was invited by a friend to go to his uncles hunting ranch to do some hog hunting. I loaded up the atv and drove down on a Friday AM.. 

My buddy had driven down to Texas from Colorado and had brought a couple other friends along.. 

The ranch runs alongside a river and has creeks etc that feed the river.. The ranch used to be a rice farm so there are sections that hold water rather well. 

My buddy and I jump on atv's so he can show me around and he brings me up to a boggy section that has a jeep road that runs alongside a creek with heavy brush, and vines.. 

We stop and walk over and the creek is full of all sizes of gators which is pretty cool. One of the stands we will be hunting from is adjacent to this. 

Anyway we head back to the house to get some grub and after dark everyone heads out to their areas to hunt. 

We are sitting in the stand with all of the windows open looking around and frankly we probably aren't going to see anything because we are bs'n and catching up. 

I hear something splash in the creek and think nothing of it because I figure it's just one of the gators.. All of a sudden we hear this blood curtling squealing that scares the beejeesus out of me and sends chills up my back. 

A hog had gone into the water and a Gator had got him. We had a good laugh and headed back to the house later with nothing show for our efforts. That noise was spooky and I was on edge for a while, but but.... 

The next AM we are out riding around and come back around the creek and I see a pop up blind setup in a long clear section close to the creek.. 

We go back to the house and I ask whose blind is setup by the creek and the guy that set it up says it's his. 

I ask him why he set it up there and he says it's because it was clear section that looked like a trail where hogs might funnel in. 

When I told him it was clear because it was a Gator run, you should have seen his face. He had setup right in the middle of a run that the gators use to get in and around the creek.. There were some 12' plus gators in there and I would hate to have one of them walk into my flimsy little pop up blind....


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## Hutch3637 (Jul 1, 2011)

Guerdonian said:


> Na; not a jackrabbit for you, but it was for me, still scared the daylights out of me.
> 
> Bobcat or lynx makes sense with some of it, but for them to be in a pair is rather strange, as the are mostly solitary. Dogs maybe? Weird how inconsistent eyeshine color to animal information is. I would think with all the data and research nowadays that would be something easy to find.
> 
> ...


Yeah I've been there, thinking it was some monster and turned out to be a squirrel fighting another one. My guess though that it was bobcat. Not a Lynx with a Bobcat. That would be weird, actually they would probably have fought each other. Either way both of those animals are rare in this area. At least it wasn't like the last run in where some dude was standing in the middle of that trail late at night. I forget where the post is in here but it's there. I'm fairly certain it wasn't a Vinayakas or demon either, if that's what you ment by that. If not I check my under bits every day to make sure there isn't any sand up there.  IMHO humans are the most dangerous thing you can run into at night.


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## NicoleB (Jul 21, 2011)

Heh, yes, i had a pet rabbit, and the damn thing would get loose in our crawl space. i remember shining a flashlight in there and seeing blood red eyes looking back. and it would grunt. such a creepy rabbit


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

kerryp said:


> ~hunts from stands/blinds~


Very sporting - next time you should go to one of those penned in 'ranches' - maybe you'll get your kill :thumbsup:


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## stiingya (Apr 30, 2004)

highdelll said:


> Very sporting - next time you should go to one of those penned in 'ranches' - maybe you'll get your kill :thumbsup:


Right, because buying your meat at Wal-mart like 90% of everyone else in America is SO sporting...


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## chrisem (Nov 18, 2006)

Yeah, cool story.


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

... continue - more terror please


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

highdelll said:


> ... continue - more terror please


Heheh!


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## kerryp (Jan 17, 2012)

highdelll said:


> Very sporting - next time you should go to one of those penned in 'ranches' - maybe you'll get your kill :thumbsup:


lol, yep, hunt from a stand, and just so you feel better we do trap hogs in pens and shoot them that way too. Cheers.


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## fugot (Jun 6, 2012)

some of these stories are , uh, freaky... but I like it.


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## Lopaka (Sep 7, 2006)

That's nothing...This one time at band camp..........


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## BigBoyBMX (Jan 11, 2012)

dude...hogweed...that **** is rediculous!...i wash with technu after every ride with mild paranoia and an extreme allegy to poison of all sorts ( ivy/oak/sumac...even a mild reaction to english ivy ) i think hog weed would put me in a pine box...that **** looks nasty!

the wrench story is amazing lol

storm related-

I worked at a camp as the high adventure director. we took campers to Ralph Stover State Park near Doyelstown PA to climb and rappell. approx 1/2 of the campers had descended the rappell when extremely dark storm coulds crossed into the valley and became visible. We dropped the ropes and packed up as the wind picked up and it began to thunder and lightning. We had a mile hike back to the vehicles. As we ran down the trail the wind began to howl and thunder was constantly rumbling. I was at the front of the group and stepped off the trail and waited as they ran by to get the vehicle keys from my staff member. i suddenly felt short of breath and all the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. there was a hugh flash ( think pitch-black room and somone takes a picture with a flash as your looking into the camera ) and it felt like somone hit me in the chest with a sledgehammer. i really dont think i was struck, but it was sure damn close! after a few seconds of shaking my head trying to get rid of the ringing in my ears we ran back to the vewhicles and high tailed it outta there.

great stories...keep em coming.


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## wv_bob (Sep 12, 2005)

Scott the Great said:


> So yeah, the moral of the story is the universe will give you exactly what you need, but it might just call you a "F'kn [email protected] in the process...


Perfect :thumbsup:


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## HTR4EVR (Jun 15, 2007)

rutkiller said:


> I've noticed a lot of people on here, myself included, ride solo. Although not always the smartest idea, I love riding solo and I do it 95% of the time I ride. I was just wondering if anyone has ever run into any problems while riding solo and thought they were in serious danger?.


Almost step over a sleeping rattle snake...:eekster:


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## digthemlows (Feb 5, 2012)

Ok not mountain biking but camping with my GF (now wife) 4 years ago in El Dorado National Forest (not in a particular spot) and in the middle of the night my dog (who always sleeps outside the tent and off leash) lays into the side of the tent and on to my head and just starts whimpering.....very unlike her we keep pushing her away and she keeps doing it.........we let her in the tent and then hear what sounds like scrapes on tree bark, or something....we're freaked out and it's in the middle of nowhere so after 15 minutes of the sound we start hooting and hollering and the noise stops..........I wake up in the morning and step outside the tent and notice the Cooler is gone...........I look around and realize it's 150 yards away and across a creek with the lid broken off and all of the food, beer, sodas torn up or gone............that cooler was only 10 ft from our tent...........sketchy......


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## Haus Boss (Jun 4, 2010)

Pretty sketchy that you went camping in the Sierras in the middle of nowhere and left your food out! I can think of more than a few times I've gone camping in the mountains and you can hear the bears banging on the metal food storage bins in the middle of the night.


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## digthemlows (Feb 5, 2012)

Haus Boss said:


> Pretty sketchy that you went camping in the Sierras in the middle of nowhere and left your food out! I can think of more than a few times I've gone camping in the mountains and you can hear the bears banging on the metal food storage bins in the middle of the night.


Totally, it was my bad, I always hang my food...........plus I always had a German Shephard that chased bears off............the other dog is just a border collie and she isn't into that..........


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## dihymon (Jun 12, 2012)

jpelaston said:


> Im always scared to find someone who has Offed themselves or been dumped in a woods im riding in....


"I don't like to jog becuase joggers always find the body. You never find the body at home eating ice cream and watching porn." - Dave Attell


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## cifex (Sep 11, 2009)

dihymon said:


> "I don't like to jog becuase joggers always find the body. You never find the body at home eating ice cream and watching porn." - Dave Attell


And half the time they ARE the body.


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## Roanoke4 (Aug 2, 2010)

I don't have any crazy stories like some of you; mine involve getting lost a few times years back which means these days I have a healthy fear of again doing so when I hit the trails. When I first started getting into mtb 6-7 years back, I'd ride along with a friend who was showing me the ropes a bit and he'd take me to various spots in north Georgia about an hour north of Atlanta. Those familiar with the area realize how dense the forests are there and how easy it is to seem or feel lost (or just very remote) really quick. Well, after riding with him on several occasions I started heading out on my own, and one particular day I was doing a particular route and managed to get confused after passing through several intersections.

Suddenly I realized I was in the deep woods in an area I didn't recognize at all and before I knew it my heart was pounding against my chest. Nobody else was around that day as it was a weekday, so I couldn't count on anyone coming along and giving directions either. I revered course back but, as I'm sure some of you have experienced, when you approach already confusing intersections from the opposite direction it can really throw you off, particularly when you're starting to panic a bit and don't fully have your wits about you. Even worse, I didn't have extra water and didn't even consider bringing my phone, as previously I never had service in that area. Oh yea, I didn't have a map either.

Long story short I managed to backtrack and find my way back, but those 30-45 minutes doing so (without phone, water, etc.) were perhaps the longest of my life. I found out later that one intersecting trail in particular took you many miles away into the remote wilderness (it was used mostly for hiking), which was the same trail I almost took before fortunately taking another. Because of that, these days I'm ultra prepared when I ride and when I ride any new trails/areas, I always bring a map with me and study the heck out of it before my ride. And when I ride trails that aren't well marked with many offshoots, I admit I get a bit edgy, especially when I ride alone and often turn back before going terribly far. Particularly considering these days I live in the mountains of Virginia, which is covered with thick forests and is quite rural/remote overall. In fact several hikers have disappeared in the rural VA/WV mountains within the past year alone and have never been found, and its suspected that they simply got lost and eventually ran out of food/water.

Anyone else ever experience the same or am I the only one that has a bit of a fear of getting lost? Any similar stories out there?


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## Muffinhead (Jul 30, 2012)

One time when riding on a relatively narrow single track surrounded on both sides by dense brush I heard this rustling. I stopped my bike (maybe not a good idea) and about 5 seconds later saw an entire pack of wild boar come charging across where I had just been. I wasn't too scared at the moment but in retrospect it was a bit scary. Another time, near this same place, I was riding after nightfall near these woods and saw these two sets of yellowish eyes peering out of the forest, along with this grunting noise I figured to be a pig or boar. Later, I found out that they were light up collars for dogs and the pig was actually a MASSIVE domestic pig that likes to roam this field where I go cycling. The dogs were apparently this pigs "friends" .


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## nikojan (Jun 18, 2011)

I dont frequent MTBR that often anymore but thought that the people who enjoyed this thread would love this reddit post: What's the scariest story you've ever heard? Real or fake. Internet or not. : AskReddit

They aren't 'bike related' per say but they still scared the **** out of me.

EDIT: I'd stay away from the 'doll' story, it's more ****ed up/traumatizing than scary.


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## CherokeeCountry (Apr 6, 2012)

For all of you worried about seeing a "person staring back from the woods" or having to tussle with an animal:

*Keep calm and carry a weapon.*


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## nemebean (Feb 20, 2012)

I was riding a trail called Dead Pet, which as you might guess from the name is a bit scary. Steep, rocky dropoff to one side of the trail. Well, as you might guess from my posting in this thread, I lost my balance and started going over the edge. As I'm looking for a (relatively) soft place to land and slide down the hill, suddenly I stop completely. I turn around and discover that my seat post has hooked a tree next to the trail and kept me from going over the edge.

Just walking this trail is difficult (I fell once doing that too), so if I had fallen and hurt myself badly it would have been a long, painful hike out.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

nikojan said:


> I dont frequent MTBR that often anymore but thought that the people who enjoyed this thread would love this reddit post: ts_the_scariest_story_youve_ever_he...'ve ever heard? Real or fake. Internet or not
> 
> They aren't 'bike related' per say but they still scared the **** out of me.
> 
> EDIT: I'd stay away from the 'doll' story, it's more ****ed up/traumatizing than scary.


No thanks, I don't do the made up or is it real bs. Keep your own personal stories coming please.


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## Gordon Shumway (Sep 17, 2012)

CherokeeCountry said:


> For all of you worried about seeing a "person staring back from the woods" or having to tussle with an animal:
> 
> *Keep calm and carry a weapon.*


+1 I always have a can of pepper spray on my backpack strap... in case I run into a rabid cougar or someone who isn't just out for a leisurely stroll on the trails.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

OCtrailMonkey said:


> +1 I always have a can of pepper spray on my backpack strap... in case I run into a rabid cougar or someone who isn't just out for a leisurely stroll on the trails.


I've got a hardshell pepper spray, but need a small easy access (velcro closure) pouch to attach to my Camelbak strap. I've been looking but have not found a good pouch, any recommendations?


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## Gordon Shumway (Sep 17, 2012)

Natedogz said:


> I've got a hardshell pepper spray, but need a small easy access (velcro closure) pouch to attach to my Camelbak strap. I've been looking but have not found a good pouch, any recommendations?


I have been trying to find a pouch for my newest hiking pack but haven't come across one yet so I carry mine in my pocket while hiking. Luckily the Oakley pack I ride with has a little pouch built in the left strap (for a walkie talkie or GPS) that I keep my spray in which has a velcro strap that goes over the top. It takes no time at all to reach with my right hand to grab it, but that's from practice and luckily haven't had to use it.. I am thinking of going to the local gun shop to see what cases they have since I bought the spray there and I might just have the wife sew it to my hiking pack so maybe that could work for you on your camelbak strap? They may have other suggestions for you as well at a gun store near you since they probably sell the most of those types of products.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

OCtrailMonkey said:


> I have been trying to find a pouch for my newest hiking pack but haven't come across one yet so I carry mine in my pocket while hiking. Luckily the Oakley pack I ride with has a little pouch built in the left strap (for a walkie talkie or GPS) that I keep my spray in which has a velcro strap that goes over the top. It takes no time at all to reach with my right hand to grab it, but that's from practice and luckily haven't had to use it.. I am thinking of going to the local gun shop to see what cases they have since I bought the spray there and I might just have the wife sew it to my hiking pack so maybe that could work for you?


Ya riding road with jersey with pockets not as bad, but not easy access. Pocket...beats IN my Camelbak lol. Nice perfect pack pouch....I'll see what I can find thanks for suggestion!


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## Lenny7 (Sep 1, 2008)

Non bike.
When I was in kid there was this abandoned house on this abandoned road, it was barricaded off. High school kids would go out there on Friday nights and do what high school kids do. Anyway, there were always rumors of some satanic cult doing stuff out there and they actually found some bodied out there once and it was on the news. So it became a dare for people to go out there.

Fast forward to college on summer a friend and I drove out there one day and stopped at the barricade. There was a bunch of junk laying around. We were looking around and found this shopping bag. The kind you get at a department store. We looked in it and it was full, and I mean full of human hair. It was redish brown and all matted. We looked at each other and walked very quickly back to our car and got out of there. The name of the street was Halloman Road. Sounds creepy.

This is some write up about the house/road I found on some Ghost website. Not sure about the walkers disappearing, but creepy non the less.
*"Old Holloman's RoadHollomans Road is a small dirt road that curves between Lawson Rd. and Bruton Rd. There is a solitary home that has sat for many years abandoned on this small street. It is the only structure on the road. Brave teenagers have tried to walk the street at night only to disappear never to be seen again. The road became such a danger that the city closed the road off. Witnesses become overwhelmed by a sense of dread and of being watched, even in broad daylight. In the 80s, a Dallas man killed a young woman and her young son and dumped their bodies on that dark and brooding road (this is easily checked, as the case was just solved in the last year or so)."*


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## EmbraceTheHate (Sep 9, 2012)

Lenny7 said:


> Non bike.
> When I was in kid there was this abandoned house on this abandoned road, it was barricaded off. High school kids would go out there on Friday nights and do what high school kids do. Anyway, there were always rumors of some satanic cult doing stuff out there and they actually found some bodied out there once and it was on the news. So it became a dare for people to go out there.
> 
> Fast forward to college on summer a friend and I drove out there one day and stopped at the barricade. There was a bunch of junk laying around. We were looking around and found this shopping bag. The kind you get at a department store. We looked in it and it was full, and I mean full of human hair. It was redish brown and all matted. We looked at each other and walked very quickly back to our car and got out of there. The name of the street was Halloman Road. Sounds creepy.
> ...


Where is this Dallas?

Here's my story

A while ago you used to be able to ride dirt bikes at fort hood. One day we were blasting around having a good time. We came across this open field everyone tore off across it. I stayed back and was taking a break I saw a little sign on a post. It read "mine field" I started screaming to everyone to get back lol. We all about **** our pants that day.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


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## jwilliams (Jun 6, 2011)

I don't think anyone has mentioned this so I will go ahead. There is an old burned house/castle called Corpsewood Manor way back off the beaten path, on the side of a ridge, near Trion, GA. Many years ago a (reportedly) Satanic, (reportedly) psychadelic drug user and his male lover moved down from Chicago and hand-built this small manor. They lived off the land from things grown on the premises. They kept to themselves and never really bothered anyone off-premises, but (reportedly) had drug parties, Satanic rituals, and encounters... you get the picture.

One night a teenage guy that they had befriended, went up with his girlfriend and another male friend with the intent to rob them of the pile of cash they thought they had. Things got ugly as they proceeded with assaulting and robbing the two. They ended up murdering the two of them.

Supposedly anyone that has taken anything from the grounds since that time has had bad things happen to them, ranging from car wrecks to deaths. Of course there have been many "ghost" stories abound from people that have been out there.

The bike-related part is that the Pinhoti Trail goes within easy walking distance of the manor, and many bikers, either wittingly or unknown, ride by the manor somewhat regularly, even with the remoteness. I have never ridden that portion of the Pinhoti, but intend to this Fall. 

You are safe as along as you don't take anything. I think. Maybe.

Any takers? (Edit: It will be a night ride - bring your light.)


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## sgtjim57 (Aug 14, 2009)

HTR4EVR said:


> Almost step over a sleeping rattle snake...:eekster:


Did step over a sun bathing /sleeping rattler when hiking one of the local trails just 3 weeks ago. I didn't even know it was a rattler but I did watch it coil up and start shaking it's tail. Later, since I had taken a photo on my phone one of my riding companions confirmed it was a Timber Rattler and I had been very lucky. I only saw the snake when I looked down to see it laying straight out between my then separated feet. Speaking of scary. I was also lucky my 90 lb Siberian Husky who normally attacks anything she sees on the trail also did not see the snake.


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## sgtjim57 (Aug 14, 2009)

Deer, unless they went up in the tree then a raccoon, possum or a hedge hog


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## [email protected] (Jul 20, 2012)

bingemtbr said:


> 3) Found a dead guy hanging from a tree while out playing ride guide. By the time we came upon the scene he was tagged and bagged, but still...


Holy ****. lol.


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

jwilliams said:


> I don't think anyone has mentioned this so I will go ahead. There is an old burned house/castle called Corpsewood Manor way back off the beaten path, on the side of a ridge, near Trion, GA. Many years ago a (reportedly) Satanic, (reportedly) psychadelic drug user and his male lover moved down from Chicago and hand-built this small manor. They lived off the land from things grown on the premises. They kept to themselves and never really bothered anyone off-premises, but (reportedly) had drug parties, Satanic rituals, and encounters... you get the picture.
> 
> One night a teenage guy that they had befriended, went up with his girlfriend and another male friend with the intent to rob them of the pile of cash they thought they had. Things got ugly as they proceeded with assaulting and robbing the two. They ended up murdering the two of them.
> 
> ...


Heheh! This one has all the best ingredients! A Gay, Satanic, drug user! Not only that, but psychadelic drugs!!! (sic). One up on Manson... It's amazing what people will invent sometimes, and amazing what people will be finding themselves believing... No disrespect intended to the poster, but be careful out there on the Pinhoti: Make sure not to bend over or take candy from strangers!


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## mtnbiker1220 (Jan 30, 2004)

Only thing I have really encountered is fake snakes people put on the trails. I'm getting so used to them that I fear the day I come across a real one thinking it's fake.

Oh, and a few chupacabras but no biggie.


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

mtnbiker1220 said:


> Only thing I have really encountered is fake snakes people put on the trails. I'm getting so used to them that I fear the day I come across a real one thinking it's fake.
> 
> Oh, and a few chupacabras but no biggie.


'If a tree falls in the forest, and no one sees it, does it make a sound?' Why waste a good fake snake out there when you cannot see the reaction? And the fact that you are getting used to them makes me wonder whether you should start checking behind rocks for the perp... or a camera... maybe they're not fake? 
I see a lot of snakes in the desert, and that is OK, long as I can see them. Yesterday I was up at the top of the hill on my own having a break, sitting on a rock, when I heard the rattle close-ish to me, but could not see where it was coming from! Made me jump, and I just could not find where it came from. I went on my way sooner than later...


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## manbeer (Oct 14, 2009)

I live on eastern long island, near montauk. A lot of times, the only chance i get to ride is at night. Once, when i was coming down a hill around midnight, there was a van parked at the bottom. I know the area like the back of my hand and its mainly singletrack with a few fireroads but they are rough. I have no idea how he got there but i freaked seeing as how it was 12am and miles from anywhere. sprinted the whole way back.

Another time just recently it was about midnight also and i was riding road in the middle of nowhere and stopped to pee, didn't want to have a car come and stop me mid stream so walked about 20 feet into a trail that comes to a dead end at a pond about 5 mins walk from the road. I had my light off, and it was very quiet. As i got ready to go, i heard a voice that sounded like he was maybe 50 feet away that was like "can i help you" and i grabbed my bike and sprinted as fast as i could from there

Daytime story - a few years ago, after i just began riding again i used to ride shirtless all the time. This particular day i brought a shirt and tied it to the bars. I did about 15 or 20 miles on the road and headed into the trails. There is a section about a mile or two into the trail which is sort of a fast, rolling hardpack singletrack with a few assorted roots and rocks but nothing crazy. You can hold a pretty decent pace there and i was going probably about 20 or so when my shirt came off the bars and jammed in my fork crown and i instantly endo'd. I landed on my neck and it was literally so fast the in probably less than a second i went from upright hammering it to on the ground unable to move. I layed there for a good 15 mins or so and couldn;t move, all i could do was wheeze and grunt. my phone was just out of reach but i saw it and eventually forced myself to crawl to it. No reception. trying to call 911, no luck. I really thought i was going to die there. Eventually i forced myself up and could barely move but climbed slowly up hill where i was able to make the call to get help after a few tries but nobody really knew where i was. luckily for me a park ranger happened to hear the radio and was familiar with this area and came to find me. using my bike like a walker i crept back to the road where he had alerted the EMTs to wait and they were about to call in the medivac but amazingly i was getting somewhat better where i only got the ambulance. 12 grand in hospital costs later here i am, but still have major PTSD when it comes to fast descents, back then i was fearless


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## mtnbiker1220 (Jan 30, 2004)

rockerc said:


> 'If a tree falls in the forest, and no one sees it, does it make a sound?' Why waste a good fake snake out there when you cannot see the reaction? And the fact that you are getting used to them makes me wonder whether you should start checking behind rocks for the perp... or a camera... maybe they're not fake?
> I see a lot of snakes in the desert, and that is OK, long as I can see them. Yesterday I was up at the top of the hill on my own having a break, sitting on a rock, when I heard the rattle close-ish to me, but could not see where it was coming from! Made me jump, and I just could not find where it came from. I went on my way sooner than later...


They are fake for sure. I was trail running out there (this is at the US National Whitewater Center here in Charlotte and the trails there are multi-use) and came up on one. At first I was cautious but after a second I realized something wasn't right so got a little closer (with a big stick, smart, I know). Just a rubber snake. I think the employees do it for giggles. Probably have a hidden camera in a tree. I should probably search youtube.


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## EmbraceTheHate (Sep 9, 2012)

mtnbiker1220 said:


> They are fake for sure. I was trail running out there (this is at the US National Whitewater Center here in Charlotte and the trails there are multi-use) and came up on one. At first I was cautious but after a second I realized something wasn't right so got a little closer (with a big stick, smart, I know). Just a rubber snake. I think the employees do it for giggles. Probably have a hidden camera in a tree. I should probably search youtube.


We had a Halloween gncc race they put fake snakes in trees, ghosts and guys were standing out there dressed up as the race went on.

It was a lot of fun but distracting luckily I wasn't leading the points.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


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## nemebean (Feb 20, 2012)

Just remembered another one, not biking but was on a trail. I was out running one night around dusk, and as I'm trying to avoid breaking an ankle on a root or something I see a couple of people coming toward me on the trail ahead. No big deal, these trails are fairly popular so seeing people is not unusual. What is unusual is when it's a couple of punk looking kids and one of them is carrying a bat (to my knowledge there is no baseball field anywhere in this park). They didn't hassle me, but I spent the rest of the run waiting for them to jump out of the bushes at me.


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## Hutch3637 (Jul 1, 2011)

It's coming to the end of the year. The snow is here, riding is on hold till some of it melts. So, bump. Entertain us and myself....


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## switchie (Aug 28, 2012)

Two stories:
1) Riding through downtown Taegu spring of 1988, smelled something funny in the air, turned a corner, trapped in the middle of the pre-Olympic demonstrations, CS gas filled the air, had coated the ground in white powder. Riding through 'crowd control gases' does not rate high on my list of 'good times'.
2) Riding through Red Rock Canyon one beautiful Springs day. First and ONLY time I rode with earbuds in. Notice the bush next to the trail appearing to sway. There is no wind. Dismount, thinking that is strange, pull out the earbuds and hear a low moan coming from behind me. Bush shakes again, I am thinking OH CRAP!!!! Hop back on the bike, pedal to beat hell, not pursuit as I round the next corner in the trail. Stop, check shorts, hear the moan/growl again, notice a freaking C-130 flying overhead.
Luckily, no one around to notice my chagrin.


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## antgreen (Dec 14, 2012)

My 10th post....... this is a hiking story - but would have been just as scary by bike.

In 2009 my GF (now Fiancee) and I went to South Africa, we stayed in Kaalk Bay which is basically a fishing village on the coast of False Bay, and sits the other side of mountains from Cape Town.

We were staying in a fabulous guest house, and the owners told us of a trail that led up to the mountain ridge to an area known as Silvermine. 

After lunch one day, we decided to take the path, I had a backpack, survival kit, water, clothes, torch, knife, but no compass or map. The views were breathtaking, we could see fishing boats coming back to the harbour far below us, and all manner of fauna and flora. We hiked to the amphitheatre, and then found a trickle of a waterfall, we sat on the ledge and watched the water drip hundreds of feet down the cliff in front of us into a tropical valley - life was good.

We continued roughly following the directions we had been given, past dozens of caves - it would have been an awesome cycle as we were mostly on singletrack, and there was not a soul to be seen.

We spent several hours up there, without a care in the world, until of course we realised we were lost. Eventually we found ourselves at a sort of parking lot, also abandoned, but at least there was a road - it looked like it was a road through the mountain pass, we were quite high up, but not at the crest of the mountain, and by now it was dark.

Stranded in the dark on a road in rural South Africa was not on the planned holiday itinerary, but none-the-less, here we were. Cars started to pass us slowly, each full of sketchy looking people, we knew there were shanty towns in the bush, and we had been warned not to go out at night. Great.

We headed downhill, there wasn't a lot of traffic, but the cars that did drive by weren't the sort of cars you would flag down for help, and our cell batteries were dead.

Some cars - real beaten up cars with 3 or 4 males started to come by us again and again - every few minutes, each time getting closer to us, and driving slower. I thought is would be a good idea to drop down to the left and walk along in the gutter - bad idea it was full of syringes!!

My flashlight was an incredibly bright one, so I thought if we did get jumped, I could buy some time blinding the assailant and hitting him with over the head. So here we are, pitch black, lost, by a dodgy road and I'm walking along with a flashlight in one hand, and a rock in the other telling the GF that everything was cool.

I then spot some lights on the hillside a couple of miles down the road we were walking - I hoped to god it wasn't a shanty town, and we head for it.

As luck would have it, it was a retirement complex, and the lights came from a heavily fortified security office, they couldn't believe we had walked that stretch of road in the dark without getting attacked.

I phoned the guesthouse to explain where we were, and would they mind sending a taxi for us - and the owner left a drinks reception he was having and came and got us himself. The whole journey back he made us promise never to go out hiking at night again.

The rest of the holiday passed without hitch until we decided to make a picnic on a beach and were mugged by a huge baboon - it was scary and hilarious - the funniest part was phoning the insurance company to explain how my camera had been broken by a baboon rifling though my bag looking for cake!!


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)

Really?? No more stories???


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## nemebean (Feb 20, 2012)

My last ride was a bit scary thanks to steep dropoffs, narrow trails, damp rocks, and crappy tires, but I'm not sure I'd use the word "terror" to describe it.


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## taletotell (Mar 3, 2009)

A lot less gay grizzly bears getting intimate and the like on the trails these days.


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## Krabill (Dec 6, 2004)

I broke my arm while riding solo once. I was about 2 1/2 miles in. I pushed the bike out about a mile and a half before I ran into a couple other riders who then helped me by pushing my bike out the last mile to the trail head for me. I had them load my bike up for me, then drove myself to the emergency room. The nurse was astounded that I drove myself, lol. No real terror involved, just a little pain.


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## Garthhog (May 7, 2007)

So... I'm out on my Spiderman Ride... 

This is my early morning fitness/training ride. I leave the house at 5:15am, lights and blinkies blazing, ride 6 miles of backroads with Blach Sabbath screaming in my ears, bust out a single lap of an 8 mile single track loop, then haul backside home to get ready for work. While I'm dodging roots and trees with Ronnie James Dio crooning about Satan, witches and all other creepiness, I collect a wide variety of spiders in my helmet vents, while chasing skunks down the trail, treeing raccoons, and occasionally t-boning armadillos. After having done this ride numerous times over the last few years, I can say that few things scare me while I'm out getting my ride on.

... I digress...

So I'm on my Spiderman ride. It has been a great ride... beautiful sunrise, lot's of energy and oxygen debt. I had noticed a high number of campers, which is typical the first couple of weeks after schools go on summer break. The extra trash on the trail is an annoyance, but I know that the trail crew will get it cleaned up eventually. I am finishing up my lap, tearing across what we fondly call the Airfield Sprint on Strava. This sprint starts at the end of a short climb (they are all short in Texas) from one of the lower parts of the park. After cresting, you click into the big ring, find a cog that the quads can barely handle, and gun it. I frequently top 20 mph across the flattest parts... and that is what I was doing this morning... flying. At the end of the sprint, you jump around the main road into park and are immediately greeted by a banked right hand turn. With enough socks stuffed into the chamois, I can no-brake the approach and corner, smashing the suspension and leaning the bike waaaay over. This morning, the chamois was stuffed... I soft pedal the last few feet to the road, pop over the road and... WTF?!?... There in front of me was a man-sized poo. Not just any man... an 8 foot tall constipated cheese eater. It was the kind of poo you take a picture of... prideful that your colon can hold a weeks worth of poo. Columbia River lumberjacks might have gottent his one all the way to the mill before realizing their mistake. This mountain of disgusting was right on my line to enter the corner. The only thing that flashed through my mind was...

"Not on the water bottle!"

Fortunately, years of spider bites on this ride have endowed me with superhuman reflexes, and I made a quick adjustment to my line, just missing Zeus' Stool. I finished up the ride, angry and disgusted with the jackhole camper that left his early morning gift to us bikers.

I got really thirsty riding home...


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

Garthhog said:


> So... I'm out on my Spiderman Ride...
> 
> This is my early morning fitness/training ride. I leave the house at 5:15am, lights and blinkies blazing, ride 6 miles of backroads with Blach Sabbath screaming in my ears, bust out a single lap of an 8 mile single track loop, then haul backside home to get ready for work. While I'm dodging roots and trees with Ronnie James Dio crooning about Satan, witches and all other creepiness, I collect a wide variety of spiders in my helmet vents, while chasing skunks down the trail, treeing raccoons, and occasionally t-boning armadillos. After having done this ride numerous times over the last few years, I can say that few things scare me while I'm out getting my ride on.
> 
> ...


 Hmmm, almost makes me wish you hadn't missed Zeus' stool... unless you forgot to press the "" button. I can hear the armadillos muttering "Strava$$hole!" as you come barreling along the trail, as they scuttle to try and get out of your way...


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## Garthhog (May 7, 2007)

There was no avoiding the armadillo... little dude ran out in front of me as I was climbing a hill (before the sun was up). I hear something crashing through the brush next to the trail, then -BOOM- armadillo runs into my front tire. We bounced off each other. If that makes me a "stava$$hole" then I'm cool with that. I can't make everyone happy.


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

Garthhog said:


> There was no avoiding the armadillo... little dude ran out in front of me as I was climbing a hill (before the sun was up). I hear something crashing through the brush next to the trail, then -BOOM- armadillo runs into my front tire. We bounced off each other. If that makes me a "stava$$hole" then I'm cool with that. I can't make everyone happy.


You made it sound like the wildlife in your parts was terrified of you, and that you are unconcerned about it, and 'armadillos' being the plural form usually means more than one. Being happy to be a Strava$$hole is of course your prerogative. Leaving trash for the trail crews to pick up might also qualify you... I also thought everything was bigger in TX, so what's with the socks in the chamois?


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## Garthhog (May 7, 2007)

Do you take EVERYTHING you read literally?


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## nemebean (Feb 20, 2012)

Wow, this thread just got uncomfortable. :skep:


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## Garthhog (May 7, 2007)

Agreed.


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

Yeah, I am feeling a little touchy today... I guess I am being a little harsh, but I do like the wildlife, and all this talk of scaring the bejeesus out of them got me riled up... Linking it all with the 'S' word gets my goat too... apologies!


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## Garthhog (May 7, 2007)

Go ride your bike, it'll cure what ails ya. Just don't ride through any man-sized poo.


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## RandomGuyOnABike (Mar 5, 2013)

Didn't really terrify me as much as piss me off, but I digress.

I was doing a HAB across a trail after it had rained for a couple of days straight and of course, the trail itself was extremely muddy I came to a 4ft drop / ledge meant for hikers and attempted to haul the bike up . The trail itself was about a foot and a 1/2 wide, so no wiggle room for getting good leverage. The right side of the trail went straight up, the left side, straight down about 6-10 feet to some rocks.

Well, I got the bike almost up this little cliff thing, and what do you know.. the weight in the packs shifted, and the bike immediately tipped, directly on top of me. Due to both my weight and the weight of my bike, my feet slid off of the trail. All I could really think about was, this [email protected]#% sucks.

Luckily, I was able to get some traction before I hit the bottom, and with some ingenuity stemming from rock climbing, I was able to both heel and toe hook onto some trees to get the bike back onto the trail.

Eventually I managed to muscle the bike onto that ledge. Lots of cussing ensued during that entire fiasco though


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## Picard (Apr 5, 2005)

I only worry about the boogey man when i ride at night.


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## NicoleB (Jul 21, 2011)

i got one of those big beetles down my shirt into my bra on a night ride with a light that barely worked. The trail was technical and i could have fallen into the river. So i just screamed bloody murder.


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## chuckeieio (Jun 2, 2013)

Recent ones, about a week ago got a bee in my shorts and had to drop my bike on the curb and strip as it was stinging my thighs all over.

Had "the Matrix deer" run out in front of me on a trail a few days back. I was going pretty quick and he ran out mere feet in front of me and literally in slow motion form jumped and turned enough that I didn't hit it. Scared the crap outa me. 

There was a creepy scene while riding with a friend 2 weeks back where there's a super steep paved hill leading into a park with a serious bend in it (never open in bad weather) and we came upon a fresh accident where there was a 8" wood post bent over on a 45 degree angle and a mountain bike bent in EVERY direction. There literally wasn't a salvageable part on this thing and the marks on the ground were fresh.
We looked around the bush to make sure there wasn't someone dying there and moved the wreck into cover. Gave us the willies to think of the condition of the rider given the state of the scene.
Passing through the next day it had been removed.


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## uglyguy2 (Jun 20, 2012)

NicoleB said:


> i got one of those big beetles down my shirt into my bra on a night ride with a light that barely worked. The trail was technical and i could have fallen into the river. So i just screamed bloody murder.


Your new name is beetleboobs.


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)

uglyguy2 said:


> Your new name is beetleboobs.


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## jeffw-13 (Apr 30, 2008)

Mid point of the ride I did yesterday brings you down into the valley and into the common area of the park near the lake. You cross the road & pick up the trail on the other side of the valley. It was hot & I needed to top off my water bottle for the rest of the ride. There's well water spigots here, so I headed for one near one of the picnic pavilions.

As I approach I see a car parked there and a really cute female trying to get water out of the spigot. She's thin, tan, long curly blonde hair & wearing a short sun dress. At this point I should point out that my long distance eyesight is pretty poor, with everything being in kind of a soft focus.

Anyways, as I approach I ask her if the water is ok to drink (I know it is  ) She turns around and, holy sh*t, she's a troll. And wrinkled from head to toe. She says the water isnt working but offers me some bottled water. I say no thanks, but she insists. 

I take the water & start to refill my bottle. She starts a conversation and it becomes clear that she's bat sh*t crazy...just drove in from Florida, been living out of my car for 4 days, spent the night in the park, just picked up 4 kittens from the Humane Society and they like it when I hold them like this, not sure where she's going to go, asked where I live, started talking about biking in Hawaii, etc. It really wasn't so much what she said that scared me but how she said it. The way she spoke and her expressions just screamed nut job. First break in the conversation I said I had to get going. I thanked her for the water, wished her luck & bolted out of there. 

She hollered back as I rode off "I dont need luck! Im Blessed! God bless you!"

*shudder*


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## chuckeieio (Jun 2, 2013)

^


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## Bone Saw (Oct 3, 2012)

I was riding down a powerline road out in the desert a few years ago and just as I crested a little rise I heard the explosive sound of what sounded like a heavy machine gun and then the old abandoned car that was about 30 feet to my right started to fly in to shrapnel. Just as I started to fill my shorts, I looked downhill about 200 yards and there are three guys with one sitting on the ground shooting a large military belt fed machine gun on a tripod at the car. They stop as soon as they see me. Amazingly, I stay upright and ride right on past them. They wave and smile as I go by about 20 feet from them. I would have stopped to talk to them about shooting so near the dirt road and toward the road, but I was a little out gunned and I was afraid that my voice would sound like a 10 year old girl that got scared at a haunted house.

I have a bunch of guns and I love to shoot, but that scared the bajezus outta me.


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## mightybrick (Jun 21, 2007)

A few years ago at a family reunion up in the mountains, myself, my dad, and uncles went for a ride on the Bunker Creek and Lowder Ponds trail. This is up near 10,000 ft elevation and heavy forest. We're flying across mountain meadows on single track and enter some dark timber. We wind through a bit, I'm in the lead, and we go through a sweeping blind turn. My dad shouts ahead to me that he can smell something musky. As I come around the turn there is an explosion of activity on the trail. We had just scared the crap out of a herd of elk, and they scared the crap out of me. The brush and trees on either side of the trail shook as the herd scattered. It was pretty cool, but scary at the time. Those are big animals. 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta


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## rockerc (Nov 22, 2010)

Bone Saw said:


> I was riding down a powerline road out in the desert a few years ago and just as I crested a little rise I heard the explosive sound of what sounded like a heavy machine gun and then the old abandoned car that was about 30 feet to my right started to fly in to shrapnel. Just as I started to fill my shorts, I looked downhill about 200 yards and there are three guys with one sitting on the ground shooting a large military belt fed machine gun on a tripod at the car. They stop as soon as they see me. Amazingly, I stay upright and ride right on past them. They wave and smile as I go by about 20 feet from them. I would have stopped to talk to them about shooting so near the dirt road and toward the road, but I was a little out gunned and I was afraid that my voice would sound like a 10 year old girl that got scared at a haunted house.
> 
> I have a bunch of guns and I love to shoot, but that scared the bajezus outta me.


At least they were shooting a car up and not the cactus like some people do near me... I just don't get the attraction of shooting anything up... makes me wonder about things like lack of self-esteem, penis envy etc


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## TheFist (May 4, 2010)

"There was a double slaying in the woods " This is the stuff that gets me. I just started mt. biking 3 weeks ago but I spend ALOT of time in the woods alone hiking and hunting. One area has alot of drug cartel and immigration activity. 

Just this past January had gunshots outside the camper at 2:30 am literally in the middle of no where.


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## TheFist (May 4, 2010)

CroMoHo said:


> Holy crap!! I never would have thought that horrendous disc brake squeal could ever be good for anything, but I guess in your case it was!


That disc brake squeal might have been what brought the lion in in the first place then he ran off when he saw the human. That squeal could been interpreted and a dying animal and that brings the predators in.


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## manbeer (Oct 14, 2009)

BUMP! Time to revive this awesome thread


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## EmbraceTheHate (Sep 9, 2012)

Not sure if I posted this one a few pages back....o well ill tell it again.

Back when I was racing gnccs and hare scrambles we used to practice at Ft. Hood in Killeen, tx. This was on dirtbikes mind you.....

Anyways one day we went exploring all over the place. We been riding for an hr or so and came across this big ass field had lots of holes that you could drop in then jump out. Anyways 3 or 4 of my friends tear ass across this field, I notice this little sign.....it was facing out towards the field. I ride up to it and read it. Says "Danger Mine Field" at that time I started yelling and waving at my buddies. They stopped and killed there bikes. I yelled! Get back over here this place is a damn mine field!!! My buddys literally picked there bikes up set em in the path they cut thru and slowly rode back to me. Once we got on the main trail we stopped and laughed so damn hard! None of us were sure if it was active or not but we didnt want to find out!

Another time in a race actually a guy ran over a snake and slung it over me and supposedly it landed on the guy behind me. Not sure what kind of snake it was.

Thats all of them. Nothing on my mtb just yet.......

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## onabike (Jan 6, 2006)

that's awesome.. I tend to steer away from this thread when I get in grooves riding alone... but that mine story is awesome... no way can the sign be real these days.. but if it is holy carap!


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## cramsay3 (May 23, 2009)

For you parents: I was riding single-track w/ my 4-yr old leading the way. We came across a large root covering the width of the trail. Nope - rattlesnake. Luckily, the shear fear in my voice as I told the little guy to stop prompting him too. Makes me truly re-think starting him early.


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## EmbraceTheHate (Sep 9, 2012)

onabike said:


> that's awesome.. I tend to steer away from this thread when I get in grooves riding alone... but that mine story is awesome... no way can the sign be real these days.. but if it is holy carap!


We were on a military base. They used to let us ride out there. More then once we would have a platoon in formation by us. This was in the late 90s......

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## SkiMtb (Apr 22, 2012)

I can’t believe I haven’t seen this thread before now. Some really great stories here, and I love the ongoing themes of creepy hillbillies, animal encounters, and the paranormal. 

I’ve lived in the woods most of my life, in the foothills of Washington and Colorado. I’d say that my situational awareness is pretty on target most of the time. There have been several solo rides where I’ve turned around for no reason other than the lack of natural noise (birds, animals, etc), the feeling of being watched, or just a gut feeling that something was off. I’m also a 5’3 chick, with a pretty healthy self preservation instinct. 

As a frequently solo traveler, I’ve definitely had some interesting experiences…way more than I can list here. 

In the category of creepy hillbillies, (but not biking related): Probably 17ish years ago, while living in Washington state, I decided to take my dogs camping up by Lake Kachess for the 4th of July to get them away from the fireworks near town. It was just me, so I opted to set up camp in the main campground rather than dispersed, and then we loaded up and drove up one of the local logging roads to look for firewood. 

I turned the jeep up a much less traveled side road to a clearcut that I had visited a week or two before. About a mile in, I came around a hairpin turn, and stopped in my tracks. There was a travel trailer set up right in the middle of the road, with two unattached crew cab pickups parked nearby. There were several dudes sitting in one pickup that had all 4 doors open, and the trailer was definitely not there the last time I came through. 

My alarm bells were ringing pretty hard, but curiosity got the better of me, so even though I shifted into reverse, I kept my foot on the brake and waited for a minute to see what would happen. A guy jumped out of the pickup, not visibly armed, and walked towards my jeep. I knew with the flat light that day, he wouldn’t be able to get a good look at me until he was close. He got to within 10 feet of me, saw that I was female and alone, and said in a loud voice, “Well hi there little lady. You up here looking for billy goats?” 

Instantly four guys jump out of the pickup with rifles, and the trailer door opens with more armed guys. I didn’t wait to see what happened next, and got the hell out of there as fast as I could. 

I tracked down a ranger and reported it. He came by my site later to let me know that they had been looking for a poaching ring for a while, and he thinks I stumbled across it. They were trying to assemble a team of troopers to head up there, but it was going to be a day or two, since everyone was working 4th of July events. Never heard if they caught those guys, but they definitely were up to no good. If there was ever a time that I was glad to have a glock stashed in the center console, this was it.


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## shortbus08 (Dec 9, 2013)

That's crazy ^^^


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## jimc99999 (Apr 15, 2008)

I don't have any scary mountain biking stories of my own, but a guy that I worked with had a pretty good one. 

About 20 years ago, he was camping/biking somewhere out west with his wife and two young boys (they were 8-10). One day they were biking down a trail or fire road, with the boys racing each other around a corner up ahead. Suddenly the two boys came running back around the corner. Before they could manage to get the boys to calm down enough to figure out why they were now on foot, a grizzly bear came around the corner. The grizzly stood up and roared, and David held up his bike in front of as a rather useless shield while the family hid behind him. David said at that point he was just hoping at least the others could get away while he was being mauled. The bear dropped down to all fours and charged at them, then stopped at a small tree and demolished it. The bear then growled at them again and turned around and walked away. After a few minutes, they gathered up the bikes and rode straight back to camp, broke down camp and went to town for the night.

David said some years later, the boys said one of them actually ran into the bear with his bicycle as it walked out into the trail in front of them.


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

Garthhog said:


> So... I'm out on my Spiderman Ride...
> 
> This is my early morning fitness/training ride. I leave the house at 5:15am, lights and blinkies blazing, ride 6 miles of backroads with Blach Sabbath screaming in my ears, bust out a single lap of an 8 mile single track loop, then haul backside home to get ready for work. While I'm dodging roots and trees with Ronnie James Dio crooning about Satan, witches and all other creepiness, I collect a wide variety of spiders in my helmet vents, while chasing skunks down the trail, treeing raccoons, and occasionally t-boning armadillos. After having done this ride numerous times over the last few years, I can say that few things scare me while I'm out getting my ride on.
> 
> ...


HA! HA! That is the best thing I have ever read on MTBR...HA!


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## Jboy71 (Aug 6, 2010)

A couple of years ago while riding in northern Utah I unknowingly rode up on a bull moose that was only 20 feet away blocking my egress route down the trail. Apparently that was too close for his liking and he decided to charge me. Luckily I was able to use a big tree as a barrier to keep him from introducing me to his antlers. You don't realize how huge these animals are until you're eyeball to eyeball with one. Quite the adrenaline rush!


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## provin1327 (Mar 31, 2013)

No crazy stories for me, I usuallu just spook myself out thinking there is a mountain lion watching me when really its just a bird hopping around in a tree

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## Lenny7 (Sep 1, 2008)

Garthhog said:


> So... I'm out on my Spiderman Ride...
> 
> This is my early morning fitness/training ride. I leave the house at 5:15am, lights and blinkies blazing, ride 6 miles of backroads with Blach Sabbath screaming in my ears, bust out a single lap of an 8 mile single track loop, then haul backside home to get ready for work. While I'm dodging roots and trees with Ronnie James Dio crooning about Satan, witches and all other creepiness, I collect a wide variety of spiders in my helmet vents, while chasing skunks down the trail, treeing raccoons, and occasionally t-boning armadillos. After having done this ride numerous times over the last few years, I can say that few things scare me while I'm out getting my ride on.
> 
> ...


Erwin park? I know this is an old post.


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

Hutch3637 said:


> Looking for an identification maybe of some sort of two animals I ran into tonight.
> 
> Tonight on my usual lap (6 miles) I was going through the lower section that is littered with roots so I was going slow and heard branches snapping to the right of me. As I stopped so did the sounds, so I began to go up the trail and again the sounds where very loud to the right of me. So I stopped again. Whatever animal this was they seemed to be big in size by how loud it was and moving through really dense brush. So I shined my lights towards where it was coming from only to see two sets of huge yellow eyes starring back at me. I got this weird feeling that this wasn't a normal animal so I shouted HEY. They did nothing. So I threw a rock towards them and nothing. Five minutes of the starring competition went on till they moved up into a tree just starring back at me. At this point I understood whatever animal this was, was standing its ground and the trail goes right by there. I proceeded to turn around back the other way. This left me uneasy the rest of the ride which I cut short. Even if this was some non threatening animal it was large by how loud it was moving, with wide spaced yellow reflective eyes and it could climb. This area is northeastern NY btw so if anyone could help me with this.


Did the eyes look like this:








We have some pretty tame deer around here. The bucks are often fearless during the rutting season (~Oct.~Jan.). This one was about 30 ft. away. They often face you with their head low to the ground (maybe a challenge?), then bring their head up high (to make themselves look bigger?). If all you see are the eyes it might look like an animal leaving ground level and perching on a low branch because the change in height is significant, and the movement is distinct/abrupt.

Or is it the Chupacabra? 
...or worse! 

-F


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## Hurricane Jeff (Jan 1, 2006)

I have several weird/scary encounters, some on the bike and a few off.

One of the bike related encounters I have was back around 1996 or so. My wife and I were riding our mountain tandem on a popular trail up in Big Bear Lake, Ca. when we come around this big sweeping left hand corner, out of the corner of my eye, I spot something near the trail which ended up being this estimated 400lb bear, facing the trail. We stopped about 15 feet from it. It looked at us, sniffing the air, then it pinned its ears back,( the night before I coincidently watch a tv show on bears and bear attacks, which mentioned if a bear pins its ears back, it may charge) we stood with the tandem in front of us, then the bear charges for about 5 feet, stops, sniffs, looks around, then bolts in the other direction, man, all of my body hair was standing on end. We continued for about a mile down the trail when we came across a couple of hikers coming up the trail, we stopped and warned them about the encounter we had, when about 30 feet behind them, another big bear crosses the trail.
Another bear story was, I was hiking with my Rhodesian ridgeback up in the hills above Claremont, Ca., we were on this fire road, when all of a sudden, my dog stops, looks down at this hedge alongside the fire break, then he reluctantly walks down to the edge of the bushes, he kept looking at me to do something, which I did, I threw a rock into the bushes in which I hear this rustling of the bushes and leaves, I throw another rock, some thing, at this point I thinking " what the hell?" expecting to see a deer or something, I pull back the brush and a 100lb bear pops up, face to face about three feet away, I jump back, and my dog jumps over the hedge and chases the bear several hundred feet down through the brush.

Back in, I believe it was 1991, my GF, my dog and I where heading back to my place after a hike. When we got about a block away, there where cops all over the place, they would not let us drive up to my house, but said I could park my car and we could walk up to the house. Next to my house was an alley with a tall hedge leading to my front yard. When we got up to the hedge, my dog just bolts on the lease because there is this ATF agent in a full protective suit armed with a grenade launcher. Turns out, David Koresh (branch dividians cult) happened to live 2 houses up from me, there were looking for him. 2 weeks later the Waco Texas thing happened.


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

Jeff,
Some crazy stories for sure.


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## dubbaduba (Jul 23, 2012)

Biking at Heil Ranch in CO early in the morning and about 3/4 a mile in from the trailhead is a a torn to shreds deer carcass. Guts were gone and parts were scattered everywhere. You could tell this was fresh and probably happened in the last few hours. It is a heavy use trail but for the first like 4 miles my head was on a swivel (like that was gonna do anything) looking for potential danger. I would try and bike as close to another group as possible. Safety in numbers. 

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## JTC3495 (Oct 24, 2014)

These stories are great. I just got back into riding recently, and my only time to ride is at night. After reading page after page on this thread, I am getting freaked out a little when I am riding around. I think it is 2 legged freaks that I worry about the most. This is one of the best threads ever though.


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## RiceBrnr (Oct 13, 2014)

A buddy and me were biking around some trails(local BMX/dirtbike)we frequented as kids. We were pretty much done as it was getting darkish. He was having some front derailer issues so I started fiddling with it as we drank a few brews. I was crouched down trying to see what I was dealing with when he quit talking mid sentence. I looked up at him to see a serious look of panic on his face. Knowing that something not good was behind me, as he was on opposite side of bike facing me, I spun around to see a giant werewolf of a black German shepard that had came around the corner of vegetation and stopped dead in its tracks to lock eyes with us. Head low, like a wolf, just starring. Seemed like forever of us and him just waiting for the other to make a move. He then just went on about his way as a mangy looking female dog followed. Glad he didn't see us as a threat. Sure got the heart rate back up. 

At a CX race recently, 10am ish I came down a hill into a 90degree turn and heard a weird growl/snarl/bark noise come from a bush as I made the hard right. Figured it was a possum. Glanced back to see a fox running out the other side. Not super scary but a first.


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## karles123 (Nov 8, 2014)

RiceBrnr said:


> A buddy and me were biking around some trails(local BMX/dirtbike)we frequented as kids. We were pretty much done as it was getting darkish. He was having some front derailer issues so I started fiddling with it as we drank a few brews. I was crouched down trying to see what I was dealing with when he quit talking mid sentence. I looked up at him to see a serious look of panic on his face. Knowing that something not good was behind me, as he was on opposite side of bike facing me, I spun around to see a giant werewolf of a black German shepard that had came around the corner of vegetation and stopped dead in its tracks to lock eyes with us. Head low, like a wolf, just starring. Seemed like forever of us and him just waiting for the other to make a move. He then just went on about his way as a mangy looking female dog followed. Glad he didn't see us as a threat. Sure got the heart rate back up.
> 
> At a CX race recently, 10am ish I came down a hill into a 90degree turn and heard a weird growl/snarl/bark noise come from a bush as I made the hard right. Figured it was a possum. Glanced back to see a fox running out the other side. Not super scary but a first.


Hy RiceBrnr ! Wow... i must say you really had thrilling experience there. It seems you were very lucky during your journey that's why he ignored you and you reached save... It was a fun to read your story... keep sharing


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## manbeer (Oct 14, 2009)

Bump for moar!


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## KevinGT (Dec 25, 2012)

This story tells better than it writes but I'll try anyway.

I used to live in Woodland Hills, CA, just a half mile below dirt Mullholland. That dirt road led to Topanga St. Park and some pretty good singletrack in the Santa Monica Mountains. I rode those trails after work a couple times a week. 

One evening, I was later than usual coming home from work. I rushed to change clothes, fill my Camelbak, and get a few miles in before dark. The ride was fine but I ended up being out a bit later than I wanted to. As dusk approached, I hit the last singletrack climb. Slowly climbing, I heard a shuffling noise behind me. 

I didn't stop or look back but picked up my pace a bit. The Mullholland/Topanga area is notorious for mountain lions and there was a story recently about a female jogger being killed by one. I continued to climb.

A few pedals strokes later, I heard it again. This time I stopped to listen...nothing. I looked all around...nothing.

I continued to climb, faster than before. I heard the noise again, louder and closer. I stopped quickly and whipped around. Nothing. I mounted my bike and just as I started riding again I heard the shuffling RIGHT behind me. I stopped and whipped around. Then a chill ran up my spine...I heard the noise again behind me as I faced the direction I had come. I was being surrounded. The brush on either side of the trail was too think to head off the trail and I was being hunted by a pack of mountain lines ahead and behind. 

It was dark now and I was whipping around in both directions to anticipate an attack...when I heard the sound again...of water sloshing in my camelbak.


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## Mookie (Feb 28, 2008)

That's a good story. As I was reading your account I was thinking that couldn't be a cougar, you wouldn't hear it.


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## loneviking (Mar 30, 2015)

rutkiller said:


> Several of the trails I ride in New Jersey have abandoned vehicles on them. I know some of these vehicles have been there for years, because there is nothing but single track around....so how did a car get into the middle of the woods, with nothing but singletrack? I don't like passing these old abandoned vehicles. You never know what may be inside. I'm waiting to find a dead body in one of the cars someday.


That happened on a dirt road near me. Old fellow drove his car until it wouldn't go anymore and then committed suicide. The car is still there.


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## loneviking (Mar 30, 2015)

One morning my son and I were out biking on the BLM land near us. Popped over a hill, down the hill and just going around a corner and almost ran into and over a bunch of well armed guys! About 12 guys, full kit and automatic weapons---turns out they were BLM rangers on a training exercise, but it was an interesting few moments there.


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## rutkiller (Jul 6, 2006)

Wow, I'm surprised to see this thread is still alive. I was the original poster back in 2007 (8 years ago, now). I love reading these stories. Though I don't get to ride as much as I used to, I still get creeped out sometimes. And I still remember my original story like it was yesterday....


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

rutkiller said:


> Wow, I'm surprised to see this thread is still alive. I was the original poster back in 2007 (8 years ago, now). I love reading these stories. Though I don't get to ride as much as I used to, I still get creeped out sometimes. And I still remember my original story like it was yesterday....


Thanks for the entertainment. And just to let you know I haven't slept a wink since reading your initial story some 8 years ago.


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## onabike (Jan 6, 2006)

DIRTJUNKIE said:


> Thanks for the entertainment. And just to let you know I haven't slept a wink since reading your initial story some 8 years ago.


yes its a great thread... I like to read in the off-season..lol


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

KevinGT said:


> This story tells better than it writes but I'll try anyway.
> 
> I used to live in Woodland Hills, CA, just a half mile below dirt Mullholland. That dirt road led to Topanga St. Park and some pretty good singletrack in the Santa Monica Mountains. I rode those trails after work a couple times a week.
> 
> ...


Those Camelbaks can be vicious.


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## misterbill (Aug 13, 2014)

After reading the first nine pages of this topic, I was sure something bad would happen to me now. I set out on a very short hike-a-bike and a return on a short blazed trail(I am logging trails in my GPS). The tires are bad on the bike, I have no spare tubes, no pump, and no repair kit. They were predicting extreme thunderstorms at 11:00-I set out for my hour and a half trip at 9:45. Guess what happened. Nothing. I did this to prove that just because I believed something bad is going to happen to me does not mean it will. Murphy's law had a perfect chance to get me.

This is by far the most interesting topic that I have ever read. On my way to the trail today, I came to a conclusion, deduced from the posts that I have read. It is not Murphys law. I noticed that a lot of the posts were things that could have been avoided-going out after dark with weak batteries in an area common to have cougars. Going out an hour before dark to a trail you have never been on.

I think this is a great topic, makes me realize how many things that have gone wrong could have been avoided. When I get my bike, the first thing I am going to do is call my insurance agent. I decided that I do not like the 'carry a knife' idea. Think I will get a good light, even if I never have to use it.


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## Lawson Raider (Jul 24, 2006)

My tale of terror on the trail. A few years back after eating a greasy hamburger at Wendy's at 10:30p the night before, montezuma hit miles from the TH and any bathroom. I barely made it back to the TH and lucky I didn't leave any trace behind


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## nemesis256 (Aug 16, 2014)

16driver said:


> Hi...I am a 500 lb black bear that lives in the woods of Washington. Last fall, on a clear, crisp autumn day I was eating some left over huckleberries when suddenly I smelled a hideous, strange odor. Kind of like a blend of Aspercreme and BO. Also I heard a funny sound....The clanking and squeaking of a much needed oiled drive train and, a terrible attempt of singing a rendition of ACDC's Highway to Hell. I was bored and thought I would investigate further. As this "human" approached, I dropped onto the trail when he was about 40 yards away. Now I have seen some pretty surprised looks on the faces of rabbits and small animals that I am going to eat, but this one took the cake!! This poor guy slammed on his brakes and said something like "Oh Sh*t!!" Usually these bike riders just turn around and high tale it out of there, but this one decided to tip over and play dead.(I wouldn't recommend this technique, it just makes you easier to eat) I then figured out he wasn't "playing dead" but instead had his feet still attached to the bike somehow and was jerking and gyrating on the ground. He was also shouting, "Fu%k, Good Bear", like he knows me or something. I snorted and growled a little, just having fun, when this guy springs to his feet and jerks the bike over his head!! Oooohhhhh, now I am scared. Your supposed to do that with cougars not bears you moron. He then slammed his bike onto the ground, spun around and in a hasty attempt to escape, his poor foot slipped off one of the pedals. That looked like it hurt. I haven't seen my human friend since then, but me and my bear buddies had a pretty good laugh around the den that night.


I know this is 8 years old, but this is SO worth bringing back up. I was laughing the entire time!


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## misterbill (Aug 13, 2014)

nemesis256 said:


> I know this is 8 years old, but this is SO worth bringing back up. I was laughing the entire time!


I'm up to page ten. This topic is most definitely worth the time to sit and read all of the pages.


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## NicoleB (Jul 21, 2011)

A bat flew into my mouth while i was riding and i needed rabies shots. 

is that terrifying enough?


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## NicoleB (Jul 21, 2011)

in all seriousness though, i used to mtb as a kid with my brother and friend. we were supposed to be home by dusk, per our parent's rules, but we got stuck in the woods a little longer than usual. i had my dog with me, and we were hanging out by a big swamp. my dog started to growl towards something across the water. a big thing was moving, snapping twigs, but we only saw dark shadows. the dog started moving towards the noise, then was like "fukit!" and ran back towards us with her fur up. we hauled ass outa there.

another time, same swamp, during the day, we (actually ME) thought it would be funny to stomp on a wood pile that we knew had a big yellow-jacket's nest. For some reason, one of my favorite childhood games was to throw rocks at bee nests, and run, and let them chase me. i was never stung doing this, but my poor friends who i convinced to do this with me, were always stung. LOLZ

anyway, this is hard to describe, but you had to crawl thru this hole in the bushes to get to this swamp. if you were ever to need to leave the swamp and get back to the trail, you had to find this hole. Well, i riled up the bees, and took off running. my friend and i remembered to duck into the tunnel to escape back to the trail. My brother didnt. he kept running past the escape and along the swamp edge. he hit a dead end and had to turn around. he later emerged thru the hole cursing and yelling, having been stung more than once. My dog also got pissed at the bees and biting at them and trying to kill them. (some had hitched a ride on her back to the trail). I feel bad i got my brother, dog, and friend's into this mess, but i was also a total little shyt as a kid.

when we got back home my friend found a bee in his tighty whities. i never saw a kid go crying to his mom so fast


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## H0WL (Jan 17, 2007)

nicoleb said:


> a bat flew into my mouth while i was riding and i needed rabies shots. Is that terrifying enough?


yes!!!!!


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

NicoleB said:


> a big thing was moving, snapping twigs, but we only saw dark shadows. the dog started moving towards the noise, then was like "fukit!" and ran back towards us with her fur up. we hauled ass outa there... i was never stung doing this, but my poor friends who i convinced to do this with me, were always stung. LOLZ


That bee story suggests that the only monster in the woods was you . Never taunted bees when I was little (or big). I had a weimaranner in Argentina where loose dogs by the dozens were a real problem. Whenever threatened, rather than stand firmly in front, she always hid behind me.

Oh, and I like bats...just not in my mouth. Rabies shots indeed.


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## TN_Yeti (Mar 16, 2014)

I was in the middle of my ride, 8 miles from the trail head. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it and hear it from time to time. I had a feeling it was nearby for the past mile. A sense of dread came over me when I realized I couldn't outrun this thing. The inevitability of confrontation set in so I dismounted and moved to the side of the trail. All I could think, and hope was this would be over quickly, and that it was just, a fart...

My tale of terror.


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## gpeden (Nov 17, 2014)

Wow, I read the whole thread over the course of a few days:thumbsup:

I live a mile high in a Canadian national park and with half a dozen bear encounters under my belt in the year I've been riding, I'm getting rather acclimated to it. I've never pulled the bear spray from the bottle holder - even the last one where I came around a sharp bend and was the first to notice the other really close. That bear was apparently a 4-1/2 year old female teenager and seemed unsure what do do. We both looked at each other for awhile as I chatted away to her. When she took a few casual steps towards me I spoke rather loudly and sternly and she stopped

This week I was helping a bud check out his new, but old bike on a bike stand just outside a maintenance shop in the basement level of an apartment complex. This spot is sort of at the back of everything looking out at a cowboy coral and bunkhouse. We were both facing uphill quite focused on what we were doing and I heard a "munch, munch, munch" sound like someone eating cereal. I turned around and did quite the double-take at what I saw. This same griz was calmly munching on some dandelions right behind us! Maybe 20 feet away. I had to put down the bike I was holding before I could grab the phone and run after her as she sauntered away. She was at the bottom of the stairs in the photo, eating the dandelions on the left edge....









We were maybe 5 or 6 of those long steps uphill. I called to her to make her turn around because I'm tired of getting photos of bear butts 

I have a couple of nice night lights I was planning to use in the evening as the days get shorter, and hopefully I don't read many more of these scary nighttime animal encounters here:eekster:

Glen


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

*Story; Realm of the Tree Witch*

*Prologue*;

_The following story is true_. At least as true as your imagination can allow it to be when you're out in the woods, strange things are happening and your imagination gets the best of you. The story takes place about 18 yrs ago. Back then I was in my early 40's and was just starting to really get into serious mountain biking. One of my favorite places to ride has always been the vast trail system in the Patapsco river valley, just a short drive from where I live.

The story revolves around the folklore that used to be rumored around an old dilapidated house that sat on the edge of the trail system in the area now known to the locals as , "The Woodstock Area". I remember hearing back in those days rumors that the house was haunted and that some of the locals used it for satanic ritual. I knew where the house was and on occasion rode past it as I linked up many of the ( then ) unmapped trails in that section of the Patapsco valley. For the most part I never paid any mind to rumors of such things. As I tell the story I will pause for the occasional flash-back to previous rides as it helps tell the story by giving more fill-in information.

*Realm of the Tree Witch*

*Part One:* Late summer and I needed a ride. I didn't care that it might rain I needed to ride my mountain bike. That day I decided to start at the McKeldin Area of Patapsco and to cross over one of the Patapsco River branches and into the area that most people familiar with the area call it, "The Woodstock area". During those years the Woodstock area was pretty much undeveloped, underused and generally saw very little in the way of trail maintenance. Any maintenance that was done was generally done by the locals who tended to be equestrians.

After crossing over the Patapsco and into the Woodstock area I began to see some dark clouds forming on the horizon to the west. This was before the age of "smart phones" and having weather apps at your beck and call. As I continued I knew it wouldn't be long before it might start to rain. While I did have a nylon jacket along for light rain protection, it wasn't going to be worth much if it really started to rain hard. As I quickened my pace I was trying to think of where I might hunker down if it started to rain hard. Right away I thought of the Woodstock bridge. Yep, if I could reach that I'd just get right under and I'd be as snug as a bug in a rug. Unconsciously, I began to take trails that headed me in the direction of the bridge but before I knew it the rain was starting come down. I knew at that time I wasn't going to make it to the bridge. That is when the thought dawned on me, "Oh! I almost forgot". "The Old House"!. I was just a couple minutes from the old house. Yes sir'ee Bob, I can duck in there and I should be fine.

Previously, I knew where the house was but actually had never stopped to see what lie within. I was aware of some of the local folklore but really never thought about it much. Right as I got to the house the rain REALLY began to come down. I parked my bike right outside the front door. The house had no door, just a doorway. I walked into the house and noted right away that the place looked to be "an accident waiting for a place to happen". The floor had old wood planking and was rotted in various spots. The smell of mold and rotted wood filled the house. Looking around I could tell the place had a history. Old beer cans and various litter were strewn in the various rooms. Out of curiosity I attempted to walk through the house to check out some of the rooms but soon found out that doing so was very unsafe. The floor creaked incessantly no matter where I chose to walk. Not to mention that there were holes big enough that others ( unknowingly ) had likely fallen through. Hmm...interesting I thought. Fallen through to where? Apparently there was a basement.

After nearly falling through a hole myself I went back to the more solid area near the doorway. I tried to kick back and relax but there was really no place to sit so I just leaned on the doorway and chewed on a Cliff bar and looked out at the rain as it came down. Things got quiet and the rain began to let up. I was glad. Glad to be back on the bike and glad to get out of the house. THAT HOUSE, something about that house was unsettling. When the rain stopped I stepped outside and had a better chance to look around. That is when I saw something that grabbed my attention. A piece of string or rope tied to a tree and lacing through the branches of a couple trees near it. I don't know why but my eyes instinctively began to follow the length of the string. I had to walk through some tall wet grass but I found the end of the string. Tied to it were the skeletal remains of a small mammal. A cat from what I could tell. As a lover of cats this left me feeling very unsettled. I was just about to jump on my bike when suddenly I had the urge to walk around to the back of the house. I don't know why I wanted to do this but once again my curiosity was getting the best of me.

The back yard of the house was littered with old furniture and various old items, old stove, old icebox. Basic junk. I was just about to leave when once again my attention was directed toward a very large hole in the back of the house that appeared to lead to the basement. I walked over and looked in. I was about 15ft. away. It was pitch black and completely dark inside. The hole was just big enough for someone to crawl through. Once again my curiosity is saying, "Go ahead peek in, take a better look". I was about to do that when suddenly a very odd and unsettled feeling came upon me. It was almost as though "Someone or Something" was telling me, "DON'T look into THAT hole"! I stepped back to gather my thoughts. As soon as I did that I suddenly had the very strong feeling that SOMEONE was watching me. I turned around but nothing was behind me but trees and old junk. I turned back to look at the hole. Was someone/something watching me from the hole? The feeling that I was being watched persisted and it was very unnerving. I jumped on my bike and left.

Moments after leaving the area of the house I quickly laughed off my paranoid delusions and finished the ride. Still, what happened at the house bothered me and I decided ( if just subconsciously ) that I had no wish to ever visit the house again.

...*.Part II, some months after*; It was either late fall or early winter. Cold but not cold enough to deter me from going for a late afternoon ride. Once again I chose to ride the Woodstock area only this time I parked just off of Woodstock Rd. so it would not be necessary to do any water crossings. The ride pretty much was a normal ride. I had no predisposition to dwell on what happened on any of my previous rides. For me it was just another ride.

Knowing that I would likely run late, I brought my lights along just in case things ran later than I expected. The days were getting shorter and I always rode prepared even if I planned on getting back before dark. Half way into the ride I stopped to take a break. This too was planned. I had brought along a portable stove so I could heat up some hot chocolate. It was also planned that I might even start a small fire to keep warm. To do this I would find a nice secluded spot, not too far off the trail. The spot for my break was already predetermined. A spot I had recently used not too long ago.

I walked back into the woods from the trail I was on, up a slight incline to a nice flat area that previously had suited my purpose very well. For some reason THIS spot was always easy to identify. At the time I wasn't sure why but it seemed like there was some natural symmetry to it although for the most part all of this was on an unconscious level. I sat down on the rock that I had used the last time I was there. I took out the stove and quickly heated some water. I also built a little fire using just small pieces of wood. I really didn't need the fire. I just liked the smell of burning wood.

I chewed on a Cliff bar and downed the hot chocolate. I probably wasn't back there more than 20 minutes. The late afternoon sun was quickly fading and the light filtering through the trees was casting long shadows. As I sat looking at the embers of my small fire and contemplating on whether or not I was going to add any more wood, I suddenly became aware of how quiet it was. "It's getting late", I said to myself. I took the small trowel I had in my bag and began to bury the dying embers.

After I was done I took the rock I was sitting on and sat it over the buried embers. I had no intention of starting any forest fires. Smoky Bear taught me well as a kid. I don't know what brought it too my attention, maybe the quietness, maybe the late afternoon shadows. Whatever it was I suddenly became aware that there were a handful of medium size rocks ( like the one I had sat on ) that were very near to where I was sitting. As I looked around I saw that there were five. They also seemed to be arranged in a circle. "A circle"?, I said to myself. That has to be some strange coincidence. Likely I didn't notice this before because of the surrounding leaf cover.

I sat back down on the rock for a moment to think about this. Maybe it was the eerie quiet that brought it out but suddenly that feeling of "being watched" came over me again. It also dawned on me that it wasn't too much a stretch of the imagination to think that the rocks could of been arranged before by someone else. On one of the previous visits to this particular spot I remember finding an old bottle so I knew the area had been visited before.

The eerie feeling got stronger. Something was watching me. Not "Just" watching me but watching me from the trees. I shook my head in denial but the feeling persisted. It wasn't just from the trees but from "Up" in the trees. "Crazy"! I said to myself as I tried to shake the feeling. It was quiet. Not just quiet but "Dead" quiet. No rustling of the trees, no sound or birds, just an unsettling quiet.

As I started to pack my things I suddenly realized that I wasn't really far from the "Old House". Matter of fact, if I wanted to I could likely have walked right from the spot I was at and be at the back yard of the old house in just a couple minutes. My imagination was beginning to get the best of me now. Was this spot I was at some spot used for some kind of ritual? "Okay!, that's enough of that kind of thinking" I said to myself. I got up and reached for my bag. When I did I suddenly heard something rustling in the trees to the west. I looked up but saw nothing. I grabbed my bike and without a second thought I took off to find the trail. The same trail that ran right behind the old house not more than 200 ft. away. Funny but that fact didn't occur to me until that moment.

I wasn't far from the car. Most of the trail back to the car was downhill. I arrived at the car without circumstance. As I loaded my bike onto the roof of the car I began smile to think how foolish I was to get all melodramatic. Stone circles? What was that suppose to be about. Some kind of mini "Stonehenge"? I shook my head and my smile widened.

The area by the road was quiet. Although I was just parked on the side of a road no cars were driving by. With my bike locked down all I had to do was put my bag in the car. That was when it happened. To this day I have a hard time putting it into words. I guess I can best describe it as the loudest, longest screech/wail I have ever heard in my life. Apparently it was coming from the tree tops and it was so loud that my immediate knee jerk reaction was to duck. "What and the F*** was that"?!! I mummured to myself in disbelief. Whatever it was, it was up in the trees and it was mad! My heart was racing. "Okay, maybe it's a hawk or an owl". Still, I've never heard anything like that before. The decibel range was unreal. I looked up into the trees above me but I saw nothing.

Quickly I reached into the car and grabbed my helmet lamp. Only a trace of light was in the sky now. I shone my lamp up into the trees but saw nothing. I did however hear a rustling of tree branches, some movement in some limbs. After that silence and an eerie quiet. Being close to RR tracks I heard a train horn far off in the distance and the haunting sound of an approaching train. I could see the cold mist rising out of my mouth and dissipating into the dwindling twilight. I got into my car and left. I hastened because I didn't want to have to wait at the RR crossing on the other side of the bridge... or so I told myself.

I knew there was a logically explanation for all this but tonight my thoughts raced toward the unthinkable. "Witches in the trees". Satanic rituals. Pentagrams of five points. Animal sacrifice. I beat the train but not by much. As I hurried down the road I was glad to leave and glad that logically I knew there were no such things as , "Witches in the trees". The only place such things existed were in the minds of the delusional or from people with vivid imaginations. I smiled at that thought and drove home comforted in the fact that I knew I wasn't crazy. I would return. Any good mystery deserves a conclusion. Okay, maybe I'm crazy to want to go back but I love a mystery. I would return, just not tonight. Not with the Witch still hiding in the tree tops. ~ ~ ~

*Epilogue :*

I did return the next night. I heard no more, "Witches in the trees" but when I got to the car I did look up into the trees and did see something of interest. A rather large Owl looking down on me. I took my camera out and took a picture of it. After that night I never saw or heard an Owl in that area again.

Not many years after all of this took place I remembered something from an old scary movie or perhaps an old Stephen King book. "For everything Holy there is something "unholy". The old house was just a stones throw from a local Catholic Church and until then it held the high ground. Holiness fought back though. I don't know how it came about or who made the decision but the powers that be had the house bulldozed. I remember riding past the old house site and seeing the leveled ground. I could still smell the rot though. The ground I still consider unholy but the power of the Tree Witch is gone. As I stood contemplating this I heard the bells from the Church not too far in the distance. I got on my bike and left. I've not returned to the old house site since although I still ride the area regularly, usually at night. The imagination is a wonderful thing, especially when mixed with a tinge of reality. I hope you enjoyed my story. CAt


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## BmoreKen (Sep 27, 2004)

Great story! The old house was the Blair Witch house, used in one of the scenes from the movie and bulldozed because it was attracting too much attention. At least that's the story I heard. That whole area definitely has a creepy vibe to it, for no rational reason. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## dave54 (Jul 1, 2003)

No bad guys, but a potentially bad accident.
I was riding solo, and changed my trail at the last minute. So my wife would not have known where I was. No one else on the trail. Did not see anyone all day and did not expect to, a remote and seldom used trail in the middle of the week. I was about 10 miles in, halfway, when I choose the wrong track, front wheel hit a rock wrong, and I endoed over the handlebars. It was a steep descent and rolled/skidded a fair distance with my torso stuck inside the frame. When I stopped moving I just lay there for several minutes dazed, and assessing my injuries. Helmet was shattered, and had misc scrapes and bruises. No serious injuries, and the bike was OK. I HAB the rest of the descent until it leveled and smoothed out, then slowly and uber cautiously rode the rest of the way. Scared the bejeebers out of me.
Did I learn my lesson about riding solo and leaving an itinerary? Naw. I still ride solo and often change my route at the trailhead.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

BmoreKen said:


> Great story! The old house was the Blair Witch house, used in one of the scenes from the movie and bulldozed because it was attracting too much attention. At least that's the story I heard. That whole area definitely has a creepy vibe to it, for no rational reason.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


If you remember there was also the old abandoned Job Corp training Ctr that was directly across from the old house. It was fenced off but also had a lot of buildings that could of easily sheltered anyone looking for a strange place to party. I checked it out a time or two ( back in the day ) and saw evidence that perhaps the locals were using it. I believe those buildings were knocked down the same time the house was knocked down.

About the old house; Yeah I remember someone referring to it as the , "Blair Witch House". Ha! Maybe that someone was you! I posted this story many years ago on the MORE website. I'm sure there were comments but I remember someone saying something about it being, The Blair Witch House. I figured they only gave it that name because of the movie that was released around that time.

Nothing really creepy about the Woodstock area now. Most of the trails there are now listed on OSM, even the newer ones. The area also gets better trail maintenance now because Patapsco now hosts a major endurance event every year. Matter of fact that event is happening tomorrow or so I've been told. It starts off from the Avalon area and goes all the way to McKeldin ( and then back ). That is one long haul!

This year I rediscovered the Woodstock area. Years ago I crossed it off my regular ride list because no one really took care of it and the trails were basically going to hell in a hand basket. This year I learned that MORE had built some new trails there and that because of the event they always made sure that the trails ( used for the event ) were in good shape.

Currently I ride there almost too much. I'm starting to get bored with it. Maybe I need to check out the old house site again...LOL...( I use the OSM (cycle ) map supplied by my Locus app.) Almost all the good trails for the entire Patapsco Park system are now included ( and updated ) regularly. I wish I had this GPS stuff back when I was younger. I always wondered if it were possible to link up trails to the whole park system. Not only is it possible but the maps are free. If I had the fitness to do the whole thing I would really consider doing the event. I'm not fit enough for rides that long though. It's enough for me to do a couple sections at a time.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

*Sort of a late Post script to my previous story:* I remembered afterward going online trying to find information on the kind of noises or screeching that an owl can make. I found one website that had a list of audible recordings of some different species of owls but nothing came close to what I heard that night.

Just today I found this recording on youtube. This sounded very familiar to me but on the night I heard the screech it was much more prolonged, maybe lasting several seconds and containing some warbling. Still not much of a stretch to believe that the owl I saw on the second night actual made the sound. It was incredibly loud though. This just might have been because of the natural acoustics of where I was parked at the time. It is interesting though to say the least. I'll still never forget that night and how it spooked me when I first heard it.


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## asookazian (Mar 3, 2015)

rutkiller said:


> This is exactly what I'm talking about. I started this thread because of something that happend to me this past Sunday. I was out riding (solo) at a local trail and I swore that somebody was watching me. I stopped a few times to collect my thoughts and my breath, and it was the creepiest feeling. Like I said in my original post, I guess all of those stupid movies I watched as a kid are coming back to haunt me. Something about being alone in the woods is creepy. Anyway, on Sunday, I had this feeling that if I looked long enough, I would see someone standing in the woods watching me. You know...the whole hockey mask and 3 foot blade thing..... As I was exiting the trail after a great ride, I encountered a man sitting on a bench by himself. While nothing was particulary creepy about this guy, it just made me wonder, ya know?


The watching is possibly a mtn lion depending on where you were. I've felt that "being watched" feeling in a trail where I had see a mtn lion.

If you have spent any time in the hills in the west coast, you have been watched.

Also, almost literally ran (on foot jogging) into two guys in their 20's in the same trail. I'll never forget that. Never seen such literally dirty bare feet. SoCal.


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## asookazian (Mar 3, 2015)

nagatahawk said:


> you guys are starting to creep me out! lol
> I ride solo locally in the Santa Monica Mountains. this is very close to the city, but every time out hear noises in the bushes just off the trail. I just figured it was a lizard, or squirrel, now I'm thinking, it's something bigger.
> Ive seen coyotes out in broad daylight in the SM mountains. Once I witnessed a single coyote take down a deer just off the paved road.. you can imagine what a pack of them can do? Ive seen them off the trail, even when there are a lot of people on the trail sunday mornings. They are not even afraid of humans, they just look at you like they are sizing you up. (to eat) maybe I'm just getting creeped because of all the stories on this thread. a skinny dog could never take me out. I'd just hit 'em with my water bottle, yeah that's it.


The real danger with predator type animals is if they're sick (i.e. rabid) or a mother with cubs/kittens, etc. In those cases attack probability is higher. That being said, you have approx. 10-15 cougars in the Santa Monica range. I was running directly towards a cougar approx 150 ft away in my neighborhood in Montrose area and it basically immediately hopped away (a solid 30 ft jump up the mountain side!) I've seen a bobcat recently as well about 100 ft and it looked at me for a couple seconds prior to walking out of sight.

Carry a whistle and a knife (and fixed blade is recommended as well as bear spray).

A man died in my backyard in OC due to cougar attack. Watch Human Prey episode, a woman was attacked by same cougar 24 hours later. She survived.

I'd never go biking solo at night. That's really just asking for trouble.


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## Padgman (Jun 21, 2015)

Last year on a trail in Florida, I started my downward descent towards some marsh when I realized there was a 6 foot alligator sun bathing on the nice warm dirt right in the middle of the trail! Needless to say, I was all brakes. Thankfully he was just as spooked as I was and took off into the water. I would be lying if I said I don't think about him (or her) every time I ride that section. I couldn't believe how fast it spun around and hit the water..


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## blackitout (Jun 30, 2014)

tarheelrider007 said:


> These stories are great. Been a long time lurker and thought I'd share my own tale of terror:
> 
> This one goes way back to my earliest days of mountain biking. I had just made my first major purchase in life which also happened to be my first real mountain bike: a Diamondback Sorrento. Anyone remember those? Spent a Summer mowing lawns and babysitting kids in order to get it. I LOVED that ride. I mean I really really loved it. Any excuse for a ride and I was gone.
> 
> ...


This is the funniest story I've read in my life. I was laughing so hard. They still make those Sorrentos Haha.


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## blackitout (Jun 30, 2014)

Not bike related but camping. My Wife's family has land along the James River in Virginia. We used to go camping there except a lot of weird stuff started to happen while we were there.

When we first started to go there, this cow got out of the land where all the cows graze. We arrive there and start to get out of the car when the cow just stands in front of our Jeep. Normally cows don't scare me but something was weird about this cow. 

Every time we go camping on her family's land this cow miraculously gets out of the fenced in land and seems to be walking around the road or by our car. We block our campsite with our Jeep so he can't get past it (there's trees on either side). We usually drink and hang out, and make a fire. Every time before we know we won't be leaving we go up the gravel road and lock the steel gate so nobody comes down while we are asleep.

One time we go up to check the gate at about midnight. We are driving up the gravel road and see people up ahead at the gate. We don't think much of it. Once we get up there we notice these 4 guys are sitting on the hood of the truck with shotguns. We get out and they ask us if we have a key to the gate. Obviously we do but there are 4 guys with shot guns sitting there and we say we don't. We ask what they are doing there. They said they were hunting coyotes. Yeah ok, with shotguns? I don't think so. So we turn the Jeep around and start going back down the road. These guys start shooting in the air with their shotguns trying to scare us because we didn't let them in. Granted I had my Ar-15 and my Glock in the Jeep but I wasn't about to start shooting. My wife calls the police and they come but the guys were gone. The cops were pretty tactical about it. They came in from 2 different directions trying to box them in. Unfortunately they were gone. 

The weirdest time is the cow. This was the last time we decided to go camping here. That night I had a weird feeling I shouldn't drink. It didn't make any sense but I decided to go with it. My wife is drinking and we are sitting around the camp fire. We decide to go check the gate because we were going to lock it. Remember that cow that seemed to always get out of the fenced in portion of land? Yeah he was in the middle of the first field as we were driving up to the gate. Just walking around. We go lock the gate, and turn around. The cow is gone. I drove around that field for 5 min trying to find this cow. He disappeared within 3 minutes. No where to be found. I got this weird feeling something wasn't right. So we go back to the camp site. I had another feeling that if we stayed were were going to be killed or murdered. I don't get feeling like this ever. I trust my gut and I took this very seriously. We threw the burning wood in the river, packed up the campsite super fast and drive to Charlottesville and got a hotel. 

It was very weird. This cow was weird. It was the only cow out of maybe 40 of them that would always get out of the fenced in area and would hang around and just stare at us every time we went there. Needless to say we never went back. It was creepier than it sounds.


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## mark! (Jun 1, 2012)

I hit a squirrel once at night. Caught it in my spoke and flipped it straight up. Luckily he didn't get caught in the fork and was just propelled in the to air over my head. He scurried off quickly after that. That's about as terrifying as it's been for me. At the time I had no idea what the hell was going on.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

*Old spooky story explained*

Okay, this story isn't so much about terror but has a "spook" factor to it. I originally told this story many years ago on another MTB forum. Since it's just a follow up to an old story I'll be brief; ( okay so it turned out to be not so brief..)

On another forum someone had commented that they were riding somewhere and encountered a group of people supposedly looking for "Orbs". These were suppose to be "Spirit Orbs". Knowing nothing about this subject at the time I was joking with the person who was recounting the story. I don't remember too much of what was said but we talked and joked about the people who took all this stuff serious.

Probably not more than a week or so after that conversation I was doing a late day MTB ride in a state park not too far from where I live. To add a little more "Spook factor" I'll only add that the park is very near an area that holds an annual "Indian Pow Wow". I believe I was riding during the same week of the Pow Wow.. Could be the area was once inhabited by local Native Americans and so there is a Spiritual element to the story.

At the time I wasn't really thinking about any of this on the conscience level. I was just riding along and minding my own business. The sun was beginning to set and I was admiring the beauty of the forest around me. Soon the sun set low enough where I had to use a small led torch on the bars to see. This was during the early years of LED lights so the lamp only output about 50 lumen but it was enough to see by. It was toward the end of the ride and I was approaching one of my favorite sections that had the trail lined with pine trees silhouetted against the evening twilight.

It was almost completely dark now. I had a 10watt Niterider ( halogen ) lamp on the helmet but for the time being I left it off and was only using the small led torch. Moving along at moderate speed I was approaching some low branches. Suddenly I noticed a very strange round object hovering right at eye level and sitting right under the tree branch. It was about the size of a softball and looked metallic. It was not moving or glowing. _I only saw it for a quick second as my lamp illuminated it as I passed but at the time it look very solid._ Since it appeared to be hovering approximately at head height I had to quickly move my head to the side in order to avoid hitting it head on.

After dodging it I rode maybe 20 ft. or so and stopped just to contemplate what I just saw. "Wait a minute"! I said to myself, "What the hell did I just see"?!! I got off my bike and walked back to the tree branches I just passed under. I turned on the brighter Niterider lamp and once again tried to find anything that looked like a metallic softball. Man was I spooked! Nothing I was looking at looked remotely round. The tree branch was just leaves. I got back on my bike and left. I knew there was an explanation but at the time I hadn't a clue.

Later I recounted the story to others. I remember some people telling me I should see a Specialist thinking it was a neurological disorder. ( LOL ) I remember at the time I blamed it all on the conversation I had with the online lady friend when we were talking about orbs. I also know that the mind has the ability to fill in missing information when the eye doesn't quite see a certain thing clearly. If you've ever seen the TV show "Brain games" you know what I'm talking about.

Fast forward to just last weekend. I'm doing a night ride in the same park. The experience of seeing "something strange" was long ago and far from my thoughts. I now use very good high intensity LED lamps on both bars and helmet. Anyway, I was just flying along dodging various obstacles on the trail. Every once in a while I began to see some low lying spider webs but for the most part they are very common and I just dodge them when possible. Now it took a couple moments to kick in but suddenly I was seeing more spider webs and some of them were , "very dense" and YES...the size of a softball!!!! HOW ABOUT THEM APPLES! After all of those years I finally figured it out! No doubt in my mind the round object I saw more than 10 years ago was likely a softball sized spider web hanging right under a tree branch! The weak LED light I had back then likely made it look more solid. When I dodged it with my helmet I likely tore it away leaving no trace.

Now when I see something strange at night I can stop chanting the line the "Cowardly Lion" used in _The Wizard of Oz_. ...." I do believe in spooks, I do, I do, I do believe in spooks". :yikes:....:smilewinkgrin:


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## Ridnparadise (Dec 14, 2007)

Cat-man-do said:


> Okay, this story isn't so much about terror but has a "spook" factor to it. I originally told this story many years ago on another MTB forum. Since it's just a follow up to an old story I'll be brief; ( okay so it turned out to be not so brief..)
> 
> On another forum someone had commented that they were riding somewhere and encountered a group of people supposedly looking for "Orbs". These were suppose to be "Spirit Orbs". Knowing nothing about this subject at the time I was joking with the person who was recounting the story. I don't remember too much of what was said but we talked and joked about the people who took all this stuff serious.
> 
> ...


And here I was waiting for a tree-climbing, fuzz-ball of a feline...


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## Rogueldr (Jul 30, 2007)

Just this past weekend I was riding my local trails with a friend. We came to the bottom of a climb and stopped to take a breather and a drink. After yapping for a few minutes, Joe said he was ready to go so he started on the climb and it took me a minute to get going again. As I was clipping in I heard a really loud cracking sound that sounded like it was directly above me. So I tucked myself in to make myself as small as possible and starting spinning my pedals like a maniac. About a second later we heard a huge crashing sound. When I turned around I saw a huge branch (on Treehouse Masters they call them "widow-makers") laying in the EXACT spot I had just vacated. If I had taken one more sip or blown one more snot rocket, I might be dead or at least seriously injured. Now I understand why they call them "widow-makers"! 

The pic doesn't really do it justice, but that is exactly where we were standing. Not to mention, that's how close I was to it when it fell. It broke in two when it hit the ground.


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## Scott O (Aug 5, 2004)

mark! said:


> I hit a squirrel once at night. Caught it in my spoke and flipped it straight up. Luckily he didn't get caught in the fork and was just propelled in the to air over my head. He scurried off quickly after that. That's about as terrifying as it's been for me. At the time I had no idea what the hell was going on.


Great! Now I'll never be able to sleep tonight.


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## chuckha62 (Jul 11, 2006)

I've told this story before, but it has been awhile and that thread is probably buried deep.

My wife and I were in Calistoga for our anniversary a few years ago. I took my bike, figuring I could go for a ride on Oat Hill Mine Rd. one morning while she slept in. 

Saturday morning, I got up early, ate, got everything ready and was out the door a little after 7:00 AM. I was at the trail head about 15 or 20 minutes later and began the climb. Oat Hill Mine rd. is an out and back for the most part. I understand it meets up with Aetna Springs somewhere, but I've never done it. 

I was a couple miles into my climb and dealing with some pretty rocky terrain when I mis-judged my pedal stroke and hit a rock with my right heal. It totally unclipped me right in a steep, technical spot. I damn near fell over the opposite way, but was able to unclip that foot and stay upright. I figured this was as good a spot as any to grab a drink of water and get my heart rate back under 180. As I was getting my heart and respiration down to a comfortable level, I heard this deep rattling sound. It was really odd. It was like the purring of a house cat, but MUCH deeper and louder. 

I looked back over my shoulder to the left and saw her, peering out from behind a bush about 15 or 20 feet away from me and the purring stopped. I'm not sure how big she was, but it was the biggest damned cat I had ever seen. A gorgeous mountain lion. I had not idea what to do, except to put my bike between me and the cat. I picked up the bike and shook the **** out of it. It rattled like hell (or was that my knees?) with lots mechanical sounds. It was enough to scare the big cat and she took off up the embankment and sort of away from me, looking back over her shoulder.

I have never had such a burst of adrenaline. I jumped back on my bike and for the next half mile, I was Lance F-ing Armstrong. I was climbing like I was in it for a stage win. I kept looking back in the direction that the cat went, but never saw her again. 

The worst part was that as an up and back, I had to come back by here to get home. I climbed to the top, took a few minutes, gathered myself and began the return trip. When I got near the spot, I took stock of myself, my equipment and nerves and descended through the rocky, technical terrain like an expert. That was the fastest I had ever descended and I just had to trust myself and my equipment and get through that area as quickly as I could. That is the only time I loved hearing all the sounds of chain slap and cables ringing against the tubes. What a racket! 

If you ever get the opportunity to hear a big cat purr, you'll never forget it. Fortunately for me that was a satisfied kitty, or I may have been breakfast.

I need to do Oat Hill Mine Rd. again...

Chuck


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## str8edgMTBMXer (Apr 15, 2015)

the most terrifying experience for me was running into about 15-20 gangsta wanna-be's on some of the trails that follow the river in our city. Cruising the trail, turning a corner and seeing them all hanging there drinking and smoking pot... Crippin' as they call it... I rode through the group b/c I couldn't stop...and it would have been stupid to do so anyways. They started yelling and a couple tried to follow me, but I was moving pretty fast, and they were not stable enough to keep up. Luckily they either didn't have guns, or didn't think to use them. I was hearing all kinds of references to me being killed as I rode through. Needless to say I took a different route back. Haven't encountered the same group since, but there are many dangers in human form on that system as it gets closer to downtown. lots of flashers, muggers, creepers etc. it is worse in warm weather.

I have been using the same trails since I was a punker kid, but my "gang" (of BMXers) would have never thought to hurt anyone else. We were too busy hurting ourselves...


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## manbeer (Oct 14, 2009)

Rogueldr said:


> Just this past weekend I was riding my local trails with a friend. We came to the bottom of a climb and stopped to take a breather and a drink. After yapping for a few minutes, Joe said he was ready to go so he started on the climb and it took me a minute to get going again. As I was clipping in I heard a really loud cracking sound that sounded like it was directly above me. So I tucked myself in to make myself as small as possible and starting spinning my pedals like a maniac. About a second later we heard a huge crashing sound. When I turned around I saw a huge branch (on Treehouse Masters they call them "widow-makers") laying in the EXACT spot I had just vacated. If I had taken one more sip or blown one more snot rocket, I might be dead or at least seriously injured. Now I understand why they call them "widow-makers"!
> 
> The pic doesn't really do it justice, but that is exactly where we were standing. Not to mention, that's how close I was to it when it fell. It broke in two when it hit the ground.


The same thing happened to me when I was about 13 or 14 backpacking in the Catskills. I was with my friend and his dad and all the sudden we heard a huge creaking sound, looked around and don't see anything and then his dad yelled "get the f#&k out of here and we heard a huge crack as we sprinted away. Giant tree landed maybe 20 or 30 feet behind us

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

manbeer said:


> The same thing happened to me when I was about 13 or 14 backpacking in the Catskills. I was with my friend and his dad and all the sudden we heard a huge creaking sound, looked around and don't see anything and then his dad yelled "get the f#&k out of here and we heard a huge crack as we sprinted away. Giant tree landed maybe 20 or 30 feet behind us
> 
> Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk


I have a feeling this kind of thing is more common than you think. Years ago I was back in the woods on my usual weekend night ride. I stopped by a lakeside clearing to take a break. I was sitting there maybe ten minutes or so. It was completely dark and I had no lamps on at the time. Suddenly I hear this very loud crack. As I'm sitting there I'm like a deer caught in a headlight. I heard it fall through the trees and thud to the ground. I figure it was likely not more than 100 ft. from where I was sitting but I never saw it as it was somewhere in the woods behind me. The initial "Crack" sound it made was almost like the sound of a lightning strike. I thought I was going to jump out of my skin when I first heard it!

Not many years after that I heard a story on the news that a middle aged man riding his bike on the C & O canal trail was killed by a falling tree. Apparently a severe storm was coming through at the time and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway I now do my best to get out of the woods if I think a severe storm is approaching. I have no wish to win Hell's lottery. Regardless, it doesn't matter. Storm or no storm, trees fall...day or night.


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## cobi (Apr 29, 2008)

Cat-man-do said:


> I have a feeling this kind of thing is more common than you think. Years ago I was back in the woods on my usual weekend night ride. I stopped by a lakeside clearing to take a break. I was sitting there maybe ten minutes or so. It was completely dark and I had no lamps on at the time. Suddenly I hear this very loud crack. As I'm sitting there I'm like a deer caught in a headlight. I heard it fall through the trees and thud to the ground. I figure it was likely not more than 100 ft. from where I was sitting but I never saw it as it was somewhere in the woods behind me. The initial "Crack" sound it made was almost like the sound of a lightning strike. I thought I was going to jump out of my skin when I first heard it!
> 
> Not many years after that I heard a story on the news that a middle aged man riding his bike on the C & O canal trail was killed by a falling tree. Apparently a severe storm was coming through at the time and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway I now do my best to get out of the woods if I think a severe storm is approaching. I have no wish to win Hell's lottery. Regardless, it doesn't matter. Storm or no storm, trees fall...day or night.


Happened to me hunting as well. My friend and I had made a little blind under a big pine tree (the trunk was big enough I don't think we could have reached around it even combined). He was sitting facing one way, I was looking the other. Big wind storm blows in and we keep hearing {crack}, and watching Aspen trees topple along the hillside of the valley we are watching. Our tree is swaying a bit and has made a few little sounds. We finally decide to get out of there. We walk up valley about 200 yards to grab our other friend and are telling him about the trees we keep seeing fall and our tree topples right in front of our eyes. We were like 2 minutes away from being leaned up against it when it went down. I've never seen a tree that big topple, it must have been a 60 foot tall pine tree.

When we got back to the truck a tree had fallen across the dirt road we drove in on and was like 20 yards past our truck. If we'd parked just a bit further we'd have been blocked in. Not sure how we would have gotten out, it was huge and we didn't have a saw and no way to drive around. As we drove back to camp there were 3 or 4 more trees that fell on or along the road but we could get around or drive over them all.


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## swampboy62 (Feb 10, 2009)

Cat-man-do said:


> I have a feeling this kind of thing is more common than you think. Years ago I was back in the woods on my usual weekend night ride. I stopped by a lakeside clearing to take a break. I was sitting there maybe ten minutes or so. It was completely dark and I had no lamps on at the time. Suddenly I hear this very loud crack. As I'm sitting there I'm like a deer caught in a headlight. I heard it fall through the trees and thud to the ground. I figure it was likely not more than 100 ft. from where I was sitting but I never saw it as it was somewhere in the woods behind me. The initial "Crack" sound it made was almost like the sound of a lightning strike. I thought I was going to jump out of my skin when I first heard it!
> 
> Not many years after that I heard a story on the news that a middle aged man riding his bike on the C & O canal trail was killed by a falling tree. Apparently a severe storm was coming through at the time and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway I now do my best to get out of the woods if I think a severe storm is approaching. I have no wish to win Hell's lottery. Regardless, it doesn't matter. Storm or no storm, trees fall...day or night.


I have a feeling you're right. Similar circumstances happened to me while backpacking. Hiked out past the campsite to dig a cat hole, and was doing my business when I heard a big 'crack' sound right above me. I managed to get my hands up and caught/deflected a good 50# branch that was directly above me - and also managed to keep my balance enough to avoid falling into my own crap. Now that would be an embarrassing way to die.

Steve Z


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)

Bump! Any new stories for 2016???


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## sleepyguy1001 (May 26, 2014)

Padgman said:


> Last year on a trail in Florida, I started my downward descent towards some marsh when I realized there was a 6 foot alligator sun bathing on the nice warm dirt right in the middle of the trail! Needless to say, I was all brakes. Thankfully he was just as spooked as I was and took off into the water. I would be lying if I said I don't think about him (or her) every time I ride that section. I couldn't believe how fast it spun around and hit the water..


This is why I will gladly live in the part of the country that the air can get so cold it hurts your skin


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## ajjrsons (Jul 15, 2015)

In riding in norCal foothills and Sierras, I'm always watching for cougars. This summer, I was riding alone at about 4500 Ft elevation, 25m out of Nevada City, CA. I rode deep into a canyon with heavy brush and felt that tingle up neck, like being watched. I was running thru what I would do if a cougar jumped out. 
About 1/2 hr later on the climb out, I jumped a black bear and her cub. We see black bears commonly in the Sierra and they are not a big threat. The sow hauled ass down the mountain kicking dirt and sticks everywhere. The cub shot up the nearest pine like a squirrel - had no idea they could run up a tree like that. 
I started to drop my pack for the camera and get a picture of the cub, but figured the momma would be looking back at some point. It was an awesome experience and the extra shot of adrenaline - not bad. Another plug for MTbiking. I've seen plenty of deer, a few coyotes, and other flashes of fur, but the cougar is my only worry.


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## juancho142 (Feb 26, 2010)

ajjrsons said:


> In riding in norCal foothills and Sierras, I'm always watching for cougars. This summer, I was riding alone at about 4500 Ft elevation, 25m out of Nevada City, CA. I rode deep into a canyon with heavy brush and felt that tingle up neck, like being watched. I was running thru what I would do if a cougar jumped out.
> About 1/2 hr later on the climb out, I jumped a black bear and her cub. We see black bears commonly in the Sierra and they are not a big threat. The sow hauled ass down the mountain kicking dirt and sticks everywhere. The cub shot up the nearest pine like a squirrel - had no idea they could run up a tree like that.
> I started to drop my pack for the camera and get a picture of the cub, but figured the momma would be looking back at some point. It was an awesome experience and the extra shot of adrenaline - not bad. Another plug for MTbiking. I've seen plenty of deer, a few coyotes, and other flashes of fur, but the cougar is my only worry.


If it was me, I'd be worried about the bear as well. Luckily in my country no bears and cougars are very rare.


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## ajjrsons (Jul 15, 2015)

I don't think I would ride in Grizzly country without some firearm protection!


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## LaloKera (Jul 31, 2015)

Was riding last year near Mount Wilson Ca. I fell and Seriously hurt my ankle.
I was ready to pass out for a minute. Was alone and no one around, miles from anywhere. Called 911 and gave dispatch my info and situation but he could not understand me and we were cut off, little to no reception out there. after unsuccessfully trying to reconnect, i decided to jump back on the bike and just try to roll slowly down the mountain, one foot hanging off the pedal. 
The real Terror set in when i realized that they might be sending in a helicopter rescue crew to look for me. How much was that going to cost??


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## DaveRider (Jul 14, 2014)

Screw all of y'all who posted. It's bad enough that I won't recover from the '80's horror movies from when I was a kid. Now, I spend all day reading this whole thread, riveted, scared poopless.

Hilarious, scary reading.


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## DaveRider (Jul 14, 2014)

The sound of my cat crunching on her food in thr next room just scared the crap out of me. Thanks a lot. Especially to the guy with the story of the creepy shirtless guy in the green army coat holding the rock & pointing.


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## HTR4EVR (Jun 15, 2007)

On this spot I almost step on a sleeping rattle snake while looking the flowers on the side of the trail. I believe it has been my highest jump ever. This spot is about 8 miles from the parking and 2 miles away is bloomers camp, only reachable by boat, bike or horse.










Yes. One of those.


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## flyfisher117 (Jul 3, 2011)

This thread is great... and terrifying... I ride alone 90% of the time. This summer I was looking forward to riding at my parents house... in the middle of prime grizzly country. I now need a can of bear spray and a bigger pistol. 
Hopefully I can dodge those Zeus Stools aswell... 😂

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


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## H0WL (Jan 17, 2007)

Cat-man-do said:


> Not many years after that I heard a story on the news that a middle aged man riding his bike on the C & O canal trail was killed by a falling tree. Apparently a severe storm was coming through at the time and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway I now do my best to get out of the woods if I think a severe storm is approaching. I have no wish to win Hell's lottery. Regardless, it doesn't matter. Storm or no storm, trees fall...day or night.


On our C & O canal ride in 2013, we rode past a campsite where a large tree had fallen without warning. Somehow, someway, it missed all those in the campsite. The campers were still a little wired from their close call.


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

StreetSpeed said:


> I had (what I thought) was a scary/funny story and I told my riding buddy about it in an e-mail. Here is said e-mail.
> 
> I went riding Thursday and had a blast. Hit some beautiful trails, some with some neat jumps and gaps in it, and the Lithium handles it all great. I would rattle my teeth out on my hard tail. Anyway, Thursday I was running out of water so I went so far and turned around. Today I figured I'd go the other way and see if I could find where the two meet up and have a nice little (long) loop.
> Before I even head out today I just TAP the valve on my rear shock to let some air out because I thought the PSI was a little low. I wasn't using more than 3." of travel or so with it set where it was. Anyway, let some air out, sit on it, and it drops to bottom. "****," I say. My bike pump won't fit on it, and even if I did I need 150psi in it or so for my weight. So I go to Stewarts, and the most I can get there is 70psi. Better than nothing, but I've got like 3" of sag when I sit on the thing. So, my rear end is all ****ed up, but ridable and I was anxious.
> ...





HotBlack said:


> So a couple guys said hey to you, and your mind made them ass-raping murderers?
> 
> Hahaha... I've never seen such a silly display of homophobia. I'm cracking up right now. Seriously, even if they were gay, even if they were rapists, you'd honestly consider dying out in a swamp over a little anal? You know, most people stick stuff up their butts during their lives. It's really not a big deal. It's just a butt. I mean, protecting the sanctity of your ass is a little silly when you think about what comes out of it. If it were between dying of hypothermia in a swamp and discovering what it is that the Greeks saw as a fun and healthy way to enjoy yourself, I mean christ already. As it is, the worlds gay & bi population enjoy it, and a pretty substantial percentage of straight people do as well. In fact, come to think of it, I've never met anyone who said they tried it and didn't like it. Why the hell would someone be so deathly afraid of their ass?





StreetSpeed said:


> No, two guys did not say "hey" to me. They were driving out of the woods in the middle of no where and asked if I wanted to go "chill by the fire."
> 
> As for the rest of your post, whatever floats your boat, man...





nagatahawk said:


> Lmao!!!


So with some time to waste I was skimming through this thread reading a story here and there. And I came across this gem of an exchange. ^^^^

:lol::lol::lol::lol: Obviously too good to ignore I felt compelled to bring it back to the forefront for everyone to enjoy. If you happened to have missed it the first go around several years ago.


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## Scott O (Aug 5, 2004)

Wait? Were these Greek hillbillies?


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## HTR4EVR (Jun 15, 2007)

Hilarious... Even the second time. 


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

Trees falling, eh?

A few years ago, while night riding on my favorite trail, a few raindrops fell. No biggie and kept going. Then twenty minutes later, out of nowhere, came a heavy thunderstorm with 50 mph winds. Smaller branches were falling all over the place and it was time to get out ASAP. Upon slowly going around a hairpin turn, there was a cracking noise and I was looking around for the noise with the helmet light and saw a tree falling about 15 feet in front. Had it been a faster turn, things might have turned out differently. It was really close and time to get out immediately. Upon exiting the woods, I was nearly blown over by the winds, it was pretty nasty out there.

One year later, same trail there was a night race on the trail going backwards, so much harder. The weather was perfect 53F and calm. I had won the week before and was pretty confident. In the prologue, I did ok but it was pretty hard. I barely kept up in the beginner section but when the intermediate section came, four guys dropped me. Nearing the midpoint of the race, I dismounted for an uphill rock garden and some guy sprinted past me as if I was standing still. "Where did that come from?!" Sixth place and things were looking really grim.

Then the expert section came and thirty years of experience came into play that those in their twenties couldn't match and I clawed my way back to first and had a fifteen second lead with seven minutes to go. The others were tiring and a win was for the taking. Then out of nowhere a freak, heavy wind blew for thirty seconds and then stopped. A minute later, *CRACK!* is heard just behind me.

*"WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS IT!?"* It's night, the brush is heavy and there is a loud cracking noise. "Keep riding" as the trail is heading away from it. The trail turned slightly and then I see it. Crashing through the brush was a big oak tree. Nailed me across the back.

It knocked me over but didn't crush me as it got hung up on something. A good friend, named Monkey Boy, saw the tree coming down in front him (trail was winding all over) and saw it intersect with a light. To my credit he told me I said, "I have to keep going." "Just stay still!" "Monkey Boy, I have to finish." "Not today Moose." Later I said, "Did I really say that?" (feeling a little proud...it was the only race in 27 years of racing I haven't finished but those are stories for another day). The guys stacked up forest debris under the tree to prop it up so it couldn't shift. When I started to shiver, they took off their shirts and put them upon me. Those are cool Bro's. My racing nickname is Mr. Moose and it became known as the Mooseacre.

Well, one vertebra fracture later, a lot of rehab, I'm back to racing and have a great race story to tell on MTBR.


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

HTR4EVR said:


> Hilarious... Even the second time.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I think a third go around is in order. For those that missed it of course.


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## richj8990 (Apr 4, 2017)

sXeXBMXer said:


> the most terrifying experience for me was running into about 15-20 gangsta wanna-be's on some of the trails that follow the river in our city. Cruising the trail, turning a corner and seeing them all hanging there drinking and smoking pot... Crippin' as they call it... I rode through the group b/c I couldn't stop...and it would have been stupid to do so anyways. They started yelling and a couple tried to follow me, but I was moving pretty fast, and they were not stable enough to keep up. Luckily they either didn't have guns, or didn't think to use them. I was hearing all kinds of references to me being killed as I rode through. Needless to say I took a different route back. Haven't encountered the same group since, but there are many dangers in human form on that system as it gets closer to downtown. lots of flashers, muggers, creepers etc. it is worse in warm weather.
> 
> I have been using the same trails since I was a punker kid, but my "gang" (of BMXers) would have never thought to hurt anyone else. We were too busy hurting ourselves...


I've decided to get pepper spray for riding, especially after dark. Way too many druggies and homeless where I am in SoCal. The vast majority of them are harmless, but yesterday I rode past an area that had two homeless guys (or guys doing drugs) behind the trees, and I never would have known they were there if they didn't start talking loudly. They could have ambushed me easily. I was all alone, getting dark, cries for help would have reached no one. A lot of stolen bikes here too, not that my bikes are expensive but I need some protection against the riff raff if they get obnoxious. I never have or will own a gun (and it's not very practical to keep on you for biking anyway) so I figured besides a taser this is the 2nd best defense tool.


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## eporter (Nov 12, 2007)

richj8990 said:


> I've decided to get pepper spray for riding, especially after dark. Way too many druggies and homeless where I am in SoCal. The vast majority of them are harmless, but yesterday I rode past an area that had two homeless guys (or guys doing drugs) behind the trees, and I never would have known they were there if they didn't start talking loudly. They could have ambushed me easily. I was all alone, getting dark, cries for help would have reached no one. A lot of stolen bikes here too, not that my bikes are expensive but I need some protection against the riff raff if they get obnoxious. I never have or will own a gun (and it's not very practical to keep on you for biking anyway) so I figured besides a taser this is the 2nd best defense tool.


I saw a dude biking on a MTB trail with a tactical vest with two pistols and ammo. Looked a bit warm and heavy...

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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

I don’t know about any of you but most of these stories are pretty funny. IMO a worthy thread resurrection just to keep things interesting around here.

Have any new stories to tell? Or comments on stories from the past told in here?


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

DIRTJUNKIE said:


> I don't know about any of you but most of these stories are pretty funny. IMO a worthy thread resurrection just to keep things interesting around here.
> 
> Have any new stories to tell? Or comments on stories from the past told in here?


Since the current theme here is storms...

http://forums.mtbr.com/passion/caught-storm-866761.html#post10553522

-F


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