Obstructions

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<carlfogel@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:58jh34hq1j4lvms28qj7t3b1414kk2ct74@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:48:12 -0600, carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:
>
>>[snip]
>
> A windy day, so a flock of obstructions were swooping and soaring
> above the junipers and pines at the edge of the south bluffs of the
> Arkansas River.
>
> I tried to ignore them, but they kept teasing me, so I got out my
> camera and took this picture:
> http://i26.tinypic.com/2cqk9zn.jpg
>
> Too damned close against too damned many trees.
>
> This was a little better, faintly showing the bald red head:
> http://i27.tinypic.com/2ng6a7l.jpg
>
> After that, I gave up and ignored the flock of obstructions, who kept
> swooping back toward me, having a fine time on the wind blowing up
> from the cliffs.
>
> But then they starting going "cronk-cronk-cronk" at me, which wasn't
> right because turkey vultures are pretty much mute.
>
> Sure enough, there was a ringer in the flock, soaring a bit more
> awkwardly along the cliffs and making its hoarse, horrible call
> whenever the vultures flew too close:
> http://i26.tinypic.com/2hsanon.jpg
> http://i29.tinypic.com/5xlrg0.jpg
> http://i27.tinypic.com/23vezww.jpg
>
> Whoops, wrong obstruction:
> http://i26.tinypic.com/152dhzq.jpg
>
> Back to the noisy one:
> http://i27.tinypic.com/35at0td.jpg
> http://i30.tinypic.com/4rdqhl.jpg
> http://i32.tinypic.com/23mn9tf.jpg
> http://i29.tinypic.com/erfz9z.jpg
>
> Normally, you just see that obstruction flying in a straight line
> instead of beating back and forth, soaring into the wind and daring
> you to take pictures.
>
> This solitary obstruction just felt like posing near the road:
> http://i25.tinypic.com/16ne5j.jpg
> http://i31.tinypic.com/30955sn.jpg
> http://i27.tinypic.com/x3sw7n.jpg
> http://i26.tinypic.com/21czceq.jpg
>
> Cheers,
>
> Carl Fogel

I was repeatedly dive bombed by a hawk on Hwy 24/Platte Ave as I was heading
out of Colorado Springs one day. It was both amusing and concerning to look
back over my shoulder and see it flapping it's wings as it descended right
at me to buzz me over and over again. However that was nothing compared to
the time a group ride I was on was strafed by a propeller driven crop duster
coming straight at us about three feet above the road, only to pull up at
the last second as riders began to turn for the ditches on the side of the
road.

In article <3%p_j.1702$v94.824@newsfe14.lga>,
"Carl Sundquist" <carlsun@cox.net> wrote:

> <carlfogel@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:58jh34hq1j4lvms28qj7t3b1414kk2ct74@4ax.com...
> > On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:48:12 -0600, carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:
> >
> >>[snip]
> >
> > A windy day, so a flock of obstructions were swooping and soaring
> > above the junipers and pines at the edge of the south bluffs of the
> > Arkansas River.
> >
> > I tried to ignore them, but they kept teasing me, so I got out my
> > camera and took this picture:
> > http://i26.tinypic.com/2cqk9zn.jpg

> > Cheers,
> >
> > Carl Fogel
>
> I was repeatedly dive bombed by a hawk on Hwy 24/Platte Ave as I was heading
> out of Colorado Springs one day. It was both amusing and concerning to look
> back over my shoulder and see it flapping it's wings as it descended right
> at me to buzz me over and over again. However that was nothing compared to
> the time a group ride I was on was strafed by a propeller driven crop duster
> coming straight at us about three feet above the road, only to pull up at
> the last second as riders began to turn for the ditches on the side of the
> road.

Carl S.: Those didn't really happen. You've just been watching too many
Hitchcock movies on your trainer.

I remember this one time I stayed at this creepy motel in the middle of
nowhere on a cycling tour, and the proprietor kept going on about his
mother,

--
Ryan Cousineau rcousine@gmail.com http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:48:12 -0600, carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:

[snip]

A pair of baby redtailed obstructions in a cottonwood, hoping in vain
for a contract to pose for the U.S. Post Office:
http://i32.tinypic.com/5ob3tw.jpg

These two young bald-eagle wannabes are just as happy as any Elvis
impersonators because their mother hasn't told them yet that their
beaks will never turn yellow and that their white heads will soon
darken.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:48:12 -0600, carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:

[snip]

Nice paint job:
http://i28.tinypic.com/11gu1jl.jpg

If not for that white racing stripe down the back, I probably wouldn't
have been able to go back and spot the obstruction, which hopped once
as I rode past it and then sat still.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:48:12 -0600, carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:

[snip]

It was still over 90F after 6pm today, so I soaked my shirt under the
tap and set out into the headwind. It was nice and cool at first, but
bone-dry in ten minutes.

Nasty headwinds dropped me to 11 mph on the flat at the dam and worse
on the climb up the ridge west of town.

But coming back downhill on the highway with a tailwind got the
cyclometer up to 45.8 mph, so I was enjoying a nice ride when--

Five stupid obstructions trotted out across the highway, right in
front of me, gabbling on what appear to be red cell phones.

Here they are on the far side of the highway after I swerved to avoid
them, jammed on my brakes, dropped my bike, and got my camera out.

They're milling around on the far side of the road:
http://i31.tinypic.com/4t3m7k.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/r9q5fq.jpg

Now they're heading back across:
http://i29.tinypic.com/29o0ket.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/2wrdc3a.jpg

Right in front of cars doing 60 mph:
http://i31.tinypic.com/2eghdar.jpg

Wait for me!
http://i29.tinypic.com/2qd7491.jpg

Glad those three cars stopped!
http://i32.tinypic.com/qnocq0.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/2lwx9ab.jpg

That was fun! Let's head back into the brush where we came from and
wait for another bicyclist to roll down the hill:
http://i27.tinypic.com/6s48kl.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/10hkq4k.jpg

They wouldn't dare behave like this at Thanksgiving.

As usual, I'm amazed by the digital camera, which took reasonable
photos when I was staring back into the evening sun and could barely
see the five idiots trotting back and forth across the highway. Look
at the sunlight off the white stripes and cars:
http://i32.tinypic.com/qnocq0.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:48:12 -0600, carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:

[snip]

A lone obstruction (the kind rarely seen up close) interrupted my ride
today.

The grass is on the far side of a two-lane highway, and it's a long
way from the highway to that fence:
http://i26.tinypic.com/30hq64y.jpg

Boy, you don't see 'em that close very often! No, sir, that's about as
close as--

Hey, get over on the other side of the fence with that cow!
http://i30.tinypic.com/scw5z5.jpg
http://i30.tinypic.com/2dawy6a.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:48:12 -0600, carlfogel@comcast.net wrote:

[snip]

Nice orange racing stripe:
http://i29.tinypic.com/2evrsiv.jpg

I almost ran over it as it lay on the path in some leaves, twigs,
bark, and litter on a cloudy afternoon, but a wild hop-swerve-curse on
my part and a frantic coiling on its part avoided disaster.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel