Buzzard attacks, broken chains & lightning strikes.

Also sprach Dave Lawrance

Quoted message said:

Earlier this year I was walking in the Howgill Fells when I was
repeatedly dive-bombed by a buzzard. Fortunately it did not connect,
but fairly un-nerving nonetheless!

And there is, of course, the famous Buzzard of Holsworthy, which is
well-known for attempting to snack on cyclists, or at least their headgear.
I believe a certain Mr. Kahn of the parish has been subjected to the
attentions of this bird.

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
And I begged, "Angel of the Lord, what are these tortured screams?" And
the angel said unto me, "These are the cries of the carrots, the cries
of the carrots! You see, Reverend Maynard, tomorrow is harvest day and
to them it is the holocaust."

Dave Lawrance said:

Earlier this year I was walking in the Howgill Fells when I was repeatedly
dive-bombed by a buzzard. Fortunately it did not connect, but fairly
un-nerving nonetheless!

I've not had one buzz me but I did have one drop a rabbit on me. It gave
me quite a surprise that's for sure.

--
Regards
Tony
(Take out the garbage to reply)

Quoted message said:

I've not had one buzz me but I did have one drop a rabbit on me. It gave
me quite a surprise that's for sure.

I can imagine it would. I was equally surprised as I had not spotted the
bird at all. I was just walking along when I heard and felt the whoosh as it
swept over my head for the first time.
--
Dave Lawrance
http://www.davelawrance.co.uk
http://www.northernlandscape.co.uk
http://www.cyclingphotos.co.uk

Dave Lawrance said:

A few weeks ago, in a thread about the chances of breaking a chain on a
bike, David Martin stated that it was "about as likely as being attacked by
a buzzard, and only marginally more likely than being struck by lightning."

I have now had the first 2 happen to me this year so am rather hoping that
the third does not occur!

In other words, people will report it but it won't happen to most
people. Ie it is uncommon but given a sufficiently large population,
not unknown.

...d

Dave Lawrance said:

A few weeks ago, in a thread about the chances of breaking a chain on a
bike, David Martin stated that it was "about as likely as being attacked by
a buzzard, and only marginally more likely than being struck by lightning."

I had a bird touch my head whilst in Canada. Also had many birds flying
too close for comfort whilst in New Zealand. Never had a chain break
though nor been struck by ligthening !!!

MSeries said:

Dave Lawrance said:

A few weeks ago, in a thread about the chances of breaking a chain on a
bike, David Martin stated that it was "about as likely as being attacked by
a buzzard, and only marginally more likely than being struck by lightning."

I had a bird touch my head whilst in Canada. Also had many birds flying
too close for comfort whilst in New Zealand. Never had a chain break
though nor been struck by ligthening !!!

I have broken a chain (maybe a few) and the closest I have got to being
attacked by a bird was whilst climbing in Cornwall.

...d

Dave Lawrance said:

Mind you, in about 120,000 miles of cycling, this is the first chain I have
broken, though whether with the increasingly narrow chains on modern bikes
it will become more common remains to be seen.

I had a chain break on me quite recently, but I think it was my fault
because it was not long after I had refitted a chain and I think it was
the link that I had put back together [badly] that broke.

I now use Powerlinks only - and keep a spare in my on-bike toolkit,
along with my chain tool.

d.

Dave Larrington said:

I believe a certain Mr. Kahn of the parish has been subjected to the
attentions of this bird.

Indeed, on the Kernow & SW. He hit surprisingly hard, and with no
warning whatsoever - completely silent. He snatched my headscarf so
that I had to stop and retrieve it from where he dropped it in the
road.

On this same audax "Little" Richard Harding cleverly used his local
knowledge to take a longish detour to avoid the crazed predator. Due to
the infallible operation of the law of sod he was later swooped on by a
completely separate buzzard as he approached the environs of Looe. This
second bird did not actually strike him as I may have reported earlier.
He saw it coming and managed to deter it by vigorously shaking his fist
at it and shouting the traditional anti-buzzard cry of "[censored] off".

--
Dave...

dkahn400 said:

Dave Larrington said:

I believe a certain Mr. Kahn of the parish has been subjected to the
attentions of this bird.

Indeed, on the Kernow & SW. He hit surprisingly hard, and with no
warning whatsoever - completely silent. He snatched my headscarf so
that I had to stop and retrieve it from where he dropped it in the
road.

Another good argument for not using Hullmats. If you had, it might have
got a better grip on the slottie things with it's wee claws in the
foam, and, because you'd have a chinstrap, dragged you off to it's
lair to feed its starving fledglings. Or dropped you in the road.

--
Nobby

Tony Hogarty said:

I've not had one buzz me but I did have one drop a rabbit on me. It gave
me quite a surprise that's for sure.

That must have been a bunny drop ;-)

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

"Tony Hogarty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dave Lawrance said:

Earlier this year I was walking in the Howgill Fells when I was
repeatedly
dive-bombed by a buzzard. Fortunately it did not connect, but fairly
un-nerving nonetheless!

I've not had one buzz me but I did have one drop a rabbit on me. It gave
me quite a surprise that's for sure.

I'll bet it surprised the rabbit as well.

Cheers, helen s

Nobody Here said:

Another good argument for not using Hullmats. If you had, it might
have got a better grip on the slottie things with it's wee claws in
the foam, and, because you'd have a chinstrap, dragged you off to
it's lair to feed its starving fledglings. Or dropped you in the
road.

A lid would certainly have absorbed some of the blow, but then it was
not really that painful. In fact the small amount of pain added to the
romance of having had such a close encounter with one of nature's more
ruthless and efficient predators (if a trifle daft in this case).

The helmeted riders who were attacked were of course less bruised
though no less startled. But just suppose the buzzard had got its
talons stuck in one of the slots. :-)

--
Dave...

davek said:

Dave Lawrance said:

Mind you, in about 120,000 miles of cycling, this is the first chain I have
broken, though whether with the increasingly narrow chains on modern bikes
it will become more common remains to be seen.

I had a chain break on me quite recently, but I think it was my fault
because it was not long after I had refitted a chain and I think it was
the link that I had put back together [badly] that broke.

I now use Powerlinks only - and keep a spare in my on-bike toolkit,
along with my chain tool.

d.

I've broken a chain, but that was my fault for not knowing about how to
check a chain for wear - by measuring it, and replacing before it
reaches 1/16 of an inch of 'stretch'. Luckily I usually carry a chain
breaking tool anyway, so was able, with help from a cycling buddy, to
fix it. On very long rides and overnight hostelling rides, I now carry
a few extra chain links too.

dkahn400 said:

The helmeted riders who were attacked were of course less bruised
though no less startled. But just suppose the buzzard had got its
talons stuck in one of the slots. :-)

It would certainly beat Sheldon Brown's eagle in the "silly headgear"
competitions... 🙂

Regards,

-david, hit in face once by inept fliedermaus

David Nutter said:

dkahn400 said:

The helmeted riders who were attacked were of course less bruised
though no less startled. But just suppose the buzzard had got its
talons stuck in one of the slots. :-)

It would certainly beat Sheldon Brown's eagle in the "silly
headgear" competitions... 🙂

And if the buzzard didn't get you, the RSPCA would. :-)

--
Dave...

David Nutter said:

-david, hit in face once by inept fliedermaus

Aren't those things supposed to come fitted with echo location as well
as fairly decent eyesight?

When on a CTC run once we got overflown by a Red Kite at the top of a
hill, at a relative height of not very many feet. Cue 10-12 riders, in
close formation and two abreast, suddenly gazing skyward and trying not
to hit one another.

We found a dead badger later on, but it wasn't ripe enough for an Audax.

--
Andrew Chadwick

Andrew Chadwick said:

David Nutter said:

-david, hit in face once by inept fliedermaus

Aren't those things supposed to come fitted with echo location as well
as fairly decent eyesight?

Supposedly. I was descending quite fast at the time (going down the hill
through Bearpark, and crossing the bridge at the bottom) and I think my
speed caught the beast unawares. Just to clarify, I assume it was a bat as
I can't think of any other small furry flying things that go about their
business at nine o'clock in the evening.

Quoted message said:

We found a dead badger later on, but it wasn't ripe enough for an Audax.

Take it home and hang it for a week. It'll be nice then.

Regards,

-david

Andrew Chadwick <[email hidden]> whizzed past me shouting

Quoted message said:

When on a CTC run once we got overflown by a Red Kite at the top of a
hill, at a relative height of not very many feet. Cue 10-12 riders, in
close formation and two abreast, suddenly gazing skyward and trying not
to hit one another.

That's quite normal, there's an accident black spot near here where you
can often see kites about twenty feet up. Most motons can't see them as
they're directly overhead, but it only takes one sports car to cause an
accident.

--
Sue ];(🙂

Sue White said:

Most motons can't see them ...

Moton. Excellent word. I see Sue has made a few attempts to introduce
it into the language. This should be encouraged.

--
Dave...