{"id":171180,"date":"2018-10-30T12:49:29","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T12:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=171180"},"modified":"2018-10-30T12:49:29","modified_gmt":"2018-10-30T12:49:29","slug":"close-encounters-animals-vs-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/10\/30\/close-encounters-animals-vs-cycling\/","title":{"rendered":"Close Encounters: Animals vs Cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Running over an animal when you\u2019re driving is a heart-breaking experience. Running into an animal when you\u2019re cycling is simply a hard braking experience, with potentially devastating consequences for you and your bike \u2013 as well as the animal involved.<\/strong><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Squirrels vs spokes<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>They\u2019re small, fast, and come from nowhere. But make no mistake, a squirrel-strike could send you flying over your handlebars.\u00a0 But as this image proves, the squirrel is most likely to lose the battle against spokes.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/10\/PoorSquirrel_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-171181\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/10\/PoorSquirrel_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"819\" height=\"614\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Until I had my own run-in with a baby squirrel, I thought the squirrel-strike something of an urban legend \u00ad\u2013 despite all the evidence. Fortunately, I narrowly avoided sucking up the baby-squirrel in my spokes but, as this video shows, squirrels are another reason to cycle clear of curbs.<\/p>\n<lite-youtube videoid=PYs1tJPcus4 params=\"enablejsapi=1\" style=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi_webp\/PYs1tJPcus4\/maxresdefault.webp');\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<h2><strong>Labrador vs carbon<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>As Marcus Burghardt discovered, carbon wheels are no match for a stout Labrador. One of the joys of Le Tour de France is wondering when and where a stray dog will make their appearance \u2013 and how it will affect the General Classification standings.<\/p>\n<lite-youtube videoid=U3p0dmeecwE params=\"enablejsapi=1\" style=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi_webp\/U3p0dmeecwE\/maxresdefault.webp');\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<p>Sometimes, though, the dog just wants to join in as we can see here in Trofeo Panalica in Sicily. I swear that one of the cyclists even tries drafting him and uses the dog as an obstacle to stage a break. What exactly are the UCI rules for dogs in the peloton?<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mfbXF2Fs0tQ<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Deer vs aluminium<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>This video is well worth watching from the start, as it demonstrates a conscientious bunch out on a group ride, abiding by the gentlemanly rules of the club-ride. The riders ahead diligently point out potholes, and are alert enough to avoid most dangers until just after one minute into the video.<\/p>\n<lite-youtube videoid=Uhszm9ci04w params=\"enablejsapi=1\" style=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi_webp\/Uhszm9ci04w\/maxresdefault.webp');\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<p>Judging by the fact that the front wheel is still intact, I\u2019m willing to bet this was an aluminium wheel \u2013 or at least a non-race durable carbon wheel. It looks as though the deer escaped unhurt, and the cyclist only suffered some minor scratches.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Bird vs bike<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Australian magpies are such a menace that they make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2017\/jun\/28\/when-magpies-attack-the-swooping-dive-bombing-menace-and-how-to-avoid-them\">international news<\/a>. They\u2019re not averse to terrorising entire schools by scratching the faces of children, so they\u2019re certainly not going to be any more sympathetic to cyclists. Here are some tactics you can try to avoid a magpie attack.<\/p>\n<lite-youtube videoid=YGGTcYfrEZU params=\"enablejsapi=1\" style=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi_webp\/YGGTcYfrEZU\/maxresdefault.webp');\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<p>Problem is, if you like to explore by bike, you never know when you\u2019re going to accidentally stray into a magpie\u2019s territory. And when you\u2019re cycling at speed, a surprise bird-strike can have serious consequences. What run-ins have you had with animals? Let us know in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Running over an animal when you\u2019re driving is a heart-breaking experience. Running into an animal when you\u2019re cycling is simply [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":171182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329,335],"tags":[2397],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-171180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","category-safety","tag-animals-vs-cyclists"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Close Encounters: Animals vs Cycling - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Running over an animal when you\u2019re driving is a heart-breaking experience. 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