Tales of the Weird Biker?
 

What's the strangest place you've ever biked, or the weirdest thing you've seen biking?

I'm thinking of taking a weird weekend trip to the Janesville Wisconsin area and biking around....have a look at Miracle the White Buffalo, Rock Lake with its mysterious sunken pyramids, and after dark, see if I have the nerve to pedal down Bray Road in Elkhorn, where, in the late 90's, there were several sightings of an aggressive, wolfman-like creature.

Any bizarre stories to tell? Pedalled the crop circle tour? Seen strange and inexplicable sights? Been abducted by aliens while cycling? :D

How far will you be from House on the Rock? It's not exactly supernatural, but it is one weird hunk of Americana.

When I was in 6th or 7th grade, living in Fairfax County, Virginia, there were reports of a 6 foot tall hatchet-wielding man in a bunny suit who terrorized young lovers parked in secluded places. The newspapers actually reported these stories. One account told that the Bunny Man had been sighted chopping at the pillar of a new house with his little axe. A buddy and I climbed on our bikes and went looking for the damaged house. We never found it.

A few years ago, the Chicago Tribune Sunday magazine ran a "parting shot" photograph of a mailbox with a little cow-shaped weather vane on top of it. The address on the mailbox was in the county where I lived. So three of us went on a 40 mile quest to find the mailbox. When we found it, we stopped to take pictures. While we were posing and clicking photographs, the owners came home.

Probably the scariest thing I ever encountered on a ride was something I didn't see. I was night-riding on a gravel backroad, blind to anything outside of the beam of my headlights. I heard an unearthly screaming, squealing noise that made my heart leap into my throat. Later I determined that it must have been raccoons either fighting or mating...

...at least I hope it was raccoons. :eek:

I went to the House On The Rock several times as a kid. I particularly remember the coin-operated mechanical orchestras! I think that was back when the original architect was still running it and it hadn't become a major tourist trap yet. I'd like to go again some day, though.

House on the Rock!! Americana Twilight Zone! Wow... I went there to see Frank Lloyd Wrights archaetecture...wound up in a maze of STUFF for hours !
:eek:
Any ride along the ocean (or big lakes too) is a great ride.... in any country.

Sarah in Wisconsin

There was a man in Atlanta (died about 10 years ago) called "The Birdman of Buckhead". He was an old codger, probably not all there. He rode an old 50's model blue Schwinn cruiser with a basket on the front EVERYWHERE, always with a tank top men's undershirt on...and while riding he'd wave both arms up in the air over and over again. He was very well known to those in Atlanta because everyone saw this guy at one point or another. When he died, he got a full spread in the papers due to the lore he generated simply riding around town in an eccentric fashion.

Makes a few appearances here

Just something I want to point out/ask about...

IMO "bikers" and "biking" is somethig that motorcyclists do on motorcycles. "Cycling" and "cyclists" are those of us who ride bicycles.

Dan

Easy. Rhino man, Bates Road, North of Ventura, CA.

The strangest place I've biked was 14 1/2 years into the past so that I could see this thread from its beginning.

But I think when I got there, I became my double, like in Primer. I'm not sure if I'm really me. That's strange.

Yes.

Also yes. This has to be one of the oldest ones.

There's a murder house near where I live. I ride by it all the time. It's been vacant for decades and looks very creepy. Nobody wants to buy it and move in.

Sometimes I take a route that takes me by my grandmother's old house. She died in that house. A few doors down from her place on the same street a guy committed suicide by hanging himself in the garage. He had a wife and two kids.

I also live close to where the 4 teens were abducted in the infamous Burger Chef murders in 1978. I was away at college when it happened.

Here's a zombie picture for a zombie thread. :D

https://cdn.static-economist.com/sit...114_blp516.jpg

There's an old insane asylum in town that's visible, the back of the building anyway, from the MUP. Somebody bought it when I was in high school with the hopes of turning it into a bed and breakfast. It's still empty.

Birdman of Buckhead
 

I grew up in Atlanta back in the 70s and my Grandfather lived in Buckhead on Peachtree Dunwoody dr. I remember seeing the Birdman on many occasions. He would ride with his arms flapping like a bird and he would make a screeching noise kind if like a crow. Back then everybody from around the Atlanta area knew who he was. We also thought he was crazy. But I’m glad people remember him.

And this zombie thread comes back to life once more...

In Touring, someone recently revived a zombie thread from 2000. And he's not a newbie.

When this thread was started I had been working again for a little over a year after taking two years off from the working world to really enjoy life.

This thread was started just before my 31st birthday. Where has all that time gone?

this might not qualify, but this summer while joking w/ a friend I thought of flying a kite w/ a camera while I was biking. sounded weird & funny, but I eventually tried it & got it done. wasn't enough wind to get much altitude tho. need to try it again
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e4c7c52b8e.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...be13350976.jpg
oops, apologies, didn't notice the date of the OP. my bad :notamused:

One of the weirdest things I've found while riding; I couldn't find the pic of the clown shoe.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...642c7de276.jpg
The molted shell of a helmet.

The weirdest thing I ever found road biking was a black motorcycle helmet with a huge divot dug out of the the right temple sitting in the bushes by an intersection. The chin strap was still attached. The imagination filled in the picture.

The two strangest sites this year out riding are just bizarre. Doubt I could top these:


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1eba3799b.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7c8415fd2.jpeg

As a kid of 10 years my best friend and I decided to melt down some lead to make some fishing sinkers. The next afternoon we took off on both our little brothers Sting Ray bikes to go from Central San Antonio to Medina Air Force Base on the outskirts of S.A. It was a long and fair ride mostly on sidewalks (that's why we took the Sting Rays). When we got behind Kelly AFB we had a fairly wide dirt embankment and the Sting Ray's wide tires handled them well. At Medina Air Base we snuck under the fence in the brush behind the training ranges and worked our way through a drainage ditch avoiding the Explosive Ordinance ranges. Man, I really liked how the Air Force kept everything clean and labeled just for us. It was a four day weekend so no one was around and we easily managed to get to the Shot Gun ranges. At the shotgun range we scooped up OO buckshot lead from the surface of the cliche berms. Within minuets we had at least 15 pounds of pure US Government lead each packed into pant legs we had tied the ends off of and draped over our shoulders. It was dusk when we started our ride out. As we crossed over the back road an Air Police pickup truck making its rounds spotted us. We both took off like lightning charging into the bush and then into a ditch. Dragging our bikes behind us we low crawled around stacked pallets to our spot to cross under the fence. Once we hit the civilian road we were gone. It was a long ride back. It was dark. We constantly felt the APs rolling up behind us so we stayed well off the road and in the dirt. As we picked our way along the lights from on coming cars kept us in line. Each of us had our loot of lead hanging from our shoulders. The little Sting Ray's did not complain. It was 2300 hrs when we got back. All in all about a 32 mile ride. Only thing we had eaten was some boiled eggs and two large pickles we had stashed away when we started. As we rolled into the back yard my Dad just returned from work said, "Dam... I was beginning to worry... thought you guys went fishing." My reply was, "Nope, we gotta make some sinkers first." It was a great adventure...

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d493549f06.jpg

Found two more from this year;


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5e9ce253f.jpeg
Big foot mess
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5e23bf865.jpeg
Jerry Garcia is really dead

everytime i bicycle by a walmarts, i intend to snap a pic, but I get too weirded out.