niuoka

breathing the fresh air, and all the smells is a bonus of commuting in a rural area. Unfortuantely for me , my rural area is on a tight budget, so road kill, even as large as deer often just sit till it rots away. Which of course smells. You ride past and the smell stays with you for a few moments.
But last night, riding home, I was about 2 miles into the 9 mile ride. In the headlight I saw it, a skunk, walking across the road. But I did not slow down. I saw it scamper off the road, but I guess I was too near and pissed it off. As all of a sudden.....the stink.
And it stunk the whole way home, even when I walked into the house. Most of my clothes went into the washer, and with a vinager mix and a couple of cycles the clothes smell ok. But my riding jacket, which cant just get thrown in the wash,( Gore-Tex) still stinks bad.

oh one of the many joys of commuting

Hangtownmatt

I run into skunks often. I always give them the right-of-way if I see them first. I've actually been chased by a skunk. It was probably rabid. I could hear it's claws clicking on the pavement just below and behind my feet as I grunted with a burst of energy to escape. I've been know to alter my route at different times of the year to avoid them.

Matt

cplager

I really feel for you.

I was riding to work last week in the dark when I almost ran over a cat in the road...

... that was all black except for a white stripe down its back!

"Oh $h|t, Oh $h|t, Oh $h|t, please don't spray" (holds breath) Pfhew!

Sharpshin

I love the smell of skunk. Usually my dogs collect it for me, from those funny-looking cats that suddenly get taller when you chase 'em

One of my wife and I's funniest memories involves us, the dogs, and a skunk we inavertently trapped in a fenced in area. It charged, tail up, and we all ran like the dickens

Dunbar

My old apartment complex had a skunk problem, they would feed on trash near the dumpsters. Nothing like opening the gate to a dumpster and staring at a skunk 2ft away. They were pretty conditioned to people though so they didn't spook easily. One of my neighbors had this obnoxious chihuahua that got sprayed once harassing one which I found entertaining. The smell really fouled up my apartment though because my windows were open.

no motor?

I got a wide angle lens for my magicshine and it lets me sees the skunks when they're off to the side of the path that I couldn't see earlier. I know I'm happier for this, and think the skunks would be too if they knew what I was.

Darth Lefty 

box baking soda + bottle peroxide + a little dish soap works great... If you don't mind getting bleached a little, anyhow.

WorldPax

Skunk scent has never really bothered me although I have never been directly sprayed. I have met up with a few on my commute, but never had any issues. I really hate to see them get hit.

goldfinch

Gore-tex is washable.

https://www.gore-tex.com/remote/Satel...g-instructions

f4rrest

I actually ran over a real cat bombing down a curvy road at 30mph on the evening commute home. It was one of those slow-motion events where time almost stops as it darted in front of my wheels... do I slam brakes on? bunny hop? I thought for sure I was going head-first into pavement!

But those critters are so malleable that I barely felt it under both wheels. Looked back, expecting to see two halves of a cat, but it kept running.

B. Carfree

Back when bike headlights were pathetic halogen things, I ran over a live skunk. Fortunately, it didn't see me coming and it died under my rear wheel. I just saw a flash of running white on black and felt the thump; on the next day's return trip the carcase was still there. Some years later, I did get skunked on my way home from work, but it was from a distance and wasn't too bad.

My worst near-skunk experience happened on a tour. My wife and I brought a Korean grad. student and a (L)east coast med. student on a tour of the NorCal coast. On our last night on the Lost Coast, the Korean almost threw a rock at a skunk that was passing through our campsite. (He didn't know what it was.) My wife saw him and stopped him in time; the skunk had actually turned and gotten up on his front paws, but didn't spray. We were forty miles and plenty of hills away from a shower, so that would have been unpleasant.

WonderMonkey

There is a skunk that I see often at the same spot so when I approach I am on high alert. He/she has aimed at me a few times but I've never felt his/her wrath. It's only a matter of time before I do.

essiemyra

Recently on my way to work in the morning, I have smelled a skunk in the same area. One day I was hearing rustling in the leaves on the ground and could smell him. I actually like the smell of skunk, but may not if I get sprayed.

cplager

Line up straight, brake as hard as you can, and hope for the best. If you swerve to avoid it and you hit it anyway, you'll go down for sure.

Glad it ended well for both of you...

wesmamyke

Ran one over once, got nailed point blank. My bike was actually the hardest to clean, had to cover it in the peroxide/baking soda/dish soap mixture several times and let it sit.

My fault entirely, riding with no lights on bike path. Dark enough I never even saw the little guy before or after, he sprayed me after so he was probably ok.

CandSAdventures

I just commented to my wife this morning that skunks are the only animal I really don't like. They PLAGUE my pre-dawn rides. Cplager was right, they always look like cats at first. One reliable (well, so far anyway) to tell the difference is that a cat will usually look at you as you approach. Skunks just don't care. They know that they have the upper hand! I will do just about anything to avoid one.

Non-cycling related, I once had one walk up my sleeping bag from the bottom to about halfway. At that point, all bravery was lost, I went one way, he went the other.

FenderTL5

After motorized traffic, skunks are my second largest concern.
I've seen'm scamper across the road in front of me and I've dodged dead ones on the roadway.

I've never hit one nor been sprayed. There was one morning when One scampered into the weeds on the right side of the road, I slammed on brakes, stopped and waited until I was sure he/she was gone before proceeding on the opposite side of the road.

Sharpshin

I had a skunk walk right up to me once while sleeping out on the ground, my chief fear at the time was rabies, rabid skunks having been notorious for biting people under those circumstances back in historical times.

Other than that, my three heelers have run up on skunks numerous times, mistaking them for cats. Since we have cats and they were raised around 'em, rather than killing it they want the cat to run so they can chase it, and will stand and bark at close range until it does.

Pulling this routine on skunks, I have been amazed at the forebearance of most: Skunk bayed, tail up, dogs barking from two feet away, only about every third time will the skunk actually open fire before I can call the dogs off.

Mike

iconicflux

This is VERY good advice! My worst crash was from swerving to avoid a dog that I hit anyways. I was doing over 20mph and it was a small enough dog that if I'd have just lined up straight I probably wouldn't have gone down. When my front tire went up on the dog it had no traction so my swerving which had caused me to lean made the bike go over FAST and I totally took a header.

Hangtownmatt

The part I do not agree with is braking. The last thing you want is to stop right next to, or on top of, that sucker. Take 'em out and ride-on! Rabies is my biggest concern.

Matt

rhm

I had two close encounters with skunks earlier this month. I did not get sprayed, but it was a near thing. The joys of pre-dawn cycling!

Gnosis

Though I’ve encountered a number of dead skunks on the shoulder of the road, I’ve been fortunate in not having encountered any live skunks on my nearly 5,000 miles of bicycling.

My dad lives in the mountains, so he encounters his share of skunks around his house. One day he couldn’t resist the temptation as a skunked wandered by him to grab it by the tail and keep it hoisted at arm’s length by its tail. He’d always heard that skunks aren’t able to spray when they’re suspended by their tail (a supposition I’d never wish to prove to the contrary). The humorous part was; his neighbor’s children were watching and told my dad, “Put the skunk in the mailbox!”

Their mail carrier likely wouldn’t find it as humorous as the children did, but it makes me chuckle every time I think about what the little scamps wanted my dad to do with the skunk.

To get rid of he skunk without being sprayed, my dad whirled the skunk around by its tail and released it on an advantageous parabolic trajectory into the nearby woods where it swiftly scampered away. I have a feeling that particular skunk won’t be wandering back to my dad’s house any time soon.