Guest Post: Caleb
If you’ve been on a bicycle tour, there’s a high chance you’ve had a crazy story. From bears chasing your bike to mirrors clipping you, I’ve heard it all. Today, I want to share my top stories from my trips and from those I’ve hosted over the years.
The Beast Of The Woods
While biking on the Great Allegheny Passage (Cumberland, MD to Pittsburgh, PA), I began to realize my campground wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Rather than riding in the dark, I decided to pull off near a parking lot, hike into the woods, and stealth camp. At this point, it was fully dark so I pulled out my headlamp and laid my bike down. As I looked back up to scan my surroundings, I noticed two small marble sized lights flash back at me.
At first, I thought it was just a post with trail reflectors on it. I continued unstrapping things from my bike but stopped due to the fact I felt that creepy sensation that something was watching me. Since I couldn’t shake the feeling, I looked back up and found the reflecting light unmoved. After about a minute or two, I saw a shadow of a cat turn its head and begin to walk in a large circle around me. As soon as I saw that it was an animal, I quickly fastened everything back on the bike and jumped on the bike for my daring escape.
In all the hysteria, I popped the chain off the bike and was motionless. I jumped back off the bike and used it as a scooter until I was in a more lit parking lot. Ironically, the camping site was just two more miles up the road….
Interstate Heart Attack
Paul, Chuck and I were all riding in Florida when this story took place. This will forever hold the “scariest moment” title on a bicycle for me. After a long day of riding already, we made our way onto an on ramp that was taking us to a highway. Now the highway technically just ended being an interstate so our maps declared it okay to bike on. HOWEVER, traffic doesn’t change just because the road name does.
I think Chuck made it to the highway first and realized we had to cross all four lanes of traffic. One by one he made his way across like a master at Frogger. A strong tailwind came up and he shot forward. Paul was next. He slowly and methodically went across each lane, again making it safely. Then there’s me.
Lane one: Killed it.
Lane Two: Piece of cake.
Lane Three: EMERGENCY
Just as I was about to pull into the third lane, my bike got a flat tire and fast. Not only was I in a dangerous location, but the bike felt like it was riding in slippery mud with no control. As car horns blared at me, I just about panicked and came very close to stopping. Just then, a very kind person slowed down behind me and changed lanes with me.
Being Stalked
While living in Colorado, I had the pleasure of hosting a cyclist who swapped stories with me all night long. The story I’m going to relay to you was his experience biking through Colorado, and happened the day before he arrived at my house. Despite having biked through the mountains of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, this cyclist never actually ran into anything concerning or dangerous aside from the usual car and human situation.
As he was finishing his day of riding, he began looking for a place to set up his tent for the evening. By this point, it was dusk and getting darker. Have you ever had that feeling that something is just not right? That’s what he felt as he slowly made his way down the curvy canyon roads. Knowing something was off, he began to scan around him…partly out of curiosity, partly out of fear.
Then, like a bolt of lighting ripping through his chest, terror hit him. On a ledge above the canyon, a large mountain lion was walking at a fast pace in his direction. As he continued to ride his bicycle, the lion continued stalking him. Not knowing what to do, he just started singing as loud as possible. Eventually, the mountain lion lost interest and stopped following.
Were those bullets?
This next story also comes from a guest who stayed at my house thanks to the use of Warmshowers. After sharing my story of camping behind a state troopers office, it triggered his memory of a time he and his friend stealth camped somewhere in the South of the country.
While on tour, he and a buddy decided to stealth camp in the woods maybe fifty yards from a bar. Thinking that would be a good place to get in after dark and leave before sunrise, they snuck in and set up camp. It was like any other stealth camping experience. Set up was easy, no one saw them, and they quickly fell fast asleep.
BANG. In the early morning hours…maybe 1 or 2, the deafening sound of a gun rang out. Then another shot was fired and immediately after the sound of a tree splintering could be heard beside them. In a quick panic, the two jumped out of their tents and sprinted for the clearing beside them.
After circling back to the bar, they found a bunch of drunk idiots shooting miscellaneous targets into the woods. I never heard what happened after that, but eventually they were able to go back, pack their stuff and find a new camping spot.
Fifth Wheel VS. Cyclist
While on the road you have the great pleasure of meeting amazing people from all over the world. My tour was no exception. I’ve met incredible people who have all made it safely to their destination. One of those incredible people I met found me at a bicycle hostel one evening. We spent the evening swapping stories with about five other cyclist before crashing into our beds for the evening.
The next morning, we each got up and swapped contact info so we can keep up with each other’s tour. Unfortunately, he was heading in the opposite direction of me, so we parted ways with the expectation to follow each other on social media. This is a usual interaction between cyclists on the road…
Per usual, about a month later, I checked in on him on Facebook to see how his remaining trip went. He would have just finished his trip, so I wanted to see how it went. To my astonishment, I saw images not of smiles and an end destination, but of hospital pictures and a bike bent similar to a pretzel.
I quickly reached out to him to see how he was and what happened.
The day before he was scheduled to arrive home, he was coasting along a quiet back road when he was smacked on the back shoulder. He flew off his bike into a grassy area as he watched a fifth wheel drive by. As he got up, he saw his bicycle bent to an unrideable position in front of him.
The driver had accidentally clipped the cyclist with the extended mirror on their truck. Thankfully, this specific driver immediately pulled over and checked on the cyclist.. Miraculously, he was fine (always wear that helmet folks). However, the driver was so concerned (and probably terrified of being sued) that he ended up buying the cyclist a hotel for the evening and a full medical check up.
He ended up getting home the next day and to my knowledge took no legal action. While this is a crazy story, it’s also an uncommon story. Generally speaking, riding is very safe.
Safe Riding Everyone!
Guest Writer,
Caleb Shadle
