Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Stefan Mikes]

But moose...theyre just funny looking cows..not aggressive at all?

Unless you get killed when hitting that wall with your car.
You can survive a crash with a boar, roe or deer (your car wouldn't) but a moose crash is typically fatal.

Our host in Tuczno was telling me stories of so many animal crashes he had in the West Pomerania... When I was driving for coffee to Człopa (early in the morning, at dark, and in fog), I was only driving at 45 km/h and was watching the road very carefully. I could spot a medium sized animal crossing the road in front of me. There are also wisents in West Pomerania, and these are as much as dangerous as the moose, only rare.

Large wild quadrupeds tend to stop in the middle of the road when blinded by car headlights, making the situation extremely dangerous. And these can often be met at the dawn where the woods just turn into farming fields because the beasts walk to feed themselves there. November is a very dangerous month, is it Poland or Scandinavia.

The car trip takes 14-15 minutes on a clear Summer day. It took me 30 minutes one way (you can see there are only woods around).

 

[ActionJackson]

But moose...theyre just funny looking cows..not aggressive at all?
Am I right....please....

I believe they can be pretty aggressive - I went on a wildlife photo excursion in Alaska and the operators were most nervous when we were up close with moose. They’re massive animals. We were told they’ll stomp you to death if excited enough. We did brown bear from the safety of a hooch overlooking the river though.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

We were told they’ll stomp you to death if excited enough.

Aye.
We get some moose in the Kampinos National Park (KPN), which is a large forest nearby Warsaw. On one night, we were returning with my wife and daughter from our vacation by car; we were on the main road that cuts through the KPN. Suddenly, I could see some commotion in the front of my car, so I stopped (and the whole traffic both ways stopped, too). It was an excited moose that was trapped between fences on both sides of the road. The beast was in panic and attacking the fence of the Circus School in Julinek, also running along the fence in both direction.

Eventually, we could leave the spot but we all were scared! Fancy a 500-700 kg animal running into your car!

 

[DiggyGun]

Hopefully will be able to get out on the bike today.

Had my third Covid Jab and Flu Jab on Wednesday and been feeling a bit rough since then.

Weather forecast is 12oC and cloudy, so shouldn’t be too bad.

Here’s hoping.

 

[Art Deco]

Hopefully will be able to get out on the bike today.

Had my third Covid Jab and Flu Jab on Wednesday and been feeling a bit rough since then.

Weather forecast is 12oC and cloudy, so shouldn’t be too bad.

Here’s hoping.

Curious about the covid booster and flu shot. Is that one injection now or two shots? And are the side effects worse than the second covid shot? I'm thinking I'll get these separately with a few days (weeks?) between them to get over them. Anyway glad to hear you think you can get out and ride again.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I like those trail pics, they give me that..'can I climb this' vibe.

But moose...theyre just funny looking cows..not aggressive at all?
Am I right....please....

I’ve seen images of your climbs and they are something to behold.

I think most encounters with independent teenage moose are relatively innocuous. As I started down the trail beside them, they bolted. Very skiddish. Bull moose and cows with calves prompt a different approach altogether. ie keep a safe distance or back away and don’t provoke them especially during rutting season.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Unless you get killed when hitting that wall with your car.
You can survive a crash with a boar, roe or deer (your car wouldn't) but a moose crash is typically fatal.

Case in point, a relative of mine and his brother were driving back from the States late at night when they hit an adult moose along a highway in BC. The moose with its long spindly legs smashed through the front window. His brother, who was driving, was killed instantly and Russ who was in the passenger seat was disabled for life. Most people die in collisions with moose than from actual attacks.

 

[Art Deco]

Case in point, a relative of mine and his brother were driving back from the States late at night when they hit an adult moose along a highway in BC. The moose with its long spindly legs smashed through the front window. His brother, who was driving, was killed instantly and Russ who was in the passenger seat was disabled for life. Most people die in collisions with moose than from actual attacks.

I have only seen one moose in the wild ... in the Adirondacks ... and it was quite tall, clumsy, and top heavy as it ran. The center of mass is well above the hood of most cars, so it's going to smash right through a windshield if hit.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Not the best place to dress in white…

Australian Pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus​

My ride was all but over and I had nary a photo to show for my effort; then, just before I was back at the car park, this solitary pelican and I met beneath an elevated stretch of arterial motorways.

Yuck: mud and murky water! And what was that concrete post doing there?

Anyway, one of us appreciated the place, even if it wasn't he who got his shoes and his ebike's tyres thoroughly mucked up!

Kedron Brook, Nundah
Brisbane, Queensland​

 

[reed scott]

I have only seen one moose in the wild ... in the Adirondacks ... and it was quite tall, clumsy, and top heavy as it ran. The center of mass is well above the hood of most cars, so it's going to smash right through a windshield if hit.

Yep. Horrifying pics can be readily found on the interwebs.

 

[Cowlitz]

This was from a couple years ago. I am thinking they were teenagers. I saw an adult later in the year in another location. Was fumbling for my camera and then noticed that I was a bit close and the moose did not look happy. My 23 pound dog had chased it out of the brush. When my dog saw what she had flushed out, she came to a halt. I gave up on the picture and got the heck out of there, having heard stories from Alaska told here in Warshington. This was as close as I could get to one of two teenagers seen that day.

I have only seen three moose in the wild, and all were in the same year. They seem to be on the increase in our area. The area shown was burned in 2014 or 15 and has lots of willow brush to munch on.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Not the best place to dress in white…

View attachment 106773

Australian Pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus​

My ride was all but over and I had nary a photo to show for my effort; then, just before I was back at the car park, this solitary pelican and I met beneath an elevated stretch of arterial motorways.

Yuck: mud and murky water! And what was that concrete post doing there?

Anyway, one of us appreciated the place, even if it wasn't he who got his shoes and his ebike's tyres thoroughly mucked up!

View attachment 106774

Kedron Brook, Nundah
Brisbane, Queensland​

Nice image capture David. I’ve seen American White pelicans here on the prairies as they migrate south. Strange to see them along our riverbanks and sloughs but during the spring migration, mainly in May, you just never know what’s going to show up.

 

[RabH]

Curious about the covid booster and flu shot. Is that one injection now or two shots? And are the side effects worse than the second covid shot? I'm thinking I'll get these separately with a few days (weeks?) between them to get over them. Anyway glad to hear you think you can get out and ride again.

Two shots at the same time here in separate arms, I got mine last Saturday and was a little rough overnight but fine the next day! My sister (who got both shots in one arm due to cancer) struggled for a few days after hers but she is fine now!

Depending how my dad is tomorrow I might get out for a ride, missing the bike a lot at the moment!

 

[DiggyGun]

Curious about the covid booster and flu shot. Is that one injection now or two shots? And are the side effects worse than the second covid shot? I'm thinking I'll get these separately with a few days (weeks?) between them to get over them. Anyway glad to hear you think you can get out and ride again.

It was two jabs. The COVID in the left arm and the Flu followed in the right arm.

This time the Covid jab was Pfizer whereas, my first two were Astra Zenaca and I had the following reactions:
-1st: Sore arm, shivers and cold symptoms
- 2nd; None
- 3rd; Sore arm, shivers and cold symptoms

Notwithstanding this, I would recommend have all three vaccinations, where available as getting COVID is not very nice. I contracted it in April 2020, although I was isolating being an Insulin Dependent Diabetic, as there were no vaccinations. I was very ill with it and hospitalised. To cut a long story short, it nearly killed me.

When I came home from hospital I was very weak and also had pneumonia. For the first two weeks, my wife had to help me get to the en-suite bathroom, then for about six weeks I needed a stick to walk around the house. It was about November 2020 when the fatigue finally went. Even now, I’m still suffering with dizziness and a lack of concentration (brain fog).

I didn’t actually get out today as didn’t feel up to it. Can’t do tomorrow as got some Remembrance Sunday activities to do, so looking at Monday now.

 

[Art Deco]

It was two jabs. The COVID in the left arm and the Flu followed in the right arm.

This time the Covid jab was Pfizer whereas, my first two were Astra Zenaca and I had the following reactions:
-1st: Sore arm, shivers and cold symptoms
- 2nd; None
- 3rd; Sore arm, shivers and cold symptoms

Notwithstanding this, I would recommend have all three vaccinations, where available as getting COVID is not very nice. I contracted it in April 2020, although I was isolating being an Insulin Dependent Diabetic, as there were no vaccinations. I was very ill with it and hospitalised. To cut a long story short, it nearly killed me.

When I came home from hospital I was very weak and also had pneumonia. For the first two weeks, my wife had to help me get to the en-suite bathroom, then for about six weeks I needed a stick to walk around the house. It was about November 2020 when the fatigue finally went. Even now, I’m still suffering with dizziness and a lack of concentration (brain fog).

I didn’t actually get out today as didn’t feel up to it. Can’t do tomorrow as got some Remembrance Sunday activities to do, so looking at Monday now.

Thanks for the reply ... I have been lucky, avoiding both Covid and serious issues with the shots, but my wife was ill for a few days after the second shot. Nothing terrible, just sick, but she has had pneumonia several times.
And your bike will wait if needs be. Get well.

 

[kahn]

Curious about the covid booster and flu shot. Is that one injection now or two shots? And are the side effects worse than the second covid shot? I'm thinking I'll get these separately with a few days (weeks?) between them to get over them. Anyway glad to hear you think you can get out and ride again.

I had the flu shot and then two weeks later the Moderna booster. No real ill affects (effects???) from either. Maybe one of the Brits or the Pole can distinguish effects/affects!!!! I hate those two words.

 

[kahn]

I have only seen one moose in the wild ... in the Adirondacks ... and it was quite tall, clumsy, and top heavy as it ran. The center of mass is well above the hood of most cars, so it's going to smash right through a windshield if hit.

I remember my first time (don't they all say that?). Thunder Bay along the Canadian side of Lake Superior, I believe. We rough camped and I walked down to the lake to wash up a bit in the morning. There was a sign saying "report moose sitings here." Yeah, sure I mumbled. Damn there was one standing in the lake right off shore.

 

[Art Deco]

I remember my first time (don't they all say that?). Thunder Bay along the Canadian side of Lake Superior, I believe. We rough camped and I walked down to the lake to wash up a bit in the morning. There was a sign saying "report moose sitings here." Yeah, sure I mumbled. Damn there was one standing in the lake right off shore.

The one i saw was a cow walking towards me. I was driving a giant campervan on a narrow road leading to a campsite. I stopped and waited while she took her time turning around and running away.
The campground clerk claimed to have never seen one ...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

as getting COVID is not very nice

A friend of mine in his 40s got covid, spent a month in a hospital, and could die (it was before the vaccines were available). Now, my fully vaccinated female friend is in a hospital with covid: she writes me she's not very ill.

effects

This. Something can affect something else but something takes an effect

The moose can certainly be dangerous yet I am more afraid to be hit by a running doe or deer while riding an e-bike in a forest. We have at least three large regions of Poland full of large quadrupeds (West Pomerania, Podlasie, and the KPN), where such animals were crossing my path at their full speed. Honestly, I am less and less motivated to ride in forests; the road is my girlfriend

 

[DiggyGun]

A friend of mine in his 40s got covid, spent a month in a hospital, and could die (it was before the vaccines were available). Now, my fully vaccinated female friend is in a hospital with covid: she writes me she's not very ill.

Some of my friends have caught Covid after having two vaccinations. They appeared to have very mild symptoms, which ranged from; losing sense of taste to having a mild cold.