Charged By A Bull

Carrera

Phew! I had a nasty experience the other day with the bull in the field which I have to cross when I work on my boat.
Seems like the farmer introduced him to the herd of cows recently and he seems to have taken a dislike to me.
Anyway, I was crossing the field and the cows were all herded together grazing while the bull was eyeballing me with a very nasty, agressive look and kicking up dust from the ground with his hoof. I knew he had been in a bad mood all day as I could hear constant lowing coming from him and I assume this has something to do with breeding season and the presence of the cows.
So, I continued to walk across the field, then all of a sudden the bull sets to charging and the next thing I know he's sprinting at me at alarming speed and in a terrible temper. This is a frightening experience indeed.
Fortunately I was near the mooring fence that forms a barrier between the field and the canal so I hopped over the fence and, for a moment, I figured he was going to crash right through the fence to get at me.
After that, I spent a good hour holding a personal council of war - the problem being how to cross the field to the main gate without being tossed.
Finally I decided to get behind my bike so the bike would be the first object to take the main charge and I could use my trusty machine as a kind of shield perhaps. However, I decided to hide my helmet as it was bright red.

__________________
"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."

jhuskey

You would sacrifice your bike to save your hide...I mean skin will grow back.
I am appauled and flabergasted!

__________________
Whenever I can't get excited about riding I just fantasize about someone else's bike.

limerickman

My wife's people are diary farmers - and I've heard terrible stories of the damage that a bull can do, if a person is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

You want to be very careful if you're trying to cross a field containing a bull.
They're unpredictable at the best of times - so you need to have your wits about you.
They can move pretty quickly - probably faster than you can run for a sustained period.

The most dangerous part of the bull is it's neck.If he charges you with his head declined, then he really means business.
The horns will do tissue damage - it's the neck that causes real injury or death.
So be careful, Carerra.

Small anecdote here : my father in law, is about the only person who has got the bulls respect on his farm.
I remember going in to the field with my wfies three brothers in order to try to get this bull to move.
This particular bull is a contrary bastard.
Myself and my three brother inlaws were trying to push this bull to move.
These three guys are farmers, and are tough physical men.
The bull didn't move.
My father in law came in to the field and and literally punched the bull who duly moved.
I learnt tow things that day - bulls are tough and not to get on the wrong side of my father in law!

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Carrera

I'm one of those guys who keeps his best bike in the garage unless it's very sunny while basic training rides or transit rides are done on an older, more weather-beaten bike.
Funnily enough, after escaping the bull, I was cycling home on it and winded up with a puncture. I dismounted, switched tubes and then tried to pump the new tube up. Nothing happened. I hate it when that happens too. Usually what happens is air escapes from the valve at the same time as it enters. I was pumping so hard and furiously trying to get the thing up and then my bike pump blew. It just snapped in half. So, then I was really knackered - stranded in the country with a puncture. I had to use a pay-phone and call for help.
This is what you call a run of bad luck.
Prior to that, I fell twice in the canal - a six foot drop into the water since the mooring floor gave way beneath my feet. I had moved to my boat neighbour's mooring so someone could throw another spanner across to me from his garden but I didn't know the bay was unstable. All I knew was I was walking further down to this house to get the spanner and then the floor was gone from beneath me and I was dropping into the canal. It was muddy, filthy gunge down below.
The part my girlfriend "laughed at" was when I pulled myself out, gestured to the guy with the spanner there were no broken bones, expressed my idea of getting myself the hell out and took a few steps back where I had come from. Down I went again as more flooring gave way. The second time I was cut and grazed as I fell against the wooden supports and thorns growing amongst them.
This year the following has happened to me:
(1) I was knocked off my bike by a taxi and went hurtling over the vehicle roof.
(2) I fell into the canal twice on the same day.
(3) I was almost bollocked by a bull in the farmer's field.
(4) I punctured and my pump fell apart in the middle of nowhere.

__________________
"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."

Carrera

Lim, if you've been to Pamplona, as I know you have, you will know about the encierro - the famous bull-run popularised by Ernest Hemingway. These are fighting bulls. The time I was living there (back in the glory days of Miguel Indurain) I recall a guy from Chicago was killed running in Pamplona. Drink usually leads to these deaths as the runners are too intoxicated to keep their wits about them and the guy from Chicago, I recall, didn't stay down when he was tossed. Always you must stay down in this situation and roll to the side.
Well, I confess I never ran in Pamplona but I did run in one of the pueblo runs and, let me say, it's the most frightening experience you can imagine. You stand on the line, hear the sound of the rockets going off and then people are running everywhere around you.
Next you see the bulls closing behind you, horns lowered. These animals can outrun you and they weigh 15 times as much as you do. They are packed with muscle and capable of explosive power.
Even these tame bulls in the farmers fields over here are incredibly fast and powerful. I figure till this bull gets mating off his mind, me and my bike are an endangered species. But I'm serious I will use my bike to save my own hide if he charges at me again. No way will I turn my back and run or even turn and ride as I'll be history.

__________________
"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."

limerickman

I've been to Pamplona.
I've seen the running of the bulls on TV and I agree it is frightening.
Seeing it "live" must bring home just how dangerous bulls can be.
I believe that the crowd who run with the bulls get pretty tanked up before hand??

As regards saving your hide and the bike.
To hell with the bike - they can always be replaced.
Your hide, can't!

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Felt_Rider

Not that it has anything to do with cycling and bulls, but I grew up working on a farm. The best thing that we had for animal control were herding dogs.

We had a little Australian Shepherd that was fearless.

Not that the dog can do anything against an enraged bull, but if we put the dog on the bull the dog enjoyed going after the bull. The dog would buy you enough time to get out of the field or to a safe place and it was like a game to the dog as he zipped around the bull.

As far as the farm animals respecting humans, we had a billy goat that rammed my crippled uncle. The following day we were eating goat steaks.
No Joke

Carrera

Alcohol has been the downfall of many a tourist runner in Pamplona. The fact is, encierros and alcohol don't really mix and you need all your wits about you to come out in one piece.
I did my run at 7.30 a.m. in the morning but not in Pamplona. Of course, that's as far as it went as I disliked corridas and bull-fights so would never go to a plaza de toros. I detest animal cruelty.
The guy from Chicago I recall had been drinking and ran in Pamplona. He was knocked to the floor by a bull but he then tried to get up and this really annoyed the bull. I've seen this before in TV footage. The bull will skewer the unfortunate matador or runner with the horns and toss the victim about while he's on the floor. So, the rule of thumb is never to get up if you've been tossed down and you must try and roll your body away from the stampede of testosterone-fueled bulls and panic-stricken, stampeding American/European tourists (who are as capable of causing injury as the bulls )

__________________
"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."

Carrera

I have a border collie in the house and, yes, these are highly intelligent, artful little dogs.
Unfortunately, he wasn't with me and I was kind of trapped behind the fence with the bull eyeballing me from the other side and then the cows in their own little group.
I guess my only means of defence would have been to turn towards the bull as he charged, stay my ground, suddenly hold the bike in front of me as he closes in and then hopefully sidestep around as you do in a turn-stile.
To be honest, it would be a frightening experience. The first charge was only a small canter but had he hit me even then I'd have been flattened. Imagine 500 k.g. of charging muscle coming at you at full sprint. However, if he had knocked into the fence to get at me after I lept over it, he's have gone straight through the floorboards into the canal.

__________________
"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."

ryan_velo.

That happened to me last month. I wasn't paying attention & thought it was a cow & I mooed at it, then it started to charge at me. Even though he was close I turned around & sprinted to the end of the road. The other guy & was riding w/ rode strait on through & he came out fine. He never really charged my even though I'm sure he would have. He was just running around loose in the road. then he hopped back over his fence. It really me freaked out and I felt like in idiot.

__________________
"Avoid the world---it's just a lot of dust and drag and means nothing in the end.”
~ Jack Kerouac

"The whole idea of music---from the beginning of time---was for people to be happy."
~Robert Plant

MountainPro

i remember one time i was charged by a bull...bloody 4 quid he charged me...

ha ha ha...

god, i'm bored.

__________________
HARD
.

jhuskey

I was gonna say I was charged once by a hefer but bulls aren't my style and then I thought .....nah.
Oops, I guess I did it anway!

__________________
Whenever I can't get excited about riding I just fantasize about someone else's bike.

Carrera

There's a new danger to cyclists being reported - urban gulls. These birds will swoop and attack if they have nests nearby and feel threatened.
I have myself been skydived by a pigeon that flew right into me but the gulls are worse.
Looks like Hitchcock's film wasn't so far off the mark. There was even a case of a load of schoolchildren being attacked by gulls.
As for the bull, life must go on so I continue to cross the field. I didn't see him at all yesterday and he's O.K. when he's in a good mood. But when breeding is on his mind he can get highly aggressive and is best avoided.

__________________
"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."

James Bruce Gil

Huskey,

Shame on you! We all pay in the end though I'd have to admit.

I would also have to say that bull lesbians aren't my go either. I prefer the gentler types.

Limerick; How will the Irish go in the Rugby on Saturday?

Australia managed to put England away twice in the last three weeks, but its more the decline of English rugby rather than any resurgence in Australian rugby I would have to say.

Kind regards,

__________________
Bluto