Strangest Thing To Ever Happen

[sahaider]

I've been working on a story (I'm a fiction writer) that involves motorcycles and riders, and I use this exercise for other stories when I'm in a bit of a dry well. I was hoping some of you could help me out.

All you have to do is comment back with the strangest thing that has ever happened to you, the oddest thing you have ever seen, or the most unusual person you have ever encountered. It would help if it relates or happened near or around motorcycles or on a motorcycle trip.  I'm just looking for stories.

I appreciate your help in advance!

[mister]

What a place this is eh. Need help - with anything - come here and ask.

So when you don't know what to write, you wonder "What strange things happen to motorcycle riders"? You should already have a collection.

Or do you mean, if you're writing about flower collectors and the story is a tad dull or you're having a block cause you don't know if the character should be going for the white roses or yellow chrysanthemums, you visit a flower collecting website and ask for funny stories about collecting flowers?

See, there was this one time. I was hot on the trail of a rare Roman Chamomile in the middle of Germany - yeah I know, odd eh, like what would a Roman chamomile being doing in fields of German chamomile. Well, that's why it was rare.

So anyway, I'm walking through this field, stopping every couple of steps and bending down to examine the chamomiles, when I spot a grass hopper. I know what you're thinking. Big bloody deal. See grasshoppers all the time. Well, this was Odd cause it was a German grasshopper. And here it was in the middle of a field of chamomile flowers. Yeah that was an odd one, alright. I thought there must have been a hidden camera somewhere. Like who the heck parks an old WW2 grasshopper tank in the middle of a field of flowers. I can just picture it...

Gretel?
Ya, Hansel?
Did you put away my grasshopper somewhere?
Nine. Vy?
I cannot find it. I vas playing mit it yesterday und today it is gone.
Don't vory Hansel, it vill turn up.

I never found my roman chamomile...

[Badot]

I once rode a long distance and didn't get cut off by another motorist.

On a more serious note, maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but back last winter I saw a guy lock the front brake on a Harley and go down (brand new, temp tags and everything, all the custom chrome and flames and all that) so I stopped, along with a guy driving a minivan nearby, we picked the guy's bike up for him and turned it off. He was busy doing the whole lay on the ground and don't move thing... not that he was hurt, he seemed okay and was responsive, but there's always the possibility of broken ribs and whatnot. His bike was surprisingly undamaged, just a scuffed up brake pedal it seemed.

Anyways, we waited for police/emt to show up. At the time I had an old beat up Nighthawk 250. Fire department showed up first. They walk over to my Nighthawk (which was near his Harley) -- "Is this the bike that crashed?". Police showed up, looked at my Nighthawk -- "Is this the bike he was on?". EMTs show up -- same thing. Of course it was completely understandable that they ask that, I just found it a little funny.

Anyways, the guy was fine. Got a lesson in why helmets are good (his had a little road rash) and jeans are bad (torn from the knee about halfway down, bloodied up knee but no serious injury) and rode away.

[cbrfxr67]

Saw one of these Tuesday.  Had to catch up to it cause it was pretty weird looking ahead of me.


Another I saw was an 18 wheeler loaded with coral.  Full pallets of coral.  Thought that was interesting.  Saw a flat bed loaded with canams on the way home yesterday.  Kind of groovy.

Weird.  Weird?  Need to think,...

[sahaider]

The German Grasshopper tank story is a great one.

Right, so I'm not just looking for stories about motorcycles and motorcycle riders. I'm just looking for the strangest thing, event, people, etc. you've ever encountered or have a memory of. It's part of a writing exercise that I do when I'm having some trouble putting pen to paper. I take any number of events, people, things, etc. and try to find connections and see how they would fit into a story. Usually it works, and I'm off on some tangent that it put me on and voila! a story comes to mind.

I've seen some interesting stories on this board before and I know people have taken long rides and seen plenty, so I was curious to know what people could contribute.

I like some of the things so far. An 18 wheeler with coral. What a sight. I wish I had been there.

[yamahonkawazuki]

was at fox chevrolet a few years back, ( 2004 ) looking at a car i was going to purchase, a lumina ltz and a cavalier, between the two was a praying mantis looking at me, and i, It. my gs was parked in the food city parking lot adjoining the dealership. the mantis looks at me and starts rocking side to side, for about 20 seconds then it leaps at me. i dodge. ( into the wheel of the lumina) mother of all headaches as a result

[OldTwinzNeverDie]

Saw one of these Tuesday.  Had to catch up to it cause it was pretty weird looking ahead of me.
<snip>
Weird.  Weird?  Need to think,...

Reminded me of this...seen in a rest area off the interstate somewhere in NC last summer:


Now, the weirdest thing I ever took a picture of (possibly) was this:


To this day, I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I took a picture of a nasty old hot dog lying (or is it laying) in the grass with a fly on it! Even more puzzling, I SAVED IT!!!

Perhaps it is the result of too many of these:


Or, maybe it's an over-abundance of imagination and creativity with no constructive outlet or means of expression?

To our "aspiring writer" friend.

I had one of them "dry spells" once. Try more fiber. Seriously. They say if you get too much accumulated fecal matter in  your colon it will eventually start backing up in your system....perhaps even to the point you notice people seem to be avoiding you  and for some strange unknown reason giving you funny looks and waving their hand in front of their faces when they think  you aren't looking. People can be so cruel! That is why I often prefer the company of motorcycles and dogs. It's a shame the two don't go together. Anyone who tries to convince you they do cares more about themselves than the poor dog! If dogs were meant to go 70mph, well, they aren't!

Hope this helped!
(all in good fun my man, all in good fun!)
Hube

[yamahonkawazuki]

Have had that happen on the meds as well. you end up paying attn to things youd normally brush off. somewhere ive got a book of poetry and another book of partial song lyrics because of this. a normal side effect of the errm vitamins lol

[OldTwinzNeverDie]

Have had that happen on the meds as well. you end up paying attn to things youd normally brush off. somewhere ive got a book of poetry and another book of partial song lyrics because of this. a normal side effect of the errm vitamins lol

Yeah, those "vitamins" can futz with yore head. Unfortunately I have to take  a number of different ones to make my life tolerable. All quite legal mind you! Some make *me* tolerable. Others make other people tolerable (yet I am the one taking them, go figure!?) And one or two just keep me alive! (so far, knock on wood!) I ain't complaining though, not one bit, I LOVE life!!! "Challenges" make it all that much more worthwhile. Sorry, not meaning to get all "profound" on ya or anything...I'm just in a bit of an "expansive" mood!

Say, is that a picture of a dog riding on a motorcycle as your "emoticon"? Damn, I didn't see that before leaving my comment about dogs on bikes! I guess I put my foot right in the ole pie-hole, eh? Ha! I was just trying to be funny anyway,  Was I? I mean, could you tell?
You know what the lesson there is don't ya? Shut the hell up, that's what!   Do I listen? nooooooo!!!

Later,
Hube

[yamahonkawazuki]

adidas, GOD bless him found a pic i had been searching for for ages. i saw it here as a member in 2005. pic was called motokat. a cat riding a gs500. i saved it and resized it to my pb acct
Aaron.
ps as a diabetic with peripheral neuropathy, as well as autonomic neuropathies setting in. pain is a daily issue for me. am between pain mgmt docs atm. not many take self pay patients. and im uninsured. so . hopefully i willfind a doctor which will put me on something. although sometimes they make me like dr house. i resemble his pic, as well as his attitude. i could tell ppl off and theyd think it was a compliment. but after standing for more than 20  mins my legs lock up. sitting down isnt an option it makes it worse. hopefully this will end some day. it gets old REAL quick.

[OldTwinzNeverDie]

Wow, a "brother in the fraternity of pain".
Who'da thunk it! Thanks for being "real" bro!

I'll be back "shortly"...

adidas, GOD bless him found a pic i had been searching for for ages. i saw it here as a member in 2005. pic was called motokat. a cat riding a gs500. i saved it and resized it to my pb acct
Aaron.
ps as a diabetic with peripheral neuropathy, as well as autonomic neuropathies setting in. pain is a daily issue for me. am between pain mgmt docs atm. not many take self pay patients. and im uninsured. so . hopefully i willfind a doctor which will put me on something. although sometimes they make me like dr house. i resemble his pic, as well as his attitude. i could tell ppl off and theyd think it was a compliment. but after standing for more than 20  mins my legs lock up. sitting down isnt an option it makes it worse. hopefully this will end some day. it gets old REAL quick.

[mister]

YOu know, one day I was at the computer. Next to the keyboard was a sticky note pad and a pencil. I got up, went downstairs to get me a cold pop. And I smelled burning, like someone was having a BBQ. I thought to myself, "self, smells like someone is having a BBQ." I looked around and oh my lordy jesus, it was a Fire! I ran. I ran down the stairs. I didn't grab no shoes or nothing jesus. I ran for my life. Then the smoke got me. I got bronchitis. Ain't nobody got time for that.

So I ran over to a friend's house in the projects. I was banging on his door but there was no answer. I saw his upstairs window was open so I grabbed their wheelie bin and wheeled it right under. Have you have tried hopping up on those suckers? Man it's hard. But I managed. And as I got into the window there was a women in bed. She heard me and turned and looked right at me. I was like, WTF this ain't his house. Then she started screaming rape and going all black women crazy. So I jumped out and landed on the ground running. She's got her head out the window yelling after me, calling me a rapist. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Over the hills and far away I ran. I ran until my feet hurt, my legs ached and sweat dripped from all over my body. Finally I stopped near a stream. I was full of empty plastic drink bottles and other crud. I didn't swim in it though. I jumped it. Cause I was skilled at jumping puddles so thought this stream jump would be a doddle. I landed in the cruddy water. Ain't nobody got time for that.

[yamahonkawazuki]

when all you could a done was find a phone Eh?

[mister]

That's why noone has phones in movies.

So there I was on the banks of the river. A Boney M song came to mind but I dismissed it. Instead, I whipped out my phone and took a photo of the moped. Quite a distance from the road, no tire tracks to reveal how it got here, I was faced with a nancy drew type mystery. Ain't nobody got time for that.

[ThatOtherGuy]

My highlights.

...
All you have to do is comment back with the strangest thing that has ever happened to you, the oddest thing you have ever seen, or the most unusual person you have ever encountered. It would help if it relates or happened near or around motorcycles or on a motorcycle trip.  I'm just looking for stories.

I appreciate your help in advance!

Don't you live in the country where you have the people of Walmart?  I would have that your local Walmart would provide a lifetime of writing material.

[mister]

After doing my impression of a parkour  free runner, I arrived back at my computer slightly worse for wear. I had scratches, bruises, some lacerations and a bit of gravel rash. Plus, I had almost stubbed my toe. I had dirt under my fingernails and desperately needed a shower. The shower would have to wait for I had a pic to get off my phone and load up to the internet - cause pics or it didn't happen.

While the phone was plugged into the USB port on the computer and the image was transferring across, I noticed my pencil was in a different position. I noticed because not only am I obsessively compulsive about how my pencil sits in relation to the sticky note pad, I have a good memory. Noone else had been in the house, the doors were closed so wind had not blown my pencil around. Occams razor told me the only thing left was, the pencil was haunted! And the only way it could become haunted was if it had been used in the six pencil / haunted pencil / Charlie ghost pencil game. I didn't want a haunted pencil. Ain't nobody got time for that.

[yamahonkawazuki]

That sir is the new canadian tire bike wash.