Yesterday was the first day back from a weeks leave, surprising me with a double swoop from a slightly smaller bird (only saw the shadow) at the corner of Dudley and Calder sts Rydalmere then a magpie swoop near the oars bridge in parramatta.
Today, I forgot all about them and got another double swoop at Dudley st.
+ one nutter twice slammed into the back of my shoulders, the first of these kamazi attacks it slapped hard into my back, bounced off the rear wheel and ended up on the ground only to fly off and go for another back slapper ......... total commitment to getting me off it's patch........... great for my speed though, was on target for a 30.3 / 30.4 km/hr average but after being dived bombed I cranked it up and managed 30.89 km/hr for the 32km trip.......
You've got to be the unluckiest cyclist ever to walk the face of the earth...
I don't see it quite that way. There are plenty of ex-cyclists no longer with us who suffered much worse luck than me............
Occasionally the magpie warfare becomes a tad more than I can cope with - becoming a distraction from staying in line on the road but mostly it's free entertainment and a really good excuse for me to let off some steam and yell out some choice words.
I ride only in rural countryside with a mixture of lightly wooded roadsides to mature tree plantations and dense natural forest. Where I ride is mega habitat for magpies (and wattlebirds) ........ every ride is a pleasure, wide open roads, picturesque rolling countryside, clean air and bugger all traffic. The magpies are a small price to pay for the sort of riding I get to do. I'd say I was one of the lucky ones.........
Me too. Far more dangerous to ride on urban roads. Cars hurt more than magpies.
I watched today's maggie watch me from the power line. Not a steep dive like a roadside tree. I've found that raising my hand just as I think it's about to come close scares them off.
This one magpie gave me 42 points on a single ride. I have never seen a magpie be so aggressive or have such a big territory. 20 individual swoops with 11 hits! I knew he was ahead so I turned the camera around becuase I knew it would make interesting viewing!
Postieboy wrote:This one magpie gave me 42 points on a single ride. I have never seen a magpie be so aggressive or have such a big territory. 20 individual swoops with 11 hits! I knew he was ahead so I turned the camera around becuase I knew it would make interesting viewing!
Holy Moly!! That is one super agressive bird. And damn fast too!
Postieboy wrote:This one magpie gave me 42 points on a single ride. I have never seen a magpie be so aggressive or have such a big territory. 20 individual swoops with 11 hits! I knew he was ahead so I turned the camera around becuase I knew it would make interesting viewing!
Damn - that's a nasty bird!!! You can have that one!
I got bombed three times by the Gipps road magpie. I saw it gliding high overhead and watched it turn towards me... Then I knew I had to get going fast. on the return journey it was on the ground and screeched at me as I passed it. I wanted to throw my bidon at it! I settled for loud, obscene cursing instead.
Been a while since i've bothered to record points, magpies have been getting a bit lazy lately-only cursory swoops (or so i thought!!).
Riding up the Midland Hwy tonight just outside Buninyong, got swooped (x5) by our regular customer plus one very big THWACK into the back of my helmet.
Previous total = 23 + 7 new points = 30 points total
Another 7 points on the weekend for me plus a lazy 3 points today. The heat seems to going out of the territorial protection game but as mulger has pointed out, the wattle birds are now nesting and they can fly like rockets and don't mind giving you a touch up........
Running total 147 points and still counting...........
Just a couple of swoops from the local butcherbird squadron, so 13 points now. The butcherbirds are mostly all bluff, lots of noise and swooping but not much else. Once they figure you don't care they give up and fly elsewhere or go back to sorting their feathers out.
Do snakes count? I've had a few encounters with them, including one yesterday!
) No contacts for ages now....... 
great for my speed though, was on target for a 30.3 / 30.4 km/hr average but after being dived bombed I cranked it up and managed 30.89 km/hr for the 32km trip....... 
on the return journey it was on the ground and screeched at me as I passed it. I wanted to throw my bidon at it! I settled for loud, obscene cursing instead.
