Some of the terrifying things cyclists hide from during a bike ride

A swarm of bees, a terrifying hailstorm, someone you'd rather avoid... all possible reasons to dive under cover when out for a bike ride.

We asked Cycling Weekly readers whether they had ever that to take refuge from something during a bike ride. We present a selection of the answers here, in association with B'Twin.

Have you ever had to hide from something during a bike ride? What was it? Tell us in the comment section below.

A client. I was out on a day ride after messaging him the night before to say I was ill and could not make the meeting the next morning. He was driving towards me as I spun off on my bike. Having lied about my illness, I took a quick left turn up someone’s driveway. I had to pretend to the house owner that I was lost and ask for directions. She looked at me puzzled; I think she recognised me as I was only round the corner from home!

Ernie Brightman Medd

Riding in Cornwall after a storm, the gate must have been flung open and a bull escaped. Old people were waving me down. I thought they were just giving me grief. Then I came round the corner and was faced with an angry bull that was even charging at cars. Luckily, a van driver took pity and shielded me from the bull while reversing down the road.

Chris Crowle

I had to hide and take refuge in my man cave when my missus found out how much I paid for my last bike. And that wasn’t even the actual, real cost.

David Rhead

Tyre blew, crashed into a dirt mound, which also had a wasps’ nest in it. I had to dive into a wheelie bin for a while till they calmed down!

Peter Jones

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I recently got chased by a Doberman along a country road and had to pedal like crazy for a kilometre. I managed to get through the gate of a house and shut it behind me. The dog in question looked at me sheepishly and slunk off. I found out that day my maximum speed on the flat (32mph). My maximum heart rate (176bpm) and my maximum power ever on my power meter (1,100 watts).

Sean Evans

Riding one summer’s day on my own in the middle of nowhere on country tracks and the sky went black. Turns out it was a very large swarm of bees. I hit the deck and didn’t move until they passed over.

Eddie Tate

I got caught out riding in summer Lycra. I had 12 miles left to go when it started to hail. Already tired after a long cycle, I started to get cold very quickly and changing gears and braking got harder and harder with my numbing hands. I sought refuge in a bus stop and found two empty crisp packets, which I put over my hands and used as mitts! They did the job and worked really well until one ripped. I had to stop every mile or so and switch the packet over to the other hand.

Guyon Jamie Giles Trussell

Out for a mountain bike ride, probably around 15 years ago, my friends and I got caught in a thunderstorm so we hid under a copse of trees to get out of the rain. A short while later, we saw a lightning strike hit the next copse of trees, around 300 yards away. We left rather rapidly.

Julian Duquemin

I had to avoid getting to close a baby llama near the top of the Tourmalet just before the Étape du Tour in 2014. The baby got stuck trying to climb a hill and mamma llama was getting nervous. Since I didn't want to get projectile vomited on, I decided to keep my distance.

David Heard

Angry truck driver. He was p****d off I was taking too long to rack my bike on the car. Called me some mean names and charged at my car with his truck when we didn't move out of his way fast enough.

Peter Guaetta

Hills.

Tim Rawson