The kiwi Magpies are aggressive in nesting season too. The dive bomb regularly. They make contact with beaks and claws quite often, and from time to time apparently misjudge things and get full body contact on your helmet.

I've been dive bombed several hundred times, hit a bunch of times (20?) and had body on helmet contact 4 times now. They are aggressive for sure, and several attacks have lasted for about 1/2 kilometre and several repeat visits. But I've never heard of attacks being like the Aussie ones, and certainly never lost an eye.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

In Australia, the pink is always implied ;-)

I remember for a number of years, there was a male Aussie school teacher that would race IMNZ. He'd show up with a pink (ali) P3, an all pink outfit and run in a pink wig. After a couple of years I heard he was racing for breast cancer (all good) but I'd just thought he was Australian :-)

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Just don't go back with a tennis racket and batter the fuckers...
Someone will get the shits... Magpie won't be thrilled either...

A child lost their eye a year or two ago... Really sad and stupid scenario...

I do grin when I see one that's been hit by a truck or a car every so often.... Picked the wrong fight it seems....
Understand peeps not dealing with this situation would see that as cruel... And hey have a point... Which they are welcome too..

Off for a training ride / tennis lesson... ;)

I understand Magpies have a right to defend their territory. Parents defend their kids. All good.

As humans we also defend ourselves. As we are at the top of the food chain, we tend to be more successful than Magpies, which is why you generally see more dead Magpies on the road than dead humans :-)

What is the aero penalty of riding with a tennis racket on a 100km sunday morning ride, assuming level ground and 30kph average speed on a calm day?

I could be in the market for a Cervelo tennis racket and a carbon bracket...........

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Racquet has a kamm tail so edge on it's surprisingly good....

I mean I have no idea... Never done it....

Oh and kids Dora explorer racquets are smaller faster and easier to carry....

Out...

They're particularly aggressive and numerous in Canberra this spring. I've had blood drawn from my ear. Worse is when you are going up steep hills, the attacks seem to last forever, and your heart rate goes through the roof (fucks up your aerobic sunday ride) while you try to remain somewhat calm (you don't) and increase your spead (as much as you can, from 13k/hour to 14k/hour) :-)

I for one don't enjoy these attacks as much as you do. The feeling of being "hunted" or attacked is not that great. Could do without personally. Funny thing is they seem to go for people with helmets (they associate helmets with speed, and speed with danger). If you don't have a helmet, much less risk of being attacked (but if you do...).

A cycling friend is the director in our Canberra office.

While out riding before work (in the 1/2 light of dawn) he was riding up a hill when a freakin' kangroo went charging across the road mere metres in front of him. In his head he said "FARK, that was lucky I didn't get hit". A nano second later, the second roo hit him at full speed! He was legitimately knocked off his bike (not like a Magpie attack). He got the normal road rash, busted helmet etc, but also had his pelvis broken in several places. A few operations to pin him back together, weeks in hospital and a long recovery, including taking time to learn to walk again.

That was about 9 months ago. He's back to work, but I think he's still on part time only. I'm sure that story has been well spread through the Canberra cycling community. You may have heard it?

Magpie? Roo? I'll risk a cut from a Magpie's beak any day.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

magpies, pee wee's (mudlarks), and plovers previously (plovers can go hard) but some other breed hit me on the weekend. Bit smaller than a magpie and the thing went on for about a k.

Just started at me as I crested a hill so hooked in to get some speed up down the hill to get away from the thing. The thing is, they normally come in too hot and have to prop to smash you, fly up, regroup and do it again, thinking this is a function of us doing a slower speed than their flight speed as they come into you. So when you speed up and hit about 60km/hr you are at their speed and the thing just sat next to me and tried to smash me every couple of seconds. So much for speed helping me out on this occasion.

The saving grace on the ride was that I was heading west the whole time and so had my shadow in view. You can see the things coming in with your shadow and saves the times when you don't know they are there until they make that swack noise to scare you.

In terms of cable ties, there ain't enough ice to freeze hell over and for me to subsequently adopt putting those things on the lid.

Hey I'm in Canberra too, must be the worst place for the bastards. The one near Stromlo is scary and has earned it's own strava segment 'murderous magpie' haha.

Yeah, that's the one that goes for ears (on the uphill section of Cotter Road, going past Wright). Another one attacked me when going up out of Urriara Crossing (towards Stromlo). That lasted for a long time :-)

Last year there was only one on that loop (just past Uriarra village), this year about 5 on the loop.

There's a couple of schools of thought going around about why Magpies 'seem' to be getting more aggressive.
Firstly and one that I think has some weight is the rapid increase in the number of Indian Myna birds. The fact that they are so invasive means that magpies are losing breeding areas and are forced to be more aggressive to ensure they can successfully raise their chicks. Myna's are known to invade nests in numbers - disposing of any eggs along the way.
Secondly there seems to be an increase in reports of cyclists being hit in the ear, side of face and sometimes around the eye. A story I read recently suggests that this could be due to introduction of cyclists attaching zip ties to their helmet. Magpies are extremely intelligent birds and it's possible that some have learnt to bypass the zip ties by coming in a bit lower and to the side.
They are evil bastards I tell you. I know I have been hit in at least three new locations this season.

My favourite last year was something a bit smaller than a magpie down the Peninsula - think it was probably a peewee. I swear it was trying to helmet surf on me as I could hear the claws scrabbling on my helmet for seconds at a time.

What really amuses me though is when I go running through the local park with the dog on the lead. They'll swoop right past me to dive bomb the dog beside me.

Who do the dumb fuckers think is more capable of climbing a tree??

last magpie that had a go a t me got taught (kind of )

a quick visit to the landowner and some .17cal education was dispensed.

damn aussies, worse than holden/ford fans

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!
Adam Savage

That Cotter Rd magpie is demon spawn straight from the 9th circle of hell. It manages to get _under_ the helmet. It drew blood on me twice before I learned to go around the back to get to Stromlo. I think he's worse than the infamous "Glenlock Interchange Magpie" of yesteryear.

There's another evil guy in Collector who attacks as you ride through the twon. He will follow you for a very long time... I still had him attacking me on the Federal Highway.