African cattle in western NC. Watusi, those horns!
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Dog jumping out of a pickup truck traveling probably 60 mph to attack the group of cyclists I was in. It died. The driver blamed us.
Guy in hiking boots and a touring bike with no bike racing skills or experience crushing a group of Cat 2/3 riders on fast weekend training rides. He got a racing bike and became a national class TT’r and was on Olympic team.
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He was probably good on skill and short power, but lacked the base miles.
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Bunny hopped a rather large gator here in Gainesville a few years back
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Wow the largest wild animals we get here are deer.
A few months back riding through the woods I had a massive black one jump across my path a foot or two in front of me. You kinda expect it there.
A few weeks later on a road ride one jumped over a high hedge and across my path this time even closer. I wasn’t really expecting it there (I guess with covid and lock down they’ve lost their fear of traffic). Phew I thought if I’d went down I would have took everyone down. What I didn’t realise the deer was at the front of a herd and following dear had took my mate out 
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I have a coworker who’s husband lost several teeth when a deer jumped out of the woods and took him down
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Was on a ride in the foothills of Los Angeles, climbing a steep, heavily trafficked street. As my riding partner was crossing an intersection, a brown bear crossed my path and behind my partner. The bear was the size of a Mini Cooper and galloping at a fairly fast pace. I froze, seeing that the bear was about 20ft away. It eventually crossed the road and entered a yard to a house. I never climbed that hill faster than I did that day.
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Bunch of kids smoking weed and cycling. Suffice to say that not all these bicycles were UCI-legal.
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They are fun to watch fly. I liken them to a Scud missile - they launch themselves in the general direction and hope for the best…
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Robin Williams (I have a picture with him somewhere at a Challenged Athletes Foundation event, he was the bike leg for his team), and a couple of years later I rode with Will Ferrell a couple of times (I knew his coach). They are unusual 
Obviously, both happened a long time ago and when I lived in Los Angeles.
I had a coyote seemingly play hide and seek with me for a while as I climbed a road (Encinal, I think it was) north of Los Angeles. I came around a corner, he dashed into the bush of the edge on the right only to re-appear ahead, and repeat. At least I think it was the same coyote.
Not cycling but running, besides two mountain lion encounters (both without incident and both when my dog was with me) In Sullivan Canyon (Santa Monica Mountains near Brentwood), there was this time I was running on Westridge about twenty years ago. I was on the ridgeline running back to the Westridge trail head nearing the end of a 20mi out and back. It was foggy, quiet, and with no one around when I looked up and saw a coyote trotting on the single track toward me. He acted unconcerned and relaxed, neither of us broke stride, and when we were about 30’ from each other, he moved off the single track maybe 10’, there was sparse scrub where we “met,” and continued past me, rejoining the single track about 20’ behind me. I used to run that segment 2-4 times a week and would often see a family of coyotes near this spot, which I suspected had their den nearby. At the time, I figured he recognized me from then but of course I don’t know.
Edit: adding the picture. I’m wearing the yellow hat.
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Well, this wasn’t cycling, but was part of a Half IM distance triathlon…
I was on the swim portion, and I am looking down, and all of a sudden I see something below me, and pretty huge. My first thought was that looks like a whale shark! So, when I finished the race, and had a few minutes to myself I did a google search to see if there were in fact whale sharks in the area, and they have been seen there, so unless proven otherwise, I will stand by that being the most unusual thing I’ve seen.
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The bunch of weed-smoking kids is unusual?!
All these stories here bring home in what safe part of the world I live, the biggest animal hazard around here are the sheep!
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The most famous people I have ridden with, you probably haven’t even heard of, the lead singer from ABC and the drummer from Deacon Blue/ Scottish TV host. One of the programs the latter hosts is the Adventure Show for anyone into the Outdoors 
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Okay, gotta share this one from my friend over the weekend:
“no joke riding about 15 mph then all of a sudden something hits my handlebars over my Garmin hits my front tire and falls to the ground I thought it was a piece of rubber from the telephone pole when I turn back around I saw the snake and then a hawk on top of the pole! Almost made me wreck.”
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Riding my fat tire bike around some single track down by the river. Turn the corner and hear strange noises, and two sets of legs facing each other, hanging out from the bushes. if you catch the image. Right there in the dirt. The guy was at least 300 lbs, with coveralls down around his ankle’s and doing the dirty deed. I turned and got out of there as quickly as I could.
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Lingerie photo shoot in the river 
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Late-afternoon mountain biking in October in a state park (Beech Fork for those in WV). On the lookout for hunters as it was archery season and the trail was on the border of the hunting/no hunting area. A couple of miles in from the trailhead I round a corner and there is a guy wearing only “tighty-whities” and hiking boots strolling down the trail in my direction. I drift to the left to pass as he drifts to the right; we share a simultaneous “hey” head nod and go on about our way. Was definitely strange, as he wasn’t carrying any clothes and was several miles from the closest road…
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Game. Over.
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One day I was doing one of my usual rides near my home in the SF Bay Area and Andy Hampsten passed me. This was in the mid-90s. He was with a friend and they let me sit on their wheels for some miles.
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Also … and this has only happened once in my life … I crossed the finish line in a race and I didn’t see anyone in front of me. That was extremely unusual 
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