Around 7 am or so this morning I was biking North on 9W descending at about 30 mph - 2 miles or so south of the Rockland Country Club.
A deer jumped out of the woods over the side railing and we missed colliding by no more than 3 inches - I swerved left right and then immediately back left to avoid a large branch on the median. After about 200 yards of driving like a drunk man I got back under control and continued on my way. (side note - up until that point I was very focussed to keep my HR under 135 - after that it was up around 155)
About a mile later some guy passed me on the left and yelled “You should be dead right now…I have never seen anything like that!”
So my question is has anybody on here actually collided with a deer?
did a race here in central indiana and had a deer jump out and a racer hit it. not sure how bad he was hurt. its always on my mind i ride alot early in the morning in the country. i see alot but never hit one.
The other week I came about 20ft. from bringing new meaning to the phrase cow-tipping while mountain biking. 20ft may not sound close, but when there are 4 of them in the road and it’s about 15mins from being pitch black outside. I like hydraulic disc brakes!
One of my athletes was hit by a deer in the first running race he did. Deer crossed the road and knocked him to the ground.
In our race last week a deer just missed a group of runners. Same park as above
Another friend was broad sided by a deer while he and his wife descended on a tandem. That was not a pretty site. Just think what getting slammed to the road at 50+ miles per hour might feel like
Don’t mother deer tell their young to look both ways before crosses the road
In 2006, we had an athlete collide with a BEAR! She was descending Lefthand Canyon during the Boulder Peak Triathlon, and t-boned a bear. The bear took off, she went over her handlebars, sustained major road rash; but, valiantly, after about 20 minutes of medical attention, continued the race.
It’s deer, but regardless, one of the best cyclists in the Bloomington area blasted a deer after a downhill about a year ago ( I think). Just a busted wheel if I recall correctly.
On a mountain bike. Dropped into the start of a nice trail as several deer came up the path. Ended up on my ass in the brush beside the trail. Its not uncommon here in Southern Indiana. I’ve also hit three with trucks. I’ve killed hundreds with locomotives.
if you’re talking about 9W near Highland Falls/West Point–I have seen many deer there while riding with cadet tri team. Only dude I have ever seen that actually hit a deer was similar situation as you describe (descending, high speed, crossing target) and that was at Calloway Gardens (GA) Triathlon back in 87 or 88. Pretty ugly result as can easily be imagined.
there are some old threads on this subject on this forum over the years. I’ve related this once before but…while riding around Fort Benning’s southern impact area (the ‘no go’ place you shoot artillery and such) I was descending a steep hill right after turning off Sunshine Road onto Jamestown Road. So I come screaming down this hill on the aero bars of my Softride swoop around a corner and drive right through an entire extended family of feral pigs. There was much squealing and yelling. The pigs made a lot of noise too. Somehow we all made it through that encounter ok but to this day I am not sure quite how?
From my infamous post around a year or so ago “Why I pray before I ride.” Descending a hill and catch a small herd of deer as they’re crashing out of the woods just to my left. I brace for impact which I’m certain is going to come and I figure the next thing I’m going to see is the inside of an ambulance. But just as I’m ducking my head and closing my eyes I see hooves soaring overhead. Simultaneously, I feel a gentle graze of another set of hooves across my back. They jumped me. But now I had another problem. I was braced for an impact that didn’t come and now I was way out of position for a sharp left-hander. I almost went off the road and into a tree. But I survived unscathed.
There’s a story I’ve heard a few times about a rider in our area who was on a nearby mountain descent when a buck bound out of the woods and took him out. He wasn’t seriously hurt, but in the process, the guys’ bike frame got caught up in the buck’s rack and he was left on the side of the road while the deer and his bike went bounding together into the woods and down the mountainside. Can’t verify that story, but it’s funny to think about.
There’s a story I’ve heard a few times about a rider in our area who was on a nearby mountain descent when a buck bound out of the woods and took him out. He wasn’t seriously hurt, but in the process, the guys’ bike frame got caught up in the buck’s rack and he was left on the side of the road while the deer and his bike went bounding together into the woods and down the mountainside. Can’t verify that story, but it’s funny to think about.
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That explains a lot…a local hunter claimed for years that he was sitting in his deerblind and saw some antlers moving thru the woods. He slowly raised his gun and put the scope on the buck…a magnificent 10 pointer riding a damn mountain bike.
We always thought he was just drunk.
From my infamous post around a year or so ago “Why I pray before I ride.” Descending a hill and catch a small herd of deer as they’re crashing out of the woods just to my left. I brace for impact which I’m certain is going to come and I figure the next thing I’m going to see is the inside of an ambulance. But just as I’m ducking my head and closing my eyes I see hooves soaring overhead. Simultaneously, I feel a gentle graze of another set of hooves across my back. They jumped me. But now I had another problem. I was braced for an impact that didn’t come and now I was way out of position for a sharp left-hander. I almost went off the road and into a tree. But I survived unscathed.
There’s a story I’ve heard a few times about a rider in our area who was on a nearby mountain descent when a buck bound out of the woods and took him out. He wasn’t seriously hurt, but in the process, the guys’ bike frame got caught up in the buck’s rack and he was left on the side of the road while the deer and his bike went bounding together into the woods and down the mountainside. Can’t verify that story, but it’s funny to think about.
At a MTB race in WI 10 years ago, I saw the aftermath of a racer hit by a deer. he was messed up.
I also had one jump over my head while i was running through a drainage ditch in the middle of a hash. Missed my skull by inches and scared the crap out of me.
Similar scenario for me last year - missed a buck (or rather the buck missed me) by less than a foot. Very scary - happened so fast I didn’t have time to think or react until it was over.
I’ve encountered a few within several feet, but never that close. The only (living) mammal I’ve actually run into is a squirrel, twice. I aim for squirrels.
Re: squirrels — There was a thread several years ago that mentioned an accident that I believe happened in Central Park involving a bike and a squirrel. The little critter ran into the path of the bike and got caught in the spokes of the front wheel. Nothing happened — until the squirrel came around and hit the fork. IIRC, either the squirrel or the fork (or both) broke in half, the rider went airborne and ended up with a very bad case of road rash. Bike was mangled and squirrel was deceased. I see a lot of squirrels but I always try to avoid them.
About the deer, I was riding once with two others. I was a little ahead of them when something caught my eye to my left. Three deer were headed right toward me. I slowed down and they crossed the road in front of me. My buddies behind me thought it was much closer than it was. If I hadn’t seen the deer when I did and slowed, I probably would have gotten t-boned.
