An interesting thing happened on the Holmes group ride this evening. We had just come down Cavalier Hill, crossed the flat, and started up the small hill around the curve on the other side. There were a couple of guys off the front with a slight gap and I was near the front of the group when I caught sight out of the corner of my eye a deer on the opposite shoulder of the road keeping pace with the group. I thought it odd, then perhaps even accelerated slightly as my mind processed what was about to happen. I caught a glimpse of the deer moving in toward the group and then felt it hit my rear wheel. I swerved around a little bit and when I regained control looked back and saw people and bikes sliding across the pavement, and the deer was going into the woods. Bob, Lee, and Mike all went down. Everybody seems to be ok with just road rash. Bob is probably the most beat up with some pretty nasty road rash and a hurt wrist. Bob’s seat was broken, double flatted, and something was wrong with his shifting. He also has a nasty dent in his top tube (we think from his knee). My rear wheel was knocked out of true and was rubbing the stays. Everyone else’s bikes were functioning and they were able to ride in. Many thanks to Chuck M. for coming out and picking us up.
I think I can now say I have been hit by just about everything–dogs, motor vehicles, other bikes, and now deer!!
Riding solo in the oil patch of west texass, going 40+ and aero, coming off a hill. Up ahead about 50 yds, I see two white tail bound across the road. I sat up, knowing there could be more.
Mtn biking in the same area, my buddy and I hit 53 mph on the asphalt, only to crest over a hill slam into a flock of sheep. I maneuvered around them, but my buddy hits one square. No damage to bike/rider/sheep, and then came the cursory farm animal jokes.
Last year I had a deer jump out in front of me from behind a fence row when I was hammering downwind and downgrade (had to be 35 - 40 mph) so close that I swear my front wheel passed through his body. We looked each other in the eye with that “oh shit this is going to hurt look” but somehow we missed.
But the worst deer accident I’ve been around was when a guy looked back to watch the deer, drifted into the guy next to him and took them both down. The guy that was watching the deer was fine but the other poor bastard broke his collar bone. The deer took them out from about 100m away, that is one powerful deer.
I heard this story. I don’t necessarily believe it, but it’s a good story.
I live in the Upstate area of South Carolina. We have a popular ride here leaving from Furman University in Greenville that goes “up the watershed” or “up the Saluda Grade” and climbs to a little North Carolina town called Saluda.
As the story goes, the usual Saturday morning group was descending the Saluda Grade when a buck bounded out of the woods right into the middle of the group. One guy got wiped out and his bike frame got entangled in the bucks antlers. And away went the buck … with this guys bike … into the woods. And there he was, standing in the middle of the road pondering a very long walk home. His bike was never to be seen again.
Strangely, I’ve never come across anyone who was actually on that ride when it allegedly happened. But it’s a funny story.
I’ve never actually hit anything, but here’s a list of things that have come so close that I could have touched them if I felt like dying:
Dogs,
Cats,
Rabbits,
Squirrels,
Chipmunks,
a baby gopher,
Red wing blackbirds,
Pigeons,
Sparrows and finches,
Multiple fox,
Deer on a couple of occasions,
Crow,
Turkey Vulture,
S.U.V.'s,
Massive dragonflies (okay, I’ve hti a couple of those),
Snake,
(ran over a frog once),
Stupid little kids,
and some stupid not so little kids.
Never hit a deer but last year I saw a flash of gray just in from of me. That flash quickly changed diections and when I looked down I caught a glimpse of a squirrel just as I ran it over with my rear wheel. My friend who was riding behind me caught more than a glimpse and nearly wet his pants he was laughing so hard.
I didn’t go back to see if it was OK but seeing as I go about 215lbs I think that squirrel is in the big oak tree in the sky…