Cautionary Message

[quint41]

Just heard from a cycling friend of mine. Her husband went out for his morning ride the other day and HIT A DEER! He was sailing down a hill, looking at the road ahead and didn't even see it leap out in front of him. He crashed and found himself laying in the street. When he looked up, he saw the deer also laying in the street. It got up and staggered away. He called home (thank God he had his cell phone) and asked his wife to call 911. His helmet was cracked right down the middle and the back was completely bashed in. He must have flipped right over the deer and landed on his back, because the entire back side of him was roadburned and cut open, banged up, etc. The EMT's put him on the board and took him to the hospital, and it's amazing that he didn't break anything, but his butt and back, arms, legs, all cut open and scabbed.

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE -- LOOK AHEAD -- IF YOU'RE RIDING ALONE, MAKE SOME NOISE ONCE IN A WHILE -- AND FOR GOD'S SAKE WEAR YOUR HELMET AND GLOVES!!!

[Bikingmomof3]

Thank you for the warning. I forget about deer. Thank goodness your friend's husband was not hurt worse. Another excellent reason to have a cell phone on you at all times.

[pooks]

Wow. That's amazing. I'm glad he's okay.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I keep thinking about this when I ride, because we have JILLIONS of deer here, and I've hit them twice with my car at low speeds. (actually, they hit ME....one leaped across the road and landed on my hood and windshield, the other smashed into the side of my car and caused major damage. Poor things.
Watch out for deer on your bikes!

[Crankin]

I have had 2 deer jump across the road in front of me, while riding. It seems like a movie when it is happening! We also have a flock of wild turkeys that live in my neighborhood and they don't move too fast when you are coming down a hill!

[Xrayted]

Yowza! :eek: We have deer all over where I live and ride and it's funny that I never considered that I might hit one with the bike. I've hit one with my car years ago (totalled) and have had a few close calls since. I'm so glad he's gonna be o.k. That could have been really devastating. Send him my well wishes, please.

Cindy

[Denise223]

That is soooooooo scary..... I'm happy to hear that your friend's husband wasn't hurt worse -- Sending many healing thoughts & prayers his way.

About a month ago, my husband and I were riding in a countryish, woodsy area. I was ?? approximately 1/8 - 1/16th mile behind him, when I noticed a deer passing right in front of my him , (right to left). (The deer was about 1/2 football field (?) in front of him)...

He didn't even notice the deer because he was looking in his mirror trying to see where I was --- IT HAPPENED SO QUICKLY!

Quint41 Just as you posted -->
MAKE SOME NOISE ONCE IN A WHILE

I always get very sad when I see deer (and other wild animals) in city/towns, walking on pavement. This WAS their home at one time.....it's just the way it is, I know. Still, it makes me sad!

Have a peaceful evening,

Denise

[latelatebloomer]

A VERY good cautionary message, thanks. To DH's annoyance, I don't ever bomb down hills around our neck of the woods. I have had a herd of 10 deer leap across the road in front of me, and a big flock of wild turkeys that took so long crossing that I dismounted and stretched. Also, snakes. All creatures seemed thoroughly bewildered to see that some humans have wheels. Momma never mentioned them!

[emily_in_nc]

Oh my, that's awful, but I can certainly see how it happens. We live in a rural area full of deer, and two deer tore out in front of my husband riding a couple of summers ago. He missed one of them by just a couple of feet. I was riding a few bike lengths behind him and saw the whole thing play out. It happened SO fast, and my heart was leaping out of my chest, but there wasn't a thing I could do. And this was on the flats, not even a descent. Sometimes things just happen.

Hope your friend's husband recovers quickly!

Emily

[xeney]

Yikes. I have had to stop and wait for deer and wild turkeys to get out of the way, but the thing I worry about the most is squirrels. Although my husband hit one once and didn't realize it until I told him.

[quint41]

I never considered the turkeys. We have them, too. They don't have a clue about roads and traffic. I stopped traffic on a local road once because a mother turkey with her babies behind stepped right out into the street in front of my car. She didn't care. I also saw a male turkey entertaining a female with a lovely dance right in the middle of an intersection. Traffic whizzing by. I would not want a turkey to step in front of my bike.

This guy who hit the deer told his wife once that if a squirrel runs in front of the bike, just run it over, you'll never feel it. (Not that he's an animal hater, but it's the safer choice than potentially crashing your bike.) Of course, she's having trouble with that idea, but you just proved that he's right!!

[newfsmith]

Right after being hit by cars, hitting a deer is one of my big worries about my commute. I regularly see as many as 20 deer a day on my spring and fall commutes. Fortunately, most of the places I have seen them crossing the road have fair sightlines, but there are a couple downhills that have sharp curves that are a concern both for deer and oncoming cars crossing the centerline. My closest wildlife collision was a turkey that flew across the road about 10 yards in front of me. He dropped out of a roost spot that I hadn't noticed. Visual field full of turkey is quite startling.

[xeney]

Someone we know did go over the handlebars after hitting a squirrel on the bike trail, but I don't know if he tried to brake or what. (When my husband hit one, he wasn't even looking, he was looking back at me.)

[Lise]

A friend of mine got kicked in the head by a deer. He was out riding, deer leapt across the path right in front of him, and the last one whacked my friend in the face with his hoof. Knocked him out and broke his eye socket. He's recovered fine, but imagine...one cm the other way... :eek:

Give me the crazy drivers and psycho chihuahuas of the city any day!

[pooks]

Also, snakes.

I suppose if you ran over a snake it would probably flip you?

Ever since I saw that pic of a rattlesnake crossing the highway that MTNKITCHN (I think that's right) posted in the "what you don't ever leave behind" thread (because she never leaves her camera behind -- I believe she probably does leave the rattlesnakes behind) -- I've wondered about snakes in the road and if they'd just be a "bump" or if you'd go flying. Probably depends on the size of the snake.

I don't want to find out.

[xeney]

I've run over two snakes. You don't even feel them.

[pooks]

That's a relief. I guess they were probably small snakes, though?

[emily_in_nc]

What about a boa constrictor? That might send you flying! :D

[Kitsune06]

I'm guessing if you unweighted your front wheel, you'd almost not feel 'em. But it'd certainly feel you, so go *fast!*

Deer. Grr. Growing up in WI and learning to drive with that sort of "Is that a little reflector on a mailbox or a deer?!" paranoia as soon as it started getting a little dark (or in the spring... or the fall... or all summer...) and having to stop on rural roads and counting 5-10 of them cross in front of my little car, after not seeing a SINGLE one while out hunting... I don't feel too bad for them when they're in those midwestern states where they breed like rabbits and just wander from corn field to corn field... (or soybeans, or alfalfa, or...) but I do feel for them when in the 'new' suburban communities (like the ones called "Oak Grove" etc where the actual oak grove was bulldozed to pop up about fifty houses that all look alike?) and they seem so lost, because just last year that was a decent habitat...

Turkeys are SOLID and I would NOT want to hit one. All the same, they're also more wary than deer tend to be.

...squirrels are suicidal.

[Lise]

...squirrels are suicidal.
I know. I saw one come out from under a car the other day, pause, and decide to turn around rather than run out in front of me. I most certainly would have hit him had he not decided to turn back. What an ignomious death that would have been. For me. I would have ricocheted off his furry little body and been flung into traffic. No doubt he would've shaken it off and run in some other direction. :cool: