BikeArkansas

This morning I was riding with a group from my club. I was 3rd from back in a line of 8 riders when a deer crossed the road barely missing the riders in front of me. A Chevy Tahoe was meeting us and the deer ran into that vehicle. The deer flew into the air and landed on the asphalt and my front wheel. I did an immediate end over end.

I landed on my head and rolled forward, I think I tumbled twice, on the asphalt, and then down a grass ditch. I was able to get up with some help, but was not stable.

The deer was dead immediately.

A friend of mine did hit my bike and had a small crash. He and his bike are OK.

My fork broke in half. The fork is an Edge carbon fiber. Snapped in half. Many other things are damaged, but I have not felt like doing a complete assessment. I do that my brand new KSYRIUM SL front wheel is dead.

My helmet is cracked several places. My neck, back and head are all hurting. My left hand is pretty bad. My right leg is quite sore. However, I survived quite well, considering all.

Speed? Not sure. Would guess 17 MPH.

The one thing going through my mind is how I could have avoided this. Not often have I seen a deer hurling through the air at me when on a bike. New experience. It was just my time for a major crash.

badamsjr

Sorry to hear about your mishap. I can sympathize--I had one in 2005 that left me off work for three months--collarbone, glenoid neck, shoulderblade, a couple broken ribs that punctured my left lung. It sucks to hurt, but sucks even more not to be able to ride!

hikeandbike

Glad you came through it. The deer are running all over. Can't be too careful. That being said, I can't imagine what you could have done to avoid it. Hope you mend quickly.

Don in Austin

The good news -- to the extent that there is any -- is that your "helmet was cracked in several places." Without the helmet "cracked in several places" would have been in reference to your skull.

Don in Austin

Kurt Erlenbach

Tough break, BA. On the other hand, you now have a great cycling story.

Dan Burkhart 

Wow, glad to hear you're OK. As for what you could have done? You could have slept through the alarm clock and not gone riding. Those things just happen too fast to respond to.

Beverly

Glad you're okay.

What an accident. I don't think there was anyway to avoid it.

Bionicycle

Wow... I see Deer on the local M.u.p. all the time; I guess I better watch them a little closer from now on, less they run out in front of me... As everyone else has said; glad you were able to at least walk (stagger) away from the crash.

The Deer in our area are getting to almost petulance levels. Deer hunting is quite popular in this area (my wife and I both hunt), but the Deer population is just growing faster than the hunters can keep it under control. I would dare say everyone I know, has either hit a Deer with their car, or had a very close call in the last five years. One friend of mine just hit one with her brand new Toyota Prius (less than one week old) just two days ago. She's now thinking about taking up hunting

Anyway glad to hear you didn't get injured too bad... It seems like auto insurance companies would start promoting Deer hunting in some areas, look at the money it would save them a year.

DnvrFox

Gotta say this - get yourself checked out ASAP by an ER or whatever. You may have sustained injuries that have not yet shown up.

doctor j

BikeArkansas, I'm sorry to hear about this accident, the damage to you, and the damage to your bike, and I'm glad you're in good enough shape to report on it. Heal quickly!

Mojo Slim

Mend quickly.

Bud Bent

Wow, that sounds scary. Glad you weren't hurt worse. Heal well.

BengeBoy 

Take care, I hope you listen to your body carefully over the next few days and go back to the hospital for a thorough assessment if you have any warning signs of a concussion.

Glad you are not hurt worse; sounds like there is nothing you could have done.

Also, am sure you will have an expert shop look over your frame carefully for hidden damage as well.

OK, now that the serious stuff is out of the way, two more questions:

- who got the deer?
- and, what's for supper?

Bare Feet

Ouch! Hope you get all the TLC you need as you recover.

Terex

As Donnie Gay would say - "And he survived!"

Glad to hear you're relatively OK.

My son and I were riding in my Mazda Miata convertible today when we came up to a large buck on the side of the road. My son wanted to take a picture, so I stopped the car, and the buck squared off with the Miata. I tooted the horn. The buck snorted. I popped up the headlights, and he lowered his head. Seriously. I started to back up, and he decided to run into the woods. My son and I were laughing our butts off.

roccobike

I haven't seen any "Beware Of Flying Deer" signs, so I don't think this is something you could have anticipated. Glad to hear you came through it. End overs can have serious side effects. Been there, done that, it wasn't fun.
As for your wheel. It may not be a total loss. Talk to your LBS. They may be able to send it directly to Mavic who may be able to rebuild it. It will still cost, but not quite as much.

JanMM

Wow! Glad to hear you're 'merely' banged up and sore. Be sure to get anything that seems not right checked out.
That deer have insurance that will cover your costs?

I hit a deer in a car a few months ago while vacationing in NH - came out of nowhere. That deer didn't have insurance so my insurance had to pay to fix our car.

A few weeks later on a club ride in rural Central Indiana, I was on a road with cornfields on both sides - there was a rustling to my right and then a deer burst out and ran right across the road and ducked into the other cornfield. He crossed about 20 feet in front of me - freaked me out a bit.

Report back with a damage report for the bike.

LAriverRat

That dear thought it was a squirrel. Happens to them all the time. Hope you mend without any lasting damage.

stapfam

I live near "Ashdown Forest" where plenty of deer live. One of the ancient "Royal" Parks where hunting was strictly controlled and only for the "Gentry". Poaching was strictly controlled with severe punishment if you were caught.

Some of those Poaching laws still exist today and it is a peculiar thing that with all these "Wild" animals roaming about- there are bound to be accidents. One of the quirks is that if you kill a Deer- pheasnt- hare or other game animal with your car- you cannot take it away for your larder. As you are not "Gentry" and entitled to kill it- if you kill it and remove it- Then you are poaching.

So a Deer has just wrecked your car by jumping out in front of it and you can't eat it. However- the next person along can take it. In your case- The car killed the deer and then threw it at you. So by British law- you can pick it up and take it home and put it in the freezer. Except how will you get it home on a bike that is busted?

Sorry about the accident but I think it can be classed as not your fault. All you can do is pick up the bill for a broken bike and take up hunting to save anothe bike and rider from getting damaged.

BikeArkansas

UPDATE ON THE ACCIDENT: I spoke with my friend that was riding behind me. He also crashed when his bike ran over my bike. He said he did not see my tumble down the asphalt as he was flying down the ditch. However, he did see the deer hit my bike.

The update is that the deer did not land in front of me. My friend said the deer was flying through the air in a motion like a helicopter blade. When it hit me it was still airborne and simply took my bike from under me. That blow is what snapped my front fork and crumpled my wheel. He said when I went airborne down the asphalt his bike ran over mine. He said he then went airborne, but he landed on his back, still attached to his bike, in the grassy ditch. He slid some down the ditch and came to a halt. A problem he had was that he was still attached to his bike along with his bike being tagled with mine. He said he then saw me laying at the bottom of the ditch. He said he also saw the deer several feet away behind us in the ditch.

One of my friend's comments was that he was upset this happened to me, but was glad it was me and not one of the women riding in our group. I am 6'2" tall and weight about 230 pounds. He said if it had hit one of the women, all of whom are much smaller and ride smaller bikes, it would have been a lot worse. There is always a bright side.

As I am writing this sitting at my desk I am feeling much worse than right after the accident, but there still does seem to be no broken bones. My sight is clear. It just hurts in a lot of places. I am very lucky.

Thanks for all the comments. This has been such a "different" experience for me. Your comments and humor are very welcome.

buelito

glad things are looking up. Deer are a problem everywhere-- I am in Northern Virginia and ride a MUP into Washington DC regularly (commuting)--This timeoof year it is in the dark. I have had several 'close calls'--meaning deer passing within 30 feet or so. Once I couldn't see it, but I could smell it. Very gamey smell. Never did see the deer-- it was probably ust out of the view of my headlight. I always slow down when I see a deer because often as not there is more than one, and they are totally unpredeictable.

Mend well and see if your home owners insurance will cover the cost of repair--

train safe-

BluesDawg

That is not your every day ride report. Wow! Glad to hear that it did not turn out worse than it did. Heal well and get yourself checked out to make sure there are not injuries you don't see.

cyanemi

Glad to hear you are not too badly injured. I see many deer every day at 4:45A.M. and at dusk. I like to think I have some ability to spot them, however yesterday I saw a deer coming through some sparse woods headed towards the road and was able to avoid it. Had she been in dense woods she would have popped out right in front of me and there would have been no way to avoid it.

John E

Get well soon.

I realize the snapped fork was a result of your collision, rather than a cause, but those of you who ride carbon fiber forks should inspect them frequently for small scratches and cracks, because I know of cases in which fork failure caused a crash.

cccorlew

Holy smokes. Heal well.
Time to go bike shopping!