I had three deer leap across the road in front of me----in the SUBURBS. Lucky I was going 15 mph. I think we need to encourage hunting. We already have a problem here with feral hogs. Now deer?

Glad your OK, the deer I see here are so used to people they don't even worry about us. They remind me of my cats when they're wondering "and what does that have to do with me?" when I go by.

Oh Deer! Really, man, I'm glad you're (mostly) ok!

Now, I'm reminded of Pat McManus' experience w/a deer and a bicycle...

It was in his book "They Shoot Canoes, Don't They?"

Here's a quote from the chapter "My First Deer, and Welcome to it".

Funny comment from the driver witness. Lol

We just have rattlesnakes to look out for. They can jump up and bite your leg or get caught in your spokes. It's not common though, but they sun themselves in the morning to warm up, often in the bike lanes.

Otherwise we have a lot of bunnies, equally as dumb with the bright light on bikes. I guess you could just always hop over them though . . . (see what I did there?)

that is pretty awesome but it wouldn't have been if you were seriously injured or your bike was hurt or the deer.

On my first group ride ever, a dog ran under my front wheel - knocked me out, broke my collarbone and my hip - bike was ok with a little ding on the saddle. It took two months to walk again, but after I healed, I found a great Korean Cook Book and that dog and I made peace. Now I've moved to the hill country and we have lots of deer, and occasionally a roadrunner will come out and race me (which is really cool, love roadrunners) but what really freaks me out is the thought of a large rattler laying across the road. Never seen one, but it freaks me out just the same.

Hey, alligators are pretty cool too!

I almost had a run in with a buck with a full rack of antlers on him last fall. I was heading home from work on a pitch black trail with my full set of lights up and running with my IPod tuned into CBC news when all of sudden I smelt something really musky and heard a crash immediately behind me. Totally freaked me out.

My Dad tells stories of the days when he worked for my Great Uncle as a mover. One day he's driving the van to make a delivery, when a beagle comes tearing out of the yard, and starts barking its head off at him. He said he had enough warning to say to himself "Get out of the way you Damn dog, before I..." Thump Thump. He stopped, and sure enough it was dead.

He goes up to the house, nobody's home. He goes to the neighbor's house. He said he didn't know what to do, having just killed the dog. The neighbor asked "You sure it's dead??? Wanna Beer?"

Every time I see a beagle I think about that story.

Glad you're OK, my wife and I have had deer jump out in front of us biking through Millennium Park...but nothing ever that close!

I've hit two.. First one nothing hurt but my pride, second one was a new bike and a surgical shoulder reconstruction. Peril of my 2:00 am commute.

Glad you're OK.

Glad you're okay. Your story and that video posted in this thread does give me pause. I ride in an area with a lot of wildlife. I've had wild turkeys, bears, deer and even moose cross the road in front of me on rides. The thought of nailing any one of them is not something I would want to have happen. Especially since it's a hilly area with some fast, steep, tree lined descents.

I'll learn to enhance my peripheral vision on my rides.

I almost got hit by a turkey who decided to fly down out of a tree just as I passed by, on a down hill that i routinely see 30 mph, Scared the crap out of me.

anyone ever run over a snake? I saw what looked like a baby garden snake on the trail the other day, I think I just missed it...if not I might have clipped 1 cm of the poor guy's tail.

yeah, ran over a green snake one, early in the morn on the katy trail, he wiggled off seemingly unharmed.

Be careful, you never know what they will do. The deer was stunned a bit, but did run away from my vantage point on the ground. Those suckers are tough. You would think that a direct hit at 25 mph with 220 lbs. (me and the bike) would do some damage, but it seemed alright. When thinking back, I can still feel the texture of the fur on my face from the impact. I ride with my light on the bright setting directly in the middle of the road now just to be safe. I used to live in Colorado and routinely hit speeds over 50 mph in the mountains. I'm glad I never hit one there. It's tough enough dodging cars, let alone wildlife. Be safe.

[QUOTE=bengreen79;13293687]In case you didn't see this - similar thing happened in WI about a week ago:

[T/QUOTE]

That's an amazing video. Thanks for posting. Glad he was alright.

Hey Marc. I was out riding on Patterson Rd yesterday afternoon, by Yankee Springs, and 2 more ran out in front of me. Luckily, they were far enough ahead not to do any damage. They are everywhere.

I thought it was weird that a squirrel bounced off my front wheel today, but deer definitely trumps squirrel. What's with all these suicidal animals?

Wow! Crazy story and crazy video! When I used to be a hardcore mountain biker in Georgia I remember bombing down a downhill section at a favorite riding spot. The downhill came to an end at a T-intersection. I slowed down and started cranking up a steady uphill after leaving the T-intersection. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something reddish brown and just bounding along next to me. I distinctly remember thinking, "Man that's a big #%*&ing dog!", followed by nearly crapping myself when this deer bounds across the path just a few feet in front of my bike.

I often have grasshoppers jumping through my wheelbase, front wheel, and rear wheel. Sometimes they hit my leg... But deer trumps grasshoppers, by a longshot.

Another Deer vs. Biker video, care of youtube:

wow

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