So, here I am riding to work, minding my own business, eyes peeled for any danger enjoying a beautiful 60 degree fall day when BAMM! This suicidal deer comes sprinting up from a yard to my left (below the level of the road) and cashes right into my left side. I had just enough time to register a brown blur about three feet to my left before he hit me and apparently just knocked me right the hell off the bike! My swollen right hand suggests that I did not let go easily...
I have this split second image burned in my brain of the bike continuing on down the road on two wheels, without me. I hit, and rolled with my legs straight and my arms tucked into my chest, I don't know how many times, until I came to rest in the road. I did a quick function check and nothing seemed missing so thinking the road was probably a bad place to lie, I sort of scootched myself over a little into the ditch.
As I lay there trying to figure out how badly I was broken, I heard a truck slow down so I stuck my leg up in the air so he could see me......Kept going.....I'm lying there thinking "What a jerk, I can't believe he kept going..... when he eventually came walking back looking for me and found me. As it turns out my trusty steed did exactly what I would have wished it to do had I considered this particularly weird turn of events. It continued on down the road, in a straight line, staying in my lane, until it found a nice soft muddy ditch to lie down in without hurting itself too much. Took the guy awhile to find me cause I was about 100 yards back from where the bike "ditched itself"!
After the initial thought of "Cool, I can feel my toes!", I very carefully clenched, wiggled, and checked everything I could without moving too much and found to my relief that the only thing that seemed to hurt much were my hands. I stayed there however, lying in a wet ditch until the paramedics came and back boarded me and took me off the the hospital just to be on the safe side. Got Xrayed and checked out with a dislocated left pinkie, and a sprained right wrist and assorted bruises and such.
Had a nice talk with a sympathetic cop who arranged to have a buddy pick up the deer and keep it at the town garage so I could keep it. The bike was extracted from the ditch and taken to a garage a couple of hundred yards from where it landed. I stopped to visit it on my way home. Fairing busted up, front fender broken, left saddle bag broken, mirrors poped off (but not broken), and a small dent in the gas tank. Put the key in and it started right up. Havent tried to ride it yet (right hand still not working well, but already can move my fingers well enough to type. Took the deer back to my neighbor who is a butcher, and he's in the freezer now. Had some nice tenderloins last night ;D
Have collision on the bike and I'm hoping they give me some money and I can put it back together myself. I have a mechanic friend who can check it out for safety etc, but to be honest, it don't look too bad. Looks like what it needs right now to be roadworthy is a back left turn signal, and a good hosing off.... ;D
So, right now on a luck scale from 1-10, I'm thinking I'm coming in at about 367 or so. God ( however you define him, her, it, them...) has been VERY, VERY, good to me. So, keep your eyes open, and wear your body armor! I'm very glad I had mine. I think the plastic shoulder caps and back padding really helped. Also the gloves with the skid pads and padding helped too as did the leather chaps. My left ankle is reminding me that next time I ride I should be wearing riding boots rather than hiking boots....
God bless and Be safe!
Happycat
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