Just Numbers

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I almost hit another deer on the LVRT last night. I rang my bell at the last second, but she jumped towards me instead of away.

Never a dull moment on the bike trail.

Last night: 15 miles
October: 134 miles
2007: 1045 miles

2 thoughts on “Just Numbers

  1. George McNally

    I was damn near disemboweled a couple years ago riding down at Lake Redman.

    I was going at least 20 mph down a trail when a large buck ran right out in front of me.

    Never saw it until it was right in front of me and never touched the brakes. I did however nearly soil myself.

  2. tim

    I often ride through a park on racing bike and can manage to circumnavigate the deer on the road without slowing so much. I attached a bell this summer in the run-up to the PBP and thought to give it a try once when I came upon a doe and fawn standing in the middle of the road. This seemed like an excellent opportunity to test its efficacy as a deer retardant.

    “Ding Ding!” The alarmed doe and fawn bolted, splitting at the yellow line. The doe jumped to the right and the fawn to the left. The fawn reached the road edge and decided to try to rejoin Mamma as I came whirring up at 25+ MPH. I hit the brakes as the fawn crossed me, my rear wheel skidding and fishtailing around before I could let go of the lever. The rump of the fawn passed close enough for me to spank it, and if I had the presence of mind, I would have done so! I remained upright and pedaled on, regaining some lost composure as the next hill preoccupied me.

    So, I have to say that from my experience, it’s better to not ding a bell at deer in order to keep them calm and their behavior somewhat predictable. Maybe to ding from a longer way off? This, to test…

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