What have you AVOIDED hitting?

[wiggydotcom]

Years ago, I was returning home from Wisconsin. I was coming through Huntley, Illinois, near the border, and was following a black GMC pickup truck, doing about 45 mph. It was right around dusk.
We approached one of those temporary passing lanes when I noticed the car ahead of him take the right hand temporary lane. The truck ahead of me followed suit, so I did the same-not knowing why.

The reason showed itself. There in the road, laying sideways, was about a 250lb doe that had been hit and killed. Now there are many times I look off to the sides, at scenery or whathaveyou, but I'm
just glad that seconds before, I was paying attention to what was in front of me.

I'm not sure I could have navigated over an animal of that size. I think I would have become a human pole vault, for the second time.   Sometimes it's just not your time to go.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

First time I met Carl ( Willow ) at InZane 2 or 3  ???  in Kentucky he had hit a road kill deer on the super slab at speed on the way to the event. Watched my ridin' bud Lucky 13 go down on Cherohala Skyline ....I was right behind him 

[eric in md]

First time I met Carl ( Willow ) at InZane 2 or 3  ???  in Kentucky he had hit a road kill deer on the super slab at speed on the way to the event. Watched my ridin' bud Lucky 13 go down on Cherohala Skyline ....I was right behind him 

see he anit scared.... that really was my favorite bike though . gorden is one tuff dude .

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

First time I met Carl ( Willow ) at InZane 2 or 3  ???  in Kentucky he had hit a road kill deer on the super slab at speed on the way to the event. Watched my ridin' bud Lucky 13 go down on Cherohala Skyline ....I was right behind him 

 

see he anit scared.... that really was my favorite bike though . gorden is one tuff dude .

He loved that bike....On our ride last weekend I made the comment about his blue/silver being a sharp bike he said " I wish it was black " .

[Jess Tolbirt]

it doesnt look like he avoided it!!

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

I met a flatbed truck on a blind left hand turn which had a log chain dragging and sparking behind it. Just had enough room to get around it as it swing into my lane like a skier behind a boat.

Had two bales of straw fall into my lane from a pickup when meeting it on another left hand turn.

The first time I rode the dragons tail a pickup pulling a boat crossed all the way into and over our lane. I was uncomfortable for some reason and had motioned my son to pull over with me on the shoulder pull off. Just a few seconds after we did the pickup and boat careened around the corner towards us. It crossed our lane and came close to hitting us on the shoulder.

[Hook#3287]

Riding up in Vermont with a group of about 10 bikes, I was riding tail.  We were going down a secondary road around a small bend to the right and a young kid, in a pick up, with a very fresh license (I think the ink was still wet) came around from the other way, going WAY to fast.  He saw us, freaked out, hit the soft shoulder on his side just as he hit the brakes.  He lost control, went up the bank, came back down, flipped the truck, crossed the road to the other side, just about 5 feet from the back of my bike.

I remember looking in my mirror and seeing a bumper going east to west upside down.

If I had hit the brakes, he would have taken me out.  So, technically, I didn't AVOID him.

He got out off the truck, said "My Dad is gonna kill me" and started running back the way he came.

We stopped him.

Apparently, he was late returning a video.

When Dad showed up, he didn't kill him and was more worried about his boy, than his truck.

[RiderNJ]

On the way to the Hoot from NJ, a buddy and I were cruising down I81...   after @ 4 hours of reading billboards and bumperstickers and cruising @ 75-80 mph,  we got caught in some traffic for a stretch in VA.   Up ahead was a large stake body truck in the left lane ahead of us with a few cars in between.   A few minutes of this and  the eyes are checking mirrors, looking at cars ahead and to the right,  some hand signals to my buddy and then back up.   Wait...  something is different.   Took a few seconds and then another hand signal to my buddy to get out of left lane and over to the right.   The rear door of the truck had rolled up and we could see the boxes and hand cart inside bouncing around.   No sooner do we find a spot in the right lane and the stuff is tumbling out onto the road.   We were able to avoid it,  but a car and tractor trailer following were not.  
That would have made for a nasty and quick end  to our trip.  

I like to think I am an alert rider,  but never hurts to have a little luck on your side too.

[..]

So many things THAT WERE ON MY SIDE OF THE ROAD

Police car - two different occasions
Ambulance
Fire engine
2 White horses - at night
Herd of cows - at night
Parrafin road lantern - at night
Various motorised vehicles of all shapes and sizes
Various motorbikes
Various bicyclists
Various animals of all presuasions, feathered, cloven hoofed, scaly, hoofed, furry, bristly, pointy sharp ones, shelled, leathery, horned - you get the idea
Various inanimate objects - too many to list
Various pedestrians wandeing aimlessly
Various parts of trees
Various trees
Various parts of geological formations
Water in many different states, liquid, frozen

Makes me feel quite nauseous. I need to renew my "Nine Lives" certificate.  

[Jess from VA]

Everything I can. 

[Black Dog]

Years ago, on my '77 Wing...  Headed home from work on HWY 41/45, about dusk.  Pickup Truck, maybe 6 - 8 car lengths ahead of me drops the spare tire from its mount under the bed...  Tire is sliding like a Hockey Puck for a few hundred feet, allowing me to swing to the far left and get around it...  Just as I clear it, it caught an edge, and begins bouncing like a football, end over end...

I was lucky, but judging by the chaotic scramble of headlights behind me, and the subsequent lack of traffic, I'm thinkin' a buncha cars weren’t so lucky.

Black Dog

[hubcapsc]

So many things THAT WERE ON MY SIDE OF THE ROAD

Police car - two different occasions
Ambulance
Fire engine
2 White horses - at night
Herd of cows - at night
Parrafin road lantern - at night
Various motorised vehicles of all shapes and sizes
Various motorbikes
Various bicyclists
Various animals of all presuasions, feathered, cloven hoofed, scaly, hoofed, furry, bristly, pointy sharp ones, shelled, leathery, horned - you get the idea
Various inanimate objects - too many to list
Various pedestrians wandeing aimlessly
Various parts of trees
Various trees
Various parts of geological formations
Water in many different states, liquid, frozen

Makes me feel quite nauseous. I need to renew my "Nine Lives" certificate.  

I remember when I met everyone at Maggie Valley, y'all were waiting on me... about a mile out of
town a Harley rider went haywire and all of a sudden  I was playing chicken with him... he passed me
on my right... when I showed up at the parking lot where everyone was waiting my heart was still
beating kind of fast... Britman almost nodded off while I was telling the story, no wonder 

-Mike

[Hef]

Like Britman, I had a lot of obstacles to dodge while riding. The scariest thing I encountered was a  flying mattress. I was riding on an interstate hwy and going about 70. I came on a pickup loaded to the max. The very top item was a mattress. Looked like it was strapped down pretty good. Ad i moved to the left lane to pass the truck, I saw the strap holding the mattress snap and here it came. Instead of going straight back behind the truck, it went to the left directly in my path. When it hit the road I had no idea where it would go so made a guess and moved quickly to shoulder as the matress slid by me probably less than a foot away. Said thank you Lord and continued on my journey.
 

[sheets]

Early one morning, just past day break, came around a corner on Trinity 299, 2up, doing about 45 mph. Vertical rock bluff on the right with guardrail (1000 ft drop to the river gorge below) to my left for about ½ mile.  Entering the bluffs I was anticipating reacting to rocks in the road.  Soon as I rounded a somewhat blind point of the bluff I encountered 6 BIG mules scattered across both lanes.  Gradually braking while zigzagging between the mules, trying to reach daylight at the other end of the herd, the sights and sounds etched in my memory are that of mule #3 standing crosswise on the center-line staring at me with an eyeball as big as a soft ball as I scooted under his nose… all the while hearing the wife-unit screaming... from inside her full face helmet.  I think the mules were equally startled as I.  Fortunately they didn’t flinch an inch while I sliced my way through the pack.

Made my heart skip a beat.  

[Michvalk]

In '75 me and a friend were following a pickup hauling a 5th wheel. He was traveling pretty slow, and we were crowded up behind him on a hill to pass on the other side of the hill. I realized that all of a sudden that I was looking at the underside of the trailer, and swerved to the left, as my buddy swerved to the right. Fortunately, no one was comming from the other way. The truck skidded to a stop, and the old man driving leaped out from the truck, hollering for his wife. Turned out, she was in the trailer, filling out postcards to send out at the next campground. She was sitting in the middle of the trailer in the booth, and all the contents of the cupboards piled up on either side of her. The canned goods and dishes in the overhead cupboards had come through the ends of the cupboards. She was unhurt, no problems for us. Bent the trailer up real good,but, he was able to hook up to the trailer and move it off the road. If that had happened to me in this day and age, the amount of traffic we have now, the outcome would have been different. I don't follow as close anymore

[Jess from VA]

The two most important things to miss are radar/lidar and dead skunks.  (And I am not implying any comparison of the two..... other than both should be missed if at all possible )

My worst heart attack was riding up I-95 in a monsoon in heavy traffic at 75mph in the slow lane (still 75) 80 feet behind a tractor trailer with very little visibility.  Suddenly I see a huge tangle of the metal tie straps used by trucks to secure their loads, maybe 15" high and five feet wide right in front of me.  No time to swerve and an inch of water on the roadway discouraging any heroic maneuvers, better to hit it straight than crooked (maybe 1.5 seconds to react).  So I cut the throttle and lifted my legs up in the air and held on tight, and blew thru and over it.  Nothing caught and no cut tires, lucky is all there was to it.  Glad my bowels were already empty.  Probably came off the back of a flatbed.

[Momz]

A cop.

I was pulled over and given a ticket by a junior officer that said he got me on radar, more than a mile and a quarter from where he stopped me. (a known speed trap)

But I had just turned the corner out of my subdivision (less than 650 feet).

The kicker is that the local police tell you that you are not allowed to fight the traffic tickets. (OK, we'll see about that!)

Making a long story short, I went to court 3 times (same ticket) and the cop could not show up all three times due to his being on disiplinary leave. Finally dismissed, but had to pay court costs!

[WarrenK]

I was riding with my brother in law on US 550 (otherwise known as the Million Dollar Highway) north of Durango, Colorado.  We were on a stretch where there was no shoulder at all.  There was a sheer rock wall along the opposite lane, and a long drop off on our lane.  As we round the corner, (double yellow line) there is a large motorhome in the oncoming lane, and a woman in a small sedan oncoming in OUR lane!    Talk about no place to go!
   Lucky for us, there was just enough room for us to stop, and for her to slow down and get back behind the motorhome. Hate to think about the outcome if we met with less distance to react.  As she passed us, she smiled and waved.  Needless to say, we did NOT share her cheerful attitude.  We stopped when we could, considered our options (LIKE TURNING AROUND)  and decided it was not worth it. It would be a shame if she was late for her appointment! There seems to be no limit on stupid driving (or stupid in general)!     

[alph]

four times.

first, i was riding down a country road, when out of the blue a kid on a bicyle comes flying down a dirt driveway onto the road.  i swerved into the on coming lane, and missed the kid by about a foot.  turned around and told his grandfather that was watching him for the day.  i told grandpa that had i been a truck, that boy would have been dead.  grandpa probably made him wish he was......

second, and third, when on a ride with NITRO, a dog ran out in front of me, then on a different ride a deer jumped out infront of me than ran down the middle of the road infront of me!!  (stupid animal)

and fourth, while on a ride in North Carolina, a wild boar comes strolling out of the woods on my left, trots out and gets between me and another rider.  i missed it by about a foot.  that pig was so close it actually spun around and tried to nip at my leg!!  while it did it fell over then quickly got up and ran into the woods on the right.  worse part was that the roads were wet from the rain, thankfully made it without any contact.

[Fritz The Cat]

Box turtle

Alligator

Love seat

Assorted junk

I did run over a kitty cat once. No way tgo avoid it, the car in frint of me straddled it bit I didn't see it in time to avoid squishing it. Made me sad the rest of the day. 

[DFragn]

Just last week I "avoided" a Grey Wolf in Northern McHenry County Illinois.
He came left to right in a slight curve. I was @ 55mph 2-lane.
I swear he locked eyes with me and was snarling, honest to goodness/badness.
He passed about 5' or so behind me.
If Joanne had been with me in the #2 spot they would have taken each other out.

Damn sure wish I had had the video cam running.

And I'm sure he was at least 140# worth of flesh & teeth.
Also certain it wasn't a Coyote.

[Mr Bojangles]

   Got off work at 06:30 DFW airport. Made my way to Loop 635 east bound, traffic light and running about 70 mph. Following a tractor/trailer, maybe 100yrds ahead. He ran-over a sheet of plywood maybe 4'x4' when he did it flipped /flew into the air, about 6' high! Missed it by shear luck!!  All I could do is DUCK!!  Scared the $H*T out of me.
   Same  road, about 13 years before, westbound 17:00 riding a Honda cb750F , car in front of me quickly changed lanes right (left center, of four lane) all I had time to do is tighten-up, before hitting an aluminum ladder. Messed me up pretty bad. That is why I didn't ride for almost ten years. Still hurts alot.
                                                    BoJangles

[DirtyDan]

1000 words



dan

[Psychotic Bovine]

My wife and I were heading to the last Inzane up in Michigan at 5am.  We ended up in a severe thunderstorm that went from Auburn Indiana to a few miles south of the Michigan state line.   I didn't slow down, knowing that increased forward speed tends to help deal with cross winds.
Anyway, about 15 minutes into this storm we got hit by a massive gust of wind, I am guessing about a 50mph cross wind.  We were in the left lane of the interstate and it blew us onto the dotted center line.  A second later I saw a large dear carcass pass my left footpeg.  I didn't see it until it was revealed by the side splash of my driving lights.  1st lesson: avoid thunderstorms.  
When we stopped for gas, my wife said the storm was totally awesome.  I would agree, it was intense.  But, still thinking "what if" I had hit that deer at my 70 mph speed....

[R J]

When I was an LEO on the motor, I was cruising Bayshore Blvd South of San Francisco, where the Giants ball park is now.    Usual traffic, not light but not too heavy either.     

Was about 40 ft behind a truck.    A car went past me on the right about 80, Bayshore was 55 then.   I pulled over and flipped the red/blues on and a ladder came off the truck.   Landed right in front of me and straight like you would climb it.    It was sliding, I'm running about 65 to 70 then, didn't have time to avoid it, so I centered up and run up the steps.  I let the speeder get away as I needed to make a quick pit stop.

Going to Sturgis one year on my Chevy Trike, was coming up from the South of where the Corn Palace is and a fox run in front of me, he locked up his brakes and did a 'U' turn.   That cost him his life as the front wheel missed him the 4 link linkage on the rear end got him.   There was a thump, a small rise on the left side, and the Chevy set down, looked in the mirror and the fox was doing a bunch of 360 before he stopped, only way he got up was by the Highway Commission employees shovel.

When I was really a young pup, I'd had my drivers license for a short time, less than a year, I had a date with a girl in a town about 12 miles South of me.  Asked my step-date if I could have the car for a date.   He said yes, I expected to take his old 37 Pontiac work car, but he gave me our almost new 49 Ford.  Coming home, it was pitch black, and if I didn't hustle I'd get home after my curfew time, so I was hitting the go pedal pretty hard.     Next thing I hear is a thump and a hog squeal.   Got out with the flashlight and saw this old sow laying in under the car at about the right floorboard.  Right front tire about 18" off the ground still spinning.  Farm house right across the road heard the noise and came to investigate.    By the way it was one of his hogs.    I was a petrified kid, he said we need to call the Sheriff and your family.  I said ok, he asked me the folks #, told him he called and mom answered.   She went berserk on the phone, my step-dad came on the line and the 1st question he asked was if I or my girlfriend were hurt.   Farmer asked how my girl friend was, told him she was home, then he said are you hurt, told him no, he asked the guy to call the Sheriff and he'd be there in about 20 to 30 minutes.

Wrecker came out, looked over the situation and decided to raise the front end. Got the car in the air and about 4 or 5 farmers were going to pull the carcass out.  The 1st one to touch almost knocked the rest of them  down and the old sow was alive and she was gettin out of there.   She lost all the hide off of her right side, but she could still put em up and down moving toward the pen she belonged in.

Insurance company totaled the car, step dad bought it back and him and his brother took it apart, replaced parts, primered it and shot paint.    They drove the damn thing till I got out of Korea the last time, that was 1952, I bought it for $50.00 and drove it for 3 years, then got a 50 Mercury.

[Valkahuna]

Fortunately I've missed most of what came toward me.

I had just typed this long response of two things that darn near killed me, and somehow hit the wrong button and it was gone. So... I am not going through that again.

What I'll say is that both cases I was saved by trusting my feelings, anticipating what could happen, avoiding "target fixation" by looking where I wanted to go, and not at what I wanted to miss. In both of the cases, I managed to be safe. I have come to believe that many so called accidents can be prevented when you pay attention and act correctly. No, we are not invincible, and bad stuff happens to bikers all the time, but if you drive defensively, you have a much better chance.

[cookiedough]

On cycle coming home at night from work after midnight, missed within a foot or so a few racoons, opossums (dumb things don't move), and had a nice sized deer cross in front of me booking about 20 feet in front of me at dusk-glad I missed that one and was glad I was driving pretty slow at 50 mph since that area is deer ridden all the time.

In cars, have hit a german shepard head on going 60 mph doing 3 grand in damage taking out my radiator, etc. and also a yearling deer nipped his backend with my truck bumper probably lived and could not avoid about 5 racoons at night and hit 2 of them dead on with the car tires - oohhh, what a crunch that was!

[fudgie]

The wife. 

[YoungPUP]

Missed a squirrel on the valk. The rabbit wasn't so lucky, and made a hell of a noise on the way through the front fender. 
Cars:  Numerous deer, a fresh road gator(still rolling) A farm duck,

[Fudd]

This one is really kinda funny, and it happened a couple of weeks ago.  But there's a catch...I did hit it.

I was following a pickup that was moving at a nice clip the other night on a curvey road.  We were about half way through big sweeping turn when something big and ghostly lifted up out of his truck bed.  The object floated in place for a few seconds and then came out the back right at me.  It wrapped around my windshield and extended on both sides past my saddlebags.  Scared the living crap out of me.

Turned out to be a sheet of white plastic about the thickness of what clothes come back from the dry cleaners in.  I felt like I had hit a ghost.

I know I'm breaking the rules with this story, but it really freaked me out.

[ValkFlyer]

Two years ago while traveling on Hwy 4, I was coming up on truck pulling what appeared to be a small empty car trailer.   I was traveling about 65 mph and was about 25 yards behind him.  Suddenly he strikes a hump in the pavement and out pops a spare tire that for some ridiculous reason was lying loose on the bed.  Well, the tire strikes the road and begins rolling upright at speed.  Now directly behind the trailer and just a few feet in front of me I’ve got just enough time to swing to my left and avoid it.  But that not the end of the story….. having nearly pssd myself I look to my right and my little rubber friend  is now traveling right along side me.   So what do think………..the truck and trailer slow slightly, the tire strike the back of the trailer, bounces up , in, and lays flat.  When I pull up along side the driver he’s oblivious, has no idea what had just happened.
 

[Paxton]

I have avoided hittin' on the bosses' wife. She's too young for me. She's a strikingly young-lookin' 74!

[Tundra]

Turtle, alligator, family of ducks (went right thru them, they were lucky duckies)
several dogs, squirrel, airborn flying plywood, cinder block.
 Thats all my rememberer recalls at this time.

[Bonzo]

The Biggest Porcipine Ever! Doing some twisties in Kerhonkson N.Y. , boom right in the middle of this road . I had to stop and try and get a pic of it, but it scampered quite quickly into the wood and up a tree! Who knew they climbed trees?

[Billinva]

Back about 1962, I was on my 1955 Cushman Road King. I was looking at something to my hard left and when I turned my head forward there was a car stopped in front of me. I yanked the handle bars to the right and barely missed the car at about 35 mph. One of my nine lives used up.

[biguglyman]

Avoided hitting a 4yo kid n my old 350.  Ran out in front of me.  Laid the bike down to miss him and got road rash on my face and a concussion for my troubl.  Refused transport to the hospital and treatment at the scene, signed all the right papers and to this day I don't remember anything between laying it down and the cop giving me a ride home.  Had the ex drive me right back, straightened the forks by force, and rode it home.  Love them old 350's.

[Michael K (Az.)]

The bottle

[musclehead]

The bottle

that's one thing i always hit, when at home of course 

[wiggydotcom]

Two years ago while traveling on Hwy 4, I was coming up on truck pulling what appeared to be a small empty car trailer.   I was traveling about 65 mph and was about 25 yards behind him.  Suddenly he strikes a hump in the pavement and out pops a spare tire that for some ridiculous reason was lying loose on the bed.  Well, the tire strikes the road and begins rolling upright at speed.  Now directly behind the trailer and just a few feet in front of me I’ve got just enough time to swing to my left and avoid it.  But that not the end of the story….. having nearly pssd myself I look to my right and my little rubber friend  is now traveling right along side me.   So what do think………..the truck and trailer slow slightly, the tire strike the back of the trailer, bounces up , in, and lays flat.  When I pull up along side the driver he’s oblivious, has no idea what had just happened.
 

Wow...unbelieveable!

[musclehead]

I posted a encounter with a 'street smart' doe many, many years ago. I was hitting some sweet twistys in ORYGUN cascades and there she was standing on the other side of the road facing my side. I thought OH CRAP SHE'S GONNA JUMP INTO ME! but no she calmly (much calmer then I) watched me go by at about 50MPH and then crossed my lane at a walk.