WINDSOR (CBS) – A motorcyclist suffered serious injuries after colliding with a moose on Route 9 in Windsor on Wednesday afternoon.
Donald E. Allard Jr. was riding his 1982 Harley Davidson bike at around 4:40 p.m. when he hit the moose. The motorcycle then skidded on its side for at least 100 feet after the collision, and the 55-year-old Allard was left on the ground nearby.
Seriously? Buy a lottery ticket. If you hit a freakin' moose on a motorcycle and live to tell the tale, it is your lucky day. There have been stories of people in full size trucks who get killed hitting moose... Dealing with wild animals - especially ones larger and heavier than your bike - can be a real wildcard for a motorcyclist. While we can pretty safely assume that 99% of the cagers are either obliviots or actively trying to kill us, there's simply no way to predict what an animal's going to do.
Friend of mine had a humorous close call on his Goldwing. He was giving a mutual friend of ours a ride on the back of the Hondabago, and heard her exclaim, rather softly "dear". He thought she was getting sweet on him, until the "dear" turned into "DEER!" as she gesticulated wildly at the large doe that was slowly ambling her way into the road way. She spooked off back into the woods, but they still laugh about it now.
In any case, be careful out there no matter how many wheels you have under you...
That is all.
13 comments:
"we can pretty safely assume that 99% of the cagers are either obliviots or actively trying to kill us..."
Normally I would let something as egregious as that go, but not this time.
Just because we ride doesn't mean we are superior to everyone else on the highway.
No - 99% of the "cagers" are not either obliviots or out to kill you. If that were true then you would have to include in that group the vast majority of the riders who also drive cars. And I don't think you meant to do that. (Besides which, if that were really true then you would already be dead.)
Now, if you had said 50% of the cagers were oblivions and 1% were actively trying to kill you, that I might agree with. Then again, I would say at least one out of 10 riders I have encountered on the highway were morons with either a God complex or suicidal tendencies. No moose needed.
I can't imagine hitting a moose. I'd probably just bounce off.
A friend of mine told me a story about his one-time boss. The guy had a convertible he was very proud of. He took it for a drive one summer evening out in the country, pushing the speed limit to the side of the road and using more than his fair share of the asphalt. He came around a blind curve straddling the center line and nearly traded door handles with an oncoming car. As it sped by he heard the woman driving shout, "Pig!"
Boss turned to shout "B!^@#" over his shoulder at her, then turns back to the road just in time to see a hog standing there right before he plowed into it.
Apparently piggy does a lot of damage to the suspension and exhaust as it goes under the car.
From my watching of the news up here, often the rider (snowmachine or bike) is DRT, the moose ends up running off with its guts hanging out to die somewhere, and the ride come to a stop a little further doen the trail or road.
Moose are just so tall anything shorter than a truck usually goes under or takes out their legs.
If 99% of any group, even just the blue haired widows in old Cadillac De Ville's were trying to kill you when you rode, you'd be dead.
I will agree that lots of drivers are oblivious and that why they hit you doesn't matter if contact is made, the weight ratio favors the cager every time.
For the love of Gaia, people, it's hyperbole!
It just *seems* like 99% of the motoring public is trying to kill us is all...
Wanna see what a cow elk can do to a cage? Go visit Tractor Tracks. She was extremely lucky.
Cagers will look right through a scooter looking for a car or truck before pulling out in front of you.
Don't ask.
Is "nigger" hyperbole?
Is "kyke" hyperbole?
"Cager" is used the same way. If you don't hate cars, you should stop talking like you do.
I guarantee you that if I was aiming for bikers I could get ten a day. Around here it's far more likely for the person on the scoot to have their head up their ass and be unaware of their surroundings than even grandma doing chin-ups on the wheel.
I don't like being unjustly lumped into any group I don't belong to. There are literally hundreds of cyclists that owe their lives to my paying attention and it makes my blood boil to be hated for merely driving a four wheeled vehicle.
I've said it before: FIND ANOTHER TERM TO USE!
I used to ride, I've seen how the term is used first hand. It is not a mild euphemism, and you know it.
What? No squirrel?
Good dog, people! If you get offended at hyperbole or exaggeration-for-effect, then you had better not listen to anyone I know.
BTW, I have been intentionally run off the road by a four-wheeler (there, is that better than cager?) on a narrow mountain road with the requisite drop off AND been a target on I-5. The "cager" in the latter incident was arrested a few days later after evidently killing a less-agile biker.
WV muradver- a marauder with poor spelling skill (go Madison Marauders!)
Robert, the "four wheeler" didn't run you off the road, the *driver* of the four wheeler did. And two incidents does not a 99% make.
Yes, we get it - hyperbole. But after awhile it grates - especially after observing some of the nutcases on scoots these days.
Besides, would you like it if we lumped all of you in with the Hells Angels and Outlaws?
I understand that a lot of cagers don't pay a lot of attention when driving. But I suspect that the percentage of cyclists who are just as oblivious is about the same as the cagers.
Just yesterday I drove for about two miles down a street with my turn signal on, trying to change lanes. The hog wrangler who was riding right off my left rear quarter panel, squarely in my blind spot, did a marvelous job of matching my speed as I sped up to as fast as 50 mph and slowed down to around 30 mph - multiple times. When I finally managed to get just enough room to change lanes without running him off the road I slid over quickly with about 5-10 feet of space between us. He immediately swerved around me into the lane I had just vacated, sped up next to me, flipped me off and started yelling obscenities at me. At that point I was tempted to be one of the 99% who you think are out to kill a cyclist.
Dad and I came up on an accident scene in South Dakota a few years ago - elderly couple had hit a mule deer. The deer came over the hood and through their windshield. Killed both of them.
A friend of mine hit a coyote in an older model car last year. Tore the muffler and exhaust pipe completely off the car.
Another friend here in town had a medium size dog run in front of his motorcycle. He t-boned it. The dog walked away, he didn't. The dog recovered from his injuries in a few months, my friend was almost a full year before fully recovering from his injuries.
Now a few years later, we routinely tease both of them about having a head on collisions with a dog and losing.
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