Conference noted::bicycle

    This may not count 'cause I didn't kill anything but....
    
    I was biking in the western Oregon over a dozen years ago and my friend
    and I had just crossed Dixie Pass (elev. 5280). We were cruising down
    the backside (you know when you get to one of those signs that says,
    "9% Grade 4 Miles").  I don't know how fast I was going because this
    was back in the stone ages (before there were accurate speedometers
    for bikes), but I'd say 40MPH + or -.  Anyway, I'm tuned out, not
    pedalling in a tuck, (I had full paniers but I like tucking) and this
    squirel sized blur shoots out from the right side of the road directly
    in front of my bike.  I didn't bother trying to brake as it would have
    just made the bike harder to control, so I just braced myself for impact.
    
    Well the blur ran in back of my front wheel and in front of my back
    wheel and didn't touch either one.
    
    Too bad, all we had to eat that night was Spam - roadkill would have
    been better.
    
    				-David

    Nice topic!  I don't recall having killed anything yet, 'cept maybe a
    lizard, but...
    
    Got one dogs' leg really good, and broke a dogs' nose, which was very
    bad.  I think he got smacked with a pedal.  Normally I go on the
    offensive, traffic permitting, and chase the dog.  Both of these
    instances were dog chasing me and getting tangled up.
    
    I've several times had very near misses with squirrels.  Yelling at
    them will make them haul off in a single direction, but otherwise they
    run back the way they came.
    
    This morning, something the size an temperment of a chihuahua, the
    marking of a collie, and the shape of a german shepard came out and
    literally ran a circle around me!  It was very disconcerting - he was a
    very difficult target.  I almost hit a mailbox running him down.  I'll
    get the clever little twit on the way home.  ;-)
    
    It makes be very glad that I ride with a heavy frame and kevlar belted
    2" tires.  Between the critters and the potholes, I'd have totalled my
    road bike by now.
    
    Later,
    	   Mike

    
    I've had a sparrow fly through the diamond of my frame. I don't think
    it knows how lucky it was...
    
    Graham.

    I had a grasshopper leap, grab a spoke and take a ride on the
    merry-go-round (front wheel).
    
    ed

I once hit a medium sized dog right in the middle with my front wheel 
and I almost got to be road kill (well I did get a concussion, thank 
God for my ex-helmet).  The dog was not seen for a about a week after 
which it reappeared.  From then on the dog ignored the bike.  I was 
dissapointed to see the dog again but at least it learned not to
chase bikes.

This summer I have been trying to make a grasshopper into road kill
but those critters are fast! 

A week ago I was trying a new road ride through some local hills on some unfamiliar
back roads.  Fortunately I had just began a decent & was only travelling about 20mph
when out of the woods on my left was a blur of fast moving panicky animals.  I thought
they were deer but as they clipetty-clopped across the pavement I realized that they
were goats (7 or 8 of them, horns & all).

I couldn't brake quickly enough to avoid the inevitable collision so my only salvation
was to swerve off of the road.  Luckily there was an angled dirt driveway that I was
able to go up.  I was screaming at the goats, the goats were bleating (?) like crazy
at me and we all were bearing a very frightened expression (at least I'm pretty sure I
was, I know they were).  They goats ran past getting close enough for me to smell goat
sweat.

Once I came to a stop and regained my composure I got back on the road & headed on.  I
glanced beside the barn that was near the driveway & there they were giving me the
evil eye.

I could only imagine trying to explain to the emergency room attendant about being
speared by a fast moving goat.

	Up here in the northwest, we have to be careful about drafting fellow
bikers early in the morning or after a rain.  The slugs picked up and thrown
by rear tires can be disconcerting ;^)  Of course, if you're trying to drop
a drafter, simply aim for the nearest slug ... but watch out when cornering,
hitting a slug while leaning can be disasterous.  There's times when you can 
easily see 20-30 slugs/mile.  These slugs average 4-6 inches in length and 
can contain what seems to be a pint of slime.

	Some chemist ought to figure out the composition of slug slime and
develop a new chain grease from it.  The stuff is resistant to water and sticks
to just about anything.

PR

    yeah I saw a couple of them over near Astoria.  It was on a downhill
    and I wanter to confirm the sighting so I went back up the hill to
    have a better look.  An Oldsmobile eliminated my chances of seeing it
    again.  :-)
    
    Never had any contact with 'em but rising through a herd of cattle
    (TX and CO) was fun.  One should watch out for the dominant bull  :-).
    oh, and the cowpies.
    
    ed

Re: .8

Uh, that's cow pies.

Deer can be a problem in Colorado.  Although I've never struck one, there was
a report in the local paper a few years ago about a woman who hit one on a
fast descent.

-Patrick

      Early Sunday morning ride with a friend about a month ago.  Blasting
    down a hill, I notice a deer off to the left.  I wanted my friend to
    see it, so rather then yell and scare it away, I just pointed to it. 
    
      One second after my hand went back on the bars, ANOTHER deer came
    out of the woods on my right and just missed my front wheel by inches!
     

    not really road kill but...
    
    I had just finished a sprint on one of my training rides and
    was breathing really hard through my mouth.  Just after I grabbed my
    water bottle to take a drink, a very large (or so it seemed) bee flew
    into my mouth and landed between my lower lip and my teeth.  I couldn't
    get the *#%! thing out.  I tried spitting it out and spraying it really
    hard with my waterbottle but it just kept its stinger lodged into my lip.
    After a couple seconds I was in so much pain that I just started biting
    it in half to kill it. I finally killed it and spit it out on the side 
    of the road.  By the time I got home (only a couple miles,) my lip was
    swelled up like a golf ball.
    

	re: .11   YEEEUUUCCCCCKKK!

  RE .11

  Steve -  A lesser man would have stopped to get rid of the bee!

  JC

    Then there was the small bird that flew THROUGH the spokes of my front
    wheel, and exited on the far side minus few feathers, but kept on
    flying.
    
    Poor critter obviously thought that the space between the hub and rim
    was empty air.
    
    Rick
    

While perusing this notesfile, I came across this interesting note and thought
of two instances with bears I've heard of.

***
The first one was a close encounter of the unwanted kind on the Blue Ridge
Parkway. My friend had completed an early morning climb and was into a section
of the enjoyable ten mile (approx) descent. He was traveling about 35 mph, in a
tight crossover around a curve, and drifted toward the yellow center line. 

As he rounded the corner, there, standing on the center line was a bear. My
friend was close enough to the bear to notice he had a notched left ear, a radio
collar, was kinda mangy looking, and close enough to smell him/her!!!

I'm not sure who was more surprised. My friend or the bear! Both rider and bear
continued their respective activity, perhaps with a bit more adrenaline than
either had anticipated!
***

***
The second incident I heard of was a student enrolled at Plymouth State College
in Plymouth, New Hampshire. It's been I while since I read this account, so
details are lacking. This student had injured himself in a rather bizarre
accident, and was bedridden in a hospital for quite sometime (weeks).  When he
was finally discharged from the hospital, he decided to work his strength back
up via physical activity. Of course, one of those activities was cycling. He
(student #1 )and a friend (student #2) headed out through the White Mountains on
the Kangamangus Highway.

As they were traveling along, down a slight incline, a bear stepped out in front
of them from behind a guard rail. It was a direct hit - double whammy. Both
riders crashed and were stunned. The bear was stunned, stopped in the middle of
the road, and stared at the cyclists.

Luckily, at this point, a pick-up truck happened along. The bear lumbered off
into the woods with the new found knowledge that Spandex can hurt you! One of
the riders (Student #2) received 'minor' injuries and didn't require
hospitalization. The other rider (student #1) ended up with more severe
injuries, and yes, was admitted to the same hospital, same ward, same bed he had
just vacated a week earlier!!!

He commented that his college friends don't want to participate in activities he
recommends anymore, and he has since been dubbed 'Lucky'!
***