Killed Sprint saved Squirrel

[viper3256]

On 2005-07-29 17:43, preachp wrote:

Viper if your instinct is to avoid hitting something at all cost, you need to retrain your instincts.

I kid you not I will not take the chance of loosing control for anything smaller than a medium sized racoon.
The risk of hitting a critter smaller than that is far less than the risk of taking evasive action at an undetermined speed.

JMHO

Preachp

Preach,

Its hard to control instinct. Most of the time you see these things and have less than a second to decide. Kinda like turning around and having a baseball coming at your face... I would dodge, even if I dodged into a wall.

A perfect rider would weight his options and take the best path. I am not a perfect rider. I would avoid, I practice at object avoidance, I think it key at being a good rider. (I have tons of deer and other critters where I live.) If you put in your mind the thought of not avoiding on small things, thats like says i will not avoid this nail or small water/oil/mystery fluid because I "might" wreck, that could cost you when in a turn and you run over something small. Straight away is something different.

This is just my opinion.

Bo:

Did you know where you went wrong? Or do you think there is nothing you could have done? (On my low side after i avoided bugs bunny, I should have let up on the brake and i would not have gone down, but i panicked in the gravel after avoiding.) Either way it happens to all "or some" of us. Get back out there and have fun riding that Sprint.

[ChuckBecker]

Gosh, sorry to hear about your tumble. If things work out, you're soreness will be gone by the time the parts show up and get installed And there's a squirrel somewhere in the state of Texas that is eternally grateful!

Bike + animals = bad business. I hit a vulture, IN FLIGHT, a few months ago. Came around a corner just as him and his buddy took off. He was clear, no problem, until he doubled back, and then THWHACK. Better to avoid vultures if you can.

[DaveM]

bowillyard
sorry about the off my friend, but glad to hear you are not at all hurt. Bikes you can replace and fix.

Bad luck I say, but then it could have been something much nastier like a roo or in your case maybe a deer or doubling back vulture! Lets be glad only your bike got hurt

Get her back on the road and hope the animals keep their distance.

Davem

[preachp]

Hi Viper,
I would hope that as a rider I would have the presence of mind to know the difference between something moving, and something not. I will continue to avoid medium and large critters and hope the small ones have the sense to get out of the way. If, not I'll just add the road kill cafe menu. I ride briskly and I will not endanger myself for the off chance that the guts of a small critter are going to cause me to loose it and toss the bike. I will keep my bike and speed as steady as possible and run it over if it doesn't move. Sorry if this offends the tree hugger in some of us, but that IS the way it is. I hear of more bikes going down trying to avoid a percieved, but not realized threat (small critters) than those going down by just hitting them. Think about this when do you have the least control of your machine, on the brakes, on the gas, in a straight line, or in a hard turn?
The more stable and controllable your machine is the better chance of maintaining the bike in an upright fashion.
Each situation is unique and any "I'll do this all the time" solution can get you hurt or killed. As a rider you need to weigh your options, even if it is only by split second decision making. If you rely on instinct then you had better have had enough rider training to use the right instinct in every situation. It only takes once to hurt really bad.
I have been riding for about some 37 years. I have tossed bikes trying to avoid small critters, and I have had to just run them down. It is ALOT easier to maintain control when the speed and direction are as stable and straight as conditions allow.
By all means if you think avoiding them is better then have at it. I don't, and I won't. Been there done that not alot of fun.


Preachp

[ This message was edited by: preachp on 2005-07-30 06:07 ]

[bowillyard]

I think I'm going to take my mountain bike out and retrain myself to squash the little varmints, and stay off the front brake while swerving. :hammer:

[Unsane]

Good to hear your ok and the gear did its job, hopefully youll have the Sprint back on the road soon.
Squirrels annoy the ***** out of me, they seem to pay a wee bit of attention to cars but not bikes coming down the street they have a habit of heading straight for my front tire.
Deers, Dogs,racoons,skunks, neighbor cats, i try to avoid.
It was instinct the first few times to do my best to avoid the squirrels but then it just got ridiculous, makes the Sprint interesting to clean later on as well

[alancb]

Sorry about the crash, at least you're ok. Hopefully you had the bags on and will have a chance to get those replaced!

[bowillyard]

*****, maybe I should just bash them with a sledge hammer and claim that I had them on the bike. :hammer:

[Myrddraal]

Doh! Sorry to hear that man. If it's small enough to eat in one sitting, I won't swerve; otherwise I try to. I killed a corn snake this weekend though

[mercator]

I'd be interested to hear how your insurance company deals with it, and who is your carrier.