Early Commute
At 4:30 in the morning I got on my bike to commute to work. I’d been awake about 30 minutes and the coffee hadn’t kicked in yet. I wasn’t ready for deer.
I’m usually the only bike on the road this time of morning and was happy to see a fellow rider pull out about a quarter mile in front of me, heading the same direction. I figured I’d have someone to follow down the two lane road to the ferry. Watching the rider’s tail light disappear over a slight hill with a half-mile runout to a corner, I expected to see him again as I crested the hill, but didn’t. In the back of my foggy mind, I assumed he’d accelerated, already made the slight bend to the right at the bottom of the hill, and guessed I’d see him near the turn onto the main highway. Last thing on my mind were the deer that infest our patch of the woods.
I had my headlights on high and could see the centerline reflectors clearly. To the sides was darkness and it was beginning to rain as I headed down the hill. Visibility was limited and I saw a bright white object about 3 feet long moving up and down in the center of the road. My brain wasn’t helping me figure out what it could be, and defaulted to a temporary state of confusion. I reacted by reaching for the brakes. As I got closer, I realized the stripe was the reflective tape on the black jacket worn by the rider who’d gone in front of me. As I slowed, I noticed a deer laying in the ditch on the opposite side of the road, and the rider’s bike in the ditch on my side of the road.
He limped up to me and said he’d hit a deer and was all right. I asked him if he needed a cop or an ambulance and he asked for a cop. So, I made the 911 call and answered the dispatcher’s questions. Then I asked the rider if he was OK, then had to leave to catch the ferry to the mainland. He said no problem and told me his dad was coming to pick him up. He was starting to recover from the adrenaline rush and I asked him what happened.
Not much time to react
He said he’d seen the deer in the ditch and as he got closer, the deer jumped in front of him. He also said he’d hit a deer before, but only side-swiped it. I asked him how good his lights were and showed him mine on bright. I spent quite a few dollars on brighter bulbs and they do a great job. I’ve got a pair of PIAA Xtreme White lamps on my FJR 1300. He took a look at my illumination range and agreed he might want to get brighter lights.
I told him I was sorry I couldn’t stay and hit the road. The rest of the commute was spent scanning the road and ditches for deer and keeping my fingers and toes close to the brakes.
Aftermath
I’ve written before about riding in deer country. And have done some thinking about mitigating the risk of wildlife’s random behavior near roadways. So I tried to think like a deer for a minute. From the deer’s perspective, munching sweet grass in the ditch in the dark, and being blinded by a light that suddenly gets really loud, could cause one to jump in the last known safest direction. From a rider’s perspective, staying near the centerline, as far away from a deer as possible and using bright lights to be able to detect a deer sooner is probably the best defense. Deer are used to cars going by them, and for the most part cars are quiet. My bike is quiet, too quiet for me, but doesn’t seem to disturb deer when I pass them.
So, for what it’s worth, consider your lighting system, lane position and the volume of your bike. For those of you with loud pipes, maybe pull in the clutch and quiet things down as you roll past the deer you see in the ditch.