Sunday Ride Turns Ugly / Then Good Times Watching Dirt Bikers Playin in the Woods & Mud

Packed and ready to roll Northward.

The gear and a last minute cheese Burrito at 7:30AM Sunday.

At the St. Croix River north of Sandstone, MN, off Highway #23.

Took this picture as the river was so calm and the sun was in the eastern sky reflecting off the water. It appeared as a kaleidoscope effect. The morning was turning out to be a great ride adventure with plans to ride to Duluth and continue on up the North Shore of Lake Superior. Ride till 1 or 2PM and turn back and head south back towards home... Annnnyway, I don't do anything without a little adventure creeping in. Heading north on Highway #23.

THE DEER STORY

The next thing ya know ole Bambi is a dead deer. Hit that sucker at 64 MPH. There were some exciting moments for about 4 -5 seconds. It is amazing how it is that peoples lives can change in a matter of seconds by the reaction to outside forces and the way ones reactions take action, if you have to think about what to do next, it's all over, no do over, it ain't a video game.

I saw the deer bolt out of the trees, and at full speed proceeded to run up on the shoulder, it was at that point it decided its fate. Go right and get to frolic in the woods and have a good day or go left. The deer made a wrong decision, went left running at full speed, ran into my front tire, almost jerked the handlebars out of my hands. At that point I never let off the throttle, there was a fraction a second that I didn't know where the deer was after impact, then I ran over it's legs and I was still up on 2 wheels thinking, What the Hell!! I then hit my brakes and made a U-turn back. The deer was stone dead, laying in the middle of the lane, some fur wafting in the air.

This is where I go back to the reaction to an action. I surely didn't plan this, but I have gone over in my head a hundred times what to do if I am put in this situation. DO NOT SWERVE INTO DITCH OR WOODS, YOU WILL GO DOWN! Keep a grip on the bars, stay on the road, deal with the impact and ride it out if at all possible. Some bonehead local stopped and told me "ya gotta hit the brakes and swerve to try and miss the deer". I felt like punching him in the face. I'm standing there uninjured talking to him and deer is dead. I win. If you hit the brakes or swerve when you are about to collide, it will cause the front wheel to lose control and you are at that point screwed. You will be on the ground or off the road and into the trees. Now at the same time if you see up ahead a possibility of trouble, hey slow it down. Not when you are 15 yards away.

The impact blew apart my fairing, tore off my left turn signal, busted my fender, pushed my oil cooler back a bit and broke a few pieces. I checked the motorcycle out thoroughly and it was OK to ride, I cut the front of the fender off so as not to rub on the tire.

The deer impacted my front tire so hard that it had hair wedged in between the tire and the wheel, it was still there when I arrived home. This was the initial impact that almost wrenched the bars out of my hands. If that had happened it would not have turned out very good for me.

Deer crap splattered on the right side of the bike. There were hoof marks on the left side of the bike on the paint.

PLAN B / FORGET THE NORTH SHORE AND CHECK OUT A MOTORCYCLE RACE THAT WAS TAKING PLACE JUST DOWN THE ROAD OFF HIGHWAY #23 NEAR THE TOWN OF BRUNO, MN

This racing is what is called a Hair Scramble. They leave in waves with fastest groups of riders leaving first. They start out in the field and enter the woods and complete a 12 mile loop through the woods, much like a mountain bike race. Some riders do 1 lap and some do 3 laps. They are out there 1.5 hours to 3 hours. It is a very physical event needing strength and endurance.

Good air off the first double jump.

This is the son of a fellow I used to work with, Jake. I believe he got 3rd on this day. 3 laps in about 2.75 hours.

Met this guy and his son at the race. Great people, Dad supporting his 15 year old son having a great time. I have noticed that the motorized crowd, the mountain snowmobilers and the dirt bikers are usually good people having a good time.

It ended up a good day with about 290 miles on the motorcycle on Sunday. The beer tasted good when I got home.