Tripleshot Cycling

I'd like to bring to everyone's attention that a serious crash occurred on Ash Hill yesterday. A TS rider collided with a young deer. The rider suffered a broken collar bone and some scrapes and bruises. He is recovering well, but will be off the bike for a long while. This could have been much worse. Please be safe!

Not good.
Wishing a speedy recovery!!

Yikes...
Get well soon...

So sorry to hear that, Todd.

Sean M. and I came quite close to the same this morning on King George. A young deer darted right across the path in front of us. (And why no stopping at that evil Cedar Hill/Caddy Bay intersection? I thought that that was mandated a couple of weeks ago.)

John

A quick follow up to say it was Malcolm W who crashed. Thanks for the messages of concern.

Thanks for the well wishes.. definitely seems like the deer risk is elevated right now not only because of the higher numbers, but also due to the unpredictable behaviour of fawns and their mothers. The one that took me out turned out to be a member of a family of three, and it jumped out of a bush so quickly I didn't know what I'd struck until after I'd hit the ground. This crash seemed pretty much unavoidable, but it seems like the time of year to be extra wary.

That really sucks, Malcolm. I know you've been ripping it up lately and it's really frustrating it is to be sidelined by a crash and injury. Take care, enjoy non-cycling things for a bit, and heal up quickly.

Too bad about the crash. Hope you have a quick recovery and are back on the road soon.

Gordon Head is deer paradise- plenty of food and not a lot of traffic. I have skimmed by a deer by only a few feet 1/2 way down Ash hill on one of the Sunday rides doing over 40-50 kph and shudder to think of what would happen if a deer hit the group on that stretch of road. Perhaps we should use Ash hill as a place to pause for a short break, spread out and then go all out for the sprint on Cordova Bay road. The other sketchy segment is on the Friday ride downhill through Mt Doug park to Ash road. Visibility along the edge is poor and I know of one deer- car collision in that area.

Gerry

Hope you get well soon Malcolm!

For the record - we've had several accidents over the years that involved collisions with "bambis". Typical scenario goes something like this: Momma deer enters the road. Riders see Momma and avoid her. About 5 seconds later, bambi #1 follows Momma onto the road, often unseen by the riders, who are still focused on Momma. A few seconds after that, bambi #2 emerges. It's as if the bambis wait to make sure Momma makes it across safely before emerging from the brush.

I recall reading that the local deer population is doing so well that double births are becoming the norm. Last week I even saw a Momma deer with three brand new bambis!

Ride safe,
J.

So sorry to hear of your crash, Malcolm.
It’s a jungle out there, with the deer, rabbits, racoons,and peacocks.
I don’t want to downplay the dangers but it could be worse

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