Frame Maker
Well-known member
I'm not sure how much there is to actually analyze, but just a weird observation / conclusion worth mentioning....
Five weeks ago on Friday afternoon I took my SXV5.5 out to mile marker 11 (where the road goes to one lane) on Mines Rd. At that point I turned around and headed back toward Livermore.
Around mile marker 5 (final descent into the valley) I came across a small deer grazing on the right side of the road. The chain of events over the next two seconds went something like this...
- Thinking to myself... "please don't jump in front of me"
- "oh fuck! it jumped in front of me"
- grab front brakes for split second (estimate I scrubbed 5-10mph before impact)
- for a fraction of a second my complete field of vision is brown fur.
- next a tumbling sensation (first realization that I'm crashing), followed by a sliding sensation (head first and face down)
- come to a stop and first though of impending cars coming while I'm face down in the road
- adrenaline kicks in and I jump to my feet followed by first realization that I've got a badly injured right arm
- I walk to my bike a few feet away and now on the left shoulder facing the opposite direction of travel. I reach down and turn off the engine which was still running.
In the aftermath I flag down several motorists who are able to assist in getting my bike upright and off the road and one particularly generous woman who insisted in taking me "anywhere I needed to go" (home, hospital, etc) despite my bleeding arm and probable mess it would make of the interior of her car. She dropped me off at home (Livermore) and my wife drove me to Kaiser in WC. I would spend several hours in ER having my arm reconstructed (broken elbow, broken shoulder, 6" laceration down to the bone, etc), followed by a 4-day stay in the hospital.
Okay, here's the really really odd part... my wife washed and inspected my jacket (ICON Contra). The right sleeve (side that was injured) has no marks on the outside. None, like it never touched the ground. However the inside mesh was completely torn in several locations. Very odd. Then the Ortho doc who did surgery on my arm noted a large amount of dirt and debris including what he thinks may have been deer fur INSIDE my arm!
My only explanation is that in the initial impact and tumble somehow the deer's leg/hoofs went up my sleeve and tore my arm open!
The good news is that I'm past the window for infection risk and everything seams to be healing well. And lesson learned... next time slow WAY DOWN for wildlife on side of road. Deer are stupid and VERY unpredictable animals. And worth mentioning, SXVs are tough bikes and damage was very minimal (one bar mount is bent and some cheap plastic has some road rash).
Anyway, I wanted to mention the hoof up the sleeve as it was very strange and only explanation for my injuries given the observations of my jacket condition.
Five weeks ago on Friday afternoon I took my SXV5.5 out to mile marker 11 (where the road goes to one lane) on Mines Rd. At that point I turned around and headed back toward Livermore.
Around mile marker 5 (final descent into the valley) I came across a small deer grazing on the right side of the road. The chain of events over the next two seconds went something like this...
- Thinking to myself... "please don't jump in front of me"
- "oh fuck! it jumped in front of me"
- grab front brakes for split second (estimate I scrubbed 5-10mph before impact)
- for a fraction of a second my complete field of vision is brown fur.
- next a tumbling sensation (first realization that I'm crashing), followed by a sliding sensation (head first and face down)
- come to a stop and first though of impending cars coming while I'm face down in the road
- adrenaline kicks in and I jump to my feet followed by first realization that I've got a badly injured right arm
- I walk to my bike a few feet away and now on the left shoulder facing the opposite direction of travel. I reach down and turn off the engine which was still running.
In the aftermath I flag down several motorists who are able to assist in getting my bike upright and off the road and one particularly generous woman who insisted in taking me "anywhere I needed to go" (home, hospital, etc) despite my bleeding arm and probable mess it would make of the interior of her car. She dropped me off at home (Livermore) and my wife drove me to Kaiser in WC. I would spend several hours in ER having my arm reconstructed (broken elbow, broken shoulder, 6" laceration down to the bone, etc), followed by a 4-day stay in the hospital.
Okay, here's the really really odd part... my wife washed and inspected my jacket (ICON Contra). The right sleeve (side that was injured) has no marks on the outside. None, like it never touched the ground. However the inside mesh was completely torn in several locations. Very odd. Then the Ortho doc who did surgery on my arm noted a large amount of dirt and debris including what he thinks may have been deer fur INSIDE my arm!
My only explanation is that in the initial impact and tumble somehow the deer's leg/hoofs went up my sleeve and tore my arm open!
The good news is that I'm past the window for infection risk and everything seams to be healing well. And lesson learned... next time slow WAY DOWN for wildlife on side of road. Deer are stupid and VERY unpredictable animals. And worth mentioning, SXVs are tough bikes and damage was very minimal (one bar mount is bent and some cheap plastic has some road rash).
Anyway, I wanted to mention the hoof up the sleeve as it was very strange and only explanation for my injuries given the observations of my jacket condition.
