Well, it happened. After covering over 18,000 mostly trouble free miles through such challenging places as Pakistan, India and Bangkok, we managed to hit a huge cow in one of the most peaceful, quiet, mellow, traffic-free countries in Asia...Laos. The cow sprinted at Olympic speed from out of nowhere in a semi built-up area and was right in front of us in a split second. I was probably going at least 50kph when I hit it.

I had barely enough time to hit the brakes, but somehow I swerved at the very last second, avoiding hitting the cow head-on. However, I must have hit the rear of the cow, as the bike skidded sideways, and after briefly regaining control of the bike for a second or two, I lost control and we went down hard.

Erika (my passenger) walked away without a scratch, the bike appears to be a bit banged up but ok, but I have broken my collarbone. Fortunately not a complete break, just a crack so hopefully recovery will be swift...I am ready to get back on the bike! But the doctor says a minimum of 2 weeks will be needed before I can ride again. My ego ultimately suffered the most damage.

As with any accident, I am now looking back to figure out what went wrong and how it could have been prevented. Each time I analyze it, I come up with the same conclusion...I happened to be at the wrong place at exactly the wrong time and there was really no way that a collision could have been prevented. I think that the last minute swerve may have prevented more serious injury so I consider myself lucky it wasn't worse.

So the reason I am posting this is not to ask for sympathy, but to ask you to share your own personal experience if you have been unfortunate enough to have collided with an animal on your bike.

What did you learn from the experience? Do you have any tips for others on what you would have done in hindsight? What is the best thing to do if a collision is inevitable? And how small does an animal need to be to actually be able to run it over instead of risk swerving? And are certain bikes more or less safe in a collision with an animal?

I have lots of questions going through my mind right now, but I hope to learn from this experience and I hope others will too.

All input is appreciated!

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Dave
www.mototrekker.com

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Dave McMillan
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/mcmillan/