Professor Paddle: My poor little shuttle vehicle

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   I hit a deer last night with my little scooter I put on the back of my SUV to make a one car shuttle. This was three days after I dropped my new big freeway scooter on my leg in my driveway and sprained my knee and ankle. It has been one of those weeks! 

I was going down Electric Ave in Bellingham on my Buddy after picking up dinner at Panda Express. It was dusk, raining lightly, and traffic was pretty heavy. I was going about 30 mph. 

A car was in the oncoming lane with its highbeams on blinding me so I was already off the gas. I caught a flash of movement on the shoulder of the road and the next thing I know there is a deer standing in the middle of the road panicking as it decided whether to run or stay. I had oncoming traffic still on the left. I didn't think I could recover in time if I tried to break right and the right side lacked what I would call a good landing zone (plus it looked like the deer was going to bolt that way). I had nowhere to go so I got on the brake. I managed to dump about half my speed before I center punched the deer in the gut. It ended up riding my handle bars for what seemed like forever but was probably only a few yards. The deer was perfectly balenced on the bike and I might have been able to keep it upright, but I think something about my new set of circumstances in life made me dynamite the brakes. I felt the front tire slide out to the right side. I rode it to the ground for reasons I can't recall, and ended up with my right foot once again trapped under the damn bike. 

Somehow I wound up straddling the front forks next to the deer (but thankfully not the handlebars!) with my hands out in a push up position on the ground as we skidded to a stop. We both needed some comforting at that point so the deer and I spent a second spooning before parting company. 

With my foot under the Buddy and my body over the front forks I couldn't figure out how to get free of it. I heard someone come running up behind me yelling "oh my God, are you ok? That f#!%ing deer came out of nowhere!" 

She helped me up and I was instantly surrounded by good samaritans. Somebody grabbed my Buddy and pushed it onto the sidewalk. No light headedness or signs of shock this time around, but I took a seat on the sidewalk to play it safe. Amongst the witnesses was a EMT, a first responder, and the lady who helped me up was a doctor. She checked me out on the side of the road, and again at her house for good measure. Her husband pushed my Buddy to their garage, and she gave me a ride back to my place. 

Several of the witnesses all said that as soon as the deer came out of the brush along the side of the road they knew there was nothing I could do to avoid it. It is actually a relief to know that even if the car had not had its high beams on I was still hosed! 

I am little worse for wear. The fall and twisting aggrevated my prior knee injury, but did not appear to do any more damage. A couple of hours after the incident and I am almost back to where I was before the second accident. I have got some road rash on my wrist where the gloves did not give me any coverage and the jacket sleeve was pushed up. 

Pretty much every plastic part on the front of the Buddy except for the fender and windshield was destroyed. I think I kneed the interior. She still rolls just fine, the lights all work, the engine starts without problems, and the structural parts under the plastic look ok. I dropped it off at the local shop today so they could make sure it is still structurally sound before I start to repair it. 

The deer was last seen looking annoyed while grazing nearby. 

My Panda Express dinner survived! Those styrafoam containers they use are bomber. My meal was not even badly mixed up and it was still warm! 

Looks like my one car shuttle service will be out for a good chunk of the summer.

Kyle