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Near miss



I first noticed the dead deer on the side of the road. Immediately
thereafter, the buzzard feeding on it lifted off. I was travelling 
about 50mph. Closing fast on the fairly large bird 
(probably 2.5 - 3 ft tall), I grabbed a handful of
front brake, barely missing it (I'll assume it was 
a male for future reference).

How close? Well, dressed in full protection gear and full face
helmet, I couldn't feel the wind from his flapping wings, but the carrion
stench made me gag briefly. Yuck!  I'd say I missed hitting him by about 
12 inches. Just ducked under his tail end at the last moment. In 
retrospect I'm very glad I didn't scare the sh*t out of him.

You see these things lazily circling, usually in the far distance, looking,
not for prey, but already dead meat. I now know why. They aren't fast 
enough to catch anything moving. Usually a bird is of no consequence to
a 
rider, regardless of speed travelled. They just dart out of the way.

This old buzzard couldn't. He wasn't gaining altitude very quickly, and he
was droning across the road as fast as he could. Probably had a
bellyfull 
and was startled to see this noisy red thing headed his way. So that's the
end of my story. Be forewarned.

What a video THIS would have made. Oh well, no Semper Paratus.

Red Dawg

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