smooth ride is interrupted when something happens by. i see a deer on the right side of the road just standing there. not like it s going to jump out or anything. i think i can get past it. i just keep on going. what i didn t see was the one that was right behind that one. as childers gets closer, the second deer comes into focus. it s already too late. there is a minute of panic, and then you just brace for impact. you just are waiting for the hit. you know? just don t expect that. collided dead on. childers and the more than 100 pound deer smash into each other. a nearby photographer captures the scene. it s like getting tackled by a person running at you 100 miles an hour. smallest thing at that speed. you actually see it try to jump
what is it, a dog? they re like no, it s a deer. in a nearby town, another confused deer strikes. this time crashing full speed through the window of a restaurant. in a heartbeat, confounded customers go from sitting down to a relaxing meal, to jumping up at their tables. and at this pennsylvania beer store, a typical night turns wild in no time flat when unusual customers come slipping and sliding through the aisles. a deer inside a building is undoubtedly out of place, but even when a deer is in its right place, it can sometimes be at precisely the wrong moment. july 28th, 2012. motorcycle enthusiast, braden childers, is is gearing up to compete in a rally moto. riders only from across the country to participate in a series of timed races.
rally moto in general is a pretty high-speed type of racing. the rally will close off a piece of road at each end of the road, 10 to 20 miles, sometimes longer, to where you have nothing else on the road but the racers. you spread the racers out and compete to see who can cover those sections the fastest. five, four, three, two, one. go. equipped with a helmet cam, childers takes off in the final leg of the two-day competition. he s racing against the clock to the top of the mountain for the finish. when i m racing, there s nothing else to think about besides staying on the bike, keeping it under control, going as fast as you can. the rest of the world just melts away, so it s intense, but it s peaceful, too. with less than a mile to go to the finish line, childers smooth ride is interrupted when something catches his eye. i see a deer on the right
side of the road just standing there. it s not looking like it s going to jump out or anything. i assumed i could get past it, so i just keep on throttling. what i didn t see was the one that was right behind that one. as childers gets closer, the second deer comes into focus. but it s already too late. there s a minute of panic. then you re just bracing for impact. everything tightens up and you re waiting for the hit. you just don t expect that. you don t know what it s going to be like. we just collided dead-on. childers and the more than 100-pound deer smash into each other. a nearby photographer captures the scene. it s like getting tackled by a huge person running at you at 50 miles per hour. the smallest thing feels huge at that speed. you can actually see it try to jump over the front wheel and clear me, but ended up coming right over the handlebars,
knocking the handlebars back and hitting me right square in the chest as the bike goes down. bike goes one way, deer goes one way, i go the other. you hear your own gear clacking around, hitting the ground. everything s just happening superfast. childers pulls himself up to assess the damage. by the time i looked, i m standing and grabbing the bike, i turn over, look over my shoulder and the deer is already gone. it took off into the woods. so it seemed like it was okay. i was feeling around, make sure, just no real pain, nothing s broken for sure. then i m thinking about there s a rider coming behind me and going to be coming around that corner just as fast and i want to be out of his way so i don t get hurt and he doesn t get hurt. i know race is close at this point. i hop on the bike which it still running. and brakes and levers all work, so bike s, you know, good enough to get me that last quarter mile, half mile to the finish.