I was alone on an empty stretch of two-laner east of Ottawa late one night in about 1981 when this dick-weed in a big black sedan came roaring up and began to tailgate me. I was on my ‘79 Suzuki GS850G which had plenty of power and plenty of brakes, so at first I tried to out run him and then I brake-checked him a couple of times (yah - I know that’s dumb) but he hung right in there. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to turn off, no side roads and the shoulder was looking fairly soft, plus it was very dark.
After a little while, he zoomed around me and took off and then a few seconds later, he hit his brakes. I thought - oh goody, this may not end well for me. Then, he swerved a bit and took off again. Suddenly, right in front of me was a big dog (perhaps a Shepard) stretched out right across the lane. I hit him square in the abdomen. The front of the GS reared up and then the back jumped and finally, I came back down on the road still pointed roughly frontwards. The bike wiggled once, settled down and kept going with no apparent damage. I was totally stunned and amazed that I hadn’t gone down.
I did a u-turn and went back to see about the dog and the poor old guy was really in a bad way. He was still alive, but his middle was crushed and his hind legs weren’t able to move at all. I figure the car had hit him and buggered off and then I was right there with no way to manoeuvre around him.
I know that stretch of road really well (it’s near Mountain Grove, ON, where my grandpa was born) and I know that there are no farms nearby plus I hadn’t any way to transport an injured 100 lb dog the 40-odd miles to Perth which was the next big town. Soooo, I pulled him off the road and put him down as gently as I could - and then I had a good cry.
Sh!t.
After a little while, he zoomed around me and took off and then a few seconds later, he hit his brakes. I thought - oh goody, this may not end well for me. Then, he swerved a bit and took off again. Suddenly, right in front of me was a big dog (perhaps a Shepard) stretched out right across the lane. I hit him square in the abdomen. The front of the GS reared up and then the back jumped and finally, I came back down on the road still pointed roughly frontwards. The bike wiggled once, settled down and kept going with no apparent damage. I was totally stunned and amazed that I hadn’t gone down.
I did a u-turn and went back to see about the dog and the poor old guy was really in a bad way. He was still alive, but his middle was crushed and his hind legs weren’t able to move at all. I figure the car had hit him and buggered off and then I was right there with no way to manoeuvre around him.
I know that stretch of road really well (it’s near Mountain Grove, ON, where my grandpa was born) and I know that there are no farms nearby plus I hadn’t any way to transport an injured 100 lb dog the 40-odd miles to Perth which was the next big town. Soooo, I pulled him off the road and put him down as gently as I could - and then I had a good cry.
Sh!t.
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