Stupid Rabbit...

[DaveStebbins]

PB I hope you feel better soon. It's been said before, but bears repeating - bike accidents suck.

I was pretty lucky for the 8+ years (until last fall) that I biked to work every day (well, for 7 months - I walked during the snow months), never a bad accident. The only time I got hurt was when a van wasn't paying attention and ran me off the road. Broke my collar bone.

My best animal versus bike story was from when I was riding the peninsula every day. It's a succession beach, basically a six to seven mile long sand spit that has become permanent enough for grass, trees and an entire ecology. It's a relatively flat, 13-mile ride with about 6 miles along the beach. Anyway, I used to like to ride the peninsula (Presque Isle State Park, PA) in the morning before work and then shower when I got to the plant. I'd see a couple dozen rabbits, some squirrels, a couple turtles, etc. every day. One morning, I'm approaching a short bridge over an inlet and there's a full-grown deer standing smack dab in the middle of the narrow two-lane bridge. One reason bikes can be dangerous with animals is because the animals get used to the sounds cars make, and bikes are pretty silent compared to that. I'm cruising along in top gear and, in the instant I see him, hoping he leaves because I don't know if I can stop. He looks right at me and seems to take forever, but finally decides I'm too scary and manages to get off the bridge and off the road before we kill each other.

-Dave

 

[Pbartender]

Fortunately, I was a pretty big drama geek in High School and College... And for some reason, I always ended up getting cast as comic relief. As a result, I have had a lot of training in stage combat and prat-falls. So much, that I've built up up good instincts on how to fall properly.

As it is, I've got a few colorful bruises all along the left-hand side of my body, and my ribs are a little sore. Had I not made my Tumble Check/Reflex Save for half damage, to put it in gamer-speak ( ), I'd probably have a break, a sprain, or some serious tendon-muscle strain.

 

[Rel]

Had I not made my Tumble Check/Reflex Save for half damage, to put it in gamer-speak ( ), I'd probably have a break, a sprain, or some serious tendon-muscle strain.

Yes, but if you'd also made a successful Survival Check for skinning and another for Profession: Cook then you'd be eating rabbit stew while you healed that Non-Lethal Damage. If you'd rolled a Craft: Leatherworking then you might have scored a new pair of bunny-slippers out of it too!

 

[Pbartender]

Oh, I've cleaned, skinned, cooked and eaten rabbit before... I've got a great recepe for hasenpfeffer. I wouldn't touch a suburban rabbit, though. Urban and suburban animals don't eat anything but garbage and lawn grass. Hence, they taste terrible.

Besides, that's why I've got inlaws. Except for my wife, they're all certifiably stereotypical Wisconsin-Brand Northwoods Red-Necked Hicks... and in a good way. They give us a 150 lbs. of dead deer for a Christmas present every year, and we accept it gladly.

What I need to do is drop a few more skills points into Drive, or maybe Sport (bicycling). Then, next time, I can just avoid the collision altogether.

 

[Rel]

What I need to do is drop a few more skills points into Drive, or maybe Sport (bicycling). Then, next time, I can just avoid the collision altogether.

Well if you're levelling then you might as well drop a feat into Dodge or Toughness too.