There’s something about riding a bike that just keeps life interesting. It was early August, and Del Littrell and his buddy Kendric were on their Harleys and on the road near Sturgis, South Dakota, taking in the summer scene in Custer State Park on their way to a motorcycle rally. Del was riding just behind Kendric with nothing in mind but the road ahead. An uneventful trip.
They had just come over a rise in the road when suddenly they were surprised by a small flock of wild turkeys, about four or five, Del recalls, rising out of some brush and flying across the road right as Kendric blew into their path. Del’s heart took a turn when it looked like one was going to slam right into his buddy, but Kendric reacted the only way he could, releasing his grip with his one hand and quickly jerking his body back as far as he could, just to watch what Del figured to be a 12 to 18 pound turkey fly right between Kendric and his windshield. Talk about close!
They immediately pulled over, with Kendric shaking and spitting out words “not for publication,” says Del about the whisker-close call with a flying ball of meat.
But their adventures with the animal kingdom weren’t quite over in wild South Dakota. Later in the trip with some other bikers they pulled off the road for a break and noticed some buffalos nearby. One of the buffalos came up for a look at Kendric, and Kendric just looked back. “It was a stare down contest,” said Del. “The buffalo put his head down and just kept walking toward Kendric.”
After a few more steps, Kendric stopped staring and jumped on his bike and took off. Interestingly, “the buffalo didn’t bother anyone else,” said Del.
Kendric later said, “Did you guys see that? He was giving me the evil eye!”
It looks like you can get more than an eyeful when you’re on a bike.