Well, not all things go according to plan as the McLeran brothers learned early yesterday morning on their return motorcycle trip to the Bay Area. Just an hour out of Dodge (read, Missoula) while motoring over into Idaho, "a large deer" unexpectedly lept a onto the roadway in front of front pacing rider Brian, with bro Ralph far enough behind to view and avoid the potentially disastrous scene that then quickly unveiled: Brian hit the deer mid-section and, in talking with him this morning in his ICU Missoula Community Medical Center room, tells of "riding the deer as far as I could until I flipped over her". The resultant damage was (fortunately) only six fractured ribs, a broken scapula, a punctured lung and a damaged spleen--all of which are on mend's way (see, you ARE supposed to "mend" during the Extravaganza!) and arriving wife Laura and daughter Emily, who I picked up at noon today at MSO, proclaiming that, indeed, the events of yesterday will be known as "Brian's Last Ride", forever proclaiming him to be Brian "Deer Me" McLeran!!
Shown above are (a) Brian's now trophy-scarred helmet damaged from where he hit the pavement; (b) bro Ralph pointing to Brian's newest form of preferred transportation (the helicopter than medivaced him to ICU); and (c) Brian in the flesh (all of it via hospital gown, btw) giving us all an extravagant thumbs-up earlier this first day of July and sporting his newest prize--an honorary Yellow Hat (upon receipt of which he proudly proclaimed, "I bet I am the first Extravaganzer to get one of the for t-boning a deer!").
All's well that ends well, but this chapter in Extravaganza history sure had some anxious moments!
Best to all now taking a breath after the scariness of it all,
RCR
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