[alfa] Hitting Critters (or not)... nimble=good

[Don Banfield <banfield@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Guys,
	With all the posts recently about hitting critters, I thought I'd
add in my Alfa experience with critters on the roads.  Here in upstate NY,
we have quite a good crop of deer.... I'll relate a story of how my 88
spider's agility kept us from hitting a pair of them this fall, just
barely...

	My fiancee and I were coming back from a full day's activities in
and around Watkins Glen for the Sporting Roadster Rally and the Vintage
Grand Prix at Watkins (organized by an alfisti on the board, Jim Lehman...
I HIGHLY recommend you all try to participate next year).  After driving
around the picturesque finger lakes, tasting some nice wine at their
wineries and seeing amazing vintage race cars at Watkins, capped off by
being able to drive 2 laps of the historic road course of the Grand Prix,
and then watching the real SVRA cars do the same (which included a 1930's
Alfa Romeo that HAULED ASS up the hill out of Watkins... this same car had
won the first Watkins Glen Grand Prix (I think)).  We were pooped and
decided to drive the 50 miles home at about dusk.
	About 10 miles from home, a deer instantly appeared in front of
us.  I jammed the brake instinctively, which I realized changed our
trajectory enough to avoid hitting the deer, but then I realize there's
another one following her by about 10 feet behind.  Now we were set to hit
the second deer.  I did some kind of quick swerve, putting us between the
two deer, the first off the front right fender by maybe 3 feet, and the
second about to go into the rear right quarter.  In fact, if the second
deer hadn't slowed down, it probably would have run into the side of
our spider going by.  We missed them both, but were a bit headed across
to the oncoming traffic's lane.  They were about 100 feet away, so with a
quick correction back, we were on our way, safe and sound.
	It was right then that I reminded my finacee why I choose to drive
a nimble car rather than the SUV's everyone else seems to have.  There's
no way we could have missed both of those deer in anything less nimble
than the spider. (Of course, hitting 1 or 2 deer in a spider is a scary
concept)...

nimble=good!

Don Banfield
88 spider veloce
83 donzi 22' classic

Don Banfield					Senior Research Associate
banfield@domain.elided                   Cornell University Astronomy
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