I saw something big go past my windshield. I looked in the mirror and saw a cloud of feathers with handlebars. My buddy had caught a vulture square in the chest. I'm amazed he stayed upright on the bike. I had to take him to the ER where they found he had several cracked ribs.

Wow! You wouldn't think a bird could do that much damage, but then again, vultures are pretty big birds and you guys were traveling pretty fast.

I saw a picture of damage done to a big plane from a bird. In one picture, you can see the bird's wing sticking out of the side of the front nose cone ... just the wing, stuck in the crack it had made when it hit. Amazing that there was that much damage. Oh wait ... I found the link (but you may have to sign up to see it, I'm not sure):

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/PhotoGallery_BirdStrikeDamage_196324-1.html

I can post this elsewhere (like on my website) if someone wants to see it without signing up for this site. Just let me know.

~~Bonnie