A WILD RIDE - Charles Ayers Nearly killed by a Cow's Tail. - Oakland Tribune, 28 Nov 1894, Wed, Page 8

A WILD RIDE. 

Charles Ayers Nearly killed by a Cow's Tail. 

Charles Ayers and John E. Morris had an experience last Sunday that they will long remember. They are the owners of two fine wheels and they went for a ride in the country. They had heard of the coasting from Redwood Peak and they thought that they would have a spin.
In the course of time they reached the peak and all preparations were made for the descent. Morris started down the road first and he soon found that he was going at the rate of forty miles an hour and had no way to check himself. Just as he was about half way down the steep grade he saw a band of cattle crossing the road. It was an exciting moment for Morris. On one side of the narrow road was a precipice 200 feet deep and on the other was an embankment 2000 feet high. The cows stood still and watched Morris coming like a streak of lightning. There was just one chance to save his life and that was to dash through a small space between the cattle. Morris took the chance and cleared the cattle by an inch and went safely speeding on his journey.

In a minute Charley Ayers came along in all his glory, speeding away at the rate of 135 [sic] miles an hour. A little calf blocked the roadway. He saw Ayers coming, but he did not move. There was only one way for the rider to escape and that was to ride between the calf and the embankment. Ayers was coming so fast that the calf evidently thought that he was a fly. Just as the rider was about to pass the calf wagged his tail and hit the biker's wheel. There was a cloud of dust, and when it had cleared away pieces of wheel were strewn around the roadway. Ayers got up in a dazed condition and buckets of blood was streaming from his many wounds. In his crippled condition he managed to hobble down to Blair Park, where he found Morris waiting for him. He was a sight.

"Great heavens, what's the matter, Charley?” asked Morris.

"Oh, nothing,” replied the biker. "I only hit the calf's tail. That's all."

Ayers was taken down to the trough and his wounds were washed.

"I have no hard feelings against that calf,” said Charley sadly. "He did not recognize me."


A WILD RIDE Charles Ayers Nearly Killed by a Cow's Tail. TO BLOG. Wed, Nov 28, 1894 – Page 8 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Newspapers.com