My wife and I headed out on the bike after dark last night and hadn't ventured far before literally coming in contact with a large Barred owl. I suspect it was either in pursuit of prey on the opposite side of the road or on the side of the road having just caught prey and taking flight when it crossed our path of travel directly. A flash of white from the right is all I saw before it contacted my helmet, my shoulder, and then rolled back into my wife before landing on the pavement behind us. While we were unaffected, we circled around to find the bird unconscious but breathing. I moved it from the side of the road and waited a short while to assess whether it was safe to transport, and then carefully loaded it in a saddle bag, upon arriving home transferred it to a pet carrier, and transported it directly to an emergency vet clinic who will assess its health and rehab the animal before returning it to the location we encountered it. Here's hoping for a swift recovery.

That said...had we not been wearing full-face helmets, or worse...no helmets at all, I am absolutely certain this post would have taken a very different direction. Ride safe, don't drop your guard, always stay calm, and keep the rubber side down.