YALE, Iowa, August 23, 2007 – It’s a first, as far as we know, on the 18-year-old Raccoon River Valley Trail. Bill Shimon, a veteran cyclist from nearby Perry, was doing one of his frequent evening rides on Tuesday, August 21, when he hit a young raccoon on the trail.

Both Shimon and the raccoon were scared but uninjured.

“I was riding just north of Yale, and the raccoon walked out of the long grass in the right-of-way and up on the trail, just a little out ahead of me,” said Shimon. “I whistled at him, thinking that would scare him away.

“He turned around, looked at me and was probably startled. I thought, ‘I better speed up and get by him,’ so I tried to. I still thought he’d run, but when I got right up next to him, he went after my bike — kind of lunged at it. He got under my wheel, and I ran over the back half of him.”

Shimon said he was able to maintain his balance and continue, and the raccoon ran back into the cover adjacent to the trail.

“I’ve been around a few raccoons, and if one goes after you like that, you wonder if he might be rabid,” he said. “But this one looked like he was O.K. I think he was probably just a youngster and still learning.”

Shimon said it was another good reminder to himself “always to keep your wits about you when you’re riding a bicycle.”

Article Published: 08-23-2007