Ray Harris of Oak Lake was stiff and sore but not injured after being struck by an SUV on Highway 44, just 15 kms from his destination.
Harris and his riding partner Leon Dionne were closing in on Beausejour when the crash happened Tuesday around 12:30 p.m.
“What saved me was my trailer. I saw the grill of an SUV-type vehicle right behind me, I grabbed my steering handles and aimed for the ditch. But a second later, he nailed my trailer.
“Without that trailer, I’d be a goner.”
The driver left the scene without stopping.
Dionne was riding about nine metres ahead of Harris and wasn’t hit. Both were on the far right edge of the four-lane divided highway. The road was dry and the weather clear.
“There was no reason for the driver not seeing me and moving over.”
Harris says he had multiple flags flying from his recumbent tricycle and a light on his bright yellow trailer. “Short of a marching band, there was nothing more I could have done to be visible.”
Didn’t finish trip
Reflecting on the incident, an emotional Harris said, “I’m not mad, just really disappointed in that person for not stopping and that I didn’t get to complete the trip. It was really important for me to reach my goal.”
The two men began their 2,500 km journey in Victoria, BC and planned to end it in Dionne’s hometown of Beausejour, MB, on Tuesday afternoon.
Harris says RCMP collected broken-off pieces from the SUV that hit him and are now searching for the driver and vehicle.
“Hopefully they have a conscience and turn themselves in to face the music.”
