(WBAY) – Brandon Ullrich is happy to be walking just days after a scary motorcycle ride with his friends.

“Me and my buddy were talking – we have intercom in our helmets – and he says “Dog! Dog,” says the 21-year-old from Seymour. “As soon as I look one bike went past the dog and I saw it run out in front of me and I pulled the clutch in and just boom, hit it. There wasn’t no really time to react.”

Brandon his the ground hard – his helmet slamming onto the pavement followed by his right shoulder.

Just behind him was Travis Meyer. Once he noticed Brandon hit the dog and was heading to the ground, he hit his breaks and dropped his bike and began skidding on the road. What neither man noticed was a semi truck in the oncoming lane. Meyer was tumbling on the highway veering into the truck’s path when at the last second he seemed to force his body to change momentum and avoid almost certain death.

”A perfect choice by the rider,” says Vandervest Harley-Davidson Riding Academy Coach Susie Davis. “The bikes can be fixed much easier than people can be fixed – so proud of them for doing that.”

Both men decided to drop their bikes and skid on the road instead of swerving to avoid the dog and then each other. Davis says that split-second decision may have save their lives and the lives of the other motorcyclists with them.

”I think they did a miraculous job,” said Davis. “They let the bike go. They saved themselves. They came out alive. They’ve come out with minor injuries. I don’t know that it could have been done any differently.”

Ullrich and Meyer were wearing full protective gear, jackets, gloves, helmets and in long pants. Davis says that also made a difference and Ullrich agrees.

”It either spend 500 bucks on that gear or die, possibly die or end up way worse than I did, walking away with 2-3 scrapes on my body,” says Ullrich.

”Got to trust in the gear that you’re wearing, that it’s going to save your life and I think in this case my helmet, my gloves, and the jacket that I was wearing – it saved my life,” he said. “It’s ruined now, and it’s all ripped up, but I’m here today.”WARNING: This video contains some strong language. It also shows a motorcycle hitting a dog, which some may find upsetting.