Watch out for those critters. Two years ago I was almost taken out by a possum.

I came off of a downgrade (Alpine Rd on the Portola Loop) and made a hard right-left chicane only to see what I thought was a cat in the middle of the road. The trick with cats is that (like squirrels) they're really quick and the best thing is to aim at them, so that whichever way they jump, you're clean. If you swerve and they jump it's 50/50 that you hit them, and maybe you go down.

So at the last minute I realize it's not a cat, and not gonna move. I'm doing 30-35 and nearly wiped out. I think the little b@st@rd had some critter buddies down by the creek warming up their hibachi to cook up some bicyclist road-kill...

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

I've almost hit deer when out on rides in the late afternoon. For some reason, they always decide to cross the road directly in front of me instead of just running the other way.

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I'm a runner pretending to be a Triathlete

Glad it turned out OK. I wouldn't worry too much about the dog, they are pretty tough. Odds are, if you turned around a minute later, he would have run back out to do it again.

I've seen my dobe voluntarily put herself through a meat grinder when chasing a particularly nice piece of tail. (think cotton-tail here) She comes back to me bloody and torn up and with the biggest grin on her face.

The dog is lucky you were not a car.

Why can't many dog owners understand that the mutts do not know any better? Get a fence or walk them on a leash! YES, even in the country.

I know a guy who hit a kangaroo! He was coming down a fast descent, probably 100km/hr, at dawn (dawn and dusk are when they're out), turned the corner and WHAM. He was pretty messed up. Bike was written off.

Beck

Right on johnt, people need to control their pets.

I ride the Van Fleet Trail west of Clermont on a regular basis. We get the occasional stray dog, but they are country dogs so they just stare at ya'.

But, the gators and the snakes are downright nasty. A few weeks ago a gator got up on the path and was snoozing blissfully in the noonday sun like he was waiting for someone to hand him a Margarita or something. He wouldn't move, so we had to quickly ride behind him! No one got eaten as far as I know. :) Saw a water mocassin last Sunday that looked like she was in training to be a python. Huge and pregnant we think. She wouldn't move of the trail either and lifted her head like she was going to lay one of us out. Again, no one bitten. :)

The wild boar are pretty bad too 'cause they like to run alongside and can easily do 25 mph for about half a mile. The only worry is that one of them will wobble a bit and veer into you as you're trying desperately to outsprint the sucka'.

Fortunately, the Florida Panther just takes one look at you when you're 50 yards away and is gone like a bolt of lightening. I've seen him twice...barely.

If you get a chance to ride Van Fleet don't miss it. It also has oxygen. I know that's a strange gas for most of you, but once you've tried it, you'll never want to go back to carbon monoxide.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I almost got taken out by a deer on Pierce Rd. I was coming around a corner (thankfully at pretty low speed since it was a pretty steep climb) and a deer came barrelling straight down the slope of the hill, one-hopped the road right in front of me, and kept going down the slope on the other side of the road. Pretty surreal.

My dog knows that if he runs out into the road in front of a bicycle that pain inflicted by the collision would be minimal compared to his punishment for running into the road . . . kind of like my kids know that should they get in trouble at school, the real trouble is when they get home.

Some of my friends are amazed that we never need to tie or fence our dog and he never leaves the property . . . I simply tell them that if he runs off he knows he better just keep running . . .

Dogs and kids, it is amazing what they can do when proper training.

On a different note, one day I was screaming down a road in the White Mts at 50 mph and look up to see a large moose running towards the road. I didn't have time to react but he put on the brakes and just stopped right next to the road. I probably could have reached out and hit his nose.

Last summer I hit a dog on Hwy 52 in Colorado. I was really moving and I nailed a lab almost head on at nearly 45 kph. He came running out of nowhere and all I really had time to do was get out of the aero position. Luckily, the dog and I both came out alright. Good thing too, because it felt like I ran into brick wall. I thought I was going to split the dog in two. The owner was also very apologetic in this situation.

When I was a kid I ran into a parked car, but that's a whole other story. I wasn't used to bikes w/ handlebar brakes.

Justin D

That can be messy, remember what happened to Joey Saunders last year. I think it was at Pac Grove that a deer jumped in front of him and f-ed him up royally.

Hey, too bad I didn't realize it at the time, but you and I were 0:00:01 apart finishing at San Jose... Except we didn't start in the same wave, so I guess that fat gray-haired wheezer on my shoulder wasn't you!!

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

I may be a fat wheezer, but at least I don't have grey hair yet. How funny about out finishing times! Looking at the pics you recently posted, I'm sure I saw your bike in transition. Too bad we didn't get to meet. You doing Folsom International?

"I may be a fat wheezer, but at least I don't have grey hair yet"

I'll be at Folsom, but my bike will probably be at home. I'm doing Half Vineman two weeks before, so I'll be doing a swim only at Folsom for a relay. I've got good sidemen, so I expect us to win the division.

I used to train with Team Sheeper when I lived in RWC and worked in Palo Alto, so it's a safe bet we've seen each other on the roads down there. I was averaging a little over 10,000 miles a year, and did Skyline from Old La Honda or Page Mill down to Hwy 9 or Foothill to Mt Eden to Hwy 9 fairly often. My road (training) bike is a silver Trek 5200, so it blends into the woodwork.

And exactly WHAT is wrong with gray hair???

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

How funny. I'm sure our paths have crossed. I have a USPS-colored 5200 (the dark gray with red/blue 2001/2 colors). I ride up in those parts all the time.

Good luck at Half Vineman. I did the full Vineman last year for the first time. Great race. I'll be sure to look for you at Folsom.

Nothing wrong with gray hair- I just don't have any yet, though with a 2 year-old and a 4 month-old I'm sure it's coming soon :-)

I spent a day in the hospital, got about 50 stitches, and still have a messed up shoulder (10 years later) all because of a dog. Be careful out there.

Aloha,

Larry