klehner wrote:
A couple of weeks ago, I was riding down a rural-ish road next to a military base with a large, razor-wire topped fence. I see a wild turkey walking next to the fence, apparently looking for a way through (there is none). It doesn't like my approaching, so it starts to run. Faster. Decides that running in the grass/brush next to the fence won't get it done, so it runs down the road in front of me. I'm going about 17-18mph and accelerating. So does the turkey. At about 20mph, it decides that enough is enough, and takes off (not a graceful action), flies away from me and over the fence.
Turkeys are fast runners when they want to be. They are also larger than you might think, and they make a neat clickety-click noise while running on a paved road.
(just now, my financial advisor and fellow cyclist told me the story of his weekend at his house in Vermont, in which a wild turkey broke through a window and into his house still quite alive and now rather pissed off. But that's not for this thread)
I had a similar situation with a deer several years ago. I was making an attempt at getting the KOM on one of my favorite technical descents. About halfway down, on the steepest section (about 15%), a deer came leaping out of the brush right in front of me. I hit my brakes, and came within a few feet of hitting it. The deer panicked and ran straight down the center of the road, with me riding my brakes just a few feet behind. After several seconds of this, the deer veered off and jumped back into the brush.
I had planned on bringing my GoPro for this ride, but the SD card was full and I didn't feel like taking the time to download everything so I could erase it... d'oh!
"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"