Had some hesitation for this morning’s ride. Its a strength day so I want to avoid over exercising, which is a lame excuse cause I don’t workout that hard. It is also dark longer in the morning so I was worried about visibility. However, once I was up and soaked in the hot tub I got over my concerns and decided to get in a nice 1 hour ride.
The sunrise was just gorgeous this morning. I hit the road about 15 minutes before it came up over the San Juans and I was able to get a a few pre dawn photos in that came out great.
As I approached the area where the Ute tribe raise a herd of bison there was a group of deer hanging out. They weren’t bothered by any of the trucks and cars flying by at 65 mph but lil ol me got them all startled and running off.
Most of em headed east away from the road but a group of 3 were stuck on the wrong side of the fence. They were running along parallel with me and the road about 50 yards ahead. At first I was excited and enjoying the chase but then I had the realization that they each outweighed me by about double. If for some dumb reason they decided to double back at me it would suck.
Fortunately my fears were even more dumb and they eventually managed to jump the fence and rejoin their group. Just another morning in Mancos I guess.
The rest of the ride was uneventful except for the sun rays pouring out of the clouds like a heavenly vision. I was thankful my tail light was flashing to alert any sunrise distracted motorists of my presense. Car’s rear ending cyclists only make up about 10% of all car-cyclist collisions but I have to imagine they probably don’t work out well for the cyclist.
They say that near death experiences make you appreciate living more. I try not to dwell on my close encounters but occasionally wonder what the distracted driver who gets me will be posting on Facebook at the time of collision. When people tell me to be careful while out riding I remind them that its really up to them and their driving if I am going to be safe or not. They seem to get my drift, mostly.
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