Conference noted::bicycle

	I don't know about the danger aspect, but I do know that our two cats
have an infuriating habit of always walking by the bike so that they can brush
along the chain.  It doesn't seem to matter which way round the bike is against
the wall or even if you are just standing holding the bike - they manage it
every time.  Is this cat nature or just another example of the honey-spread
slice always landing upside-down when dropped?

    Common Dudes lets imagine being a cat or rodent :
    
    1. why would I want to be on the street by the curb...to cross?
    2. the curb behind me looks high bot the one over yonder looks nice and
       low. I can make that one.
    3. I want to scare that Fred on the bike maybe He'll tumble.
    4. That animal(human) is slower than I am after all I'got 4 legs he's 
       only got 2.
    
    Here in California I enjoy those black bugs on the roads edge that
    sticks their butts up towards the sky , kind'a like a rebelious
    statement or something. And off road these red lizards freeze hoping
    that they will be mistaken for a piece of dog p.. 
    
    The best to me other than cats and squirrels are the big dogs that turn
    to you specially 3/4 up the steepest hill that you climb.

My only serious encounter with an animal (other than with Sheba, the hound from
hell) was with a thrill squirrel.  I was on the Air Force Academy grounds when
a squirrel, some distance ahead ran out into the road.  After he got about 
halfway across, he stopped and ran back the other way.  Then, he stopped 
directly in my path.  I could see the headlines, "Cyclist Killed after Riding 
into Ravine to Avoid Squirrel."  I broke like crazy and at the last moment
the squirrel dashed back from whence he came. Thank God the deer don't like 
to play that game.

re: .1

To further digress, when I lived in an apartment and didn't want to keep my
road bike on the balcony, it stayed in my dining room.  My cats quite 
frequently would have half a moustache, blackened ear, etc.  Now, my bikes hang
from the ceiling in the basement of my townhome.  The cats haven't yet figured
out how to get to them, but I know it's only a matter of time.

Pat

	Think how small a cat's head is. It can't be expected to hold a lot of
  brains.
	But if you think that the Suburbian Cats From Hell are bad, then try a 
  week on the Isle of Skye. Even if you can stand the constant rain, the sheep
  will drive you nuts. You see, the sheep are on a contract from The Surburbian
  Cats From Hell." In this new free-enterprise Britain, the Cats realised that
  they were spreading themselves a bit thin on the ground and weren't able to
  provide a high-class service to all cyclists. Therefore, they decided to
  lease out contracts to the locals, so that they could concentrate their
  entire efforts into the area. But this is where the problems started.
	The Cats were highly professional at their jobs, having developed their
  skills over the centuries since they tried to take Cleopatra off her camel in
  Ancient Egyptian times. They developed very quick reflexes so that they could
  put in longer efforts before having to backout of imminent death, thus
  increasing productivity. And of course, if a cat maintains his effort for too
  long is struck by the cyclist, it can remain secure in the knowledge that it
  has another eight lives to go. The sheep, on the other hand, are relative
  newcomers to the game. They have yet to develop these highly tuned skills,
  and therefore ramble across the countryside in large groups.
	There have been many theories about a sheep's need to roam in a large
  crowd. Most popular is the theory that they are 'communal animals'. This
  phrase is merely a term used to describe their actions and does not help us
  understand why the feel a need to take these actions. As any sheep studying
  student will tell you, these large crowds are actually on-job training
  classes, so that the new sheep can help raise the falling standards back to
  those supplied by the Cats. This is why they all follow the first sheep over
  the cyclists path. He is an instructor showing the flock how to perform the
  act, while another instructor remains at the back taking notes.
	Why are they worse than the Cats? It's easy swerving to avoid one Cat,
  but when you avoid one sheep, there's another of the little devils beside
  him trying to finish you off.

	Dr.Graham "The Vet" Goodman MVNS, BAAAA

    Well I don't know about cats, but sheep are the worst animals I've 
    come across. In the lambing season last year I was out on an almost
    deserted country road, which was covered in the wooly little things.
    
    When a lamb on the road (or even worse, on the side of the road) saw me
    coming it would first stare at me trying to figure out  I was.  When I
    was about 20 metres away it would spend a while looking around for
    mummy. Then at last moment, it would nearly always run right across my
    path, giving my poor old heaving heart an unwelcome shock.

     By the far, motorist-sapien is THE WORST I've ever encountered!
    
       Chip

 	I encountered a cow in the middle of the road - on an uphill, no less,
	in Germany.  I approached her slowly (not surprising) and with cunning,
	trying not to startle her.  All her cow friends were behind their wire 
	fence, mooing at her to trample me.  But I faked her out and sprinted
	by with just inches (okay, feet) to spare.

	Whew.

     Sue, you definitely get the award for the "most hair raising
    experience with bovines"... Congrats!  :-)
    
       Chip

Once while riding in the Mojave desert, I encountered a thrill jackrabbit,
followed closely by a thrill coyote.  The jackrabbit apparently enjoyed a 
double challenge.  I suspect the coyote was just hungry though.

Barry

    
    I was riding this past fall on the tandem with Marthe when all of a
    sudden she yells in my ear "COW UP".  She is only an inch shorter than
    me and can look over my shoulder when riding.  I had been enjoying the 
    rolling farmland of the Berkshires and had not noticed a cow standing 
    on the edge of the road.  It was on our side of the fence.  I think it
    didn't register as a danger because there were other bovines with it
    but they were on the correct side of the fence.  
      Well Dazy the cow is starting to get nervous as we close in on a near
    collision course at @20mph.  I headed for the left side of the road and
    Dazy starts running down the right side.  She was obviously scared and 
    I was a bit shaken.  I've hit just about everything on my MTB but a
    tandem with someone else relying on me is something else.
    
    							Norm