Today was our club's race; the Habitat for Humanity Circuit Race held in the Norristown Farm Park. Held on a 2.25 mile circuit with a 'moderate' sized hill to the finish (really, it was not flat like yesterday). There's also a 90 degree turn into a very narrow bridge on the backside; no more than 2 aside can fit through and if you aren't in the top 3, you will come to a near stop. Cat 3 only field with 52 racers. We did 16 laps.
I won't bore anyone with my meaningless recap as I really didn't do shit but hang on and finish (17th overall). There was however, one very interesting event that occurred that I've never seen before in a bike race. On the first lap at the fastest point in the race (we were going over 30mph) I look to my right and see a deer running along side us. I kept thinking, 'please don't freak out deer, please don't freak out deer'. I look at Eric who was right next to me and tell him this will be trouble and can get very ugly. I took another look at the deer and he makes a right turn and heads right at me. He just missed me but not the rider behind me. When I look back, it looks like the entire field is either on the pavement or going off into the grass. I was in ~15th place and was the last one who made it past the kamikaze deer.
After the race, I found out the peleton actually killed the deer by hitting it, running it over, etc. That's some crazy ass thing to happen during a race. I've been in races where dogs have taken out the pack, but a full out sprinting deer is a new one to me!
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