What I saw on my long distance bike ride

I live in coastal New Hampshire, so it's not uncommon to see deer nibbling at the fruit trees in my backyard or standing in the trees and brush along the roadside watching me labor past in my effort to complete my training runs. However, what I saw on my long bike ride Monday was a first for me.

I had just completed the 41st mile of a 43 mile effort and was feeling a little dehydrated and hungry, but pretty good overall.  I had reached that pleasant stage where the cycling takes over and the mind has time to wander. At that particular point in time I was considering the evolutionary process and wondering why some species hadn't developed some appendages similar to wheels.

You can imagine my shock when suddenly two adult white-tailed bucks with fuzzy antlers came crashing through the bushes and clattered into the road thirty feet in front of me. They stopped and looked at me. I did the same. For a moment the deer closest to me looked as if he was embarrassed/threatened/angry all at once and I tried to remember if I had ever heard a story about a deer charging a bike rider before.

Then, they took off across the road a ran down the driveway of nearby house. They still seemed very confused. One of them awkwardly avoided running into a parked car as it ran down the driveway towards the wooded backyard. And then, they were gone. I hadn't even gotten my feet out of the toe clips. Two or three seconds max.

I looked around to see if maybe there was another witness to corroborate my story, but there wasn't. I pedaled home those last two miles feeling like I had witnessed something wonderful.