Scared Gritless before the Howling Grits 100K

I rode my bike the 10 miles from home to the start of the Howling Grits 100K.  It was around 4:30am, the night was dark, and two unusual events helped me get warmed-up early.

Newspaper Delivery Car

First, I crossed paths with a car going the other direction.  The car immediately pulled into my lane behind me and stopped.  The car went into reverse, the engine gunned, and the car raced toward me from behind.  When it didn't stop, I did a quick U-turn in the street and it zipped past where I had been riding only seconds before.  Then it made a U-turn and came at me again.  I did a second U-turn.  Finally I heard the 'plop' sound of a newspaper thrown onto a driveway, and the car went on its way.  Phew, I thought.

But wait, there's more...

Herd of Deer

Another mile or so down the road, I started hearing a 'tit-tat-tit-tat' sound coming from behind me on the left.  Within seconds, it got louder and closer.  Then it came at me from both sides.  I turned repeatedly but saw nothing.  I felt the presence of ghosts.  I channeled Alfred Hitchcock.  As the stampede whooshed past me, I realized it was a herd of deer running on the road.  Several dozen deer, perhaps several hundred, all huge, were swarming past me on both sides at high speed.  In total darkness.  Finally, they veered off into the woods and all was quiet.

I was fully awake.  I was completely warmed-up.  The Howling Grits 100K with JayJay went uneventfully fine.

Checkpoint photos are here:  photos