This was the first really scary experience I had since I have been riding, which isn't that long.
I took a weekend ride with a couple of friends from my home in Santa Cruz,CA to San Diego. On the way home today we decided to get off the 101 in Santa Barbara and take the 154, a scenic, kind of twisty road that runs up to Santa Ynez and reconnects to the 101.
We were riding fairly spread out with me in the second position. Tony, who was leading, pointed to a deer on the side of the road just in front of him. Just as he passed the deer the deer paniced, but instead of running away from the road, this deer ran straight across the road. I FREAKED! Quickly thinking back to my riding class I didn't panic and lockup both brakes, but swerved to the right since he was heading left. I swear I could of spanked him with my left hand as I passed.
We pulled over and I was just about hyperventilating. I finally calmed down and we got back on the road. Still feeling kind of wierd and out of my riding rhythm...it took me a good hour to finally settle back in.
Hopefully I got that out of the way and it doesn't happen again.
Yes we are all happy you are ok. And just as a reminder to all new and experienced riders...always remember SIPDE!
The acronym is
With each category representing a different level of risk and each needs to be addressed by the rider differently.