When our cycling group rides on weekends, we usually take fairly long rides (40 to 70 miles) deep into the Hill Country outside of San Antonio. In addition to seeing beautiful hills, valleys and ranch homes, we often see a variety of critters. Animals can be both beautiful to watch or scary; it all depends upon whether they are on the other side of the fence or on the open road. On September 7, 2014 during a 70 mile ride from Bulverde to near Blanco, Texas we encountered a first: a herd of cattle in the road. We had just crossed a cattle guard with the road going right through un-fenced cattle pastures. This road belonged to the cattle and they did not want to move; a standoff ensued.

More on how that turned out later, but first I want to share some of the many other animals we have seen when riding. We see dogs all the time, almost every ride. Most dogs remain in yards behind a fence, barking loudly. Many times they run along the fence as if  trying to beat the pack. These dogs are obviously not a bother and give us something to talk about along the ride. Other dogs are loose, but simply stay to the side of the road and stare as we pass by. Since things change quickly, we watch them closely, but we rarely have problems. But in other situations, dogs come running out onto the road from the shadows of the brush, barking and chasing after us; this happens more often than we’d like. When more than one dog are present, things get more scary.

Thus far, no one in our group has been hurt by an animal, but I had one incident that came close. Shortly after I started riding with the group, we were on our way to Fredericksburg when a single dog began chasing us. One rider passed the running dog, then as I came up, the dog angrily turned on me, ramming my bike. He knocked me off the road and into the ditch going about 18 to 20 mph. I managed to stay on the bike, riding through the ditch and finally back onto the road. Scary! From that point, the group gave me the nickname – Mad Dog.

We also see a lot of deer; they are beautiful, especially when a little doe comes around. Deer also make us nervous because they can jump right into our path, and have been known to hit bikers. And if you see one deer, many times more hide behind the brush. When we see a deer, someone typically yells “DEER,” and we all get the alert and slow down. Fortunately, we have never hit a deer and we try hard to keep it that way.

Since we ride in the Hill Country, we will frequently see sheep, goats and an occasional donkey behind a fence. We also see horses. They typically just stare at us as we pass by. Additionally, we might see the occasional wild turkey along the road side. Also, the Hill Country is known for its wild game reserves. You can tell when one is encountered because the typical barb-wire fence is replaced with a very high expensive fence; something akin to one you might see in Jurassic Park. Fortunately, we have never seen any dinosaurs, nor have we ever seen any wild game. If we did, that would be worth stopping and taking a picture.

Unfortunately, we do see a lot of dead animals on almost every ride. We see dead squirrels, cats, possums, deer, skunks and lots of animals not recognizable. We have even seen a dead porcupine and big feral hog. It’s sad to see this, and unfortunately the rotting smell greets us and lingers for a while after we’ve passed. In one sense we’re almost glad to see the dead animal as we pass by, because that confirms that the smell came from the animal, not the rider just in front of you!  Along with the dead animals, we frequently see vultures on the ground or flying overhead.

Back to the cattle standoff

You can only imagine what happened. Jeff Porter and Bill Sanders knew how to speak a little “bovine” so they approached the herd and began an intense negotiation with the lead bull. The rest of us stayed in the back listening in and trying hard not to make a sudden move. It seemed like the negotiations lasted forever. Then one of the bulls noticed that both Bill and Jeff were riding Trek bikes. Apparently they liked Trek because the bull-ies began to lighten up. The lead bull wanted to know about the bike components and how they liked Trek versus others on the road. Finally after a bit of bike and cow talk, the heard moooooooved on to let us through.

As we started riding through the herd the lead bull yelled: If you guys would just let me know in advance when you were coming through , I’ll make sure we don’t leave cow patties all over the road.  This herd had obviously just finished their grass omelets and relaxed on the road quite awhile.

This historic event has been named the Camp Bullis Peace Accord!