Active Cougars

Bikes Ready to Roll

Coming off the hardest part of a race course with a fun hour long section left in front of me I wasn't thrilled to see a sign that said 'Active Cougar in area, proceed at your own risk'. A BIG sign, with lots of people waving to it and yelling cougar spotted in area. My first thought was, do you have to make such a big deal about me coming through here? Oh, not that type of cougar. My second thought was, if I choose not to enter at my own risk, does that mean I can take a short cut to the end, or does it mean that I did all the miles up until now for naught?

Riding the Roller Coaster

Needless to say, I entered at my own risk, along with everyone around me, but not before taking the whistle that they were handing out. By now I had been on the bike for a while, long enough to play a round of golf and I still had more time to go. That is if I made it through active cougar territory safely. Now instead of having a strategy for getting to the finish line faster, I was making up strategies for getting to the finish line period. I was wondering if the purpose of the whistle was to blow it continuously to warn the cougar of my approach, or was I to blow the whistle once I saw the cougar? How come no one blew their whistle when they saw me? I wasn't really sure what the purpose of the whistle was except that it was hanging around my neck and banging around on the bumps. I was trying to remember all I knew about cougars and their hunting methods. I knew they like to attack their prey from behind and they will prey on the smallest and weakest looking. SHIT! I kept passing big guys going up the hills and then I would be on my own. New plan, go slow until someone catches me and then stay in front of them holding them up. (this was not a plan others were playing into for me, and the ones who were stuck behind me didn't really appreciate my logic). Due to the lack of air I had from the heavy breathing I was doing, I wasn't sure I would be able to blow into the whistle if the need arose. In order to let the cougar know I was coming, I decided to screech as I rode across every bridge that I came across. For some reason, this wasn't too popular of a tactic with the fellas behind me either. But, I should point out it worked. We did not see a cougar! But really, people, of course there are active cougars in that area, there are diamonds, and lots of them, the black variety!

Out of the Woods!

PS- any young men heading out to a wine bar in the near future contact me, I have a whistle you may need:)