So I'm riding along at a pretty good clip and a I see a cat running along the road at my left... looking over his left shoulder and running right under my wheel. Takes me a little too long to realize he doesn't see me (it's about 5:20 AM, I'm bit groggy, and it's dark, so I figure he sees my headlight). I finally realize we're on a collision course and I hit the brakes and runs smack into my front wheel from the side. I yell "move!" and scoop him out of the way with my left foot. Cat runs away.

After the fact, I realized yelling at the cat, and using my foot, were completely gratuitous. I don't like cats, but I try not to kick them. So now I'm not at all sure why I had to do that; but at the time it seemed appropriate. Close call, though-- I haven't hit a cat since 1981!