Cow knocks over woman on bike, steps on her legs

After a long day of meetings, conference calls and lobbying a state legislature, sometimes it's hard to resist avoiding my own creative writing, and instead share an amusing bit of news. This evening, the little ditty combines bicycling, cattle and Boulder, Colorado. To the amusement of people like me, this drama played out in Colorado in late January:

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BOULDER, Colo.—A woman has escaped serious injury and has refused medical treatment after a cow knocked the woman down and walked on her legs in Boulder.

Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks ranger Pete Taylor says the woman was riding her bicycle along the South Boulder Creek Trail on Monday when she encountered the cow and stopped to let the animal cross.

Instead, the cow knocked the woman over and stepped on her legs.

Taylor says the woman wasn't seriously hurt. Her name was not released.

The cow had left the area by the time rangers arrived, but other people warned fellow bikers and hikers on the trail about the animal.

Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance vice president Jason Vogel called the incident "odd, rare and random."

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"Odd, rare and random," indeed. Is there not something of an information gap between where the woman stops to let the cow cross the bike path, and the cow proceeding to trod upon her hapless legs? This is either a very nonreactive cyclist, or an unbelievably malicious and nimble bovine.

As a former resident, I realize that many Boulder days are slow for news. With all its compelling story elements, this had to be the talk of the town. Keep it weird, Boulder.