A cyclist is lucky to be alive after an encounter with a bull during a bike race in northern California.
Tony Inderbitzen thought he was riding past a friendly cow, which he’s done many times during bike rides before.
As Inderbitzen sped by onlookers, they yelled that the animal he was about to come across was not a cow.
He noticed the commotion, but didn’t stop to ask what was happening, and so he missed their warning.
“In hindsight I wish I would have asked someone because they might have said, ‘hey you gotta watch out for that bull down there,’” he told Inside Edition.
As Inderbitzen rode toward the bull, it turned around and charged at him.
“As soon as I hit the little incline, he turns to me because he had his back to me, I see those stubby little horns and I think, ‘oh my gosh, this is a bull,’” he said.
He realized at the last second before it hit him that it was a bull.
“I am on my hands and knees, and I look up, and he is coming at me with his head under my chest and lifted me up in the air,” he said.
The bull wasn’t done, though, and lunged at him a second time.
“He went down low, kind of like a football tackler trying to take your knees out from under you,” he said.
Inderbitzen suffered neck and back injuries, but nothing serious.
“My left calf and foot are swollen and there is a bruise on my foot,” he said. “He must have stepped on my foot at one point.”
Inderbitzen later found out that four other riders were also attacked by the bull, and while he didn’t feel lucky as the encounter took place, he does now.
“Looking at the video and what could have happened… yeah, I guess I am lucky,” he said.