The pace notes of a rally are significant to the success or failure of a rally team. When followed properly, they are a coded explanation of the stage that will tell the driver exactly what to do. Ignored, and the chances of something bad happening are just about 100%. But pace notes are written by humans who can occasionally make a mistake, and some things just can’t be expected to exist on a rally stage. In the video clip below, the Canadian Rally Championship team of Martin Rowe (driver) and Nathalie Richard (co-driver) start off on the second stage of the 2014 Pacific Forest Rally in Merritt, British Columbia. They are on a tear and are coming around a right-hand bend when they happen upon a group of cows crossing the road in front of them. Rowe does a great job of avoiding the intruding bovines and carries on like a professional driver should.

Rally drivers must be prepared for anything in their way, but I’m pretty certain that it’s not everyday that a couple tons of beef end up blocking the road. Attention must be paid because there is a zero percent chance of “Right 5, caution cow” ending up in the pace notes.