Cyclists Rescue Kittens at Gravel Race: ‘We Were Legitimately Herding Cats’

We all use the expression ‘it was like herding cats’ to talk about getting a group of slow people going, but have you actually ever herded cats?

Until recently, neither had Earl Anema, a 30-year-old gravel cyclist from Denver, Colorado.

Last Sunday, Anema was participating in the FoCo Fondo, a gravel race in Fort Collins. About 30 minutes into the race, Anema, a dog-owner who loves cats, saw a woman on the side of the road at the bottom of a hill. The woman was waving to people, and Anema slowed down, wondering if she’d had a mechanical and needed help.

“As I got closer I could see that she had a grey ball of fluff in her arms. The very first thing I said was, ‘is that a cat? And she’s like, ‘yeah there’s seven of them and I need help!’”

Anema laid his bike down and immediately realized what the problem was: the kittens were scampering out into the road as hundreds of cyclists whizzed by.

“We were legitimately herding cats,” Anema said.

Eventually a few other people slowed down to help, and they were able to get all of the kittens out of the way of the oncoming cyclists. FoCo Fondo takes place in rural Larimer County, and there weren’t any homes nearby to run to for help. Eventually, the woman who first found the kittens got ahold of the NoCo Humane Society on the phone, but “before we reached them, it was like, ‘maybe I could fit two in my jersey and ride to town,’” Anema said.

Meanwhile, a particular black and white kitten had grabbed Anema’s attention — or rather, he had grabbed its. According to Anema, “the little guy kept jumping out of other people’s arms and coming over to me, nuzzling up to me.”

Anema picked him up again, and the kitten put his paw on Anema’s chest where his jersey was unzipped. Then, “he actually jumped down into my jersey,” Anema said. “He just sat there and meowed.”

When the woman at the roadside asked Anema if he had a cat, Anema said he didn’t. “You do now,” she said.

About half an hour later, a vehicle arrived from the Humane Society to collect the kittens. Anema pedaled away, into the final 30 miles of his race. Although he’d initially hoped to complete the 60-mile route in under four hours, he figured that being waylaid by the kitten rescue had dashed those dreams.

Nevertheless, he crossed the line in three hours and 56 minutes.

And, he left the FoCo Fondo with perhaps the best finisher swag of all: the black and white kitten who snuggled up in his jersey.

Although the kitten is still currently at the NoCo Humane Society with his six siblings (veterinarians estimated them to be around one month old), Anema gets to pick up his new friend next week.

And, he already has a name: Fondo.