When you love your workout, you take your chances, because anything has its element of danger.

You could, after all, go flying off a treadmill or be kicked in the nose while swimming. You could drop a weight on your feet, topple from a mountainside or have a wayward kettlebell conk you the head.

Or, as what really did happen to Craig Miller, almost get mowed down three times in three weeks while riding your bike. Seriously almost mowed down. As in almost-died seriously mowed down.

Two of the near-accidents happened in June during Race Across America, a 3,070-mile relay that The Ticket radio host rode as part of an eight-man team called Nature Boyz. The third, just a week or so later, occurred while Miller was riding 30 mph down a Colorado mountain highway, which was slick and dark because of pounding rain.

If these stories sound familiar, you probably heard Miller talk about them during morning segments on The Ticket radio (1310 AM and 96.7 FM). He's part of the Morning Musers sports broadcasting trio, along with co-hosts George Dunham and Gordon Keith. That's where I heard his edge-of-your-seat recounts that alternately mesmerized me and gave me anxiety attacks.

Miller, 51, explains his Colorado brush with death in an email: "A car in the upcoming lane started to turn left in front of me. He didn't see me. I hit my brakes, which were pretty useless in the wet weather, and for a split second, I was convinced I was dead."

At the last second, the driver saw him and aborted the turn: "If he hadn't seen me, I wouldn't be typing this."

Later, during a phone call, he elaborates: "That's just kind of three incidents in three weeks. I had to pull over and gather myself, to settle my nerves just a little."

And then he kept going, and not just because he still had 50 miles to go. Instead, what made him shrug it off, readjust his helmet and put his feet back into the pedals probably won't surprise anyone who has a similar passion.

Joy.

"Cycling is the one thing I look forward to every day, and have for over 30 years. Whether it's a short ride or a long one, it's good for me physically and mentally, a time to clear my mind or sort through problems. It's getting outside, and I love to be outside, moving my limbs through nature."

He's been riding since he was a kid, competing unofficially since high school and officially since college. Five to six days a week, 20 to 100 miles at a time, he's out there on his bike. That adds up to thousands of rides, which translates into many more thousands of miles. And while they've encompassed a variety of terrains, temperatures, precipitation, elevations, danger and exhilaration levels, they've all shared one thing:

"Every single one of them has been fun," Miller says. "I've never had a bad bike ride."

He calls bike racing "the most fascinating sport because of its incredible amount of tactics. It's chess on wheels. You're constantly thinking about you and how you're feeling and the performing and the wind and the weather."

Craig Miller of The Ticket radio rides through Arizona as part of the 3,070-mile Race Across America relay he and 7 teammates completed in June. (Race Across America)

"It's speed under your own power," he says. "You really push yourself to some pretty incredible limits."

There's joy, there's fun, there's the physical aspect, and there's one more element of that ethereal exercise quartet: Losing yourself in what you love.

"With my bike, I can get away and I usually don't take my phone," Miller says. "Nobody can reach me.

"I'm only in the moment. I'm thankful enough to be able to do that, and just staying in the moment -- which is hard for me and a lot of people to do.

"The bike gets me there."

Craig Miller, far left, and his teammates pose for a photo after completing the 3,070-mile Race Across America relay (Race Across America)

Of course it can be dangerous, as, quite honestly, just about anything. So what else can we (in the figurative sense) or Miller (in the very real) do but just keep pedaling?

"It's worth it," he says. "That's the conclusion I came to with these close calls. I know if your hobby is playing in traffic every day, you're taking a chance. But to me, it's worth it."