Hit a Dog Today

[Anonymous]

Five years ago or so I almost killed Ethan Hawke...the annoyingly bad actor...he stepped right out in front of me in front of the s****y b and b he was staying at with his his then wife Uma...brushed him pretty good...too bad as I was going at a good clip...I doubt such a chance will ever come up again.

 

[Steel4Ever]

Five years ago or so I almost killed Ethan Hawke...the annoyingly bad actor...he stepped right out in front of me in front of the s****y b and b he was staying at with his his then wife Uma...brushed him pretty good...too bad as I was going at a good clip...I doubt such a chance will ever come up again.

Shoulda turned around and taken a run at Uma...at slo-mo speed.

 

[Lifeshape]

"better pump"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfv2diohUXE&feature=related

 

[pedaling squares]

I didn't have a helmet on. Riding hard on a curve a big black dog came running on a 90 degree collision course at me, I braked, skidded, got high sided and they tell me I was out cold for several minutes. I had landed head first.

That explains a lot. Just kidding. Glad you're ok. Wear your damn bucket!

 

[Carboncrank]

That explains a lot. Just kidding. Glad you're ok. Wear your damn bucket!

Thanks. Now I even wear it on the trainer!!
Not really, but that will be the last time I'm frinkin' ever without it.

Cautionary tale for those that take even short rides without one.

 

[flicker]

Hit a dog on LaHonda road during a race flipped the bike and ended up stopped after impacting at 35mph. accordianized the top and down tubes.

Ever since then when I see a dog I sprint towards it. The dogs always get that agro message and they run. Never I say never brake for a dog on road always attack the dogwith your bicycle. It will run.

 

[joelietz]

Hey, there you go! Kangeroo chasing could be a whole new sport! Snarling dogs scare me though! I got attacked by a dog when I was a kid and I still have an urge to run when I see a big one!

------------------------------
need a medicare supplement?

Nice doggy they are a great training tool the teach you how to sprint.

Keep alert and out sprint the little ******.

Kangeroos are much harder they always stay out front and the move along fast Very fast I chased one for 20 killometers

 

[53x11 in DC]

1. (1994) Nearly clipped a deer in Hackettstown, NJ doing about 30mph on a slight downhill. Nearly $hat myself.

2. (2007) Riding the Upper Tampa Bay Trail at night alongside a culvert... came upon a large mass between the trail and the culvert (and outside the fence cordoning off the culvert). As I approached the mass, a 3 foot long tail raised up from behind and a large reptilian neck turned toward me, jaws agape and hissing. And there I had my first gator experience, little 6-foot or so guy. REALLY nearly $hat myself.

3. (1989) Pawtucket Criterium. Same race, three interesting outcomes (two relevant). Dove (or a beautifully pure white pigeon) swooped down mid race and drafted above pack that included Gaggioli for about two laps. Then, unknowing spectator hit later in the race... actually, not a spectator, just wandered on course. I believe he died - memory failing. Oh, and that's where I was when I heard the Lemond/Fignon TT result.

 

[Tangled Tango]

This only works if you see the dog coming from a bit away I guess. I ride in farm country and lots of houses just let their dogs out in the yard without any kind of fence or leash, you can usually see/hear these dogs coming so you have time to get ready. Bottles also work well because you can hit the dog from a distance, although in my experience it takes 2-3 sprays before they get the idea. Sometimes its just fun to race them if its flat though, I've had a farm dog chase me for at least 1k while going about 30 kph.

Exactly. I can usually see or hear the dog before I pass by. I ride on country roads and leave my water bottle top open, so it's just a matter of pulling it out and squirting the dog in the face. Takes but a couple of seconds. If the first squirt is strong and full in the face the dog usually stops long enough to sprint away. I've never experienced multiple dogs chasing me and I don't think the water bottle would cover that and never had one chase after the first or second squirt. In any case I would try anythiing before resorting to kicking or hitting a dog. Their usually all or mostly bark, just protecting their territory.

 

[hugh0147]

I was cruising--trudging might be a better word, I was tired--up a slight hill, minding my own business, and a medium sized black dog made a bee line from the side right for me. I unclipped the foot facing the dog, and managed to kick it without going down. The dog pulled back a little, perhaps stunned a little, then growled and lunged at me. I kicked it again. At that point the owner started yelling at it, and I rode off.

This is why I am a cat person.

wait, you're not a dog person because when you kick a dog it gets angry?
why not slow down to avoid the dog, since you're cruising anyway?

What works best for me is yelling at it, waterbottle if you've got the warning and sprinting if you've got the slope/wind to help out.

I have kicked a dog before. but that was a last resort. not the first reaction. its extreme and usually ****es them off more. the yelling helps there too.

 

[BroDeal]

wait, you're not a dog person because when you kick a dog it gets angry?
why not slow down to avoid the dog, since you're cruising anyway?

Maybe because the dog was intent on running into me, I do not really care to go over the bars because a dog runs under my wheels, and I did not have time to stop and step off my bike on the opposite side. It was also at the end of the longest ride I have done so far this year, and I was tired and cold in temperatures that were a few degrees above freezing, so I was not exactly at peak alertness.

I am not a dog person because I have never had a cat bite me while I was riding, but I have had two dogs do so.

 

[IntheMidwest]

I always find that the waterbottle approach works best for me, but I have camelback ones currently so they're always open.....

For the bigger ones, I intentionally swerve straight at them if they come into the street, then swerve away from them when I'm close enough. Usually slows them down long enough to get in front of them. If they keep chasing I spray them with the water. I tried to kick one once, but I slowed me down too much and it gave the little ******* just enough time to bit my shoe.

 

[Monty Dog]

I caught a pheasant whilst on a group ride a few months ago - it flew up from the verge as we were coming down the hill and it go trapped between my arms and chest - it got away when I slowed down laughing.

Not quite Australia, but there are some wild (zoo escapees) Wallabies on the Isle of Man - on an early morning ride one summer to find one hopping down the road.

Riding down a country lane at pace and a sparrowhawk starts flying alongside me for a few hundred metres at eye-level - inspiring to share road space with an animal.

We've had a few local 'race-incidents' with spooked deer jumping into the middle of the bunch

 

[rhubroma]

I was cruising--trudging might be a better word, I was tired--up a slight hill, minding my own business, and a medium sized black dog made a bee line from the side right for me. I unclipped the foot facing the dog, and managed to kick it without going down. The dog pulled back a little, perhaps stunned a little, then growled and lunged at me. I kicked it again. At that point the owner started yelling at it, and I rode off.

This is why I am a cat person.

Ok, got that beat.

A few years back on a climb up to Sasso near Cerveteri in Lazio, Italy at about 7 PM in late June... As I approached the top amidst the broad cattle grazing plains which lead up to the villiage, I notice along the roadside several hundered meters away, on the right as it were, several white blotches which seemed to move. The closer I got the blotches came increasingly into focus and they, the blotches, started taking notice of me.

Heads began to surge forward, bodies, which were supine, started to get up. One, two, three....four, five, six. Eyes fixed upon my approach, led large, powerful bodies onto the road, as I drifted steadily to the left calibrating the angle formed between us and thus my chances of escape. I could hear a car coming up from behind.

The staggered beasts leaned in the direction their position had forced me to take: and as I saw the trap closing in front of me I had no choice but to get out of the saddle and make a mad dash for it, hoping that my momentary calculations were not incorrect. I was yelling at the top of my voices like a raving lunatic to confound them (no, the preditors weren't in the least bit frightened by my rants). Behind the car was honking wildly and I could hear other voices yelling as if upon me, but at the same animals. And then I was cut free, as one had been within a hair of snatching my anckle, and while completely in the wrong lane as another car was moving toward me. Luckily the climb had mostly flatened out by that point, or else there would have been no way to generate enough speed to have made an effective pass.

The animals were six very large abandoned Maremmano Abruzzese, a type of dog which the ancient Romans already used to combat wolves to protect their flocks and which are still used in like fashion by the shepherds of Abruzzo, Lazio and Toscana. Italy has an abandoned dog problem, and these were as wild as the wolves they were bred to fight.

When I got in the clear and back on the right side of the road again that car behind me moved along side. Two peasants aksed me if I was allright , that they had seen the whole predicament and had done their best to distract the dogs. Finally one said to me, "ohh you were lucky this evening! Because if those beasts had gotten hold of you, they would have torn you to shreads!"

I have since not taken that road by myself, nor would I ever again...

 

[pedaling squares]

Yeah, I'd say a few dogs this size could just about do the trick. Thank God for those peasants!

 

[richwagmn]

I was cruising--trudging might be a better word, I was tired--up a slight hill, minding my own business, and a medium sized black dog made a bee line from the side right for me. I unclipped the foot facing the dog, and managed to kick it without going down. The dog pulled back a little, perhaps stunned a little, then growled and lunged at me. I kicked it again. At that point the owner started yelling at it, and I rode off.

This is why I am a cat person.

Most dogs (in my experience) just seem to want to chase you without actually killing/eating you.

I have had a couple of experiences though where the dog did seem intent on killing me (teeth bared, snarling). I've never in my life sprinted so fast. Adrenaline sure does wonders for performance.

 

[rhubroma]

Yeah, I'd say a few dogs this size could just about do the trick. Thank God for those peasants!

Thanks for the visual! I'm basically inept with computers, or I would have added a photo myself.

Cheers.

 

[cawright1375]

I'm lucky (knock wood, throw salt over shoulder and make sign of cross) and can count on one hand the number of dog encounters I've had. And by this I mean dogs running out from their yards. There was one instance where on a group ride the dog (a rottie) came out and as I was at the back of the pack by the time he got into the road he was close. I put in a sprint to the front that would rival Cavendish. Last year though I had two encounters within two days on routes I rode all the time. The first was two dogs that came out chasing me, but they didn't really have the chase in them. The second was much scarier and the closest I've come to having a dog come at me. The thing was in his yard, right near the road and I saw him, he saw me and charged at me. He came on my left side, so I slowed a bit, got behind him and then took off on his left side and blew him away. A bit later I saw another cyclist heading his way so I let that guy know and also called the cops as there are strict leash laws around where I live.

Luckily up here in NH & Maine for the most part people keep there dogs leashed or in a kennel. And sometimes you get the yappers who bark at you but that is all.

I do like that air horn idea though. I wonder if they make a carbon fiber model.