I got bit on Memorial day weekend by a retriever mix. By a park I run by every week. Jackass took his dog and rode off, so I got to get the rabies shots.

2 years ago I got chased by a dog on a busy road. It made it halfway through the street and got nailed by a car.

I have two dogs, and the situations will never happen with mine because they are always leashed. Way too many people overestimate how much control they have on their dog.


Btw, you're an idiot. I would have have rode on as well. The lady in the story didn't seem to give a shit about her dogs if she let's them run free, so why should he?

The only thing to fear in a dog is its owner. As you appear to demonstrate.

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29 years and counting

 

....so you see a dog running loose in front of you and all you do is stirring a little into the lane, instead of breaking hard??? I don't get it. You were lucky you have stayed on your bike.


I don't understand why there is such a war going on on the streets between cyclists and dog owners. If both would relax a little a lot of fighting could be avoided/prevented.


Coming back to the point with the small child. Would you pass an unattended toddler with 35 mph?? No, for sure not. But dogs are expected to run in straight lines?

Would you stop and show some empathy if you would have run over this toddler? Yes

When I read your subject line, I expected to read something funny that happened to you on your ride.....it is very inappropriate to say the least.

Who said life was fair? There are consequences for our decisions. Irresponsible dog owner lets her dog run free breaking the law. Dog dies because of her decision. Not the bikers fault.

Of course the biker feels bad for killing the dog but not his fault. I wouldn't have stopped either dumbass lady may have had a gun.

You making someones face hamburger wouldn't go over well either, make a bad situation worse.

Again consequences for our decisions. You speed and don't get in an accident; no consequences. Speed cause an accident and someone is injured because of your bad decision there are consequences. The lady let her dog run free against the law for who knows how long and got away with it. She was complacent as most of us are with cellphones, texting and driving etc. But cause a problem because of bad decisions and the hammer drops. In this case the hammer was the dog's death. (A death that I regret and even mourn but realize it is not the bicyclists fault.)

So you didn't even brake to attempt to avoid the dog, and subsequently killed it.... Then you didn't have the decency to stop once you were clear of the second dog. And you then blamed the woman, who just watched you kill her dog, screaming at her while cycling away.

You're a f*cking dick.

The title sets the tone for the post.

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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

Wow. You are starting to sound like the people who run cyclists off the road because they belong on the sidewalk.

The cyclist did not kill this dog. The owner did, by not keeping the dog restrained according to state law. Dogs are wild animals. You cannot 100% train them to stay where they belong. They do not understand properly lines, roads, approaching vehicles, etc. If you do not fence or leash them, they will eventually wander somewhere where they do not belong.
The story ends with a dead dog. But if the rider stopped, the story could end with a dog attack. There is no way to read a unknown dog's state of mind when they are running and barking. Best thing to do is to separate yourself from the situation.

WOW!!!!! Lots of armchair quarterbacks lurking around. Unless you were there and experienced the exact same circumstances its really hard to say what you'd do.

I'm sorry it happened to you, sucks the dog was killed but good fortune that you weren't hurt and didn't have any more of confrontation with the dog owner/motorist.

I've not hit a dog with my bike but have hit two with cars unfortunately - a beagle and a rottweiler. Both were obviously running at large off of their property. Both owners were very upset and sad that their dogs were hit, one killed instantly and the other ran off virtually unscathed - the beagle oddly enough. I felt horrible that it had happened but..............

I've owned and trained working retrievers most of my adult life. I love all of my dogs but I don't expect others to love all of my dogs and please don't expect me to love all of your dogs, especially if they don't behave appropriately and aren't well cared for. Obedience training is easy to do and only costs a little bit of your time and will save your dogs life at some point.

Simply put, if you allow your dogs to run out of your control how much do you really care about them? If your putting your dogs in a position to get hit on the road do you really have their best in mind? If both dogs are chasing a car or a bike it's not too much of a stretch that it's a habit, a habit that can be broken if you want it to stop as opposed to being broken when the dog is killed by a car or a bike. We as dog owners are typically lazy and expect others to tolerate the bad habits of our loved pets and don't see their bad habits the same as others see them.

Did the trooper ever get back to you with the results of the conversation.

If you ever have the misfortune of being involved in a violent encounter, you will revisit this post. And it will be used to cast you as the aggressor.

I'm replying to a number of people here on more than one topic, not just this post


I was very damned lucky. I was sure I was going down, but all the force was vertical. From the moment I saw the dog dart out to the moment of impact couldn't have been much more than a single second. What I couldn't comprehend was that the dog would come straight down the road toward me. Dogs never do that in my experience; they always want to come at you from the side or rear, and on first sight I was expecting this one to do the same. Not to mention that it was a suicidal trajectory, what animal does that? Instinct was keep it as straight as possible because the dog will make a last millisecond move but in any case my balance is the best it can be. And being on the brakes when I hit is a sure way to go over the bars. Like I said, damned lucky.

Here's the thing with the 2nd dog - it was on an intercept course and not barking, which in my experience means they're not trying to frighten, they're intending to attack. The only defense I had at that moment was to roar at the dog, which had the desired effect - it was startled and broke stride. But by doing so, I have very firmly established myself as an aggressor to the dog, and there's no way I would allow it get anywhere near me when all of its defensive instincts are engaged.

Like the rest of your responses, this is idiotic. On a rural road you ride frequently, you ride your brakes down hills on the off chance something very unusual might happen? I have been up that climb hundreds of times, never saw a loose dog on that road. If I see a loose dog and it makes a run at me, I remember for next time, but I also call the Animal Control Bureau and report it.





I'm not sure why I made the original post. Certainly I was still rattled, part of it was to pass on a precautionary message. But not about the dogs, I wouldn't expect that scenario to be repeated in a thousand years. What was on my mind was that another human being made 2 attempts to attack me with a motor vehicle. In the conversation with the state trooper and the large majority of replies in this thread, that didn't get a mention, it focused on the dogs. In the space of 2 minutes or so, I had to react to 4 potential or actual threats, and the 2 from the driver/owner still have me pretty disturbed. Once she caught up in the car, I feared for my life, which was well-founded as she made another run at me when I didn't stop. Calloused and cold? Damn. Extremely thankful to be unharmed and still shaken by it.

If I hear back from the trooper that she was reasonable when he talked to her, I will ask him if he thinks it advisable for me to stop by. If he feels it's OK, I will do so. If she went on some kind of rant with him, I guess I'll avoid that road and warn the local cycling community about what happened.

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Brian

Gonna buy a fast car, put on my lead boots, take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money, but I'll still be alive

See my replies in the post above. I'd love to see how you would have handled the exact same situation.

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Brian

Gonna buy a fast car, put on my lead boots, take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money, but I'll still be alive

You sir, have more control than I. I would most certainly be stopping by. First to give that lady an earful and then to have her arrested.

Funny timing on this. I'm at the track on Tuesday night running quarter repeats when a boy (about 5) decides he's going to race me. He starts running and swerving in front of me slowing me down. His parents recognize this, call his name, and the kid comes to a dead stop right in front of me. I do moves from the Matrix and somehow avoid running him over and going down myself. Parents yell an apology. I flash a "thumbs up" as I run on my way.

At no point did the kid ever jump at me, charge me, or try to bite me. Nor, was I ever in fear that would happen.

So, yeah, they are different.

ericmulk wrote:

Have you ever had a dog??? Do you know dogs just like to chase things and bark when they're excited??? If you had stopped right after hitting the small dog, the bigger dog would come right up to you but I very much doubt that he would have attacked you. He probably would've just wagged his tail and barked. You run over someone's dog, you stop and apologize. If this dog had been mine, I would've chased you in the car, cut you off, and beaten the fucking shit out of you. You wouldn't have been able to do shit for a month or more b/c your face would be hamburger. You're a fucking bastard as far as I am concerned.

Clearly you have never been chased by a dog while on a bike. Off the top of my head, I know at least four people who have been bitten by dogs while biking. If a dog is chasing me, I'm not stopping for any reason, even if I just ran over your mother.

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~Kevin

Yeah... way different. What if you hit the kid and hurt or killed him?

My point is... that even though it was the kids/parents fault... you would have certainly stopped and had apologized.

Glad you are alright. So many ways that could have gone badly for you. I've been a dog owner, been bitten by other dogs (off the bike), and been chased while riding. That shit is scary. Anyone that says you are in the wrong is nuts. I'm sure the owner was emotional over losing her pet, & would have understood her being upset and chasing you down to say something to you in the heat of the moment, but her actions were out of control when she tried to run you off the road.

How soon are you planning on riding that route again?

Sure, everyone probably breaks the law at some point, but us rational people don't then threaten to beat the face in of someone we had a collision with WHILE WE WERE BREAKING THE LAW!

Well, I've been chased and bitten several times, including when stopped. I would have kept going too, and I'm a big animal lover and have pets. Oh, and I love internet tough guys like yourself. What a douche bag response, obviously you've never been chased by a big angry dog. I have 4 holes in my left arm to this day from one to remind me, and any dog that confronts me now will get a face full of pepper spray.

I've hit a woodchuck dead on during a ride and kept it upright. A little yappy, lap dog? Pffft....easy.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

I killed a dog once, ran out onto a country road with a 45 mph speed limit and I was driving a truck. I had already hit it by the time I was able to respond and touch the brakes. I continued up the road about a quarter mile, stopped and had a quick panic attack, then went back to go see the owner and apologize. The owner was obviously distraught, but recognized there was nothing I could have done to avoid it, and thanked me for coming back rather than just running off.

So in your scenario, I think I would have had the same initial response (get away from the chasing dog), but then had the decency to stop and talk to the owner (and apologize, even if it wasn't my fault).

This is the same as a car hitting a cyclist when the cyclist is in the wrong, and then fleeing the scene. Even if it's not your fault, the decent human thing would be to check on him and apologize.

This is the response that should have happened.

Its only the same if there is another cyclist with a weapon chasing you. Once you drop that cyclist, their friend in a SAG wagon starts chasing you and trying to knock your car off the road. In that case, I keep driving until absolutely safe and call police. Based on owner's response, I would have avoided a conversation with her as well.

Yes, the decent thing would have been to stop, but not if doing so puts you in danger.

no kidding, he completely destroyed his rep on slowtwitch with one post. I'll never read one of his posts the same again. wow

You and what army? You're a triathlete remember? I doubt you could beat an egg tough guy.