Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Taking out the dog on a walk

Yep, you read it right the first time. Not taking the dog out for a walk, I mean taking out the dog.

Riding down the Peak (Hong Kong) this morning at speed and out of one corner and transitioning to the next I see some pedestrians by the side of the road.

Now, to be fair, the sidewalks suck in this town. On some roads they just don't exist. But if you are going to cross the road, you still look.

So I'm doing about 45km/h and this lady with a STANDARD poodle (not your ordinary miniature or toy sized - this thing was a hound!) just starts across the road at an angle with her back to me. I grab a handful of brake and shout out.

She got a fright and should count herself lucky I put some Kool-Stop salmon pads on the bike on Sunday. Can't believe how close it was!

207lb of cyclist vs 80-120lb of dog = messy.

Maybe the poodle was part suicidal squirrel?

I almost took out my neighbor's cat in a slow speed crashfest pulling into my driveway once. It was like the cat was catatonic, lol. (ha, I made a funny)

Maybe the poodle was part suicidal squirrel?

I almost took out my neighbor's cat in a slow speed crashfest pulling into my driveway once. It was like the cat was catatonic, lol. (ha, I made a funny)

Maybe the dog was part suicide squirrel - the 'what it had for breakfast' part - but I think it was more 'operator error' in that the woman holding the leash was suicidal.

Heh, you should see my 120 lb wife walking our English Mastiff. When the dog gets a rare urge to bolt there's no stopping her, even for me, lol.

Glad things worked out okay for you....that could have been very ugly indeed.

That would have been quite a speed to suffer an impact.

I had a similar experience, except I hit the dog. It was on a rail trail about 2 months ago. In this case, it was a paved part of the trail. I was cruising along at about 20 miles/hour when this woman just turned and walked straight out in front of me with her dog (brown lab). I have center pull brakes on my TCX and they suck. I pulled for all I was worth on both of them. She managed to get out of the way but the dog didn't. Fortunately it was a low speed bump by that point. No one hurt.

I can't figure out what to do to get people to pay attention. I used to yell "coming up on your left", when I saw pedestrians ahead that were "wandering around" on the trail. Invariably at least one of them would turn left in front of me and I'd be faced with sneaking through the middle of them. I recently got a bike bell thinking that would do it. First encounter...woman on right holding a leash with dog on left...a nice cloths line proposition. I rang the bell three times before she even realized what was going on. Sigh.

Yep, you read it right the first time. Not taking the dog out for a walk, I mean taking out the dog.

Riding down the Peak (Hong Kong) this morning at speed and out of one corner and transitioning to the next I see some pedestrians by the side of the road.

Now, to be fair, the sidewalks suck in this town. On some roads they just don't exist. But if you are going to cross the road, you still look.

So I'm doing about 45km/h and this lady with a STANDARD poodle (not your ordinary miniature or toy sized - this thing was a hound!) just starts across the road at an angle with her back to me. I grab a handful of brake and shout out.

She got a fright and should count herself lucky I put some Kool-Stop salmon pads on the bike on Sunday. Can't believe how close it was!

207lb of cyclist vs 80-120lb of dog = messy.

I think part of the issue is that people are so used to hearing a car when a vehicle approaches, that they don't even look when crossing the road anymore. I find that the bicycle bell is usually quite handy in that situation. I sometimes think one of those high pressure air horns would work better, would be best if it sounded like a railway locomotive horn..... Baaaarp Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarp....:D

I think part of the issue is that people are so used to hearing a car when a vehicle approaches, that they don't even look when crossing the road anymore. I find that the bicycle bell is usually quite handy in that situation. I sometimes think one of those high pressure air horns would work better, would be best if it sounded like a railway locomotive horn..... Baaaarp Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarp....:D

It sadly more the case that people in HK can't even walk in a straight line! Seriously. Just walk around Causeway Bay or Central - it's crazy!

This woman probably wouldn't have looked for cars either. People aren't stupid in this town in general, just in particular ways.

She's probably at home now saying to her husband "this crazy gweilo just zipped right past screaming - don't know why"

We visited HK back in 2008 to adopt our second son both are from HK. I cnanot believe you can find a safe place to get any speed up in that place!! I guess the Northern Territories have some open roads.

As a side note I knocked over a Great Dane a couple of weeks ago!!! He barks and chases me on my daily ride out in the country side. I have started to carry pepper mace there are lots of unchained unfenced dogs out in the country.

Crabhab,

Thats nice of you providing some seasoning for the dogs mid afternoon snack *LOL*

Steve

The moral of the story is, "People are freaking stupid!".

Couch