Advocacy & Safety - More Multiuse Trail Dangers

Hi Everybody,

I'm new to the forums (I only found them after what happened below and suddenly had lots of free time). I thought I'd relate a little story for you.

My luck ran out on a week and a half ago. I was riding
on a local bike/multiuse path, and just 5 miles into my ride (and fortunately less than a mile from home, an unleashed BIG dog came down the wooded bluff to the side of the trail and stopped in front of me.
Fortunately, I had just moved my hands back to my bar tops so I was able to grab two big handfuls of brake, but no chance to stop. Did I mention it was a BIG dog? I t-boned the dog at somewhere between 10-15 mph. The dog won. Over I went carrying my trek 930 (heavy bike) with me. Got a hand down and tried to roll out of it but you can't roll with 30+ pounds of bike clipped to your feet. Crashed the shoulder and back into the ground. I managed to kick the bike off of me, tried to roll upright, decided that was a really stupid thing to do, and layed back down. The owner of the dog then comes onto the path, whistles to the dog, and walks off into the woods (how he couldn't hear his dog yelp, notice the guy on the ground screaming, and put two and two together I'll never understand)(I half expected him to come back and steal my bike). Thankfully, two very nice ladies were coming up the path and saw me go down. They called my wife (at home on her day off) and then 911 and stayed around until I was loaded into the ambulance (I'd like to meet them again!!).

I managed not to land on my head or face (yes, I did have a helmet on). But I did separate my left shoulder and broke some ribs on my left side, some cuts and scrapes from the bike, and a taco'ed front wheel, bent rear wheel, bent handlebars & bar ends, heavily scraped seat, and a probably damaged fork (too much pain still to take it apart and be sure). Of course this had to happen just as I was starting to get really comfortable on the bike again after several years off after back surgery and looking
forward to daily rides. Now I'm off it again for the rest of the year.

Don't it just figure?

I hope the dog is okay, I called all of the local vets to see if anyone had brought in a dog with damage consistent with getting hit by a bike, but no luck. But if I see the guy again I'll probably kill
him. Something good like tearing his spine out through his *ss and feeding it back through his mouth!
I walk my dog along this path everyday (it's right behind my house), and while he's not always on leash (yes we do have leash laws) he is never running out onto the path like that. He is constantly being trained to "stay off the path" and is always on leash when we cross it.

I am always wary when approaching a known entrance to the trail. People walk, blade, run, or bike onto the trail usually at speed and without looking (stupid enough), but this was a small track in the woods that cannot be easily seen from the path itself. Doesn't it suck when your season is ended suddenly and needlessly?

9/29/04
Back from the doctor today... 5-6 Breaks on 4-5 ribs, lots of muscle damage. Man, would I like to find that guy!

Hey jstream- I had responded in another forum about owners keeping their dogs on leashes. You should have read all the "hate mail" I recieved on this. In fact the moderator took of my post after a while! I couldn't believe all the people who STILL think it is okay to let their dogs have free run of the place and the mentality to believe that "he won't bother you"!!! I want to ring ALL their necks.(owners necks, not dog necks). I am in the service business and in a lot of people's homes. I get so sick of the "Poopsie won't bite you" attitude. I have been "bit / nipped" 3 times in the past 5 years. By the way, this is almost the same things I said in other forum that had me "banned". (venting I think)

Hi wfin2004,

I'm not saying that all dogs should be on leashes all the time. I walk my dog along this trail (it's right behind my house) all the time... Many times off leash as do quite a few of my friends and neighbors. I'm just pointing out another danger associated with multi use trails. This particular dog was otherwise a very good dog... It didn't tear me or my bike to shreds in retailiation. It was the owner who let the dog run ahead onto the trail. When we walk our dogs back there, they sit and stay at the side of the trail until we check to see if it's clear (usually on leash) then the leashes come off. Most of the dog owners we meet back there are responsible. But, like drivers blowing red lights, runners and bicyclists who blast onto the trail at speed without looking for or warning traffic on the trail, we are seeing more and more who have no sense of reponsibility. I see this as an increasing problem. Just yesterday, I was walking my dog back there and saw three recreational bikers, riding three abreast, force a rider coming from the opposite direction to ride off the trail because they didn't want to stop gabbing for a few seconds. Who got yelled at? The lone rider who nearly crashed.

I love dogs, I love dog people. I hate stupid idiots who care nothing about the safety of others (or for that matter, their pets)

Will

About 15 years ago, I was riding down a dirt road when a little poodle dog came out of nowhere and ran smack into my front wheel. I flipped and landed with the bike on top of me. I ended up with some bruised ribs. To this day I wonder how such a tiny dog caused me to flip..

I was bit on a MUP last year. I now carry HALT! I've pulled it out a few times, but haven't used it. HALT causes temporary pain without permanent damage. Also, I think carrying it where dog owners can see it is a deterrent.

I was bit on a MUP last year. I now carry HALT! I've pulled it out a few times, but haven't used it. HALT causes temporary pain without permanent damage. Also, I think carrying it where dog owners can see it is a deterrent.


We used to use a spare water bottle filled with ammonia when we rode on country roads. But in this case, what use is a deterrent? The dog owner wasn't even there to see it... He came onto the trail 15-45 seconds later. In the space of maybe 2 or 3 seconds, I went from empty trail in front of me to large dog parked in the middle of the trail. There wasn't even time to swerve (I did try but the bike just wasn't going to turn that fast).

This is not intended to be a dog attack thread... The dog didn't attack, it just decided to stop in the wrong place. It's just a "watch out for stupid people on multiuse trails" thread.

Hi Everybody,

I'm new to the forums (I only found them after what happened below and suddenly had lots of free time). I thought I'd relate a little story for you.

My luck ran out on a week and a half ago. I was riding
on a local bike/multiuse path, and just 5 miles into my ride (and fortunately less than a mile from home, an unleashed BIG dog came down the wooded bluff to the side of the trail and stopped in front of me.
Fortunately, I had just moved my hands back to my bar tops so I was able to grab two big handfuls of brake, but no chance to stop. Did I mention it was a BIG dog? I t-boned the dog at somewhere between 10-15 mph. The dog won. Over I went carrying my trek 930 (heavy bike) with me. Got a hand down and tried to roll out of it but you can't roll with 30+ pounds of bike clipped to your feet. Crashed the shoulder and back into the ground. I managed to kick the bike off of me, tried to roll upright, decided that was a really stupid thing to do, and layed back down. The owner of the dog then comes onto the path, whistles to the dog, and walks off into the woods (how he couldn't hear his dog yelp, notice the guy on the ground screaming, and put two and two together I'll never understand)(I half expected him to come back and steal my bike). Thankfully, two very nice ladies were coming up the path and saw me go down. They called my wife (at home on her day off) and then 911 and stayed around until I was loaded into the ambulance (I'd like to meet them again!!).

I managed not to land on my head or face (yes, I did have a helmet on). But I did separate my left shoulder and broke some ribs on my left side, some cuts and scrapes from the bike, and a taco'ed front wheel, bent rear wheel, bent handlebars & bar ends, heavily scraped seat, and a probably damaged fork (too much pain still to take it apart and be sure). Of course this had to happen just as I was starting to get really comfortable on the bike again after several years off after back surgery and looking
forward to daily rides. Now I'm off it again for the rest of the year.

Don't it just figure?

I hope the dog is okay, I called all of the local vets to see if anyone had brought in a dog with damage consistent with getting hit by a bike, but no luck. But if I see the guy again I'll probably kill
him. Something good like tearing his spine out through his *ss and feeding it back through his mouth!
I walk my dog along this path everyday (it's right behind my house), and while he's not always on leash (yes we do have leash laws) he is never running out onto the path like that. He is constantly being trained to "stay off the path" and is always on leash when we cross it.

I am always wary when approaching a known entrance to the trail. People walk, blade, run, or bike onto the trail usually at speed and without looking (stupid enough), but this was a small track in the woods that cannot be easily seen from the path itself. Doesn't it suck when your season is ended suddenly and needlessly?

9/29/04
Back from the doctor today... 5-6 Breaks on 4-5 ribs, lots of muscle damage. Man, would I like to find that guy!


I've a segment of the Capital Crescent trail that I nearly always have deer dart within ten feet in front of me late at night. I've come to slowing in that section and sounding a bell in hopes of warning the deer before I get there.