duckracer

My muttwhiler was quick. He would get pissed if I didn't take him with me on a ride and chase me as far as he could till he ran out of gas! My neighbors Jack Russlle is fast but no stamina!

unterhausen

I had a Great Dane catch me on a downhill. Fortunately, it was a catch and release day for him, and all he did was gently put his mouth around my arm. Another time, a Great Dane caught up with me and was going to follow me home. I finally found a hill steep enough that I out-sprinted him and he gave up.

Derreck

I don't try to outrun them. Most dogs I encounter can keep up just fine. The worst is when they come up on one side then back off and you think your in the clear, only they have gone behind you and run up the other side. These are all farm/country dogs and they aren't mean, they just want to chase. They are used to chasing cars and know how to get out of the way. I have never had one bite me either although I am always nervous when I come up on a new dog.

MrTuner1970

Oh, just remembered about this St. Bernard on one of our routes. He's friendly, but apparently utterly stupid. Likes to chase with no clue how much kinetic energy he has while in motion. Ran into one of the guys the other day. Not mean, just huge. He's always our sprint point. Just like wolves, he always gets after the slowest guy on the back.

Bob Dopolina 

Two GIGANTIC Alsatian Shepherds while riding in Spain.

I can still hear the sounds of their toe nails on the road behind me as I sprinted.

dwatson

I second the Great Dane, something about looking over and being eye to eye. All he wanted to do was play, I wasn't going to make he mad.

byte_speed

Great Danes are fast, but not usually biters. I thought I was going to outrun one once and he caught me from behind and wasn't even going all out. He loped along beside me a block or so and then turned around & went home.

StephenH

Farm Dawg, about 25 mph for a mile, chasing us on the tandem.

Ultraslide

Had a pit bull puppy sneak under the fence and chase our group about a half mile uphill. He wasn't big enough to make a decent sandwich but man was he cute.

Gallo

While not threatening to me as an adult there were three poodle that used to chase me and every other kid in the neighborhood. We would sprint past that house before we knew what sprinting was. An old lady in a mumu was always smoking a cigarette and laughing when they did this

I was about eleven or when the pack leader bit me more of a nip but I was scared. I kicked the dog with my heel on the bottom of the jaw when it was going for a second nip dog went flying

Man the owner was angry. I sprinted away from her

the poodle pack never chased me again

Digitalfiend

I've never actually been chased but had the scare of a lifetime on this one rural road. I've ridden by this one farm house many times and had never seen or heard a dog until one day a massive pitbull-mix came charging at me, snarling and barking, off the front porch as its female owner tried to call it back. When you can hear panic in the owner's voice, you know you're screwed if it catches you. Thankfully, I was going 30km/h at the time and had almost passed the house when the dog finally saw me. It probably didn't fully commit to a chase because of the owner freaking out and it not seeing me until I was almost past its property.

The strange part is that it caught me so off guard that I didn't even try to sprint. Startled me into a sort of stunned fight or flight holding pattern. Perhaps it was because I own a dog and know how fast they can run when they want to, so attempting to outrun a big dog on a flat isn't going to happen. I tell you though, I climbed all the hills on that road like a pro thanks to all the adrenaline surging through my body.

alexfboyle

Does a white tail deer count as a dog?

Hapsmo911

Most dogs that have chased me give up fairly fast, cept one, a boxer, he chased me for several hundred yards.

SlimRider

I've had many dogs chase me throughout the years while cycling. The fastest one happened to have given chase when I was without my pepper spray. Luckily, it was a fast, but harmless, Airedale.

ubergoober

There's a dog pack on one of our group ride routes, led out by a small fice dog. Not so fast, but he alerts the others--all labs--who normally chase to the edge of their country "estate."

If you know what's coming, it's easy enough to out-sprint them, ex. for the momma dog, who only has three legs, but can FLY! While it's embarrassing to get chased down by her, it's big fun to go by the next time, and watch your unsuspecting friends get pwned!

IthaDan 

I like to squirt dogs in the face with my water bottle. There was this on german shepherd at the bottom of a big hill that was never on a lead. I had to change my route until that bastard's genetic hip issue finally caught upmwith him.

BradOlz

agreed. i'm new to road riding and this has definitely been the most dangerous of all road hazards for me.

DGlenday

I'm glad you managed to drop him!

LOL

DGlenday

I haven't had this situation since I was a kid. But if it were to happen to me now, I think I'd invest in a tazer PDQ. Fido would never chase me again.

hyegeek

So you'd use the tazer on Fido or the owner?

Sixty Fiver

I used to be able to dial it up to 60kmh in a sprint which is enough to outrun most dogs and convince them they have scared you off which is usually their intent, to establish territory.

Most effective has always been to stop and put my bike between me and the dog and tell them to GO HOME which most seem to understand and your stopping turns you into a human being which most dogs will not attack.

For sheer acceleration and stamina few dogs can top a border collie and they are also very agile at speed. My border collie could put accelerate and out handle my neighbour's greyhound.

I run into an old three legged Great Pyrenees on one of my regular rides and even if I am booking it he will keep pace in the ditch until I am past his property, he has no bite in him and when I have stopped he just sits and waits for me to keep going. I think he could fit my head in his mouth he wanted to and probably weighs more than I do.

banerjek

One thing to keep in mind is that it's not a matter if whether your sprint speed is faster than the dog's. First of all, dogs don't get slowed down by wind or hills as much as cyclists are. Secondly, it's rarely the case that a dog has to catch you running straight from behind so you get to drag race them.

More often, they'll see you coming so the angle of approach is from the front and the side. Dogs are good at calculus and can determine what angle and speed they need (which can be significantly slower than you are moving) to intercept you.

Generally speaking, outrunning dogs is bad practice even if it's fun because it trains them to chase cyclists. The next rider might not know know how to deal with dogs and get themselves in trouble by escalating what would normally be an excited encounter into something worse.

Terex

In actual practice, an NOS dog on the edge of Taos indian reservation land. I could tell as I came up to his house that he was going to be trouble. He was fit, and fast and I was on a slight up hill. Fortunately he was just in it for the sport and ran between the road and the fence for about a 1/4 mile before turning around.

ESW116

I was chased by a Newfoundland when I was a kid. It was bigger than I was, and my bike, combined.

Clipped_in

We had a Flat Coat Retriever do the same on our club ride last week. He was fast but just wanted to race - made me laugh.