As I spun my way over the last few kilometres to Phetchabun, the traffic started to become more built up, and with it the appearance of more houses and small workshops on the side of the road. Out of one mechanic’s workshop raced a mangy Thai dog, intent on having a piece of either me or my fixie. There are two standard techniques of avoiding a dog bite in Thailand, either jam on those pedals for all your worth and leave him behind, or stop suddenly and stare him down with the bike in between the two of you. On this occassion I decided to try a third technique – coax the bastard onto the road. I quickly looked over my shoulder and noticed a large truck coming up in the kerbside lane. By holding my speed constant I was able to keep the mutt just behind my back wheel, the clicking of his nails against the roadside beating out a steady rhythm. As the truck came nearer I darted across in front of it into the farside lane, eliciting a blast on the horn from the driver, shortly followed by the yelp of a dog going under the front wheels of a lorry. Darwin wins again.