Early april and the first gun tot'n thread. I am sure glad for the most part it has been rational.

You indeed have a lot more options before you start to carry heavy metal - many of those are already listed.
I really like the idea of the helmet cam, if this happens again you could send the video to the police and the local news the later of which would help to educate the population. A stun gun is another option if they get real close or a taser if it is legal in your state (some require you to have a fire arm liscense which you have). These are defensive weapons and clearly meant for your situation.

If I had gone through what you have it would really rattle me and cause me to rethink my riding area. I am sure you have spoken to your local animal control officer and police department, it might be time to also talk to the local government officials and media, a letter to the editor of the local paper, etc. Clearly the population of bad actors is way out of proportion in your area, you are an adult and can defend yourself (somewhat), what about somebody's 10 YO daughter getting attacked by one of these dogs as she rides her little pink bike by? You need to take some of your (well founded) rage and focus it on education before something really bad happens. That's my $0.02 anyway.

BTW - I forgot to say, so glad you have come back, I sure hope you took the dog owner from last year to court to recover some of your loss and I am so glad you did not get hurt in your two recent encounters.