Originally Posted by DBC Steve

I think it is the tandem@hobbs listserv that had a recent running discussion about how to deal with a chasing dog. This morning a dog darted in front of the lead tandem in a group of three sending John to one hospital in an ambulance and Mary to another hospital by helicopter. The dog was running along side our three tandems, about 20-30 feet to our right through an orchard, and suddenly with no warning took a sharp left turn into John and Mary's front wheel. We think it was riders coming the other way that the dog noticed, and decided to chase them instead. There was no warning, and the dog had to jump a ditch to get to the road -- it still happened so fast we didn't see it coming. Even in retrospect, we're not sure what we could have done -- maybe slow down or stop, but who knows. We were going 20-22 mph at the time.

John is ok, but hurts all over. Mary -- we'll see, but she is alert with no obvious breaks. She was still in the ER when we left the hospital two hours ago. Both probably have concussions of one severity or another. Oddly enough the stoker took the worst of it -- probably due to the captain's split-second attempt to turn away from the dog. Where's the dog? Probably 2 counties away and still running.

Both will need new helmets. Their helmets will be used as examples of why we wear them. The support from our local fire department and UC Davis Life Flight was outstanding.