Debusama

You obviously have a keen sense of irony.

javal

This thread - WTF is going on? Reading this makes you think about a lawless wasteland where normal interaction between people has ceased to exist. Guns, loose dogs, gangs, thugs, **** and death. Something has lost its grip. And this is a bike forum... Bl**dy well I´m staggered!

tagaproject6

I thought I meandered into A&S.

ColinL

Regarding the cul-de-sac, that is definitely an interesting aspect to this story. I intentionally ride into two particular cul-de-sacs during my neighborhood fitness rides. I used to avoid all of them, and then when I got bored and wanted to add more distance to my sessions without more loops / repetition, I went into every one of them. (7 or 8, I believe.)

In two of them I've been chased by dogs. I avoid those but if I'm riding with someone else leading, I won't specifically warn them about it because I was only chased once in each, and I wasn't particularly afraid. In most of the others, I felt that the road leading into the c-d-s isn't long enough to bother with having to turn around.

The two I frequently enter have neither loose dogs nor a short approach; I go down those dead end roads knowing that I'm safe and I'm adding another half-mile to my ride. Some neighborhoods do not have cul-de-sacs clearly marked as 'no outlet' or similar. So I think this rider either was totally new to the area, or conversely he frequently rode the area and thought it was worth going down this dead end.

Most likely the rider was not truly in danger from the doberman, but I bet he/she thought they were. I would wonder if they had previous bad experiences with dogs or had some other scary experience. I've been chased a number of times but haven't been bitten or caused to crash by a dog. If I were, I know that I'd be more wary of them.

Final comment-- based on this one lame article, it does seem like they drew the weapon quickly. If I were carrying a firearm on my bicycle, I would actually practice drawing it. If you need it and can't get it out quickly enough, that defeats the whole purpose.

twodownzero

I find that very hard to believe. America isn't the only country where vicious beasts might confront a cyclist, and certainly not the only where handguns are allowed for protection.

I'm glad you're so certain that you'll never need a gun to protect yourself. I pray that you're correct, because the consequences of being wrong are beyond serious.

ColinL

thought of this thread: dog shoots man

Bike Gremlin

An unknown animal is a lot more predictable than most unknown men you come across. People in big cities don't know to tell if a dog is running at them to play, or to really attack them.

My girlfriend's dog is small, spoilt medium schnauzer that is very good natured. Doesn't attack anyone. However, when I walk him by a short leash, some children and even people are scared and scream while he hapilly barks at them waving it's tail wanting to play. I can't even imagine what havoc would occur if it was allowed to freely run around harmlessly barking.

I understand the fear, but it would be nicer if people didn't kill/leash everything they don't like or understand and used their head more. People attack people too. Should we make it obligatory for all big and strong men to wear handcuffs after dark falls? They are unpredictable and dangerous them hoods they are ey!

BTW, the story reminds me of this:
https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Brazilia...g_suspiciously

gregf83 

I'll accept your prayers, I guess, although I don't believe they're necessary as I've never heard of anyone needing a gun to protect themselves while riding a bike.

Provided I don't enter the drug trafficking business, there are no areas anywhere near my city that would require a gun for protection. Besides I think a hand gun would be too heavy and fall out of my back pocket when I rode over some bumps. I lost a mini-pump once, don't want to lose a gun.

electrik

People are dogs... right.

Dogs are people - just like i said before.

nixternal

I have had a couple of dogs charge me and in all but one instance it scared the crap out of me. Had a large pit bull take off after me and I didn't notice it until the last second and it scared me so bad I actually screamed like a school girl at the top of my lungs. The dog stopped dead in its tracks as I scared the crap out of it worse than it scared me. Now I know the dog is used to running along side his owner so if it does get loose I just ride to the dogs house and it gets the idea. I had a coyote on a trail charge me and I did the same thing, but it didn't budge. Then there is the neighborhood Chihuahua that I get a kick out of. The scream doesn't faze it at all as I have tried it joking around. The little dog will actually bite on to my shoe and hold on, even during pedal strokes where its entire body will come up off the ground for a few rotations before deciding it can't win.

ghsmith54

I feel sorry for the dog, I blame the owner for letting it run.

Two "friendly" dog incidents leap to mind.

A friend of mine and fairly regular riding partner was riding with a couple of other guys when a "friendly" lab came running out of a yard, misjudged his speed and ran directly into my friends front wheel. Result? 4 broken ribs, broken collar bone, pneumothorax, road rash, 2 days in the hospital. My friend said the dog just wanted to play, in fact he said "once he had me on the ground he was licking my face". Friendly dogs can do as much harm as vicious ones.

The second incident happened near where I live (rural wisconsin). A route that I ride regularly has a farm on it with a lab and 2 great pyrenees. I've been chased by all three but always out sprint them (in fact, if I'm going to have to sprint against a dog, a pyrenees would be my choice. Not too fast) but they did cause me to swerve into the path of a passing car a couple of times to avoid hitting them. I stopped and talked to the woman that lived there once and told her about being chased by her dogs. She said "oh, you're prey to them so they chase but they don't bite" and started suggesting all sorts of things I could do differently ("you can take another route", 'they hear you coming if you're coasting, try and race by", etc) and made it pretty clear she wasn't going to do a thing. To make a long story short, a relatively small woman was riding past there one day and was attacked by both of the pyrenees. They knocked her off her bike, got her on the ground and started chewing her up. One of the wounds took 18 stitches to close. The owner finally managed to get them off of her. She is suing them and I gave a deposition testifying that I'd spoken to the woman about her dogs.

There is a county ordinance requiring dog owners to keep their dogs on their own property. I never called the sheriff and reported the dogs because I'd never had a "problem" with them. I wish now that I had as I would have saved that woman a pretty horrifying experience.

Now, I don't care if it's a chihuahua. If it's off the property, I call and report it.

surgeonstone

Hey, this is America, land of the cowboys, Clint Eastwood. An American without a gun is like vanilla ice cream without hot fudge.

electrik

How many spoke count is your wheel??



Toy dogs are the worst for biting, probably because their brains are scrambled after all that inbreeding.

electrik

Yup, same here... a woman I know spent two year of physio and she still has balance problems all because a somebody's "friendly" dog decided to jump out at her. That is a horrible story about the attack.

russd32

OH snap! Is that a squee-rell all stuffed up in that wheel.

I like dogs so I don't like doing it but I have had to give a German Sheppard and a Black Lab a Crank Bros cleat to the face. They were on me. If my stupid state had CCW I'd probably carry while I was out in the country. You never know when you might run into a rabid somethingerother. Might as well be prepared.

electrik

banerjek

Usually dogs come out of their own yard when they're going to attack rather than just wait for you to reach for your gun.

If you're too scared to ride a bike around a neighborhood without a gun, you have no business on a bike. Interesting how it's always the pseudo tough guys that need the guns to protect themselves.

fishymamba

So dogs are people?
Why do we put them on leashes? It's wrong to put people on leashes.


Truth is dogs are ANIMALS they can and will chase someone and can cause harm to a person.

banerjek

People firing guns at targets in peoples' yards within residential areas are idiots and can cause a lot more harm than a dog bite.

Shimagnolo

I grew up there and can confirm that. I was chased many times by dogs while cycling, and was attacked and bitten by one when jogging. My old man had little tolerance for unleashed dogs coming onto our property to attack chickens and sheep, and was known to shoot at them.

fishymamba

Very true, but if a dog attacked me and I had a gun I would definitely shoot the dog to protect my self.

twodownzero

Mine weighs less than a bottle of water.

The unfortunate reality of the U.S. is that we lead the world in violent crime among the industrialized western world. Fear is not without reason, even for people minding their own business. Combine that with road rage from cagers and carrying a firearm on a bicycle ride doesn't seem like such a terrible idea.

banerjek

Been riding long?

The reason I ask is that at least in my experience, it's extremely rare for people to give any kind of warning if they're going to mess with you. Unless they actively try to hit you, you won't be hurt. If they are trying to run you down, you'll have little or no time to get the gun out and if you hit, the car still will be aimed at you. Regardless if whether they're aiming at you or not, shooting into traffic while moving seems like a great way to hit the wrong person.

Ragers happen, but inattentive/distracted drivers are far more likely to kill you. And while they represent a real threat, you probably don't want to shoot at them.

Dellphinus

Same here in Illinois- no leash law. What's really crazy- if a dog chases or harrasses your livestock- cows, chickens, ducks, sheep... you can kil it on the spot, no questions asked. If it chases/attacks you, it has to be declared dangerous by a court, and then will be required to be kept penned. If it happens again, it has to be declared viscious. After that it can be destroyed if it happens again.

I have often thought about carrying a gun and a duck on my rides...

twodownzero

I'm talking about someone who wants to go hands on. Getting actually hit by an automobile isn't something you're going to solve with a firearm from the saddle.