This past weekend I was out for a solo ride on some country roads (Midwest farm roads) when I saw dog at the edge of the road about a 1/4 mile up. The dog turned and ran towards me andfrom a distance it was difficult to tell if it was on the aggressive or just being friendly. Nonetheless, I quickly determined that this dog meant business and wanted a piece of me and or my bike (teeth showing, hair up, etc). My first reaction was to put on a burst of speed and get away, which worked as endurance outlasted the dog. Nothing came of the event other than a spike into Z4 on my Z1-2 long ride.
But looking back on the incident, there was no doubt in my mind that the dog could have ruined my day at several points. The dog had 4x the sprinting speed of me and actually ran by me and caught back up to me on two or three occasions in the 2-3 minute interaction. This is my 3rd year cycling and training for triathlons and my first interaction with an animal in this regard. It have experienced an angry dog before on a motorcycle, but a twist of the throttle and you are gone, not so much the case on a road bike.
Just curious for the opinions, advice and experiences from the ST community on how you have handled animal encounters;
Have you been attacked?How did you defend yourself?What happened in the end? Physical harm to Rider, Dog, Bike?..Who was liable in the end?
