Wrong way dog

In the week that was:

Earlier in the week I went south along a trail that isn't officially
maintained but is in the process of becoming part of the Trans Canada Trail.
It is open scrubland bordered on one side by a wooded area and the other an
industrial park. In addition to walkers and bikers many dog owners use it to
exercise their pets.

So I'm riding a long the path - a somewhat raised rail bed type of trail
bordered by long grass/low bush - and a couple are walking towards me. I
pass them and see their dogs following. The pair might be pit bulls. They
have that compact bull-dog/terrier look. They are frolicking with each other
as dogs do. I slow but given the bordering brush I can't really swing wide.
As I try to move to one side the dogs are totally oblivious to me and run in
front of me. I hit the dog with a thud. It felt like hitting a brick wall.
The dogs didn't even seem to care though I was briefly concerned about a
more natural dog reaction to attack.

I yell back at the owners: 'CONTROL YOUR DOGS!' as I F.I.D.O.

Wrong way squirrel:

Later on in the week I went along the river out east where I met up with
possibly the luckiest and dumbest squirrel ever. My east trail culminates in
a winding climb from the river to the higher land and then a steep descent
back down for a flat run back to the road. On the way back, head down and
tired from the climb I see a squirrel dart out of cover to cross in front
of. He sprints past just barely in front of my front wheel. And as squirrel
are prone to do he loses his nerve and decides he can't make it. He reverses
course and runs BETWEEN my front and rear wheels.

Lucky or dumb or both.

Wrong way goose [and a few raccoons]

Yesterday I did a loop around town. About 60 km tracing the first set of
back roads that skirt the town. On thing on these roads is the amount of
roadkill. I see a few raccoons and squirrels that didn't make the Darwinian
cut.

Up near the lake at about the half-way point I come across an adult Canada
Goose who was hors de combat by the side of the road. I don't think I've
ever seen a CG as roadkill. I mean they can fly right? In town they seem to
quite comfortable with traffic and nary an accident I'm aware of.

Though upon further investigation they do moult so that the loss of flight
feathers mean they are grounded for a period of time . I have noticed a
number of feathers lying about their usual haunts.

recycled-one wrote:
:: In the week that was:
::
:: Earlier in the week I went south along a trail that isn't officially
:: maintained but is in the process of becoming part of the Trans
:: Canada Trail. It is open scrubland bordered on one side by a wooded
:: area and the other an industrial park. In addition to walkers and
:: bikers many dog owners use it to exercise their pets.
::
:: So I'm riding a long the path - a somewhat raised rail bed type of
:: trail bordered by long grass/low bush - and a couple are walking
:: towards me. I pass them and see their dogs following. The pair might
:: be pit bulls. They have that compact bull-dog/terrier look. They are
:: frolicking with each other as dogs do. I slow but given the
:: bordering brush I can't really swing wide. As I try to move to one
:: side the dogs are totally oblivious to me and run in front of me. I
:: hit the dog with a thud. It felt like hitting a brick wall. The dogs
:: didn't even seem to care though I was briefly concerned about a more
:: natural dog reaction to attack.

So, why didn't you stop and get off the bike?

::
:: I yell back at the owners: 'CONTROL YOUR DOGS!' as I F.I.D.O.
::

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
recycled-one wrote:
:: In the week that was:
::
:: Earlier in the week I went south along a trail that isn't officially
:: maintained but is in the process of becoming part of the Trans
:: Canada Trail. It is open scrubland bordered on one side by a wooded
:: area and the other an industrial park. In addition to walkers and
:: bikers many dog owners use it to exercise their pets.
::
:: So I'm riding a long the path - a somewhat raised rail bed type of
:: trail bordered by long grass/low bush - and a couple are walking
:: towards me. I pass them and see their dogs following. The pair might
:: be pit bulls. They have that compact bull-dog/terrier look. They are
:: frolicking with each other as dogs do. I slow but given the
:: bordering brush I can't really swing wide. As I try to move to one
:: side the dogs are totally oblivious to me and run in front of me. I
:: hit the dog with a thud. It felt like hitting a brick wall. The dogs
:: didn't even seem to care though I was briefly concerned about a more
:: natural dog reaction to attack.

So, why didn't you stop and get off the bike?

Before? Why should I?

After? Why would I

recycled-one wrote:
:: "Roger Zoul" wrote in message
:: ...
::: recycled-one wrote:
::::: In the week that was:
:::::
::::: Earlier in the week I went south along a trail that isn't
::::: officially maintained but is in the process of becoming part of
::::: the Trans Canada Trail. It is open scrubland bordered on one side
::::: by a wooded area and the other an industrial park. In addition to
::::: walkers and bikers many dog owners use it to exercise their pets.
:::::
::::: So I'm riding a long the path - a somewhat raised rail bed type of
::::: trail bordered by long grass/low bush - and a couple are walking
::::: towards me. I pass them and see their dogs following. The pair
::::: might be pit bulls. They have that compact bull-dog/terrier look.
::::: They are frolicking with each other as dogs do. I slow but given
::::: the bordering brush I can't really swing wide. As I try to move
::::: to one side the dogs are totally oblivious to me and run in front
::::: of me. I hit the dog with a thud. It felt like hitting a brick
::::: wall. The dogs didn't even seem to care though I was briefly
::::: concerned about a more natural dog reaction to attack.
:::
::: So, why didn't you stop and get off the bike?
::
:: Before? Why should I?
::

To keep from running into a dog and possibly hurting yourself and your bike.
And the dog.

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
recycled-one wrote:
:: "Roger Zoul" wrote in message
:: ...
::: recycled-one wrote:
::::: In the week that was:
:::::
::::: Earlier in the week I went south along a trail that isn't
::::: officially maintained but is in the process of becoming part of
::::: the Trans Canada Trail. It is open scrubland bordered on one side
::::: by a wooded area and the other an industrial park. In addition to
::::: walkers and bikers many dog owners use it to exercise their pets.
:::::
::::: So I'm riding a long the path - a somewhat raised rail bed type of
::::: trail bordered by long grass/low bush - and a couple are walking
::::: towards me. I pass them and see their dogs following. The pair
::::: might be pit bulls. They have that compact bull-dog/terrier look.
::::: They are frolicking with each other as dogs do. I slow but given
::::: the bordering brush I can't really swing wide. As I try to move
::::: to one side the dogs are totally oblivious to me and run in front
::::: of me. I hit the dog with a thud. It felt like hitting a brick
::::: wall. The dogs didn't even seem to care though I was briefly
::::: concerned about a more natural dog reaction to attack.
:::
::: So, why didn't you stop and get off the bike?
::
:: Before? Why should I?
::

To keep from running into a dog and possibly hurting yourself and your
bike.

Not that fast. I had slowed down.

And the dog.

True enough. My sympathies for the dog but if I were to stop and dismount
evey time I came close to a dog I might as well not ride at all.

recycled-one wrote:
:: "Roger Zoul" wrote in message
:: ...
::: recycled-one wrote:
::::: "Roger Zoul" wrote in message
::::: ...
:::::: recycled-one wrote:
:::::::: In the week that was:
::::::::
:::::::: Earlier in the week I went south along a trail that isn't
:::::::: officially maintained but is in the process of becoming part of
:::::::: the Trans Canada Trail. It is open scrubland bordered on one
:::::::: side by a wooded area and the other an industrial park. In
:::::::: addition to walkers and bikers many dog owners use it to
:::::::: exercise their pets.
::::::::
:::::::: So I'm riding a long the path - a somewhat raised rail bed
:::::::: type of trail bordered by long grass/low bush - and a couple
:::::::: are walking towards me. I pass them and see their dogs
:::::::: following. The pair might be pit bulls. They have that compact
:::::::: bull-dog/terrier look. They are frolicking with each other as
:::::::: dogs do. I slow but given the bordering brush I can't really
:::::::: swing wide. As I try to move to one side the dogs are totally
:::::::: oblivious to me and run in front of me. I hit the dog with a
:::::::: thud. It felt like hitting a brick wall. The dogs didn't even
:::::::: seem to care though I was briefly concerned about a more
:::::::: natural dog reaction to attack.
::::::
:::::: So, why didn't you stop and get off the bike?
:::::
::::: Before? Why should I?
:::::
:::
::: To keep from running into a dog and possibly hurting yourself and
::: your bike.
::
:: Not that fast. I had slowed down.
::
::: And the dog.
::
:: True enough. My sympathies for the dog but if I were to stop and
:: dismount evey time I came close to a dog I might as well not ride at
:: all.

Well, give that you said they were totally oblivious to you, it would seem
the smart thing to do would be to protect yourself. However, it might be one
of those "you just had to be there" kind of things to really "get" the
situation.

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
recycled-one wrote:

:: True enough. My sympathies for the dog but if I were to stop and
:: dismount every time I came close to a dog I might as well not ride at
:: all.

Well, give that you said they were totally oblivious to you, it would seem
the smart thing to do would be to protect yourself. However, it might be
one of those "you just had to be there" kind of things to really "get" the
situation.

I always slow and am wary of dogs and children. I pretty much assume
rightly they always oblivious. This particular part of the trail didn't
allow for swinging way wide.

I was more surprised ate how solid the hit was and it didn't even faze the
dog. Like I said, it had that dense pit/terrier/bulldog build.

Roger Zoul wrote:
recycled-one wrote:
:: "Roger Zoul" wrote in message
:: ...
::: recycled-one wrote:
::::: In the week that was:
:::::
::::: Earlier in the week I went south along a trail that isn't
::::: officially maintained but is in the process of becoming part of
::::: the Trans Canada Trail. It is open scrubland bordered on one side
::::: by a wooded area and the other an industrial park. In addition to
::::: walkers and bikers many dog owners use it to exercise their pets.
:::::
::::: So I'm riding a long the path - a somewhat raised rail bed type of
::::: trail bordered by long grass/low bush - and a couple are walking
::::: towards me. I pass them and see their dogs following. The pair
::::: might be pit bulls. They have that compact bull-dog/terrier look.
::::: They are frolicking with each other as dogs do. I slow but given
::::: the bordering brush I can't really swing wide. As I try to move
::::: to one side the dogs are totally oblivious to me and run in front
::::: of me. I hit the dog with a thud. It felt like hitting a brick
::::: wall. The dogs didn't even seem to care though I was briefly
::::: concerned about a more natural dog reaction to attack.
:::
::: So, why didn't you stop and get off the bike?
::
:: Before? Why should I?
::

To keep from running into a dog and possibly hurting yourself and your bike.
And the dog.


I stop and make friends with the dog or dogs so they don't chase me when
I come by but rather bark the "Stop and pet me.", kind of bark. It may
take a few weeks of stopping and petting but sooner or later they will
be your friend. Doesn't apply in park encounters but sure helps on
regular routes.
Bill Baka

In article , recycled-one (u-
) wrote:

Up near the lake at about the half-way point I come across an adult Canada
Goose who was hors de combat by the side of the road. I don't think I've
ever seen a CG as roadkill. I mean they can fly right?

I was once narrowly missed by a Canada Goose which had elected to take
off /across/ the M1 motorway rather than parallel thereto. They are, I
think, birds of Little Brain.

--
Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
Apparently Guy has now got a Brompton. I'd never have guessed.