Today was the best day for a bike ride! With a temperature of 75 degrees, I was finally able to go out with just cycling shorts and a jersey! Oh happy day! Well, until I got to the hill on Spruce Street. A little white dog came running down the driveway barking, and he was way out in front of the owner, a woman who was walking down the driveway. The dog ran into the road, and was running alongside me, barking, when suddenly he bit me! I quickly jumped off my bike, and put my bike between the dog and myself because he was trying to get to me, so I was constantly moving the bike around to protect myself. The woman called out "He's not a vicious dog." She finally was able to call him off, and I hollered out "You should know he just bit me." "You should have gotten off your bike" she said! Oh right, it's my fault! When I got home I called the doctor, and he said that I needed to go back and see evidence that the dog has had its rabies vaccination. After I showered I got dressed and went back, to the house and had the owner show me the rabies tag. The doctor also said that a Tetanus shot was a good idea, and so I went to a urgent care center and got that done as well. So it appears that I will live... :-) OK, so no more whining...
5 comments:
You should have gotten off your bike - WHAT! She should have had her dog on a leash and been mortified that he bit you. I would have been running into my home to antiseptic or wet cloth to clean your wounds. I'm sorry you had to go through all of the nonsense with checking on the dog and getting a tetanus shot. Well, at least with that you are good for another 10 years.
Joan
First of all, I don't think you're whining. I cannot believe the audacity of the dog owner to blame you! I consider a dog that bites someone to be "vicious". I think you should report this to the local dog warden because this may not be the first time this has happened to a passersby - whether on a bike or on foot. A Tetanus shot is definitely a good idea since you'll be biking more with the warmer weather. bsk
Hi Ken-
With the unfenced pit bulls around AZ, when I was a more active biker, that was one of the reason to carry a frame-mounted air pump to smack across their face. Supposedly a splash of well-aimed water from your water bottle works too, though I never had to move past the bike pump... Sorry for your experience...
-Dean
Thank you all for your sympathetic comments. Wow, I never would have thought of squirting the dog with my water bottle! Brilliant! Now I have programmed that into my brain. It is interesting that in 10 years of serious riding I have never had any kind of incident with any animals... Lucky me!
Whew, glad I'm in Florida now. Here we can legally move about with a concealed Glock. So I guess the pecking order is as follows: Glock > Pepper Spray > Water Bottle > Air Pump. Of course, Florida is statistically the most dangerous state to ride a bike in.
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