Tag Archives: Dogs

Hazards of Cycling (Part Two)

17 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Cycling, Weight Loss

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As much as I love cycling and the benefits that it has, you’ve got to consider some of the hazards that come with it.  Living in the suburbs, I have a limitless place to ride. But to get to it I have to travel on some busy roads.  While most vehicles obey the three-foot law, others do not.  And another thing, some do not take into consideration that while passing me they don’t think about the oncoming traffic.  I’ve seen several near misses.  One of these days I’ll get to witness a wreck.

Another hazard is dogs.  The one in this video is always there.  I’ve squirted water, yelled, kicked and nothing has stopped this dog from chasing me.  While this dog hasn’t tried to bite me others have.  The ankle biters are the worse. At least with the big dogs, they tend to stay on one side of you and bark.  The ankle biters are all over the road.  You never know where they’re going next. One of my wrecks was from dodging one of these ankle biters.

I’ve often thought about using mace to squirt on the dogs but after thinking about it I’ve decided that given the wind I don’t want this stuff coming back in my face. That would be bad. So, for now, I’ll stick with wasting my water by squirting the dogs.

In closing, let me say this.  The benefits of cycling will outway the bad.  Just keep a mindful eye on your surroundings if riding in the city.

Be careful out there

365 Day Photo Challenge 237/365 “I Did as Promised”

23 Sunday Aug 2015

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I stated yesterday that come Hell or high water I was going to ride today. When I woke up it was storming here.  At first I believed that the ride wouldn’t happen.  But, as fate would have it, the skies cleared after lunch and I was able to get a little over 22 miles in.  This coming week the weather looks good for riding each day.  I know Friday evening is out due to a football game and Saturday morning is out due to having to take one of my daughters to a music class.

It really felt good to get out on the bicycle today.  It was a bit windy and I had a headwind for most of my ride.  I had several dogs that tried to attack me today and I have yet to understand why people allow their dogs to run loose in a community where there is a leash law.  I’m just wondering if one of these dogs cause me to have a wreck and it causes me bodily injury who is going to be responsible for my medical bills?  I would think it would be the dog owner but with today’s laws who knows?

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 216/365 “Big Dog, Big Headache”

02 Sunday Aug 2015

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My GoPro was dead or else I would have a video of this huge dog coming out from nowhere and chase me up a hill today.  He came at me so fast that he couldn’t stop in time and hit his head on my back tire nearly knocking me off my bike.  I always look for this dog when I go down this road but today he had two friends about the same size as he is.  The one that hit me was taken back a few seconds giving his friends a chance to get at me.  Normally I don’t get too excited about the big dogs but today I was a bit concerned when I could see that for some reason they meant business and showed me their teeth.  As I reached the top of the hill two of the dogs lost interest but the one that got beaned still thought that he could get a piece of me and started nipping at my new shoes.  Of course by this time I’m standing up trying to pedal faster and get away from the situation.  As I make the top of the hill and start rounding the corner the dog finally gave up and went home.  The bad part of this was is that I have to go down this road twice on my route which means I had another round of this to look forward to when I come back toward home.  Thankfully, the second time around was noneventful.  The dogs stayed on their porch and didn’t give chase.

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 152/365 “Cycling at Night”

03 Wednesday Jun 2015

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I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re prepared with a headlight and a tail light, a reflector vest and a taste for bugs.  I got a late start tonight but I had to get my big loop in.  It was light when I started but before I got done I had to turn my headlight on.  It has four settings; low, medium, high and strobe.  It has 750 lumens when it’s on the highest setting.  When it starts getting dusk I turn the headlight on the strobe setting.  I can see fine but I want to make sure that others see me.  When I can see my shadow from the streetlights I turn the headlight on to high so that I can see everything else.

Most of the roads I travel have street lights but there are a few that it’s very dark even on the brightest moonlit night.  The tree cover is so thick that not even the moon beams can penetrate.  These roads I make sure I slow down and really pay attention. Rabbits and stray cats often jump out in front of me and threaten to cause an early dismount which I’m sure would not be a pretty site and may cause bodily damage.

There are some advantages to riding at night.  One is that there is hardly any traffic.  Most of the roads I travel are located in subdivisions.  Once I make these subdivisions I can probably count the amount on cars I see on the road on one hand.  Getting there is the problem. Later in the evening even the traffic on the busy roads are diminished.

Another advantage is it’s a lot cooler riding at night.  The sun has gone down and the temperature drops.  I’m not having to wipe the sweat away from my forehead near as often when I ride at night.  There is nothing I hate worse than sweat getting on my glasses.  I can’t stand that.

There are a couple more disadvantages but one that sticks out more is that it seems that the bugs come out at night.  I bet I spit out 15 bugs that managed to get inside my mouth.

Tonight was a good ride.  I got over 25 miles in.  The only thing that I didn’t like about tonight’s ride is the amount of dogs that were out unleashed.  On one road I counted six dogs that came out and chased me.  The bad part about this was that this was a dead end road and that meant that once I got to the end I had to turn around and go through them again.  I’m not sure who got more exercise, me trying to outrun the dogs or the dogs trying to catch me.

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 134/365 “Todays Ride”

16 Saturday May 2015

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Today was a good day.  I got most everything done that I wanted to do today.  I got up and ate breakfast, changed clothes and hopped on my bicycle.  When I returned home I had a bite to eat and started getting things ready for tomorrow trip to Mt. Cheaha.

My bike ride today consisted of a leisurely ride through town.  I followed my weekend route in which I normally get around 23 miles.  The route I take has a lot of hills but not any steep grades.  I took a few new roads just to see some new sites and it increased my mileage a bit. My total mileage for the day was 25.8 and my average speed was 12.1 mph.  Like I said, I took my time and didn’t get in a big hurry.

There are several things that kind of bug me while I’m riding through my fair city but the one thing that really pisses me off is the amount of trash that is on the roads.  I bet I counted four trash bags while on my route today.  I think it’s really uncalled for when people throw out their trash from their cars instead of waiting until they get home and throw it out in a trash can. Doesn’t make sense.  The other thing that gets on my nerves is the amount of dogs that are not on a leash or in a fenced in yard.  Our city has a leash law which requires all dogs to either be on a leash or in a fence if outside.  The little ankle biters don’t really bother me that much, it’s the big labs and german shepherds that make me nervous.  I’ve been given permission by the city to use Mace when I feel threatened.  The thing about using mace it that it could get in my eyes if the wind is blowing the wrong direction.

Photo is of the Pier in Chicago

“Life Goes On!”