Wednesday, August 06, 2008

8/6/08 Today's Ride -- or, a leaping dog makes a play for my hand and defcon 2 ensues

Route: 30.42 miles, West Knox and East Corbin loop.



Weather: Mostly cloudy, 88 degrees, 6 mph wind.



Performance: average speed 15.7 mph, time 1:56:11. Average HR 139 bpm. Average power 144 watts, maximum power 899 watts (new record). Work 999 kJ.



Motionbased.com link: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6448995



Comment: This ride was notable for the fact that for only the second time ever, a dog made an effort to bite me somewhere other than my feet. The chilling details follow:

As I made my way south on 830 near its intersection with 1810, I spotted a pack of five or six dogs lounging in somebody's yard. I caught the attention of one and with a yap the chase was on. I slowed as they scattered across the road ahead of me, a medium-sized black and white boxer mix positioning himself directly in front of my bike, forcing me to come to a near stop. He sidestepped me as a started to pedal again and came alongside.

The next thing your humble narrator knows, this dog is stabilizing himself with a paw in my side, moving his open mouth toward my right hand. Yep, the sucker's airborne. My "hey"s, which up until that point had been at the level of a mild scolding, increased significantly in volume and tempo.

Again he was in the air. By this point I was gaining speed but was slightly miffed. I had just bought some new leather riding gloves and wasn't too thrilled that this guy was trying to get a taste. Plus, he was trying to bite me. So I reached into my back pocket for my can of Halt. I had bought it just for this purpose. I aimed, and for the first time ever, fired.

I had long dreamed of this moment. Teaching some sucka dog a lesson through his eyes. The satisfying yelp to follow, then no more worries the next time I chose this route. Liquid justice.

But out came a pathetic trickle. The image that will be forever stuck in my head from my first valiant defense of my person will be a rather surprised looking dog, five feet away, with a line of drops of bright orange liquid suspended in front of his face. Three feet away. No yelp, or reaction at all for that matter.

But by then I was gone.

But the pump is now primed, punks.

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