Release the hounds!

check_six

On the school run this morning, clear skies, nice little tailwind, rolling along nicely when, all of a sudden, a ball of white fluffy fury runs out in front of us.

An unthethered hound had sprinted out from behind a parked car and right into our path yapping and scrabbling. The beast was clearly a initiate to the ways of bicycle chasing as it was only by judicious use of the brakes that I managed to avoid leaving a tyre track across it's back. My son managed a more elegant swerve to escape the jaws of the cloud shaped monster.

I yelled something about a leash to the people the dog had run away from, but to be honest they may not have been the animal's keepers as there was another small group of shocked looking people on the opposite side of the road at the same time.

The incident got me thinking back to my youth when getting chased by devil dogs was a regular occurrence and just part of your daily routine. My son was thrilled by the experience and couldn't wait to tell his school friends, but it's not something he normally has to put up with.

Does anyone have a regular four footed hairy nemesis they have to race?

I'm expecting the best tales to come from a rural setting, our own almost handbag sized assailant was hardly a descendent of Black Shuck (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Shuck).

Rovi

Redneck Interval Training!
The dog doesn't care if you're fresh and strong at the beginning of a ride, shagged and dying at the end of a monster one, going uphill, going downhill, rain, hail, snow, sunshine, wet road, dry road, whatever. You're sprinting NOW, for an undefined distance and for an undetermined length of time!

Rogue-Trooper

Nah, these are the ones you gotta look out for!



Red light-jumping, wheel-sucking, footpath-riding mutts - they're a scourge I tell ya!

:P

NamelessPhil

On the road from Saggart to the N81 http://app.strava.com/segments/652457 there's a rottweiler that takes great pleasure in jumping the fence and chasing you up the hill, it's the size of a boar. It's certainly motivation to climb faster but you're already in the red.

rp

Rogue-Trooper wrote: »

Nah, these are the ones you gotta look out for!



Red light-jumping, wheel-sucking, footpath-riding mutts - they're a scourge I tell ya!

:P

No front brake, single-speed, stub handlebars: the dog's a hipster!

smacl

Rottweillers on the loose I'd be reporting to the dog warden. Not good. Sadly, zombie dog on Cruagh road appears to be no longer with us. ZD's principal threat was lying asleep in the middle of the road on blind corners, which could well have led to its demise. More often than not it would just give you the zombie stare as you went past, to let you know that if you'd tried passing on a bike 10 years previously, you would have been in big trouble.

mirv

Hey Eddy!

loinnsigh

Funny, I got chased by 2 big dogs this morning - one looked like a lanky boxer (if there is such a thing), the other was a golden lab. My commute is pretty rural so it's a quiet road and I normally don't see any loose dogs.
There was no menace in either of them - my bike was just something they could chase for the craic. The only problem was that they seemed to get very close to my wheels and my pedals and I kept having visions of a tangled ball of dogs/bike/man lying on the road waiting for the fire brigade to come and untangle us all. But after a few hundred metres of this doggy escort we all walked/pedalled away unscathed.

NamelessPhil wrote: »

On the road from Saggart to the N81 http://app.strava.com/segments/652457 there's a rottweiler that takes great pleasure in jumping the fence and chasing you up the hill, it's the size of a boar. It's certainly motivation to climb faster but you're already in the red.

That road's part of my commute - haven't encountered that big lad yet, will keep an eye out for him. With any luck he might help me improve my time on that segment

Discostuy

Been in this situation a few times, especially down at my families place in the country.
At lot of the time they just enjoy the chase and have no interest in you personally. Speeding up and sprinting off generally makes the dog thinks he is doing his job better - getting you off his patch - and so will increase its chasing.

I find stopping and letting the dog approach to suss you out works, and can then proceed without them following.

el tel

Definitely a situation where a frame-fit pump trumps CO2 inflation.

NamelessPhil

The rottweiler has been there at least twice at the weekends, once during a club spin and a few weeks back for another cyclist on a Sunday. Maybe it's only allowed out at weekends.

I thought zombie labrador was at the top of Killakee Road near the Viewing Point? I've certainly had to wobble around it a couple of times last autumn. I haven't been up that way this year.

Esroh

el tel wrote: »

Definitely a situation where a frame-fit pump trumps CO2 inflation.

Squirt from the water bottle. Has a shock effect from a distance.

I have a Bull Terrier just down the road that liked to get me warmed up and also help me with the sprint on the return.
He learnt the hard way when a blast of water to his puss meant he didn't see the car behind me and now is permanently lame.
Still enjoys the sprint but stays inside his wall

ThisRegard

NamelessPhil wrote: »

On the road from Saggart to the N81 http://app.strava.com/segments/652457 there's a rottweiler that takes great pleasure in jumping the fence and chasing you up the hill, it's the size of a boar. It's certainly motivation to climb faster but you're already in the red.

That's a coincidence, that's where I had my longest chase by a dog while on a bike, heading towards Slade. I doubt it's the same dog though, this was around 20 years ago.

studiorat

Esroh wrote: »

Squirt from the water bottle. Has a shock effect from a distance.

Take a banana on your cycle. Always handy for throwing at them.

petethedrummer

el tel wrote: »

Definitely a situation where a frame-fit pump trumps CO2 inflation.

The Bullwhip is mightier than the pump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNKPIOelTgA

kerry4sam

Discostuy wrote: »

...

I find stopping and letting the dog approach to suss you out works, and can then proceed without them following.

This is something you won't find me doing. Not once have I stopped and nor will I either tbh! They have always tired out and returned to their base; well, in the general direction of where they started from anyways.

I took in Castleconnell in a route once and their were 3 dogs on that path who gave a good chase. The last time a dog gave any chase or ran out on the road as I was cycling though was near Cong some months back.

loinnsigh

I find that even for the vicious looking buggers, if you let a good loud roar at them it tends to do the trick

2011abc

NamelessPhil wrote: »

On the road from Saggart to the N81 http://app.strava.com/segments/652457 there's a rottweiler that takes great pleasure in jumping the fence and chasing you up the hill, it's the size of a boar. It's certainly motivation to climb faster but you're already in the red.

Been there,done that!He's big and VERY scarey but not especially fast ...if you were completely in the red you could be in VERY big trouble !!!

Zyzz

Funniest thing dog related I've seen was this absolutely tiny dog chasing 20 or so deer across the main road in the Phoenix Park :pac:

shaka

I find a squirt of the water bottle usually scares the bejaysus out of them. If that doesn't work I find getting off bike helps unless the dog is very big,see below

There is road route we use near ballyhoura MTB trails which has a Rottweiler loose on the road from kildollery to ardpatrick. His house is up on height on the left and he usually restricts himself to barking from above on the bank which is about 15 feet above but one evening got particulary engrossed in barking lost his footing and rolled down bank in front of a group of us, good speed session that night one of the women in my club got bit by another rotty on that route but that dog is no longer afaik.

My own dog has taken to following bikes, my own fault. Before I got injured I usta take him mountain biking and he would trot along behind me (in front on the hills) , having some time trying to stop him doing it . Just trots behind anyone we meet out walking if he is off lead wagging tail with me trying to catch him shouting at strangers to take no notice and that he is still a puppy and friendly .