chasfm11 wrote:I, too, have been bitten while bike riding. I normally ride 3 times a week, 12 miles per ride and try to get it done in 55 minutes. I was watching a guy with about a 65lb Doberman on a retractable leash and thought I had gotten by. That dog went from 30ft on one side of the owner, past the owner another 20 feet towards me, grabbing my right calf, drawing a reasonable amount of blood through a pair of sweat pants. Even if I had had a gun with me, there is no way that I could have outdrawn that dog.
After he bit me, I almost got into an altercation with the owner who refused to identify himself.
Note to self: Never, ever ride without a cellphone with a camera again.
I have mixed feelings about shooting the dog after it has bitten me. According to the Town, I'd be at fault, even though the animal has shown a willingness to take a piece of my flesh (I did report the incident and talked with an animal control officer who tried to find the animal). I also doubt that I would have been effective with pepper spray or maybe even bear spray. It happened too quick.
My strategy now is that if I see a dog, even a leashed that looks like trouble (and I knew the Doberman was but it looked like I had a enough distance), I slow down enough that I can get off and put my bike between us. I've had to do that in the past week with a pit bull mix.
I'm a dog lover and a dog owner. I have zero time for irresponsible owners. When you cannot control your dog on a leash you are holding, you are way beyond irresponsible in my book. We won't even talk about the ones where the dog is off leash and pays no attention to the owner.
I would have just followed him home.
