Who on here has actually been bitten by a dog while riding their bicycle?

I have been bitten twice..once a nip and the second was a nasty encounter.  I have learned the water bottle squirt to the face just as they get close stops them dead in their tracks.  I agree somewhat the harder you try to get a away the harder they try to get you.  If you keep your head, you can avoid a bite.  However, you never know when you will get the mad dog that is determined to get some, thus the general fear of the attack.

When dogs come running, it is not being bitten that concerns my but the dog getting under one of my wheels.  Their herding instinct tells them to go for the points that touch the ground, which naturally draws them to either wheel ... and if it is the front then you are in trouble.

One of the people I trained for CdA within in 2007 was actually thrown from his bike in Cartersville (old 67 mi route) and had his carbon aerobars cracked.

As mentioned above, a squirt from a water bottle works nicely.  If you are in the wrong gear, going up a hill or for whatever reason unable to out-run the dog then STOP, dismount and then put the bike between you and the dog.  Yelling "bad dog" also seems to do the trick as well.

Also, when riding in a group, it is not often the first in the group that is targeted by the dog ... so if you see a dog up the road, choose carefully who goes first.  Sometime we take turns on "dog patrol" whereby one person is designated to run interference while the others cycle away.

I do not think that is the case with country people.  Many of them care VERY much about their dogs.  It is not that they do not care. They do not feel that you are in danger nor their dog.  They just have a differnent paradigm than people raised in the city.  Your animal gaurds your house.  If he is on a chain, he can not guard your property properly in their opinion.  He can bark, but often there is no one there to hear it.  My point is that they do not feel, and to a point I agree with them, that their dog is not in danger just because he is chasing you in the road.  There is not as much traffic in the country to endanger them.  While on the Covington Century last week, Doug and I saw a dog lying in the middle of the road on the yellow line resting.  I have seen that several times in rural areas.  Maybe we can start a thread about how many dogs get hurt while chasing cyclist.  I bet that number is even less than the number of cyclist that have been bitten.   

  That is pretty funny.  Yes, that is exactly what that means.  You will know you are riding enough when you get bitten. 

Other than the crazy ambush dog on the Cartersville ride, I've never even had a dog chase me on my bike.  Running, however, I've been chased a bit.  I find that a firm, loud "NO!" (or two) works very well.  Most dogs know what "no" means.

It was Cheryl (Mrs. Reality Bikes) that got bitten.  She was mid-climb... and the dog didn't let go very easily.  The fact that she remained upright and continued pedaling with him chomping down on her thigh is a credit to her bike handling skills (and I'm sure the adrenaline didn't hurt).  I suspect that her injuries could have been significantly worse had he been able to pull her off the bike. 

For those of you keeping track at home, this would be one "hit by car" and one "bit by dog" in their household this summer.   Oy.

That is actually why I started to thread.  I am actually pretty surprised at the number of people on here that have been bitten even though it is a very small number so far.  When they chase me, I usually slow down instead of speed up, look at them and shout "no" a few times.  If the dog seems vicious instead of just following his instincts, I unclip that foot so that I can kick at him just in case. It does not bother me to have them chase me though.  Maybe it will if I ever get bitten while riding.    I have been bitten while not riding however.

I hear people talking about the dogs all the time.  I was hoping that this thread might ease the fears of those people, but probably not.  I just do not think that 99 percent of the dogs are as dangerous as people seem to think.  As I said earlier, I bet a lot more people on here have broken collarbones than dog bites and I never hear people saying they are afraid of breaking their collarbone. (BTW, my broken collarbone hurt a LOT worse than my non-biking related dog bite. )

Neal this is an interesting topic as I pretty much refuse to ride Cartersville anymore due to the dogs up there. For me it's not about being bitten (although you really never know anymore about some dogs) its the wreck that the dog is going to cause and the broken collar bone or shattered hip as a result.  The owner of Outspokin in Woodstock told me about a friend of his who was riding with a group out of Ellijay and crashed as a result of a dog chasing them and shattered his hip. The guy is in his early 30's and had to have hip replacement surgery and of course the rednecks who owned the dog have no insurance and nothing to sue over so this poor guy is stuck with an artificial hip and a pile of medical bills. All because some a-hole couldn't keep his dog under control.

And what about that dog on the corner of Cox and Wiley Bridge? He chases us every Wednesday night, sometimes coming out in the road. All it takes is a car coming toward your subdivision on Wiley Bridge and he is toast.

bboston88 - 2009-08-06 4:27 PM Don't unclip Neal, you can't sprint fast enough unclipped I just recommend riding like hell and the waterbottle squirt. It's worked for me so far. My 5 minute sprints have reached a max on my powertap on some encounters so maybe I should look at the bright side of this.

That is great about the max power sprint, the only problem is that if you are doing an Endurance Ride for example and you are constantly having to do "dog sprints" it tends to screw up your workout.

bboston88 - 2009-08-06 4:27 PM Don't unclip Neal, you can't sprint fast enough unclipped I just recommend riding like hell and the waterbottle squirt. It's worked for me so far. My 5 minute sprints have reached a max on my powertap on some encounters so maybe I should look at the bright side of this.

Beth, Soooo...  I guess you are saying that Cartersville is a great place for Interval work then...     I had not thought of that.

  You guys don't have anything to worry about with that dog since you are on bikes.  I jog past him all the time and as slow as I am I obviously can't outrun him.  I don't turn my back on him and I have on occaision walked past him so as not to stir his natural instincts to chase whatever is fleeing him. 

Now those two about 100 yards down from there that stay in the 6 foot fenced property, I am not so sure about.  I get the feeling they may be trouble if they got out.