Originally Posted by
livedarklions
These things are so situational but I agree with you that taking a beat to try to figure out the dog's intentions is not a good strategy. My strengths are in evasion and acceleration, but that doesn't do you a lot of good when the dog comes at you out of nowhere at the bottom of a very steep hill (fortunately, that was a tiny dog). OTOH, I definitely did not stop for the arthritic Rottweiler who was giving every indication he meant me harm. He got within a foot of me before I knew he was there because he came out from behind a hedge. My first instinct was to accelerate even though I hadn't actually gotten a good look at him, and that turned out to be comically effective when I realized hw geriatric he actually was.
At the top of very long and steep climb, I encountered 3 dogs after midnight in Kentucky. One was a pit, one was a mutt, and the leader was a little white yapper. I dismounted and walked. The pit was totally fine seemingly friendly UNTIL the yapper rawled the pit and the mutt up. I swung the bike as a shield while walking. Once out of their territory, they gave up. Someone stole the spray off my bike the day before when I was in a minimart getting food. Bottomline for me, I am no longer going to try to outrun a dog unless I am already doing over 20 mph and the gradient is not positive (downhills.....please)