Mr IGH

Good! I always feel sorry for what Jerseites have to tolerate, at least they can have gelled pepper spray (my LC9 with HP rounds is a felony there).

ColnagoC40

The OP was riding in NC, where I ride all the time and it is probably one of the safest places I have cycled over the years, especially as far as traffic/cycling regulations go. Out in the country, on the back roads with almost no traffic, there are unfortunately a number of dogs off leash. Personally I grant the folks living out in the boonies their freedom and learning how to cope with dogs while cycling is just part of the skill set one needs.

I did a 5 year assignment in Saudi Arabia way back and use to believe it was the most dangerous place I have ever cycled. Then I did 8 days in Florida last year with a very big group meeting there each year before spring. I changed my mind, Florida is the most dangerous place I have ever done road cycling. I can handle lots of dogs on the road, but motorists who believe they own the road and try to shave your legs at 90 miles/hour is something else!!!

If dogs are a deterrent, try and avoid the boonies and cope with the traffic instead. Loose running dogs do not survive busy roads, meaning they are generally dog free.

jefnvk

Are you suggesting we start pepper spraying dangerous drivers?

Maelochs

As a former Florida commuter ... I'd suggest what is sometimes called a "Second Amendment" solution.

jefnvk

I've been to Florida. I have no love for the state, with all due respect to the lovely forum members who live down there. Only state I've ever been verbally accosted by a lady pounding on my windows at a red light, because I pulled out in front of her when she was doing around 90MPH around a corner on a 45-50MPH highway, and I was the one who endangered her baby in the car

TimothyH

Lets be fair to Florida. It is a big place and Miami Dade County or Orlando are vastly different from the interior of the panhandle.

The interior of the panhandle has some of the nicest, most redneck folk you ever want to meet, so much so that you'd almost mistaken them for Georgians.


-Tim-

Jarrett2

This is the reality most don't realize. When a dog actually comes with intent to hurt you, meaning the times you really need that spray or bat, you won't have time to get it out before they are on you.

I get chased by multiple dogs every ride, hundreds over the years, but I've only encountered two of them that wanted to actually attack me. One was that boxer I posted earlier and another with a Doberman Pinscher. Neither time was I able to do anything, but thankfully move my leg fast enough that the first bite missed me. On their second approach, I kicked them so hard they weren't interested in a third attempt.

There was a guy riding behind me with the Doberman who had some spray and the entire encounter was over by the time he was able to get it ready to spray at the dog.

The folks that are spraying dogs in the face with anything are spraying the ones that never came to bite you in the first place. Granted, a dog running into your bike unintentionally is also an action that needs to be deterred.

The key is to be watching really closely. Learn to know the environments where dogs could sneak up on you. Listen for the noise a collar makes when a dog runs full speed or listen for the sound of claws on pavement. That's about the only warning you will get in a real attack.

Doug5150

I didn't read all the other replies. I'm surprised the thread isn't locked already, with the replies there are.

First off--most dogs I've seen in rural areas that act mean, really aren't if you stop and offer to pet them.
They either back off and keep barking, or come forward quietly to be petted.
But some don't.

To get an angry dog to stop attacking, you have to severely injure them.
1) Do you have the courage to do that?
2) Do you have a weapon capable of that? And no, a bicycle pump isn't it. Try a piece of 3/4" black pipe, about the same length, from the hardware store. Or better: a 4-foot piece of swingset chain, with a cheap padlock closing the ends (hit them in the head with the padlock...) carried in your handlebar bag, ready to go. "It's just a bicycle lock, officer"

3) in the US at least, if someone's dog bites you while it's running loose on a public road, and you harm it to defend yourself,,,, there is pretty much nothing they can do legally. Any police officer is going to tell them that. Any lawyer is going to tell them that. They may scream about suing you but it most likely won't ever happen.

-------

The important idea here is that you don't need to get bit first, just to prove a dog is dangerous. You can just bust their heads open first, when they are threatening you.

I carry a 4-foot shot whip for this purpose, but I do stop and try to be nice first.
If that doesn't work, and the dog keeps snapping, the doggy gets cracked across the top of their head good and hard.
There is nothing wrong with sending a vicious dog running home, yelping all the way.

Amitoj

Couple of times on my early morning or late evening rides around my area, I have seen this person walking his huge dog on a leash. And I think he is aware that his dog is not very friendly to humans on two wheels with their feet spinning, because both times the owner saw me coming before the dog did and took out treats from his pocket to distract the dog. Even then he had a hard time controlling the dog. After reading this thread and introspecting a bit:
1. I am going to change my route. The owner has good intentions and will eventually, hopefully, get his dog under control. But I don't want to cause him grief meanwhile. And I dont want to count on him being able to keep the dog in control every time.
2. Get an OC pepper spray. Because bad stuff will happen. Only a question of time.

Cheers

indyfabz

NJ has some crappy riding. After all, it's the most densely populated state in the country. However, if you are familiar with the state, it offers a lot of great riding as well. Hunterdon County, in the west central part of the state, is particularly nice. (It also happens to be one of the wealthiest counties in the entire county as measured by median household income. A few years ago it was ranked No. 4 two years in a row but dropped to No. 6 last year.) Lots of hills, too. And bears! Saw this little fellow during a club ride a few years ago.

Stratocaster

Hmmm...it's been awhile. Where is Lazyass?

mcours2006

Busy plotting his revenge.:-D

Up North

Velcro an ASP to top tube.

jon c. 

I have miles of roads with very limited traffic, virtually no loose dogs and even fewer uncooperative drivers. Florida is a great place to ride if you're in the right place.

Maelochs

I have to say there are roads in Florida that were a Joy to ride. Anywhere in the Greater Orlando area ... drivers could be nice, drivers could be unaware, drivers could be aggressive. Aggressive as in run you off the road or throw things aggressive.

One night I was riding through some groves about 50 miles from the city when a big old jacked up pickup roared past. I was a tad bit worried ... and a little more when i heard it stop, turn and head back.

Went right by. I guess they missed their turn ... probably too busy laughing at the FAMIS (fat man in spandex.) I have had a Lot of excellent rides out there.

Never rode in New Jersey but I have walked and hitchhiked a lot of that state. Get south of the refineries, Rahway, and Jersey City and all, and it is lovely ... central to south Jersey into northern Pennsylvania ... so long as you avoid the interstates.

Doug5150

Sort of off topic, but anyway:
a while back I read that in 2015, New Jersey had 510 bear permits filled (that is, 510 bears were killed by legal hunters).
NJDEP Division of Fish & Wildlife - 2015 Black Bear Season Harvest Information
And they doubled the number of available permits in 2016 and got rid of the permit lottery, because there was still evidence that the bear population was increasing rapidly...

Now...... my point here is not to comment on hunting either way.
I was just pretty surprised that anybody could find ONE bear in NJ, much less 510 of them.
I've never been to NJ; when I think of it I mainly think of it being a ramshackle suburb of NYC, and "Jersey Shore" and "Real Housewives" and all that. I didn't expect there'd be many bears there.

ColnagoC40

I am sure there are nice places in Florida, but in general traffic policing in the state does not favor cyclists.

Not knocking Florida, but the amount of cycling fatalities per capita are more than double most other states. Or in other words it is deadliest state in the nation for cyclists.

This a bit old, but sure Google will find you new stats.. Linky below.

Deadliest States For Cyclists: Per Capita Fatality Rates

indyfabz

I can see how it would seem odd if you don't know NJ, but...


A college kid was stalked and killed a few years ago in NW Jersey. There was some suggestion that he and his group agitated the animal by taking photos. They eventually split up when the animal kept following them. They later found one of them dead.


Maybe a decade or so ago, game official in the state were tracking what, based on footprint size, they estimated to be an 800 lb.+ bear that had ripped open someone's metal garage door to get at garbage. A few years later, a young kid bagged an 800+ lb. bear on the PA side of the Delaware River, not too far from the garage door incident. Officials believed it was the same bear.


The first year I did the Black Bear Century in NW NJ I just missed seeing one, but I did see his muddy paw prints in the road. The next year I did the ride a woman catering the event snapped a photo of one as she was driving between rest stops. One volunteer at the event who lives in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area told us he regularly sees them from his back porch. All the trashcans there are critter-resistant. And if you camp at neighboring Worthington State Forest you have to take bear precautions. They even have bear boxes in the group campgrounds.


Occasionally there will be sightings in S. Jersey. One warm day last spring a black bear was sighted swimming in a creek within the city limits of Philadelphia where I live. The crazy thing is that is was in a recreation area popular with hikers and cyclists. They believed he moved south into Delaware.

ColnagoC40

You can always hire some protection..

Maelochs

Better tax rates and more job opportunities?

TimothyH

Yep, that's what the guys at Gravel Cyclist say about Central Florida.

Come north to Georgia and you'll meet some real mean dogs though. Did a 40 mile ride this weekend, 25% of which was gravel and was chased five or six times, once by a pack of 6.

bbbean 

Cats are very effective against dogs, but they're heavy and get tired of hanging around in your jersey pocket the whole ride.

Maelochs

Well, yeah, not many drivers on gravel roads. most commuters stick to places where there are things to commute to.

PastorJim

I use Sabre brand pepper spray but the wind blows it away or toward me sometimes. Also it usually seems dogs have to about 5 feet away (too close for comfort). I may try Sabre Gel.

PastorJim

I deal with a lot of dogs, one in particular that is a concern (as I don't trust him). BUT I won't change my routes (which are limited) because of dogs. I just hope to not get bit.