{"id":137,"date":"2008-09-13T14:59:55","date_gmt":"2008-09-13T22:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/?p=137"},"modified":"2008-09-13T15:53:17","modified_gmt":"2008-09-13T23:53:17","slug":"touring-expect-the-unexpected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/?p=137","title":{"rendered":"Touring – Expect the Unexpected"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Jerry Schonewille<\/em><\/p>\n

So I was in the middle of a 60 mile tour from Turlock to Mariposa, with 3000 ft of climbing, noticing that 5 gravel trucks had just passed me yet there was almost no other traffic on this country road.\u00c2\u00a0 Then an oil truck passed and I instantly thought \u00e2\u20ac\u201c chip seal!\u00c2\u00a0 I started making plans in the event the road ahead was blocked.\u00c2\u00a0 I thought about turning around or hitching a ride or backtracking to an alternate route, but I kept going.\u00c2\u00a0 None of these alternatives were attractive because it was hot and each would sabotage my plan to ride early and beat the heat.\u00c2\u00a0 I carry spare tubes and spare spokes and a spare tire but no spare road.\u00c2\u00a0 So I plodded along.<\/p>\n

Then I came upon a roadblock and there was no longer any doubt \u00e2\u20ac\u201c chip seal!\u00c2\u00a0 One-way traffic control was in effect and several cars were lined up waiting their turn to proceed.\u00c2\u00a0 I rode past to find out if the road ahead was even rideable.\u00c2\u00a0 Before I could ask, they guy said you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to ride on this.\u00c2\u00a0 We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll put your bicycle in the pilot truck.\u00c2\u00a0 Fantastic!\u00c2\u00a0 Almost 5 miles of fresh oil and gravel bypassed.\u00c2\u00a0 I asked if other bicyclist had been along but was told I was the first and only.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, very few cars come this way.\u00c2\u00a0 I was dropped off at a fork in the road and while I had planned to go left, I was advised to go right.\u00c2\u00a0 So I did.\u00c2\u00a0 It ended up adding more miles and more climbing in exchange for no automobile traffic.\u00c2\u00a0 Good move, until the dog \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Anyone who rides remote country roads eventually gets chased by a dog.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been chased by many during my rides.\u00c2\u00a0 About 95% of the time dogs just want to have fun and chasing bicycles is fun.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes I play along, slowing down or speeding up and letting the dog know that I enjoy his company.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure of his intention and proceed cautiously.\u00c2\u00a0 If I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m nervous I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll stop and get off my bike.\u00c2\u00a0 Usually the dog stops too, forgetting why he was chasing me and deciding I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m no fun anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 Turns around and goes home.\u00c2\u00a0 Once in a while the dog\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body language tells me this is not about fun but about aggression or defending territory.\u00c2\u00a0 That was the case today.<\/p>\n

I saw a home on a hill next to the road ahead of me about a quarter mile away and already the dog in front was barking and acting agitated.\u00c2\u00a0 As I got closer I saw there was no fence between me and that dog and sure enough there came a point when he charged down the hill toward me.\u00c2\u00a0 I could tell right away this was not a dog looking for fun.\u00c2\u00a0 As he approached I slowed, made eye contact, and started yelling things like “no”, “bad dog”, “go home”.\u00c2\u00a0 But he kept coming.\u00c2\u00a0 This dog was not accustomed to taking directions from humans. I stopped, and so did he \u00e2\u20ac\u201c about 5 feet away and continuing\u00c2\u00a0 to display aggressive behavior.\u00c2\u00a0 I was concerned an attack might be forthcoming.\u00c2\u00a0 I kept yelling at the dog, my bike between me and him, standing tall and waving my arms like a madman.\u00c2\u00a0 The dog kept his distance but did not back off from his aggressive demeanor.\u00c2\u00a0 We had a standoff.\u00c2\u00a0 I now had water bottle in one hand (to squirt in his eyes in case of a charge) and my frame-mounted bicycle pump in the other (as a defensive weapon).\u00c2\u00a0 The dog was not backing off and seemed to move closer as he paced back and forth.\u00c2\u00a0 It entered my mind that if I was carrying a gun it would be in my hand right now and cocked and ready to go.\u00c2\u00a0 This was a very scary and unpleasant situation.<\/p>\n

Then I noticed pebbles near my feet and I grabbed one and threw it at the dog.\u00c2\u00a0 It missed but not by much, and he noticed.\u00c2\u00a0 He instantly turned tail and ran back to his home up on the hill.\u00c2\u00a0 Phew.<\/p>\n

This all occurred just before I reached the property the dog was defending.\u00c2\u00a0 As I rode past he continued to be agitated and aggressive but stayed on his property.\u00c2\u00a0 I hope he learned a lesson and next time will not be so aggressive toward a passing bicyclist, but I doubt it.<\/p>\n

— jerry schonewille (aka vagabond jerry)
\n— http:\/\/vagabond.21-speed.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jerry Schonewille So I was in the middle of a 60 mile tour from Turlock to Mariposa, with 3000 ft of climbing, noticing that 5 gravel trucks had just passed me yet there was almost no other traffic on this country road.\u00c2\u00a0 Then an oil truck passed and I instantly thought \u00e2\u20ac\u201c chip seal!\u00c2\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-actc-touring","category-ride-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions\/158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}