Dogs & Cycle paths arrgggghhh

[Bay Runner]

Dogs & Cycle paths arrgggghhh

On my commute in tonight I had a set to with a female dog walker.

It was dark, on a cycle path which is clearly marked for bikes and peds. I am well lit, Cateye EL530 plus a flashing front LED and wearing a yellow Altura Night Vision Waterproof Jacket.


I was on the left hand side of the cycle path with the ped path to my left. I spot two peds on the right hand side of the cycle path with 2 dogs; I ring my bell one ped stays were he is on the right hand side of the cycle path with the two dogs and the other walks across the cycle path to the ped path.

It wasn’t till I got closer that I realised that she was holding the lead (thin black thing) for one of the dogs , I put the brakes on, the lead got caught around the bike and dragged the whimpering dog up the left hand side of my bike.

I told her this is a cycle path not a bl**dy dog path cant you see the bl**dy bike signs on the path!
She replied shut the f***k up where is you f**king common decency!

With that, I untangled the lead and told her that thought her language very rich for a lady, to which she replied f**k off.

This part of the cycle path benefits of the adjacent street lighting and I managed to stay on the bike on this occasion.

In thirteen years cycling this route I have only come off the bike four times, once on ice, the other occasions were dog related. Black dogs off leads running in front of me because the owner has called them after sighting me approaching in the dark!!!

They are not all bad, some dog owners fit their dogs with flashing LED collars and others who take charge of their pets when they see a cyclist approaching.

But I could not believe this woman tonight!!!!

 

[Nipper]

Dogs on cycle paths is a major problem. The majority of dog owners around Taunton seem to think it is OK to act selfishly and allow their dogs to wander off the lead on the path. They then complain to the local paper that cyclists are endangering their dogs. It is madness, we have little enough to call our own but cycle paths need to be dog free. There is also a significant minority who allow their dogs to mess the path and don't clean up.

 

[Cab]

Errm, other than the sexist tone to your comments, I'm right there with you. Too many dog owners seem oblivious to the risk their pooches pose to others.

 

[wafflycat]

Whoever invented extending dog leads should be put into a pit with wolves and face the consequences.. well, that is a slight exaggeration, but I loathe those things - an excuse for a dog-walker to effectively relinquish control of the dog and let it wander where it will. People just don't *think* about what the effect of a dog lead extended across a cycle path or road is.

Last summer I had an incident where I was cycling along a quiet road. There was a woman walking her spaniel in front of me and she was on the LH of the road, as I was. So I did the usual "cyclist behind you!" a couple of times but she didn't acknowledge. So I moved across to the opposite side of the road (it was clear of traffic) before I got to her & the dog. The dog then spotted me and did something I've not experienced before with a spaniel - it went berserk. It went into attack mode. Full on teeth-baring, growling, snapping and it ran straight at me. The leash was almost extended the entire width of the road before the dozy dog-walker woke up and snapped the lead into the shut position. The spaniel was pulling so much, the dog-walker was almost pulled over. And I had a snapping, snarling, growling dog at my ankles.

Not a pleasant experience.

 

[HobbesChoice]

Errm, other than the sexist tone to your comments, I'm right there with you. Too many dog owners seem oblivious to the risk their pooches pose to others.

Sexist tone?

 

[Norm]

Oh, good, yet another "Anyone not me should be shot" thread.

Far from relinquishing control, a properly used extendible lead means that the responsible dog owner can retain control whilst allowing an athletic dog more freedom than they can get from a fixed lead. Dog owners who are dicks, much like any other individual who is a dick, will be dicks whatever. For the irresponsible ones, the alternative to an extending lead would be no lead.

On my ride yesterday, I came up behind a couple walking collies. I slowed to match their pace from quite a way back, then saw that one had a camera around her neck. I ended up stopping for about 5 minutes (a good excuse in all that mud!) chatting about dogs, photography and what a glorious day it turned out to be after the dire forecasts for the weekend. It was a chance to find similarities rather than differences and it quite made the ride.

Opening the dialogue with "it's a bloody cycle path" or whatever might have been a good way to elicit an defensive response from someone whose dog you narrowly avoided strangling. There might have been better ways to have started that encounter than getting emotional yourself.

Oh, and as I'm in a pedantic mood, it's "brakes". Breaks are what they should avoid.

 

[Mr Pig]

Whoever invented extending dog leads should be put into a pit with wolves.

They are dangerous. It also seems to me that the dog owners who use them are usually the dumb as a post people who should not use them. I like dogs but the laws on their ownership should be far tighter. Basically, if you own any animal you should be in full control of it at all times when in a public place or it gets taken off you.

I more or less gave up on the cycle track for this reason. Between neds and dog walkers it's just not worth it.

 

[Crackle]

Unbelievable the idiocy of some people, glad you and the dog are both OK.

 

[Crankarm]

If it isn't the dog or it's owner it's the fecking mess they leave behind. Yuck! Now all the vegetation is dying back as winter approaches there are lots of plastic bags of dogsh1t to be seen in verges and hedges along paths and around parks which have been dumped by ignorant selfish dog owners.

 

[zizou]

Dogs or rather their owners drive me crazy when im cycling. Apart from the problems on cycle tracks with things like dopey owners with extendable leads or the mess left behind by inconsiderate filthy scumbags i dont know how many times i've been mountain biking along a bit of single track when a dog off a lead has started to chase me and on some occasions try to bite me, with the owner out of sight and not in control of their dog. Can get pretty scary at times, then the owner will come along and instead of apologising will try to make light of the situation saying their dog just makes a lot of noise they are just having fun, wont hurt a fly etc.

 

[Nipper]

Far from relinquishing control, a properly used extendible lead means that the responsible dog owner can retain control whilst allowing an athletic dog more freedom than they can get from a fixed lead. Dog owners who are dicks, much like any other individual who is a dick, will be dicks whatever. For the irresponsible ones, the alternative to an extending lead would be no lead.

On my ride yesterday, I came up behind a couple walking collies. I slowed to match their pace from quite a way back, then saw that one had a camera around her neck. I ended up stopping for about 5 minutes (a good excuse in all that mud!) chatting about dogs, photography and what a glorious day it turned out to be after the dire forecasts for the weekend. It was a chance to find similarities rather than differences and it quite made the ride.

9/10 dogs I meet on cycle paths around town are not on a lead. Why don't these people use the road to walk their dogs; cycle paths are for bicycles and need to be kept clear to allow smooth transit. I am not cycling JUST for fun, able to stop and be happy to be held up by the lovely cute pooch, I am using my bike as a means of transport.

 

[Archie_tect]

Bay Runner,
Sounds like the woman had no intention of controlling her dog and I've come across many dog owners like her who haven't a clue what they are doing... no control and no appreciation of the havoc they cause.

However, you were never going to get any sympathy from someone by launching into a tirade of angry abuse so you got a similar response back - try to control your temper and you'll help her and others like her to respond correctly when seeing a cyclist approaching. All you've done in her case is reinforce her prejudice to annoy the next person she meets.

 

[Nipper]

Dogs or rather their owners drive me crazy when im cycling. Apart from the problems on cycle tracks with things like dopey owners with extendable leads or the mess left behind by inconsiderate filthy scumbags i dont know how many times i've been mountain biking along a bit of single track when a dog off a lead has started to chase me and on some occasions try to bite me, with the owner out of sight and not in control of their dog. Can get pretty scary at times, then the owner will come along and instead of apologising will try to make light of the situation saying their dog just makes a lot of noise they are just having fun, wont hurt a fly etc.

"If you have got a [bicycle] pump or stick, hold it at both ends and offer it to the dog horizontally. Often the dog will bite the stick/pump and hang on. Immediately lift the dog up and offer a very solid kick to the genitals. Follow up by breaking the dog's ribs and crushing it's head with a rock." Courtesy of Richard Ballantine who devotes several pages of his classic Richard's Bicycle Book to this problem (pp.170-173). He suggests numerous defences including climbing a tree, pepper spray, and a water pistol loaded with an ammonia-water solution, but if defence fails you need to attack by ramming your bicycle pump or your fist down its throat, or, if it's a small variety, "picking it up by the hind legs and dashing its brains out"

From wikipedia

 

[Watt-O]

Catford, South London. A young chavette had the good sense to put a couple of knog type lights on her trophy pooch the other night!

 

[Norm]

9/10 dogs I meet on cycle paths around town are not on a lead. Why don't these people use the road to walk their dogs; cycle paths are for bicycles and need to be kept clear to allow smooth transit. I am not cycling JUST for fun, able to stop and be happy to be held up by the lovely cute pooch, I am using my bike as a means of transport.

Indeed, with the exception of the "cycle paths are for bicycles". All the cycle paths near me are shared, nearly all are unsegregated.

Although suggesting that people use the road to walk their dogs shows a certain unwillingness to even contemplate the POV of another resident of this glorious planet.