rte@houxl.UUCP (R.EDWARDS) (04/09/85)
The current dog stories remind me of the little afterwork ride I went on about a year ago, I was tooling along at a modest 20 mph when I approached a lady with kid in stroller and dog on leash. They were on a sidewalk about five feet from the road, lady bent over child, dog sitting quietly looking away from me toward the other side of the road. Dog takes sudden interest in car coming from other direction, takes off at full gallop, reaches end of leash (around lady's leg) spins to halt inches from my front wheel, I scream, lady screams, kid looks stupid, dog wonders what the hell is going on. My wife and kids were out of town, I wonder what they would have done with me at the hospital, I wonder what my wife would have thought when no one picked her up at the airport that night? It's one of those (for me) rare times when the tail end of the probability curve almost get's you, and you realize you were inches from serious injury. The dog was big enough that it would have been over the top for sure. And I (shudder) wasn't wearing a helmet. Lessons? Dogs that see you may be problems, but the ones that don't are worse.