josephl@tekigm.UUCP (Joseph Dean Ludwig) (02/15/85)
I have just moved from suburban California to semi-rural Washington State. I used to commute about 12 miles round trip using back streets and a nice dedicated bike trail. Now that I'm looking at bicycle commuting about 30 miles round trip on country/farm roads, I'm looking for tips on safety and convenience. Specifically, should I be concerned about narrow road shoulders and fast cars. Thanks in advance, Joe Ludwig
reid@Glacier.ARPA (02/21/85)
> I have just moved from suburban California to semi-rural > Washington State. I used to commute about 12 miles > round trip using back streets and a nice dedicated > bike trail. > > Now that I'm looking at bicycle commuting about 30 miles > round trip on country/farm roads, I'm looking for tips > on safety and convenience. Specifically, should I be > concerned about narrow road shoulders and fast cars. Stay away from trolley tracks, taxicabs, construction vehicles, ambulances, and pickpockets...... -- Brian Reid decwrl!glacier!reid Stanford reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA
thielges@uiucdcsb.UUCP (02/21/85)
One technique I use is to listen for cars approaching from the rear. When you hear one coming on, look to see how far back it is. If you are just about to pass some feature which will obscure the driver's view of you like a curve or a hilltop, drift out into the center of the lane for a while to make yourself visible. Do this only for a safe amount of time, not so long that the car is bearing down on you. It is easy to overlook a biker on the right side of the road at a distance but not a biker in the center of the lane. Bart Thielges ...uiucdcs!thielges
mroddy@enmasse.UUCP (Mark Roddy) (02/23/85)
One of the problems with rural commuting is doggies. Depending
on how rural you are, this can be a serious problem. The truly
rural doggish critter is low on external stimulus quota,
and thusly finds you quite a bit of amusement. Also the dog's
pet humanoids are apt to find you and the dogoid a rather
amusing duet, and will frequently sit back and watch the
entertainment.
You, the bike commuter, can do several things:
1) wind the doggie;
2) shoot the doggie;
3) be eaten by the doggie.
Wind-ing the dog is really much easier than you might think.
Dogs are fast on the sprint but poop quickly. Also,
nobody gets offended.
If you shoot the dog, choose your weapon carefully.
A plant squirter filled with a very weak ammonia solution
is the best weapon. It really reduces the enthusiasm of the
doggie, without provoking the humanoids into action.
Using a gun will solve the dog problem, but you will
probably be chased by an even more dangerous
creature: the pick-up truck. This animal will catch you
and give you a very bad time.
Being eaten by the doggie will endear you to the
humanoids, and the dog. You will have friends for life.
If you know a lawyer, you will own a farm. You may also
come down with some horrible disease and die.
Good luck,
Mark Roddykfl@hoxna.UUCP (Kenton Lee) (02/25/85)
xxx My favorite dog shooter is water from my water bottle. I haven't had to try it too many times, but it has worked so far. My experience is that most dogs just want to watch you and will not try to bite. A nice course of action is to just watch them, too. Just be careful not to run over them. -- Kenton Lee Bell Labs - WB ihnp4!wbscc!kfl or ihnp4!hoxna!kfl
pskay@hou2e.UUCP (Paul Kay) (02/26/85)
If you are riding on roads in the midwest or west, you will
find that the major difference to commuting in the country is
the traffic is easier to cope with. Fewer cars and fairly wide
roads make life easy. (Can you tell I grew up in Michigan?) If
you are talking East though, You are on your own. I gave up bike
commuting the second time a truck tried to run me into a bridge.
That and the places I found while out pleasure riding where a barn
cuts into the road, or the shoulder ends in a phone pole, linked
to drivers who could care less about a rider have proven to me
that I ain't got "the right stuff". I guess it all depends on
the route available.
As to doggies, a friend of mine who trained by riding in rural
Mass. (small farms, big dogs), had the following strategy:
1) Shout "NO!" That dog knows he shouldn't be there and
will (usually) give it up.
2) Pull out your trusty Zephal HP pump and smack that
sucker on the nose. It won't hurt him much, or the pump
at all.
I can't vouch for 2, the first always worked for me. Mostly
though, except for the occasional suicidal squirrel, animals are
not much trouble.
Paul S. Kay
UUCP: ...ihnp4!hou2e!pskay
...ihnp4!mvuxe!psk (the real me)
USPS: Bell Labs, 1600 Osgood St.
N. Andover, Mass.*
* Please note change from UNIX 5.0. Merrimack Valley is back in
Mass. It has never been in Maine, no matter what mm says!
Any opinion here, except the location of the Labs, may not even be
mine, let alone that of my management.fish@ihlpg.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (02/27/85)
> > You, the bike commuter, can do several things: > > 1) wind the doggie; > 2) shoot the doggie; > 3) be eaten by the doggie. The best defense against Fido is a good set of legs. You're far better off concentrating your attention on getting away from the mutt than wasting valuable energy fumbling with a squirt gun or mace bomb, which doesn't work anyway. A mailman buddy of mine says that mace just makes the dorg even more aggressive. Remember that your legs are moving pretty good and Fido will have a hard time sinking his toothies into them at a full gallop. If you have to, you can rap him on the snout with your tire pump. However, I've never had to go this far, since I've been able to outrun all the mutts that've taken off after me (so far). Once you've outrun Fido, you can stop at a phone booth, call the sheriff, and complain about the incident. People are supposed to keep their animals in line, and when enough complaints are made against a particular canine, they either wind up chained to a post in the back yard or on death row at the local pound. In either case, they're not tearing out after you. /_\_ Bob Fishell ihnp4!ihlpg!fish
mikem@uwstat.UUCP (03/01/85)
> > > > You, the bike commuter, can do several things: > > > > 1) wind the doggie; > > 2) shoot the doggie; > > 3) be eaten by the doggie. > > The best defense against Fido is a good set of legs. > > Remember that your legs are moving pretty good and Fido will > have a hard time sinking his toothies into them at a full gallop. Yes, if the beast sees you from a distance and races after you. I've had several experiences with dogs, none of which fell into that scenario. Example: You've just climbed a steep hill and you are coasting along with feet in (on) the pedals. You have your curb-side foot near the ground. Fido, `hiding' in a ditch at the edge of the road, clamps his jaws on your ankle. What ensues is a quick trip to the local hospital, several stitches and a tetanus booster. Lesson: Keep you curbside foot raised when coasting. In short I know of NO defense against the ever lurking dogs. > > Once you've outrun Fido, you can stop at a phone booth, call > the sheriff, and complain about the incident. It often helps to try to talk to the owner. Some animal owners actually care. -- Mike Meyer -- Phone +1 (608) 262-1157 (Leave messages at 262-2598) EASY ARPA: mikem@Statistics CORRECT ARPA: mikem@Wisc-Stat.ARPA UUCP ...!{allegra,ihnp4,seismo,ucbvax, pyr_chi,heurikon,uwm-evax}!uwvax!uwstat!mikem
wagner@uw-june (Dave Wagner) (03/02/85)
> The best defense against Fido is a good set of legs. > > Remember that your legs are moving pretty good and Fido will > have a hard time sinking his toothies into them at a full gallop. > However, I've never had to go this far, since I've been able to > outrun all the mutts that've taken off after me (so far). > > Bob Fishell > ihnp4!ihlpg!fish > I don't know about you, but when I'm in the middle of a climb in the mountains, my legs are definitely not "moving pretty good" - at least, not good enough to outrun Fido! I don't know where you live, Bob, but either it's pretty flat or you have a pretty amazing set of legs. :-) (Don't even THINK of suggesting that one turn around and go back downhill in a situation like this!) Seriously, though, I've always relied on a good set of lungs to temporarily startle the dog - ususally, if you yell STAY! he will be confused for a short, but sufficient, amount of time for you to make a getaway. If he keeps coming at you and you don't already have pump in hand, you will probably fall off your bike trying to yank out your pump, and Fido will laugh so hard he'll probably be unable to breath for several minutes. Then he will chew you to bits. No, if the scream doesn't work and I can't outrun him, I prefer to dismount, on the OPPOSITE side of the bike. Always keep the bike between you and him. Then back away, again, with the bike in between you. You'll find that he is much less eager to confront you once he sees that you've dismounted and are facing him. (I've only had to do this once or twice in my life.) Chemical sprays (a la HALT!) are worthless, as the wind usually blows them back into your face... Dave Wagner University of Washington Comp Sci Department wagner@{uw-june.arpa|washington.arpa} {ihnp4|decvax}!uw-beaver!uw-june!wagner "Oh no! I've got . . . . . HAPPY FEET!"
gwhawkins@watrose.UUCP (gwhawkins) (04/04/85)
This discussion seems to be revolving around dogs and bicycles (excuse me but I just started reading this Newsgroup). A group of friends and I did alot of biking last summer and we found that dogs are keenly aware of the emotional state of the rider. One of the guys (we had girls too) in our group was absolutely terrified of dogs. The dogs it appeared knew this. No matter where we put him in the pack (front middle back), the local dogs would ALWAYS make a dead run right at him. This Even happened when he was trailing us by 50 yds or so. This one dog just watched us go by, but when Kevin came up, the dog came out. I always tend to just smile ad say hello to dogs (even if the're chasing me). I've never been bitten or been close to being bitten and I don't expect to be (maybe I should always ride with Kevin :-) ). larry fast (Universty of Waterloo) broadcasting from exile
kjchapman@wateng.UUCP (Kevin J. Chapman) (04/08/85)
In article <7417@watrose.UUCP> gwhawkins@watrose.UUCP (gwhawkins) writes: >This discussion seems to be revolving around dogs and bicycles (excuse >me but I just started reading this Newsgroup). > >A group of friends and I did alot of biking last summer and we found that >dogs are keenly aware of the emotional state of the rider. One of >the guys (we had girls too) in our group was absolutely terrified of >dogs. The dogs it appeared knew this. No matter where we put him in >the pack (front middle back), the local dogs would ALWAYS make a dead >run right at him. This Even happened when he was trailing us by >50 yds or so. This one dog just watched us go by, but when Kevin came >up, the dog came out. ^^^^^ > ^^^^^ >I always tend to just smile ad say hello to dogs (even if the're chasing >me). I've never been bitten or been close to being bitten and I don't >expect to be (maybe I should always ride with Kevin :-) ). > > larry fast (Universty of Waterloo) > broadcasting from exile Hi Folks: I'm *not* terrified of dogs, just of what the little buggers can do if they run in front of me. Remember what happened to that veteran Portuguese rider last year a few weeks before the Tour de France? He hit a dog sprinting for the finish line (the Portuguese was sprinting, the dog wasn't a licensed racer :-)), was in a coma moments later, and dead within hours. I like dogs when I'm off my bike, and they like me. Hey! Who let that mutt in here- get off my leg! AAArrrrrggggghhhhh!!! Insincerely, Kevin -- Kevin Chapman Computer Communications Networks Group Waterversity of Uniloo 'Loo, Ont., Canada