A little nervous...

[Catrin]

I am planning my first ride after work this evening since the dog attack Saturday. Somewhat to my surprise I am a little nervous about the idea, but I really want to head out on my lovely purple beauty and check out the snazzy Frog pedals and new Mavic shoes more!

I am sure I will be fine once I get going, it is understandable that I am a little shy. I also know myself, and the longer I put it off the harder it will be. Hey, if I can keep pedaling with a dog ornament on my calf then I can face a little nervousness :)

My reward is getting to ride a fire trail on Saturday with my mountain goat at Brown County State Park with a couple of friends.They are very avid mountain bikers and they are going to have to really pull back to ride with this mountain newbie, I really appreciate their being willing to do that so I won't be by myself for the first time I ride dirt :D

[Biciclista]

good luck. do you have your iron chain mail leggings on???

[Catrin]

good luck. do you have your iron chain mail leggings on???

Oooooo, I like this idea - and in purple to match my bike :) thankfully there is only one place on my usual route where I have ever seen dogs - and that only happened once. They chased me, but it was a more common situation. Just for this ride I will avoid that block :)

[indysteel]

Good for you for getting back on the horse so to speak. I know how terrified I've been from my close calls with dogs (and none were as close as what you experienced). It's hard not to become preoccupied with the thought of encountering another dog. But you go, girl!!!

At least you generally ride on the north/northwest side. Trust me, the loose dogs there cannot hold a candle to those on the southside. They're everywhere. Honestly, I don't enjoy our country roads nearly as much I thought I would. Brian quite legitimately yelled at a guy last year when his Boxer charged and chased us. After we finally got out of there, the dog owner chased us in his pickup with his shotgun. That's the caliber of person I gotta deal with. :mad:

[Roadtrip]

Lol. I am so laughing at the idea of chain mail leggings. In a good way mind you, I bet you would work up some SERIOUS hill climbing legs, so all dogs would stop in awe of you calves. Heck I bet riders would stop in amazement and wonder of their sheer awesomeness. :eek:

Shannon

[Grits]

It won't help you today, but in the boating section at somewhere like Walmart, you can get a very small marine air horn that is incredibly loud. I got one after several incidents with dogs, and it worked. I kept it either in my bento bag or tucked between the strap on my bento bag and my top tube, but that scratched the paint. They cost about $8.00

[redrhodie]

Good luck! You'll do great!

[Catrin]

Lol. I am so laughing at the idea of chain mail leggings. In a good way mind you, I bet you would work up some SERIOUS hill climbing legs, so all dogs would stop in awe of you calves. Heck I bet riders would stop in amazement and wonder of their sheer awesomeness. :eek:

Shannon

Hmmmm, new meaning to "calves of steel" :)


It won't help you today, but in the boating section at somewhere like Walmart, you can get a very small marine air horn that is incredibly loud. I got one after several incidents with dogs, and it worked. I kept it either in my bento bag or tucked between the strap on my bento bag and my top tube, but that scratched the paint. They cost about $8.00

I LIKE this idea, certainly better than a chemical spray. I will check it out - I already have a bento bag that I can move from my LHT...

[Catrin]

Nice little ride tonight between the rain drops - and nary a dog in sight! I think it was due to a surprise that arrived in the mail right before I went out for my ride - a wool jersey that I thought was gone. There was a note in the pocket that told me it had returned to protect me from pit bulls :)

[redrhodie]

:) Yay, you got it! I didn't wear it, and I kept thinking I should send it back to you. The dog bite was the thing that got me to the PO!

[Catrin]

:) Yay, you got it! I didn't wear it, and I kept thinking I should send it back to you. The dog bite was the thing that got me to the PO!

I was getting ready to send you a PM, but it was just too sweet so I HAD to say something about it here :) See, it protected me from other dogs from attacking me! Of course, I was in a park where I am in more danger of deer running in front of me but that is another story...


Tomorrow night I hope to hit my country roads, but I have to be at work at 6am Friday to staff an information booth at the official Ride to Work center downtown so I may have to stick with the park again.

[emily_in_nc]

So glad your ride went fine! I was so scared to get back on the road after I had my crash due to dogs running out at me, but a few successful rides without incident gave me my confidence back. Over the years since then I've had to blow the air horn at chasing dogs a couple of times, and I even had a tiny dog run out super fast and go right between my wheels so quickly I just hung on for dear life and managed to stay upright (dog was fine too). I've found over time that my paranoia about another dog incident has gradually faded away, and yours will too.

Good for you for getting back on the "horse", so to speak! :D

[tangentgirl]

not rabid deer, i hope.

[Catrin]

not rabid deer, i hope.

hehehe, I can see the movie now - WHEN DEER ATTACK.... baaaaad Catrin The funny part about it is that the deer in this park, and there are a lot of them, stop at the side of the road and look both ways before carefully walking across - then they start running through the woods again. They learned well at fawn safety school :)

[WindingRoad]

ROFL wow for some reason the iron chain leggins made me have image of MadMax beyond Thunderdome and Catrin on her bike, LOL!!! :D:D:D

[TrekTheKaty]

Yeah Catrin!

I wonder if the horn would work with geese? A park I ride at has HUGE flocks of geese. They're a little protective this time of year, with the new babies and all. I'm sure they could knock me off my bike if they wanted to. I keep meaning to put a bell on my road bike--they move for that!

[hebe]

I'm so glad your ride went well, Catrin. Well done for getting out there again.

[malkin]

Chainmail leggings, rabid deer, and angry protective geese, oh my!
I have the complete MadCatrinMax image too!

[Grits]

I am fairly certain the air horn would work with geese.

[Catrin]

Chainmail leggings, rabid deer, and angry protective geese, oh my!
I have the complete MadCatrinMax image too!

LOLOLOL - for the record I am NOT the one who came up with rabid deer or chainmail leggings. I do like the mental image of my awesome legs as a result of those leggings though :D

Let's not mention the rabid deer thing to my mom, she has already decided that it is only a matter of time until I "get" rabies. This is the woman who wouldn't go hiking with me and my sister a couple of years ago because she was afraid a bear would jump out of the woods and start chewing on us...