Beautiful ride - and need a bat and pepper spray

[staceysue]

I finally got back on my bike again yesterday after being down with the flu for 2 weeks. I was so proud of myself for going 20 miles - I thought after 2 weeks I'd have lost all my conditioning!

It was the most beautiful ride on the small peninsula I live on - a route I haven't gone before, a lot of it along the shore of Lake Michigan. It was in the 40s but not windy, and the fall colors are beautiful. The lake was all shimmery and silver, and it was one of those days where you couldn't tell where the lake ended and the sky began, and there were swans. It was almost surreal - very few cars, no noise except for an occasional gull. I went all the way to the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula and then called for a ride home. I probably could have ridden home but it was getting colder and I didn't want to.

The area where I was riding had the lake on one side of the road and beautiful well-maintained farms on the other side - hay bales, pumpkins, big red barns, white fences, dogs . . . . . .

There was one farm that was set very far back from the road. I can understand why the people don't keep their dogs kenneled or chained. What dog in its right mind would want to run all the way out to the road from there? But - I watched in horror as a big black dog made it's way over and under four fences, barking like a maniac, threatening to eat me. With all the trees and brush everywhere, I should have been able to find a big stick but I didn't have any luck. When it got about 40 feet from me I got off my bike and ran at it, threatening and screaming, and it went home.

So - I've decided I need to find a collapsible bat and some pepper spray. If anybody has any experience with these items and can make any suggestions, I'm open!