Are they actually chasing you, or are they just running in parallel with you on their property?

If they are just running with you (barking or not), there isn't much you can do if they don't leave the property. If they aren't in the road or following you past the end of their yard, I wouldn't worry about it. It might be nerve wracking, but it's not like you can fault them for barking from their own territory.

Now, if they are coming after YOU, then yes, protect yourself. A stiff "go home" often works wonders, but it'll depend on the dog. My husband swears by the "oh, what a cute doggie" in a cutesy voice catches them off guard and disarms them. And yes, water in the face will often deter a dog, too. If the dog is getting super agressive, then getting off your bike and putting the bike between you and them to protect yourself is probably a good idea. Alternatively, if it's a dog that you think you can outrun on the bike, then by all means, do so!


Aside: We live out in the country and we have dogs. They are often out with us and the main part of our property is not fenced (we never leave them out unattended). They don't chase bikes (we see TONS of cyclists on our road) and they rarely even go close to the road. One day, out of the blue, one of our dogs took off right in the middle of playing with us, to chase a cyclist. We were stunned and then terribly embarassed. He's a golden mix, so not scary looking or anything, but he's part hound and has an aggressive sounding bark. Luckily, he's lame, so he can't really chase for too far and he came back pretty quickly. He's never done it since then, either. We have NO idea why he chose that cyclist to go after and I could just imagine that our dog was a contributor to someone on some forum somehwere complaining about country folk and loose dogs!