Scary.

I know this is late, but I saw someone mention the mace sprays. I can attest to their usefulness on some dogs. This past Saturday my husband and I were riding in a rural part of our county. We encountered MANY dogs on the ride. Most we were able to get to leave us alone by yelling at them, but the last round was different. It was two dogs, a mutt and a pit bull and they were charging my husband who was about 1/4 mile ahead of me. He pulled out his mace and got the pit in the eyes. By the time I got there, the pit was back in his yard pawing his face. The other dog, I'm guessing, was not the dominant one and backed off when the pit did.

My husband and I both carry mace/pepper spray that we bought at Academy Sports & Outdoors. It has range of 10-12 feet and comes out in a straight line, not a dispersed spray. I clip mine onto my shorts at the leg grippers so it's easily accessible.

Several other riders in our local club carry the same thing, particularly for that route due to the high number of off-leash/unfenced dogs. All of them swear by the stuff.