I got an idea for a TOTW from riding on a rural road in Iowa. Just a couple miles from my turn around 300 meters up the road stood 2 of "mans best friends" in the road. I have encountered many dogs in my years of riding of all different sizes but, this I could sense was not the time to test out an all out Adrenalin rush and use my best sprinting abilities to get by them. What is it about mans best friend when he or she is on a bicycle?

In the past we had a rider that had Fido wrapping his jaws around his calf. Jeff Thompson, in the mid 90's crashed hard breaking his helmet and ended up with a concussion. So here's what you do if Fido sees you coming and it's too late to sprint, and too late to turn around. First of all unclip your foot from the pedal on the dog side. Try yelling "NO" as loud as you can. A squirt from your water bottle in the face might buy you a couple seconds to make your escape. If you have a frame pump, a gentle rap on the snout might do the the trick. As a last resort that I used once for a Chow was to get off my bike and keep it between you and him. After what seemed to be an eternity but was only 3-4 minutes' the Chow lost interest in me and left leaving my heart red lining.