Just to add some balance, here is my Facebook status from Fridays ride. The following took place on Otley Chevin.

Another bike injury status from me but this one is less about the injury (bumps and bruises) and more a rant about what a-holes some people can be.

I was taken out by a dog chasing a ball. I was going pretty fast on the cross bike and had zero chance to react. Over the dogs and over the bars I went.

I landed in a heap with various bleeding bits and a knackered bike. To be fair to the dogs owner she was keen to check I was ok and was asking if there was anyone she could call for me.

As I was gathering myself and telling the dog owner that accidents happen, a kindly looking old couple appeared and began to abuse me! Apparently they had taken exception to my simply being there and how my injuries were all my own fault and I should be (insert expletives here) somewhere else. Seriously, an injured man on the floor and their first thought was to deliver verbal abuse!

While my body was lying on the floor assessing the damage, my brain (bless it) knew just what to do. So it gathered all my favourite Anglo Saxon adjectives and arranged them into a tirade that would make Frankie Boyle blush. Eventually the mean old barstewards fecked off and i could get on with helping the lady find her dogs who had run off. To be honest it was a useful release of adrenaline given the fact that I still had to fix my bike and ride home. Some people are indeed deeply deeply unpleasant.

I always nod and say hello to dogs when I’m on my mountain bike.
They never say hello back.
Tsk, worse than roadies.

you didn’t tell us that you were doing 1000 miles and several thousand yards os ascent first.

Sorry, this was 15km and 300m of ascent. Or at least it was supposed to be.

I call troll.

Touché!

I ride on the Chevin a lot and most people are OK as long as you give them a friendly tinkle of your bicycle bell and slow down when passing. There are the odd grumpy old bstards who think you are invading their privacy but I always smile and engage them in pointless conversation to annoy them even further. Dogs seem to deliberately walk in front of bicycles; I think it’s Darwinism but can’t guarantee it.

So, it was probably my fault you got the abuse, my apologies.

Chris

is cycling legal on the chevin, not trolling just asking? or is it of dubious legal standing?

There are designated bridleways which all cyclists adhere to religiously. Even CX riders….

c

I was going pretty fast on the cross bike and had zero chance to react

so, you were on a shared use path, and you were going to fast to safely react to another user of the shared use bridleway?

I’m with the old couple, just saying 🙂

The “user” in this case should have been on it’s lead.

https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public/overview

so, you were on a shared use path, and you were going to fast to safely react to another user of the shared use bridleway?

how slow would you have to walk or ride a horse to avoid a dog that was madly darting about ? I think the issue is a dog out of control.

good link, no mention of dogs being on leads, and the dog in question wasn’t dangerously out of control as it wasn’t trying to injure someone… still nice try.

Maybe i’m playing devils advocate, bu if you’re using a shared bridleway you need to be in control of your bike. I’d argue the Op wasn’t. (maybe he was, we don’t know the full story)

how slow would you have to walk or ride a horse to avoid a dog that was madly darting about ? I think the issue is a dog out of control.

again we don’t know the full story so hard to comment, but wouldn’t you slow down anyway if you saw a dog up ahead? agree that it may have been round a corner, but then wouldn’t you slow for the corner?

And does a dog count as a user, who, being on foot, has more rights than the cyclist?

It is an animal – animals don’t even have the right to being stunned before having their throats cut so they can bleed to death…

Maybe i’m playing devils advocate, bu if you’re using a shared bridleway you need to be in control of your bike. I’d argue the Op wasn’t. (maybe he was, we don’t know the full story)

ok, so if the OP had overtaken a horse on his bike, and then cut in front of the horse which had then stumbled and fallen, throwing the rider – whose fault would it be ?

By extension of your argument, it would have been the horse riders for riding too fast and not being in control of his horse…

I always nod and say hello to dogs when I’m on my mountain bike.
They never say hello back.

Are you asking the right dogs?

It’s the dogs that wear a red bandana that can speak, don’t you know ?

(Guess my, dogs that can speak wear a red bandana, theory really should be on that other thread about stuff other people don’t believe )

A dog is considered out of control if it injures someone. The op states he was injured by the dog therefore the dog was out of control.

how slow would you have to walk or ride a horse to avoid a dog that was madly darting about ? I think the issue is a dog out of control.

Yes it does sound like the dog was out of control, but as other people have pointed out care should be taken when riding in the area of dogs/unpredictable animals.

Not putting blame on the OP in anyway, but there are parts of the NY moors near me which are swarming in summer with tourists and dogs, you just can’t ride fast through them.

TurnerGuy – But that didn’t happen. so it’s a bit pointless to make up random hypothetical scenarios.

OP’s first statement:

I was going pretty fast on the cross bike and had zero chance to react

so he was going to fast to avoid a collision with a dumb animal. three scenarios In my mind:

1. He saw the dog and decided to press on regardless.

2. He didn’t see the dog as it was round a corner, and as he went round the corner, pretty fast, there was the dog and he didn’t have time to stop.

3. He didn’t see the dog, as it was hiding in the bush before jumping out on him.

Now, I’d agree that the dog should be on a lead, but it wasn’t, and lets be honest, when are they? So if the actual incident was either 1 or 2, then I’d argue the rider was going to fast, and not taking into account their surroundings and the fact that it’s a shared use path.

Scenario 3, well yeah, nowt you can do about it, chalk it down to a stupid dog.

Haven’t you got any work to do? Christ.

Also: https://www.gov.uk/rules-about-animals-47-to-58/other-animals-56-to-58

sue the dog owners and get the mutt seized and destroyed, the owners are obviously selfish idiots and don’t give a dam about keeping the mutt under control. Could be some kids face next time.

TurnerGuy – But that didn’t happen. so it’s a bit pointless to make up random hypothetical scenarios.

but you are making up scenarios as well.

Plus you didn’t mention the one where the dog came from behind him and then cut across in front after overtaking, which sounds like the most likely one.

If a dog suddenly ran past me and cut in front, I would hit it – that could be at any speed.

If the gap between seeing the dog and it cutting in front of me was 1/4 second or less then there is no way I could react.

Your ability to react is dependent on how fast they cut across in front of you, so how slowly do you have to be cycling in order to ensure that you would be able to react in all circumstances?

Plus you didn’t mention the one where the dog came from behind him and then cut across in front after overtaking, which sounds like the most likely one.

True, I feel a matrix coming on 🙂

Ha ha! Just found this thread again after completely forgetting about it. I love how this forum can stimulate so much wild debate.

For the record, the dog owner apologised to me and I apologised to the dog owner as it was a clear 50/50, both parties at fault.