This is part of the reason that the optimal way to allow those folks who want to enjoy the Parkway with their dogs running freely is to have a secure area to do so, perhaps a large park with river access, that is fenced in, keeping dogs, and those they shouldn’t be running into, separated.
Lisa Heyamoto: Dog sends him head over wheels
By Lisa Heyamoto - Bee Columnist
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, October 11, 2007
It was a not-so-classic case of man vs. dog, and opposable thumbs weren't doing Jack Cauthen any favors.
A few weeks ago, he was training with about 30 other bicyclists on the Garden Highway when an unleashed dog darted into the pack's path. Confused, the dog managed to weave through the chaos until it had almost made it to the other side.
Key word being "almost."
Cauthen, who manages the shop at City Bicycle Works, had slowed to about 15 mph by then, but that's still a pretty brisk speed at which to collide with a golden retriever.
He'd heard about this kind of thing happening to Tour de France riders before, and though he's an experienced cyclist, he didn't expect to actually be the guy who hits the dog.
Jamming on the brakes too late, he flipped over his handlebars, flew through the air and landed on his back a few feet away, causing a 10-bike pileup in his wake.
The dog was OK. Cauthen, not so much.
"I was just kind of laying on the road for a little bit because I couldn't really move very easily," he said.
He suffered some cuts and a few pulled muscles, not to mention the bicycle pump-shaped bruise he's sporting on his back.
The remorseful dog owner will pay for his trouble, but that hasn't stopped Cauthen from being wary of the wayward canines he has encountered since.
Once hitten, it seems, twice shy.
