Ride Day 5 - Photo #2 - "Man's best friend?!?"

Dogs are always a memorable part of the Tour de Kentucky tradition. Thus far, no bites to report in the 3 years we have been doing these rides, but a few of these dogs would definitely like to ruin that record! Occasionally, though, we encounter special dogs that have no intention of biting anyone; dogs that just love to run! On one occasion, I had a dog run with me as I rode at about 16 mph for 5 miles! Out in the country, these dogs apparently at some point learn the concept of following a road. So, when these dogs finally tire of running along with us, they turn around and walk back home. Amazing! I don't think I give dogs enough credit! The dog in this picture, however, was not one of those cool "running" dogs, This dog definitely had less honorable intentions! This dog was out for blood! But sometimes I put myself in these dog's shoes (being out there on a bicycle for many hours each day, I have time to ponder a LOT of things!) I am convinced that when we happen to be peddling by, many of these "super-rural"dogs are on the verge of death by boredom! And so these poor bored dogs can't believe their eyes when they see us peddling towards them. John and I discussed this briefly, and are pretty confident that we are probably not only the highlight of their day, but may well be he highlight of their month or even year as well! One thing I should explain here is this. Even though the scenery and road quality of the Tour de Kentucky route is fantastic for bicycling, many miles of the roads comprising this ride are rarely used by cyclists, because unless cyclists are on a long distance trek across the state as we are, the roads we are traveling are not convenient for cyclists or anyone else for that matter. The only people who normally travel most of these roads are the people who live in these areas, usually many miles from the nearest city. And so, passing cyclists are a rare treat for these country dogs. There is one more interesting aspect of distance cyclists and these close-canine encounters: when it feels like your legs are just about out of gas, really feeling the fatigue of the miles, no matter how far you have gone, when a big nasty loose dog shows up to give chase, suddenly the legs find renewed strength and are instantly ready to peddle like crazy! Apparently, fear and adrenaline are powerful things!