Zwift national champion stripped of title ;Rory Stewart's 'cycling is better for your sex life' speech; Trees in cycle lanes 2; 'Disbelief' at Plymouth woman cycling on road with a dog (but is she actually doing anything wrong?) + more on the Live blog

OldRidgeback wrote:

I see a bloke cycling with his dog fairly regularly on my commute to work. I know him as his dog is friendly with mine. It does worry me to be honest. His dog is well behaved and they don't go far or fast - just the short distance from his home to the park where he locks up his bike and then takes the dog round the park before heading home again. But it's a busy road and I must say I'm not convinced. I've been thinking of talking to him about it. I'm not sure how he'd take that.

I wouldn't do this with my dog. We sometimes go out together with me on the bike. But the key difference is that I walk with him until we get to the park, then let him off the lead and he runs along beside me. He's a whippet so he's easily able to keep pace and he likes running alongside me and my son when we're on our bikes. We've even taken him round the BMX track and he loves jumping alongside me.

As for pooping, he tends to do that within the first few minutes of a walk. It's not hard to stop if I see him crouching down anyway, and I can tell when he's going to as he slows down and starts sniffing about (for a suitable spot) in a way that's unmistakable.

But I would not ride on the public road with my dog on a lead. He's well behaved, but then if he saw a cat or a squirrel, it could end badly. I just don't think this is a responsible thing for a dog owner/cyclist to do on a public road. 

So you're not convinced the dog/rider are safe to other road users due to a road being "busy", presumably with other road users, most in metal boxes that are proven to kill and maim?

Either you think this person should simply get out the way of other people so they can continue on their journey uninterrupted and/or you think that they present serious harm to others, which is it? Your arguement regarding the dog potentially chasing after other animals is frankly ludicrous, there's more chance of a motorist using their phone/applying makeup, reading the newspaper and a host of other distrating stuff that leads to someone getting hurt right?

How many incidents involving cyclist leading dogs have we had, ever, any? Even on your strip of road I would put money on motorists breaking the law hundreds if not thousands of times over and presenting harm if not doing actual harm many times over all the whilst this person and their pooch has done neither.

Maybe, just maybe the other people sharing the road can simply overtake when it's safe to do so, pretty much as if it were an equestrian and rider, except the dog and cyclist are even less of a threat.

brooksby wrote:

I don't disabelieve (sic ) it.

I see people on bikes 'walking' dogs all the time, although usually on shared-use paths not roads.

Always wondered how inconvenient it must be to have to stop, get off, pick up your dog's 'little bomb' and go pout it in a bin... Or do they just ignore it and pretend they didn't see?

What happens if your dog decides they're going to go - suddenly, and really fast - that way?

 

(In all fairness, the same comments hold for the people you see on mobility scooters or in wheelchairs 'walking' a dog...).

Dogs dont normally fo their business while running, so they would already have stopped, and the rider would surely notice.

ClubSmed wrote:

I cycle with my dog on a fairly regular basis as I drop it off at a doggy daycare facility on the way to work once a week.
There is a slight difference, in my excecution, from the reported one though as my dog is a large Lurcher and the lead that I use is a shock absorbing hands free one (EzyDog Road Runner Lead) attached to a (Julius K9) harness rather than a collar. This means that the dog can keep up with me (more acurately I can keep up with the dog) and the lead is achored around my waist removing any balance/ control/ indicating issues and the bugee element removes potential "tugging". The roads I use are all back roads and the vast majority of the journey is bicycle lanes / shared paths. That being said, I am not sure I would have an issue on any road as the dog is well behaved and under full control.

Can you guarantee your dog won't bolt if it sees a squirrel/cat etc, or if it hears a car backfire? I love dogs and love cycling, any time I see a cyclist with a dog on a lead if gives me the heebijeebies, there's just no way of making that acceptably safe. Stop risking your health and that of your dog, and anyone else who might become embroiled in an accident if/when things go wrong.

Roubaixcobbles wrote:

ClubSmed wrote:

I cycle with my dog on a fairly regular basis as I drop it off at a doggy daycare facility on the way to work once a week.
There is a slight difference, in my excecution, from the reported one though as my dog is a large Lurcher and the lead that I use is a shock absorbing hands free one (EzyDog Road Runner Lead) attached to a (Julius K9) harness rather than a collar. This means that the dog can keep up with me (more acurately I can keep up with the dog) and the lead is achored around my waist removing any balance/ control/ indicating issues and the bugee element removes potential "tugging". The roads I use are all back roads and the vast majority of the journey is bicycle lanes / shared paths. That being said, I am not sure I would have an issue on any road as the dog is well behaved and under full control.

Can you guarantee your dog won't bolt if it sees a squirrel/cat etc, or if it hears a car backfire? I love dogs and love cycling, any time I see a cyclist with a dog on a lead if gives me the heebijeebies, there's just no way of making that acceptably safe. Stop risking your health and that of your dog, and anyone else who might become embroiled in an accident if/when things go wrong.

Yes I can as we also cycle through the park on occasion and whilst on the lead it ignores, squirrels, foxes, cats, deer, mice and other dogs. It has no issue with fireworks so I wouldn't expect it to have any bigger issue from a backfire as I would.

the little onion wrote:

So she was cycling along, connected to an autonomous animal* by a long trip wire. What could possibly go wrong?

 

*someone on this forum once described dogs on shared use paths as 'anti-social mobile turd dispensers', which always makes me chuckle.

The dog was close to her, so I wouldn't describe it as a long trip wire. The dog seemed calm and happy and wasn't veering wildly which is just as well as the woman was joining a busy road - the A420 Church Road.

the little onion wrote:

So she was cycling along, connected to an autonomous animal* by a long trip wire. What could possibly go wrong?

Loads of things could go wrong but so what? It's her choice. People are so ready to criticise these days, especially lazy arse drivers who never get a different perspective of life on the roads.