Of bites and bikes

Not a biter

The other day a friend's little dog bit me, ripping my jeans and drawing blood. I was on my bike at the time, I saw my friend walking her dog and stopped to say Hi. The dog has been friendly to me in the past, insisting on jumping into my lap whenever I sit down on a visit with the friend, so neither of us expected the sudden attack on the street.

"It's your helmet, it scares her," my friend offered.

I was on my way home so I said something about how she should be more careful and then went straight home to wash the wound and apply antibiotic cream. In a text message shortly after the friend expressed her apologies and said she was considering drastic options.

I don't think the dog is rabid, just obnoxious. But if it can turn on someone it knows and has been previously friendly with, well, that is dangerous. On the other hand, it provides affectionate companionship to its single older owner, I hate to deprive my friend of that. So for now I have reiterated my strong opinion that she needs to be more careful when out and about with the animal. If she decides on the drastic option anyway I certainly won't argue.

I thought this week would be the last of the weather warm enough to swim, but with the influx of smoke from out west the sun's strength has been dimmed and it is substantially cooler. I did go swimming on Monday, Tuesday was way too cool, and with the dog bite and the high wind I decided not to go yesterday. I probably won't go today either and tomorrow will be substantially cooler. So Monday was it, the end of swimming. I plan to take up cycling instead.

The day the dog bit me was the first time I had ridden my bike in well over a year. It's not true that you never forget how to ride a bike is all I can say. My first wobbly ride down the driveway nearly ended in disaster. But I am getting better.

I have been admiring the various e-bikes making their appearance now. I once had one when I lived out west, it cost me $800 and was so big and heavy that if it fell on top of me—which it occasionally did just walking it to a place where I could mount it—it was quite a struggle to right myself and the bike. Now they cost thousands, easily more than the cost of my current well-used car. But the idea of a bike that I could ride uphill with a load of groceries does appeal. One e-bike owner told me that she had two bikes, one a normal and one an e-bike, because the e-bike is so heavy she cannot get it onto her car bike-rack by herself. Something to keep in mind, I can just barely get my normal bike onto the car bike-rack.