My first bike-camping trip to Asheville, NC
(chronological gallery)
A Tip If Ya Exploring & Funny Short Story-
Tip: Down South, a lot of farmlands may have dogs....dogs that may also roam free on no leash! Keep an easily accessible taser or mace, keep your hands free, and your eyes peeled when passing the local farmlands. :D
This happened in Georgia somewhere, shortly after crossing the Florida State Line and heading more inland.
i had been biking down a local farming road, and as i passed this beautiful and ancient blue and yellow farm, a dog started running after me from along their side of the fence. Now this dog was small, and kind of lean-scrappy, a boxer-looking thing, and was trying to unleash it's territorial instinct and intimidation tactics. i started to pick up the pace (i had carried wayyy too much gear on this first trip, as my full load was over 35lbs of too much clothes, art supplies, cameras and camera gear, dehydrated food, and an antique white gas single burner camping stove, among other things (gallery pic #1)). As i very slowly start to gain speed, i glanced back and saw 'Scrappy', and realized ''He lacks acceleration too, i'll definitely get away before he reaches me.''
i had also easily accessed the mace i carry around, though in this circumstance it just served as a false sense of safety at that point, as i had been in one hand carrying a gallon water; The possibility of spraying mace at a bounding hound while piloting a fully loaded tank-bicycle while one-handed, with sore legs, risking falling off balance, quickly dissolved just as swiftly as the adrenaline released from my abdomen when i heard and saw trailing behind Scrappy about 30 paces, this hulking-species of a hound quite literally barreling towards me, in any moment about to overtake Scrappy to claim me as its own. (p sure it was a Pitt of some sort, hulking and barrel chested, stocky, and not Scrappy by any means). Flooding with adrenaline, my heart rate exploded and "Fight" was definitely not the accessible and immediate instinct that followed. i started sprinting on the bicycle as fast as i could, filling with dread as i realized 'The Hulk" would surely be able to match the speed of a mere 11 mph. An interaction seemed inevitable.
As 'The Hulk' closed in on me with Scrappy about 5 paces behind, all i could do was keep glancing to my back right side of the bike to see how close they'd get. i had started swerving away from them, but since it was a bicycle lane, to my left was just a single old country road, and there were cars that were about to approach and pass, meaning i didn't have that road to create more distance.
As The Hulk rushed up against my bike (all of us sprinting for the entire duration at this point), he came within 4 inches of my desperately rotating 'needing to escape' leg and went for a bite. At that point, thoughtlessly, i just started literally barking and screaming as loud as i could, making unwavering eye contact with the Hulk, as angry a face i could fathom. This did cause the Hulk to falter as i could see the sheer confusion in his eyes, and in that moment, being distracted by the dogs and off balance from the gallon jug in my left hand, i had started to swerve into the road lane. With a car about to pass, i panicked again and automatically swerved to the right, right in towards the Hulk.
As my leg got within 2 inches of the Hulk, the sudden movement towards him and maniacal hollering literally tripped him up, his left paw folded under him, causing him to lose his footing and subsequently cause Scrappy to lose his speed and give up too! i had managed to reach 14 mph at that point, and could still hear their barks (and mine out of celebration), billowing out as i went on my way down the winding open roads.
i had never felt that high and amped up in my life, everything was electric; Cardio endorphins are definitely real, but the adrenaline and circumstances from this experience were almost mind-blowing personally. i remember when i was safe i felt all of that adrenaline deplete, and my entire being, especially my legs, felt so extremely exhausted afterwards.
i kept replaying the event in memory while i ate dinner that night, an attempt at processing it all i suppose. It was the first experience on the trip in which i felt i was in a dangerous circumstance. Both dreadful yet exhilarating, a clash of certainty and uncertainty. The reaction of the human body autonomously to protect itself, just like the instinct and conviction of Scrappy and Hulk.
Feeling grateful to be alive and uninjured, with the stars and void and with some tasty dehydrated curry rice as my company, i remember spending many moments that night just laughing at the absurdity and brilliance of it all!
More to Come(:
Zephyr~