Biker and (loose) dog

It happens all the time, or at least that's the way it feels these days... As we were barreling down “Rusty Shovel” on our bikes yesterday morning, I came in sight of an errand dog, followed 50 yards later by his thirsty-something master on a mountain bike.

I yelled “dog!” to my wife who was following me, and she barely avoided the animal. She told the guy she wasn't happy, he stopped, we told him about the leash law, he said he was quite responsible with his dog and that in turn, we should be ready to stop in any circumstances.

I replied again, "there's a leash law,” he said we should be aware of any moving thing on the trail and the young man's ranting went on for five minutes. He absolutely had to be right, and above all also needed to have the very last word in the exchange. In a nutshell, he tried to assert what he thought was his unalienable right to go out on his mountain bike and take his dog along (unleashed, of course.)

Finally, after enough back-and-forth and seemingly fruitless exchange, the guy admitted: “I know, I'm in violation of the leash law...” He had had the last word and also admitted he was wrong. Acceptable to all of us; we pursued our ride.