A dog's life . . .

Barb and Dave Curtis of Warrensburg rode Adventure Cycling's Norther Tier Route last summer, and wrote a complete report of their trip. One small excerpt:

This was the day of encounters with dogs. First there was the house just outside of Collville, WA. There were at least 20 Pit Bull each chained to its own dog house. Any one of those dogs was enough to finish me off for good. The chains appeared to be log chains and I wasn’t quite sure that they were strong enough. Needless to say, we both got extra training at pedaling at the highest of gears.

A little later we passed through our first Indian Reservation. I don’t know if it a cultural distinction or just coincidence, but none of their dogs were either penned or on leashes. For most they just barked or slept on their porches. However, 3 very large black dogs came charging at us. Old Drum went into his well-known bear tactic and yelled at the first snarling charging dog to approach him. “Get back in your yard,” he yelled and two lowered their tails and went cowering back to the yard. BJ used her water bottle on the third dog and he also joined the others.

The final attack came when two mixed breed dogs came charging down a steep driveway at Old Drum and BJ as they were off their bikes taking a snack break. This surprise attack came before speedy cycling or yelling could help. The first dog leaped right on BJ. Even today she is still damp from all the licking and tail wagging he gave her.

Well it is a dog’s life on the bike trail. Today we crossed our first state line into Idaho. Shortly thereafter we crossed back into Washington (so the trail curves). Minutes later we left Washington for the final time and took our photos at the welcome to Idaho sign.