Post AVvbZPz3xaXOhtmnXk by adaitsman@mastodon.online
(DIR) More posts by adaitsman@mastodon.online
(DIR) Post #AVvVpw045pYauakOBc by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-22T22:12:17Z
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I’m cycling across the country this summer, from NYC to Portland, Oregon …… as research for my next book, on micromobilityI’ve alternated between a) bigger roads where you have to deal with the danger of big vehicles, and b) tiny bucolic country roads where you have to deal with unchained dogs coming at youI wrote an essay about how quickly my sense of “what’s risky” can flipFor Medium subscribers: https://clivethompson.medium.com/dogs-vs-highways-b3f5a402a769A “friend” link if you don’t subscribe: https://clivethompson.medium.com/dogs-vs-highways-b3f5a402a769?sk=82880893b7a41520b8f41473ac8a2551
(DIR) Post #AVvXcP7fDeBv5VyfPU by susannah@octodon.social
2023-05-22T22:31:57Z
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@clive also what an amazing trip and project! I look forward to the book! Safe travels!
(DIR) Post #AVvXcmJqyUbl1yrE6S by susannah@octodon.social
2023-05-22T22:30:53Z
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@clive I think that leaving dogs loose like this is actually horrible. I grew up in a place like you cycled through and it made it dangerous to walk or bike anywhere because there was a good chance some of those dogs would harm you.It is also bad for the dogs who die in fights with wild animals or hit by cars or shot by people when they approach aggressively.In case no one has brought it up yet, dogs will often fling their bodies into the wheels when chasing a cyclist, which can lead to devastating accidents. If there’s any chance of them getting close enough to do that, it’s safest to get off the bike and use the bike as a barrier between you and the dog while it’s being aggressive.
(DIR) Post #AVvYfQ4sE06osAfrCi by jbenjamint@mastodon.scot
2023-05-22T22:43:59Z
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@clive Great (if scary) read! But what a journey - safe pedalling for the rest of the trip.
(DIR) Post #AVvYsUki9grZ8UThs8 by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-22T22:45:39Z
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@susannah It’s mostly very fun — met some wonderful folks along the way!
(DIR) Post #AVvYsxONfnERxdFmam by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-22T22:45:06Z
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@jbenjamint Thank you!
(DIR) Post #AVvYz83MwqzqlNMuW0 by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-22T22:47:20Z
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@susannah Yep, the advice I’ve found most persuasive is that it’s best, upon coming upon unchained dogs, to immediately slow down and get off the bike and start talking to them so they know you’re a humanAnd keep your bike between themIt gives them a chance to figure out what you are, which — unless they’re truly vicious — is mostly all they’re afterI also now have a bag of dog treats lol
(DIR) Post #AVvZ5dupOkDLJsTnI8 by mez@mastodon.nz
2023-05-22T22:47:40Z
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@clive @thoughtfulnz “I was engaged in an activity so thoroughly weird in Illinois farm-territory”An example of how thoroughly engrained car-culture & its infrastructure has become in society. For the at least half of time those places have been farms, and longer in places with older agrarian practices like Europe, people biking, walking, and horseback riding through would have been the norm and not weird.Always nice to read about someone exploring w/out a car though.
(DIR) Post #AVvZQCKPA9f5q8FD28 by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-22T22:52:30Z
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@mez @thoughtfulnz Precisely — it’s only weird after 100 years of car dominanceBack from the 1890s to 1920s it’d have been extremely common … and for hundreds of years before that, going by foot was the most common
(DIR) Post #AVvZrnPtNPhIgcyFdI by mez@mastodon.nz
2023-05-22T22:57:25Z
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@clive @thoughtfulnz Good on you for chipping back at it! Waiting for the follow-up article (still in one piece) where you try out the advice from that video :)
(DIR) Post #AVvb3R34SyTok5PUyu by jay_chi@mastodon.social
2023-05-22T23:10:45Z
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@clive dogs are semi colorblind. Only seeing blue and yellow.
(DIR) Post #AVvbZPz3xaXOhtmnXk by adaitsman@mastodon.online
2023-05-22T23:16:33Z
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@clive When I was traveling through Latin America I learned to keep a few rocks handy in case street dogs got too curious about the weird person wearing a backpack. On my bike, I would keep a stick around.Still, I'd rather deal with dogs than traffic...
(DIR) Post #AVvbyziaEpjGm4H236 by adamrice@c.im
2023-05-22T23:21:10Z
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@clive It’s the dogs that don’t bark at all that worry me the most. They’re on top of you before you even know it.
(DIR) Post #AVvcGewGEaIdXa5utM by Briana@defcon.social
2023-05-22T23:24:21Z
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@clive I just saw a video on Kirsten Durkin's YT channel you might be interested in: https://youtu.be/brQRVbtayK4
(DIR) Post #AVvfq96gMTwx6Sa8cC by williamgunn@mastodon.social
2023-05-23T00:04:20Z
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@clive @susannah When we were little, we just carried a stick to whack the dogs with. I like your way better.
(DIR) Post #AVvq9orOLYzrduRvyC by EpiphanicSynchronicity@pkm.social
2023-05-23T01:59:56Z
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@clive I’d take the country roads. Semis are unfazed by pepper spray.
(DIR) Post #AVw0EzUZFCqbbesWGm by eugeneparnell@mstdn.social
2023-05-23T03:52:59Z
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@clive Thanks for the article— brings back so many memories! I grew up cycling those same Illinois backroads and had the same dog issues. I learned to size up dogs pretty well—is it just weirded out or is it seriously pissed?—and whether I could outrun it. And yes, in many cases, getting off the bike works. Many times as soon as I did that, the barking stopped and the dog wanted to be petted! But having said that, if I’d had access to pepper spray back then I would’ve kept it handy.
(DIR) Post #AVw9gNN1TM4X4OTyNc by ghostwise@piaille.fr
2023-05-23T05:38:22Z
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@clive Back when cycling became a thing in Europe (late XIXth) that issue led to specific kinds of compact revolvers, such as Vélo-Dogs, being sold to cyclists.
(DIR) Post #AVwV5vztxt92jzhEC8 by militant_dilettante@mastodonbooks.net
2023-05-23T09:38:40Z
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@clive have a safe journey.
(DIR) Post #AVwn8tmATmAFtWprai by gladsdotter@mastodon.world
2023-05-23T13:00:53Z
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@clive If you're cycling across Missouri this week, this might be of interest.https://www.pedalersjamboree.com/
(DIR) Post #AVxhnb2iczcz6KYmIq by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-23T23:35:45Z
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@EpiphanicSynchronicity True enough!
(DIR) Post #AVxhuI49a8MSGxQHei by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-23T23:36:20Z
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@lispi314 @EpiphanicSynchronicity Heh
(DIR) Post #AVxhzXrKI5nuhZvdvE by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-23T23:36:39Z
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@gladsdotter I saw posters for that!
(DIR) Post #AVxi6LiNqDOb42zSZU by militant_dilettante@mastodonbooks.net
2023-05-23T09:42:48Z
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@ghostwise @clive the "Bulldog" revolver mentioned in several fiction books about Russian Civil War, that I read in my childhood and adolescence. Only after The Interwebs came to my bear corner of the country in force, I found out that it was really developed as a self-defence gun against dogs.
(DIR) Post #AVxi6MgIFTJm3r1Ix6 by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-23T23:37:01Z
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@militant_dilettante @ghostwise I had no idea!
(DIR) Post #AVxiBeTtUoI8iNk2AC by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-23T23:37:16Z
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@militant_dilettante Thank you!
(DIR) Post #AVxiMnQwYFVlfKfw00 by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-23T23:38:43Z
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@eugeneparnell yeah, we met one today that was barking at us but his tail was really wagging, if we had stopped he would’ve totally been happy to meet us
(DIR) Post #AVxiQpxB7lqGdhgCx6 by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-23T23:38:16Z
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@ghostwise That is a cool piece of history trivia!
(DIR) Post #AVygfFNFP2YGmdZovI by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-24T10:57:48Z
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@Briana Aha, cool, thank you!
(DIR) Post #AVyqxHKrqbJrcahUEy by gladsdotter@mastodon.world
2023-05-24T12:53:03Z
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@clive For many people, the event is an exercise in seeing how much beer you can drink and still stay on a bike--very different from the usual cross-state cyclists.
(DIR) Post #AVzy3WiqRk2NuvnmpU by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-25T01:47:17Z
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@adamrice Today, passing through Kansas, I had one of those! Didn’t bark at all, I only knew he was chasing me when I heard the click of claws on the road behind me
(DIR) Post #AVzyA0cMD1i2NDrHWq by schizanon@calckey.social
2023-05-22T23:41:18.663Z
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@clive@saturation.social I carry bear spray, also good for bears and cougars, and people. I read a book called "The Lost Cyclist" about a guy who tried to circumnavigate the globe on a safety bicycle. He carried a revolver for the same purposes.
(DIR) Post #AVzyA2KLqwUjfxRvk0 by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-25T01:47:32Z
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@schizanon Yowsa!
(DIR) Post #AVzyFJvXqPXli0Mkc4 by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-25T01:47:56Z
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@gladsdotter 😂
(DIR) Post #AW0Nm6iqSTIRAI9laq by apolaine@pkm.social
2023-05-25T06:35:30Z
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@clive Unchained Dogs was a less successful follow-up single by The Righteous Brothers.
(DIR) Post #AW146uWdCJb9Uc2uFk by clive@saturation.social
2023-05-25T14:29:52Z
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@apolaine 😂