The Rider and the Dog

It is written...

Or at least so it seems to me.
There is a dance that every cyclist and I think every dog knows...
It matters not if the cyclist is a man, woman, old, or young. It matters not if the bike is peddaled or motorized. It matters not if the dog is large or small, young or old.

The dance is the dance and it is timeless.

The bicyle has only been around for about 150 years or so, so I think this dance is derived from something much older and much deeper... The hunter and the hunted perhaps...
But again, it matters not.

I am in the Mexican country side.
I am riding through a small grouping of homes and farm buildings on either side of a small gravel road.
The road has a bend and I am going slowly with the big bike on the narrow loose gravel surface.
As I approach the bend, I have slowed down and I take in the surroundings... The buildings, the fields, the farm equipment, the farmer with a couple of dogs at a gate in one of the fences...
I notice the dog and I sense the possibility...
The dog sees me and instantly He KNOWS.... And a moment later, I KNOW...

And from that moment, its ON!
And for both myself and the dog, all other living things in the universe dissappear!
There is no futrure and no past... There is just now, just the dog and my self playing out our roles in THE DANCE. Locked in our manouvers like planets and moons in their gravitational journeys...

And we Dance...

In the past, when this has happened, its always accompanied for me by a surge of emotion of some sort... It could be fear, or anger. It may be large or small depending on the detailsof the situation... But its always there, and Im sure its always there for other cyclists too...You know it too... Its deep in our subconcious.

But this time, as the dog accelerates barking, closing the gap, I feel nothing....
I have a few seconds here, maybe three or four, Its enough for me to notice the difference in my reaction but I dont know why yet, that only comes after. For now, I remain completely composed... No desire to flee, no desire to stop, no desire to "turn the tables" on the dog and teach him a lesson...
What it is , is simple acceptance.... It is the understanding that it is the dance.

The dog is close now, maybe three meters away. He has planned his trajectory and he is pulling up into his preffered position just behind the riders leg but within reach... maximum opportunity for him and maximum vulnerability for me.... I have maybe one or two seconds at most before we "engage"

Still, I have done nothing... The bike is in the curve and I have not twitched the throttle or even my head, but guaging that he is close now, I take a quick glance down and back to see exactly who my antagonist is... But its just a glance and now Im looking straight ahead again...Still perfectly calm... It seems I know what Im going to do, but I have not "thought" about it, Its just what I will do... still no emotion just calm.

I dont even look, I use the sound of the dogs scrabbling paws on the gravel and his barks to time my move...
Then; Just as I guague that his trajectory is at perigee with mine, Just before he will make his move (yes, I think this one is a real biter!) I move...
Its perfectly ballanced and perfectly unplanned, and perfectly natural...
I swiftly swing my foot out and back off the footpeg. I bring it forward and I feel firm contact...
Its a perfect "punt" ... It catches the dog with my toe under his jaw and the top of my foot against the side of his head... Im still looking straigfht ahead, though my body has leant the other way as my leg is swung to keep the ballance... still, the bike has not twitched... my hands are steady and my pulse is calm.

The blow to the dog is at the perfect height even though I am not looking at him.
I hear the dog go down... There is not even the slightest yelp or yip... He tumbles in the gravel and I hear the movement of the stones, and the interruption in his footfalls and barking... Still I do not look back... I hear him falling behind the bike... But only for a second or so...

Then I hear that he is immediately back on his feet... And hes back in hot pursuit... with renewed vigor. His barking resumes stronger and faster than before, his paws beat even more frantically on the gravel... He is certainly not "cowed" by my blow... The Dance is still on!

But only briefly... The curve in the road is ending, and I gently and smoothly apply just a little more throttle... For a couple of seconds the dog is closing the gap, but then the gap widens again... I am pulling away... The barking and the beating paws fade ... The dance is over... The universe returns back into our worlds... Still I do not look back.

And now, there is emotion for me... Not relief, or pride.... just Joy at The Dance... I have a big grin on my face....
And you know, despite all the barking, and the blow traken by the dog, I truely believe that he was smiling too :)))