Close encounters with Coco

Glenn says:

Considering the time and effort that have gone in so far, it would be a real pity to sideline myself with an injury right now, especially since Mike is still recovering from his sore shoulder and besides, he would never forgive me for making him pedal the Beast across the country on his own. So I’ve been riding really carefully and generally staying off sketchy trails and sticking to dirt roads but the singletrack habit is a hard one to break and yesterday I headed up a trail that traverses a mountainside before spilling out onto the lawns of a nearby farmhouse. Once you’re off the mountain, the riding’s not too technical but there is one thing that can still make it exciting – his name is Coco. He’s a shaggy old sheepdog and he doesn’t like bikes much….

Normally he’d be lying in the sun dreaming of dinosaur bones but yesterday he was on the prowl. So when I saw him run out in front of me, I took the cautious approach and slowed right down to a halt. Sometimes caution is a good thing but not always... He came bounding over and stopped about 2 metres away. His little sidekick, Bruno, was running rings around me, tail wagging furiously, so I thought the coast was clear. Coco then took a step forward and slowly tilted his head sideways, not so I could give him a scratch under the chin, mind you but to line up his mouth better with my half bent leg. As if signalling the charge, little Bruno went berserk and Coco lunged forward….

Instinct took over and my leg jumped out the way by stomping on the pedal, which sent me lurching forward. Luckily my other leg was in on the plan and obliged by stomping on the other pedal which sent me wobbling off across the lawn in a half wheelie with Coco in hot pursuit. The wobble turned into a sprint and thankfully Coco tired before me and gave up the chase.(although I only stopped pedalling about half a k further down the road!)

Rolling back into town a few minutes later with my heart rate back to normal, I took some comfort in the knowledge that if it did come down to a sprint finish at Diemersfontein, I think we’d be ok.