Yesterday I crashed into a DOG

It was really my fault... but that didn’t stop me being angry with the DOG. There I was just biking along the foot path which doubles as a cycle path, when I happened to approach a lady with her back to me, walking her DOG with its butt to me. I thought to my self ‘there’s not much room to get past that lady and her dog, maybe I should go off the foot path, onto the grass, around the power pole just to make sure I have lots of room’. Ridicul0se! I cried (in my head). I am JUSTIN! I can do it! VICTORY! I also thought ‘but what if the dog moves to the right and into my passing space?’ Ridicul0se! I cried (in my head). I mean what are the chance’s that at the very moment I want to pass, that the dog would walk into my path? He looked perfectly happy walking in a straight line. I am JUSTIN! I can do it! VICTORY! None the less, sensing that it was a dangerous situation I slowed down, it was lucky I did because...

Noooooooo this DOG was not happy walking in a straight line, this dog, at the very moment that I wanted to pass it, decided it wanted to investigate the extra space to its right. But no! it was denied! Denied because actually that space was reserved for ME to pass it, and so that space was not empty, it was filled by my bicycle. Access DENIED! Actually if events are to be portrayed chronologically... the dog filled the "space" first then me and my bike arrived into the "space" a short while later, by which time the dog had still not vacated the "space" so together we shared it and together we experienced the "crash".

I think we miss touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something – Graham from the movie Crash

In the moment of the crash, the moment of the sharing of the space, the DOG cried out “Yelp”! and I toppled from my lofty seat, my left knee striking the pavement, my jeans ripping.

All my jeans are ripped! I’m sick of ripping my jeans in the knees! And not just my jeans because I have some different pants that were ripped in the knee region during a crash last year. *Sigh*. I have one pair of un-ripped jeans left, maybe there is another dog out there waiting to help me rip those ones too? I bet there is.

Instantly I felt dumb for crashing into the dog. I thought ‘I should have gone aroooound the power poll!’ The situation had been in my hands, after all the dog and the lady didn’t know such a reckless yet surprisingly attractive young man was dangerously approaching from behind. I bet if she was 30 years younger this could have been one of those movie/TV moments. Opps! Sorry I didnt see you there, let me help you. Then we look up into each others eyes, love at first sight blah blah blah. “Oh I didnt hear you” the lady said “you should have said something”, “I let him [the dog] go at the wrong time”. The wrong time… so true.

After the topple I still had my left foot stuck in the foot hold on the pedal. I tired to get free but just looked like a fool. I gave out a little chuckle to make it seem like It was no big deal and that even I found my foot predicament amusing. Also I tired diverting attention from my struggle by talking, I asked “Is your dog OK?”, she replied “He’s fine... its your foot that I’m worried about”. Great, were back to focusing on my stuck foot. In the end my foot slid out of the shoe and I was able to sort it all out form there. We both appologised to each other, they went on there way, I put my shoe back on. Then I had to bike past them again, this time the DOG cowered away. I am JUSTIN! VICTORY!
But my knee hurt.