KevinK
01-25-2006, 01:03 PM
This article by the former VeloNews editor appeared in yesterday's Register Guard (Eugene, OR)
Even The Dogs Are Giving a Break to the New Guy In Town
By John Rezell, The Register-Guard
Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2006
I could have cheated on you. I could have gone out and explored a bit of Eugene on my own for a column.
But sneaking around like that just didn't feel right. This space is for you to show me this wonderland.
You've surprised me with your many e-mail invites. I can't wait to get started. But, deadlines being what they are, we couldn't get an adventure done in time for this week.
So I thought I'd just share my first impressions of life here.
Know what I love about Eugene? The dogs.
I've been cruising on my bike, and I haven't been chased. I once had a 15-year run where I was chased by a total of six dogs. Then I moved to Tennessee.
I lived in Knoxville before moving here, and being chased by six dogs was a typical ride. Seriously. Once I was chased by 14 dogs during a two-hour ride. Talk about your interval training.
advertisement With most dogs, the key is to get the jump/angle on them. If I'm cranking full speed, there aren't too many who can, or will, hang.
Although there are some cattle dogs that are fast. Real fast. There's one that kept gaining on me even though I was full throttle and going downhill. There was another that I had in the bag until I squirted some water just to make sure. That's when I learned he had another gear he hadn't used yet. Yikes.
On my farewell ride to Tennessee, I had to get past the nastiest dog in Appalachia.
Trust me when I tell you those are serious props. As I neared his domain, I dropped it into my big ring up front and, BOOM!
The chain drops, my leg plummets toward the Earth with no resistance. Close your eyes and picture any bike crash where a flip is involved, and you understand what happened next. I sat in a daze in the middle of the road, and everything hurt, as they say down there, like the ****ens.
Just about the time I realized nothing was broken, who should arrive but the dog and the old guy who usually takes 10 minutes to get the dog under control. "He won't never bite ya," the old man says.
He rambled on about crashing on his bike once. He's crashed a bicycle, motorcycle, and plenty of cars over the years. He and his buddy, Delvan, once crashed real good on their bikes. "But those bikes were nothing like this one of yours," he says.
In my daze, I just sat and listened.
"That dog ain't but 15 years old," he said. "He ain't got much time left. The folks who used to live in the trailer yonder just up and left without him. Folks in the neighborhood feed him. Like I say, he ain't long for this world."
I'm thinking, why couldn't he have kicked off last night in his sleep? Of course, I wouldn't have known that. I still would have crashed because it was a pre-emptive strike gone bad. And then I'd be listening to him sing the praises of the deceased dog whose spirit caused the crash.
The old man eventually held the dog as I rolled down the hill. Yep, that's what I love about Eugene. The dogs. Well-behaved dogs.
John Rezell, aka Raz, is a former editor of VeloNews magazine and bike.com. He's new to Eugene and wants to see the best of Oregon outdoors. Invite him along on you next outdoor adventure at eugenemeraz@att.net, or else you'll get more columns like this.
Even The Dogs Are Giving a Break to the New Guy In Town
By John Rezell, The Register-Guard
Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2006
I could have cheated on you. I could have gone out and explored a bit of Eugene on my own for a column.
But sneaking around like that just didn't feel right. This space is for you to show me this wonderland.
You've surprised me with your many e-mail invites. I can't wait to get started. But, deadlines being what they are, we couldn't get an adventure done in time for this week.
So I thought I'd just share my first impressions of life here.
Know what I love about Eugene? The dogs.
I've been cruising on my bike, and I haven't been chased. I once had a 15-year run where I was chased by a total of six dogs. Then I moved to Tennessee.
I lived in Knoxville before moving here, and being chased by six dogs was a typical ride. Seriously. Once I was chased by 14 dogs during a two-hour ride. Talk about your interval training.
advertisement With most dogs, the key is to get the jump/angle on them. If I'm cranking full speed, there aren't too many who can, or will, hang.
Although there are some cattle dogs that are fast. Real fast. There's one that kept gaining on me even though I was full throttle and going downhill. There was another that I had in the bag until I squirted some water just to make sure. That's when I learned he had another gear he hadn't used yet. Yikes.
On my farewell ride to Tennessee, I had to get past the nastiest dog in Appalachia.
Trust me when I tell you those are serious props. As I neared his domain, I dropped it into my big ring up front and, BOOM!
The chain drops, my leg plummets toward the Earth with no resistance. Close your eyes and picture any bike crash where a flip is involved, and you understand what happened next. I sat in a daze in the middle of the road, and everything hurt, as they say down there, like the ****ens.
Just about the time I realized nothing was broken, who should arrive but the dog and the old guy who usually takes 10 minutes to get the dog under control. "He won't never bite ya," the old man says.
He rambled on about crashing on his bike once. He's crashed a bicycle, motorcycle, and plenty of cars over the years. He and his buddy, Delvan, once crashed real good on their bikes. "But those bikes were nothing like this one of yours," he says.
In my daze, I just sat and listened.
"That dog ain't but 15 years old," he said. "He ain't got much time left. The folks who used to live in the trailer yonder just up and left without him. Folks in the neighborhood feed him. Like I say, he ain't long for this world."
I'm thinking, why couldn't he have kicked off last night in his sleep? Of course, I wouldn't have known that. I still would have crashed because it was a pre-emptive strike gone bad. And then I'd be listening to him sing the praises of the deceased dog whose spirit caused the crash.
The old man eventually held the dog as I rolled down the hill. Yep, that's what I love about Eugene. The dogs. Well-behaved dogs.
John Rezell, aka Raz, is a former editor of VeloNews magazine and bike.com. He's new to Eugene and wants to see the best of Oregon outdoors. Invite him along on you next outdoor adventure at eugenemeraz@att.net, or else you'll get more columns like this.