The terrorists (tourists) are actually worse, if you can believe that.
Nearly 3 years ago I was chased up a hill by a 120-130 lb attack dog, one red eye, one blue eye. He never barked, he just came out of nowhere. The first time I had just finished my 2nd 25+ mile ride in two days, my legs were jelly, and I had to get my 240 lbs up a little hill. I hit 24 mph and left Cujo in the dust. He was pissed.
A few days later, coming back after my first 30 mile ride of the season, Cujo comes out, but I'm ready and I'm already in the 20 mph range when he makes his move. I get away cleanly, but since this is the last mile before I'm home, twice I have screwed up my cool down.
A few days later I'm going out for my ride, I'm looking on my left for Cujo, but he's on top of the hill and coming down at full speed, and he's only 10 yards away when I see him, he sideswipes my front wheel and sends me flipping into a ditch. Lucky for me it was full of mud or I would have been really hurt. The owner sees the accident, a neighbor sees it - downside is the guy has no insurance, no job and I'm out about $200 in medical bills, $200 in bike repairs, and a chronic shoulder injury that bothers me when I lift weights, wash cars, etc.
I only had one way out of my neighborhood as the other option was a busy street with cars coming downhill at 50 mph. I lost two weeks of riding and I'm still pretty worried about any dogs I see, not just big ones with one red eye and one blue.
Nah, they just had the Volpe I test rode and a smaller Volpe in their store. It was a pretty small shop though.
I really want a steel frame, so hopefully I can go shopping next year.
