Our longest day of riding and also our hilliest day of riding with a half dozen hills hitting 10% grades, turned out to also be our doggiest day. Our TMDF (time to mean dog failure) was less than 6 miles over the course of the day with MDF points occurring as rapidly as one every mile or so for parts of the day.
Yes, if a long day of rolling hills was insufficient, and if the handful of steeper hills wasn't enough to sap the legs, the nice people of this area of Kentucky were kind enough to not just leave there dogs running free, but also apparently to teach them that there is nothing better than to chase down a bicyclist and try to topple them. Should the cyclist shout "Stay!"? Spray water at the dog? Or attempt a sprint? The answer is "yes, whatever works" since losing the fight with a dog can send a cyclist to the ER.
We encountered large dogs, old dogs, fast dogs, slow dogs and even a pack of dogs waiting outside of the groomer. But the best bicycle chaser in the mix was the small dog at the groomers. The shouted "Stay!" brought 3 of the 5 to a momentary standstill giving us time to sprint ahead. The fourth dog gave up the chase shortly, but the last of the 5 chased down Dennis' bike for nearly the equivalent of 2 city blocks--all 6 inches of its little body yipping after Dennis' rear wheel. In the land of bike damage, the size of the dog doesn't matter when the dog has pavement on its side--tenacity matters and this one had the tenacity.
Best lunch stop of the trip was at Melton's Deli. Mom & Pop & Grandma & Sister turned out the bestest sandwiches and spoiled the 6 cyclists that stopped by for lunch.