I was out riding a couple of nights ago, just enjoying the late night air. I was cruising through an older neighborhood, near where I attended high school, As some can relate, the neighborhood had changed significantly over the years. Lots of cars parked on the streets, and in the front yards. Animals roaming around, you get the idea. Anyway, as I'm cruising slowly down the street, looking around, I see what appears to be a large object in the middle of the street, As I come closer, it appears to be a dog laying on his left side, with legs straight out to the right. The dog seems to look like a Yellow Labrador, of about 40-50 lbs. Being a dog(aka animal) lover, it's distressing to see what appears to be, an animal that's been killed by a car in the middle of the street. So, I maintain my rather slow pace, and aim to pass the dog on the left. I get about two feet away at about 20mph, and all of the sudden his feet start flying and he begins to flounder around. As I barely make it past him, and look back over my right shoulder, I see that he's now on his feet and barking at me for the disturbance. In retrospect, I guess the dog was soundly sleeping in the middle of the street. Obviously, I never anticipated this and had absolutely no time to react. Thankfully, he arose to his right side, away from the bike. I never stopped because I knew that we had not made contact, but I was shaken to the point I just putt-putted around for the next half hour to shake off the scare. So, I guess the lesson for me here is: leave plenty of distance betw- een the bike and an animal in the street, that you may think have been killed. After the scare went away, I was relieved that he had not harmed. Although, I'm not sure how long he will prevail if he cont- inues to sleep in the street. Thanks, Gary Walker
