Dog shit!! Yes you read that right, I want to talk about those irresponible dog owners who takes their dogs out on to public land and then let it mess all over the place and then can’t be a decent responsible owner and clear it up.
We (the wife and I) have just taken up cycling, mountain bike riding to be exact, ok there are not many mountains around Bournemouth and to be honest the smallest hillock leaves us gasping for breath, so we have taken to riding the cycle paths in Hurn Forest. This is Forestry Commission land, it is open to the public, young and old a like but dog owners believe they have some god given right to let their dog crap anywhere they want and not have to clear it up. The nearer you are to the car parks (the Matcham Lane end at least) the worse it is.
Would these same owners leave it lying around their garden if little Fido left a couple of dog eggs on the lawn, of course they would not, they would be to afraid their children or their grand children would step in it. They would be out there clearing it up, so why the hell wont they clear it up in Hurn Forest, I guess they are not worried if somebody else steps in it?? Maybe if they were to become responsible owner and clear up after their dog then everybody could enjoy their walk, jog or cycling in the forest more, rather than having to play dodge the turd…..
Right now I have got that off my chest, I had a couple short rides in the forest this weekend. Yesterday we left it till after dinner when the rain had stopped before venturing out but before we left I had to do something I had not done for some 17+ years, repair a puncture. The wife rear tyre was completely flat so I had to dig out the repair kit and fill the bath with water. Fortunately I soon had it fixed and we were out in the forest. Went up a track we have not been up in the past and the wife found a tree route and then took a close inspection of the grass. Once she had picked herself up and wiped the mud from her cloths she gingerly got back on the bike. Unfortunately she was quite sore from her fall so we headed back to the car.
Today the wife decide she was too sore to ride but she would come out to the forest as our son was coming with us and she could keep an eye on him. Now sooner had I got going then I found myself going over the handle bars and inspecting the grass, got my front wheel stuck in a rut the bike stopped, I did not. Nothing worse than a couple of bruises and some mud stains. Later on caught up with the wife and son and took my son round one of the easier areas, but as we were riding it in the opposite direction I missed my turning. Started to turn around and as I did so the front wheel picked up a length of bramble and with the angle of me turning dragged it across my shin. I am no sporting a lovely area of scratches down my shin.
I have a couple of days off this week so I am intending to get out and do some more riding. The bike has it first service on Thursday so I want to make sure I get as many problems out of the system as I can before the service.
