Usual short loop. Got wow-dogged by a dog running out from behind a parked van on a country lane:
I'd clocked the owner herding a pair of smallish dogs on leads by the van's verge-side door, and as I got closer, additional barking that sounded like it was coming from another, more substantial dog, so I slowed down a bit. But I was in the middle of the road to avoid slimy run-off on the left, so didn't have a lot of time to react when it appeared from behind the van on my right, and we collided as I emergency-stopped. I felt the impact, stayed rubber-side up and was un-hurt. The dog barked aggressively, ran down the road a bit, barked some more, and repeat, until it ran behind a (by this point stationary) oncoming car and into the adjacent field. Owner was shouting at it (indeed, he was shouting before the impact), but had his hands full of other dogs, so couldn't restrain it. He checked I was okay, and suggested the best thing I could do was carry on and get away from the scene, as the dog was probably scared.
I stopped out of sight round the next corner to straighten the chainring guard (cheesy sheet aluminium, so it being bent enough to rub the crank doesn't really mean anything), bike was otherwise fine. I don't think the dog was seriously injured (it was hit at low speed by the chainring guard and probably my foot at shoulder level - nothing sharp, and its legs didn't get near the wheel), but I still feel awful about it.
