Fun With Bikes

So we got our new Peace Corps bikes last week when we swore in. They're really great bikes and we've been having lots of fun feeling free exploring around town at our own pace on them. Yesterday, being Sunday, there were no buses at all running so it was especially nice to have the bikes and be able to explore around town. Andrew and I decided that we were going to go check our email at the Peace Corps office. We locked his bike up and then attached mine to his with the snazzy new bike locks we picked up at the local hardware store. My lock key had been giving me some trouble all day but we were managing to make it work eventually... we went to unlock the bikes when we were done and "someone" decided that the key was bent and that was the problem, so they attempted to unbend it... while it was in the lock. So, the key broke in half making the lock unopenable. Fortunately we were super-smart by locking our bikes TOGETHER with my lock so that we couldn't use his to go attempt to find a tool to cut through my lock with :) So somehow someone managed to dig up a hacksaw in the Peace Corps office and Andrew sawed through the lock. We decided we had had enough fun and were ready to head home, so we hopped on our bikes to try to beat the setting sun. I'm not sure I've yet mentioned the dog situation here in Samoa. Let me just start this by saying, in case you don't know me, that I absolutely love dogs and think they're the best companions ever. At home. Here, dogs are this whole other breed of terrifying monsters whose sole mission seems to be ganging up on poor unsuspecting pedestrians and ESPECIALLY bikers in an attempt to race them down and bite them mercilessly. I kid you not it's dangerous to bike around without a stick or some other defense implement at arm's reach. I had heard many horror stories from other volunteers including the beginnings of stories from people in our group as well, and was not overly enthusiastic aboutmy first encounter (or any of the subsequent ones, for that matter) with the dog attack. I've heard that the best thing you can do if they chase you is to get off your bike and use it as a defense by putting it between you and the dog. So yesterday la-de-da we're riding down the road heading home and all of a sudden a pack of three dogs runs at me on my bike barking and intending to do harm. Thinking I've got my head on straight I slam on my breaks to jump off my bike and put it between us. Andrew's strategy, however, was to speed up really quickly to "come to my rescue," and he was not expecting me to stop suddenly. So... I didn't get bitten by a dog. But I did get run into and knocked over by him :) A little bit battered and bruised from the incident we have realized we should probably develop both tandem and independent strategies for dealing with this situation, as it is quite likely to occur on a relatively frequent basis. I'm not sure if the bike gods were trying to send us a message yesterday or if this was just a realistic day in the life of a biker here in Samoa, but it sure made for an eventful afternoon. I'm hoping for a little less excitement on today's journey home :)