When I received a text message that my teammate Richard Holt was bitten by a dog and would be off the bike for a couple weeks I honestly didn’t think too much of it. From time to time you hear of cyclists getting bit by a dog or crashed by a dog and usually we (cyclists) accept that it runs with the territory, along with disgruntled motorists, crashing and all sorts of other obstacles. Then someone texted me a photo of Richard’s leg and I was in disbelief (a little nauseous) of just how serious it was. Richard decided to post it on Facebook because he felt like law enforcement and animal control were unhelpful. His post ended up getting re-shared like a gazillion times with some typical Facebook (go nowhere) debating. Local news even picked it up and it was what everyone was talking about for several days. Well the dust is starting to settle and I thought I would check in with Richard to see how things are going.

OCA: Can you describe exactly what happened when you were attacked?

Richard: Jason Vickery and I both had Wednesday afternoon off and were heading out on 265 to go do the Devil’s Den loop.  I was looking to have a pretty good 70-80 mile ride, because the weather was great that day, and I was heading over to train with the OKC Velo guys in Jasper that weekend to get my legs right for race season starting the week after.  We were rolling along up a small incline at a decent pace and I saw a big dog running out towards us form the corner of my eye. It took me a second to realize that it wasn’t going to stop, and the next thing I saw was him running into Jason’s front wheel and Jason going down hard. I remember thinking at that point, oh man, this is not going to be good, and next thing I know, the dog has hit my leg, knocked the bike out from under me, and has his jaws wrapped around my calf.  At this point, I know I am in big trouble, because he has a really good grip with his teeth in my calf and he’s starting to do some damage. I knew I had to do something to get him away form me, so I end up hitting him in the face, then getting a really good grip on his jaws and prying them apart long enough to get my leg out.  At the same time, Jason got up from his very serious wreck and got his bike to put between us and the dog and called 911. At that point I was protected, so my focus shifted to how to stop the bleeding, because I didn’t know if he had torn a major artery that could be life threatening. Pro tip of the day – arm warmers make great tourniquets and are really easy to access. After that It was a bunch of paramedics, first responders, and an animal control officer that all arrived on scene.

OCA: You are a big dude. What do you think would have happened if a smaller person or kid were in this position?
Richard: Yea, luckily I’m one of the bigger, stronger guys that ride around here. I would also be lying to you if I said I ever felt that I had any sort of control over the events leading up to our wreck or following  until I got to the hospital. I just reacted well, and was lucky to have a good friend with me that also turns out to be a physician. I guess it is somewhat fortunate that it happened to me rather than someone else who likely would have walked away with many more severe injuries if they were able to walk away at all.

OCA: It seems that the sheriff acted quickly after the media started airing your story. What steps did they take and are you satisfied?
Richard: Initially, I was very dissatisfied with the way the whole thing played out on the law enforcement side, which was one of the reasons I posted something on Facebook. I mean really, do you want to be handing out warnings and finger wags for something like this? However, over the past few days, I have met with the sheriff and members of the county quorum court, and I think we will have the opportunity to all be a part in developing some new laws to help protect not only cyclists, runners and walkers, but also other responsible pet and land owners that are put in bad situations created by vicious or dangerous dogs and irresponsible owners. My impression from a meeting I was at the other night is that we may be able to put some things in place that will hopefully be the new standard for cities and counties in NWA. I also want to give a big thanks to Paxton Roberts with the Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks. He has already put in a lot of time over the past week to help get things headed in the right direction.

OCA: Do you have any tips for cyclists that are put in this position?
Richard: One of the frustrating things I keep hearing about my attack is that if I had a gun or mace or some other defense mechanism that I could have prevented this from happening. It’s easy to say that from a keyboard or after the fact, but in the words of the great Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.”  That being said I’m not telling people to not carry something. Just because I got attacked and was able to get away doesn’t really make me an expert on the matter, but I would say at least a cellphone, and that’s pretty much a no-brainer. I’ve personally been considering carrying something in the future especially on solo training rides, but I haven’t picked anything out to make a part of my kit or anything.

OCA: Lastly how’s the recovery going and when will you be back on the bike!?
Richard: Well, its been coming along as expected, but slower than I want. I still cant put any weight on it, but I have been improving my range of motion a lot in just the last two days. It’s been a week since my last bike ride, and I can feel it wearing on me mentally. Dr. Vickery and Dr. Racheotes have both been great to work with to try and get me put back together. I’m going to see a few other doctors over the next day or two, so I will have something more specific soon. It is safe to say that I won’t be winning the Crosswinds Classic this weekend. I expect to be on the trainer in a week or so, and maybe back in racing shape for late spring.

WARNING: This image is graphic. Image of wounds below.