My Worst Enemy

I thought it was about time to mention something of my archenemy in the Bahamas: dogs.

My natural predisposition is to be rather ambivilant regarding dogs. However here, I am petrified of them. It seems like they are in the front yard of every other house and will bark as you pass. Now as someone who has been allotted to Sweet'n Smooth (my bike) as my primary means of transportation, this is somewhat un-nerving.

What is more is that sometimes the dogs aren't chained up, and will bark at me and sometimes chase after me in the most vicious manner. This is what I most afraid of. 

It's as if I have been transported back into a primeval tooth and claw world. As I ride Sweet'n Smooth down through the neighborhood and know exactly where each dog is likely to be lying in wait to devour me. I have learned when to speed up so that I am hurling myself down the street at a tremendous speed and then I shout, "Hey boy! Hey boy! Hey boy!" as the dog begins to growl and start after me. It usually works, but is quite unpleasant.

I haven't actually been bitten yet, but it certainly has given me plenty of adrenaline rushes. There are some roads I no longer go down for fear of death. And I have begun to ride Sweet'n Smooth over the bridge to Paradise Island, locking it up, and then running a few miles there so that I can avoid having to run through the dark streets where one of my worse enemies may be waiting in the shadows to kill me.