My Dog Bit A Bicyclist And He Has Filed A Claim Against My Insurance For $235,000

Location: Bend, Oregon

Last May, I was walking my dogs at the park. There are paved pathways for cyclist which I usually avoid because I dont want to deal with any danger so I usually opt for this short narrow dirt path to get from the parking lot to the grassy area. As I was walking down the narrow dirt path, a cyclist entered onto the dirt path from my 12 o'clock. He kept riding towards me so I was forced to step off the path and into the weeds with my leashed dogs. Essentially, the pedestrian was forced to yield to a bike rider. As he passed, for some reason, my dog got spooked and lunged at his calf. I immediately put my dogs back in the car and returned to render aid. He was transported to the ER by a good Samaritan. Fast forward a year, and my insurance has received his demand letter. $35k for medical expenses and $200k for pain and suffering. His demand letter stated that i was negligent and that my dogs leashes were loose. Also in the demand letter it stated that I was cited for Animal Nuisance but I never received a citation.

Do I have any options to fight this? My insurance liability covers me for $100k. I feel like he was negligent in disregarding my right of way on the path and made my dog feel threatened. He could have gone a different direction or yielded to me and my dogs but he chose neither. As i stated above, yhey were leashed so I was compliant with the local leash law. The dog has no history of aggression prior to this. He is almost 11 years old. I need advice.