Saturday, October 17, 2009

Riding a bike downtown with the dogs


Saturday morning.
"So dad, what are we doing today?"

I wanted a cafe latte at Peet's Coffee in downtown Walnut Creek, so we got the riding bridles on the dogs and I put on the helmet and off we went.

The "Springer" bike riding attachment goes right on the seat post and keeps the dogs nice and close. Bailey pulls me along quite well on level ground. Chloe goes along for the run.


























Before we could go downtown, we had to burn off some energy.

Away we went on what ended up about a 10 mile ride.


The first leg was a four-mile ride down to the dog park at Heather Farms. This ride was a mixture of suburban streets and paved trails along the canal system in Central Contra Costa County. The trails are quite crowded on weekend mornings.

At the off-leash dog park, Chloe got to chase her ball in the field and Bailey got to play games of "chase me."

From there it was three more miles along the trails to downtown Walnut Creek. In the downtown area I walked the dogs and bike about six blocks to Peet's.
At the cafe, I came across a couple of our neighbors enjoying the warm October morning outside. We visited for about twenty minutes while the dogs relaxed under the table.





Afterwards it was back on the bike and the three miles back home. Good two-hour ride and play time at the park.



The dogs are asleep as I write this.



I think I'll take a nap too.



5 comments:

Juliet said...

Really interesting Rod - I bought a "walky dog" which, like yours, attaches to the bike frame...but...I've been too chicken to use it!! Afraid that if Radar sees a squirrel or something that he'd put me over...so it's still sitting in the cupboard! Perhaps you can reassure me?!! Juliet

Rod Michaelson said...

Juliet,
It takes some practice. Short little trips at first on nice level ground until they get the feeling for it. The "Springer" brand works well as the spring actually takes out most of the side pulling force. I have taken the dogs out ten times with it and just yesterday was the first time I saw someone else riding with their dog. Important to use a riding bridle and not their collars. Have fun.

Cindy Mommsen said...

Excellent...anything for a double non fat latte at Peet's!

Cindy, Turbie, & Remo.

Delilah and Rocket said...

Wish I could bike with both of ours but they are two very different dogs when on the springer. Rocket becomes Mr. Ididarod and I have to ride the brake to avoid breaking the speed barrier and Delilah prefers to do a Princess Prance Trot.

Rod Michaelson said...

Rocket is my Bailey and Delilah is my Chloe. Notice in the pictures how I have them hooked up. Bailey is the puller and Chloe goes along for the run. I pace the ride to Chloe's speed using the Y connection and a short leash attached to the Y for Chloe.
Give it a try. Bailey gets the conditioning he needs for field trials and Chloe gets her run in.
Disc brakes on a mountain bike are the best.