Cycle Training
Dad signed up for the Kitsap Color Classic group cycle ride with the Cascade Bicycle Club. Dad enjoys the club’s group rides. The people are friendly, the courses are interesting, and the huge numbers of bicycles on the road (more than a thousand) guarantees that motorists will take notice. But the past few weeks had been very busy for Dad, and he had not had time to train for the ride. So he figured he should at least get some riding in the weekend before the ride. So Dad gave Mongo a big beef bone to gnaw on, and then Dad saddled up for a ride.
West Seattle is a nice place to ride. There are some great hills for training, and some very scenic stretches of roadway. The gallery below has the route and some photos of the training ride.
Dad has considered getting a pull-along wagon for Mongo to ride in, but the thought of pulling another 100 lbs of weight up the Seattle hills usually cures him of that delusion. (Click HERE to read about the Kitsap Color Classic Ride.)
9 responses to “Cycle Training”
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Mongo’s gallery
Mongolope 
It’s great to bike with a group of friends, you are not alone and even the stepest hill is easier to master with friends :o)
That is true. But I am always the last friend to the top. Some poeple actually bring their furry friends with them in bike trailers, but I cannot imagine trying to climb the Seattle hills with Mongo in the back. I can barely push my 100 kg to the top, let alone adding in another 50 kg.
So he just has to wait at home. Thought, I always try to throw him a bone (a real bone) before I go. 🙂
we had a bike trailer once… we also could use it as a buggy…. it’s a difference to pull a trailer with 80 lbs on board, I so agree. Sadly the passenger inside hated the trailer like the plague and so the dream about taking the pup to all places bursted like a soap bubble :o)
Aww. That is the problem, no? One cannot reason with dogs. If we could, I would just say to Mongo, don’t eat that rock, or you will go to hospital. But he just looks at me, and eats the rock. 😦
https://mongolope.com/2014/07/12/just-because-you-can-eat-something-doesnt-mean-you-should-july-6-2014/
same here… it happens as soon as I use the prases stop that! or leave it!… seems silence is golden and talking= vet bill :o))))
I’ve considered getting a wagon for Choppy. And then I realize that she’ll try to bust out of it the first time we see a bunny and that cures me of any thoughts of that nature pretty quickly.
My daughter Kimi got a trailer for our little golden girl, Pippin, when she got older. But it’s more difficult to put a dog in a bike trailer than one might think. Pippin loved rides in wagons, wheelbarrows, garden dump carts, automobiles, and police cruisers (another story 😉 ) . But not the trailer. It turned out she did not like the fabric floor, or being closed in. I would never have guessed.
As for Mongo, I don’t think he’ll get to go on trailer rides, though he might enjoy it. Seattle is very hilly. Some have called it “Too steep and too high.”
It is so steep and high, that I can barely push my own bulk to the top, let alone another 100 or so lbs. We be rolling backwards! That would be a huge road hazard!
I was looking at the trailers earlier this year and a lot of people looking to use them for dogs commented on the fabric floors. I thought if Choppy had an issue with it, I could figure out how to put something in that might help her – a piece of lightweight wood or plastic maybe.
Kim put in a hard floor for Pippin, but Pippin had already decided, “HATE TRAILER”, and there was no going back.
Moral of the story, put the floor in before trying it out on the dog. Once a bad place, always a bad place.