Bike Intro

It's been sunny for 4 days straight! Finally I got up off my butt, packed up the dogs and hunted down a nice, fairly flat, safe and smooth trail. I needed a place that wasn't crazy busy, so Greenlake was out of the question. I started to head up north but Silver Lake was farther than I thought. So, I turned the car around and decided to check out where the Sammamish and Burke Gilman trails meet. It was PERFECT!

There is parking right up against the trail so I could unload and be on it instead of crossing streets or what not. Perfect location and the trail is wide with no cars and runs right along a small river for nice scenery and plenty but not too much distractions like ducks, rabbits and roosters. (Yup, jungle roosters abound) It is really a beautiful trail. I've ridden on it from University District to work in Bothell. That's 20 miles one way. I've only done that once or twice. It is a pretty damn sweet ride. Seattle is awesome.

So, anyway, both the dogs did really well. Actually, Khan did way better than Hank. Khan stays close and Hank is like a foot or so away beside me so he takes up a lot of space on the trail which makes me uncomfortable. I had Hank on my left and Khan on my right. We started out slow heading south on the trail until we came across a steep incline to a foot and bike bridge. We probably did a mile by then, maybe a little under. Headed back to the car but I wanted to do just a little more biking so we stopped by the car for a potty break and headed north on the trail. We probably did a little over a mile then turned around.

We did a couple of potty breaks along the way. I didn't want to give Hank a heart attack so resting was important. I forgot about water but they seemed to be ok. The sun was already set by the time we arrived. Besides, Khan was just getting warmed up and started. He was barely even panting once he got the hang of it. I think I might have to take Khan and do solo rides. He can take a lot more than Hank once he gets older. On the final way back, Hank was behind us, sorta dragging but not quite yet. Khan was right up there with the front of the bike, just loving it, doing his stride.

There's a way to make a full loop but this was the first time for Khan so I didn't want to push it. Besides, I think we did a good 2-3 miles at a good clip. I didn't have them in a run, ever. More like the speed at a dog show. Not sure what that speed is called. Anyway, they both did really great. I didn't take any pics but I'm sure we looked pretty neat on the trail today. We got lots of smiles and comments like, "Oh look!" and some "Oh cute puppies!" and "That's what I should do, have them pull me on the bike." Not a bad idea. Someday, I will have a couple of GSPs pulling me along in a cart.

There were plenty of parents with their kids, some in their strollers and some old enough to ride their own bikes. Some people were walking their dogs which always distracts Hank so that was a good lesson to ignore them today. Khan was super good, especially for his first time and his first time seeing roosters. He was pointing them and the ducks when we stopped for a potty break too. He's just awesome. We had a really great time. :)