Haha, just watched your video Mike.

Damn that baby's getting huge... oh and I fully agree about how ridiculously cute he is. With his whisk Interesting choice of toys, perhaps there is a story behind it?

Jennifer: oh absolutely, I always take great care with pedestrians; I'm usually a pedestrian myself so I know how it can be with moron drivers and such. I don't encounter pedestrians on the sidewalks on most of my rides anyway, and if I do I always slow down to an almost complete stop when approaching and passing them.
Sidewalks are plenty wide enough here to pass without having them move, but if that's not the case, I just get onto the road to pass the person. I've never asked a pedestrian to move out of my way when biking (or hit one, lol), if it makes you feel any better

Oh and the only times I've used the sidewalk (aside from when I have the dogs) is during the winter when there's too much snow and ice on the side of the roads to make room for a bike next to the cars. It would be way too dangerous to bike on the roads in those cases; on top of the lack of space there's also the bike's lack of traction on the snow/ice. In those cases the only safe way to bike is on the sidewalk (and even then I've seen bicyclists who aren't careful enough dive into snowbanks and skid onto the road etc.)

The obvious solution of course is not to bike in the winter, but what else are you going to do when the stupid buses decide to strike for months on end... sure glad that's over

Oh for sure Yuko, I wasn't thinking you'd be one of those cyclists. Besides, if I saw you guys (or anyone with their dog) biking in my neighbourhood, I'd be so excited to see a dog doing anything than a walk/shuffle around the block, well....besides, the sidewalk would help keep the dog safe from cars, so

Mind you, it doesn't look like Michael has sidewalks

Same here. I think I saw a grand total of one person biking with their dog in the past year around here. And 0 people training their dogs... oh well, hopefully Mike's post and video will inspire more people to try.

Hey Mike, no sidewalks where you live? Well at least the roads look more than wide enough to bike safely with a dog (and no snow or ice on the sides of them either! )

Yuko, where have you been?!

Sorry to derail....but welcome back!

 Quote: Yuko Blum

Damn that baby's getting huge... oh and I fully agree about how ridiculously cute he is. With his whisk Interesting choice of toys, perhaps there is a story behind it?

Can't speak for Mike, but my pre-toddler went through practically every blunt object in my kitchen: pans, bowls, whisks, spatulas, spoons, cooling racks, beaters, pastry cutters. They're a whole lot more interesting than *gasp* REAL toys at this age. Koen is absolutely adorable and Turbo too! Did I just say that about a JRT?

Can't answer the original question though. I always biked like Yuko, holding the leash in my hand, but it was with a big dog I wasn't very scared of running over.

YUKO!!! So, can I take credit for drawing you out of the woodwork?

No good side walks to ride on here.:frown:

I'll continue to ride on the left. Like everyone else, I feel more comfortable seeing what is coming at me. I do move to the right when approaching a blind hill or curve, though.

Steve, yes, it only makes sense to rotate utensils. Koen sounds about like Kristin's kiddo.

Koen loves dogs and other animals, plays with kitchen utensil's.....Will R., what is the connection here.:laugh:

LOL, sure Mike, you can have the credit. Hard not to comment on such cuteness (boy does Koen have fantastic balance for a baby! Your sig pic is too hilarious)
Jenni: oh I've been around, reading (mostly skimming) over threads every now and again, just too lazy to post I guess!

I live in a bike-friendly city *lucky, I know * and used to ride through town with my dog ALL the time...now only a little, we've switched to trails. I bike with my high-energy fosters all the time.

The first time, I tied Kota's leash to my handle bars..... bad idea, I know that now. He decided it was time to poop, and almost broke my arm. A 60lb dead weight turned my handle bars, I missed a parked car, hit the curb, fell off, bruised and scraped everything. I held the leash and biked one-handed for a while, now he has learned 'whoa/slow' for stop signs or when I need to stop so he has off leash priviliges. I like him off leash best so I can gauge his pace. When he gets tired and wants to trot, It's easier to see if he's right next to me than behind me. We do mostly trail riding now, so he is off-leash and can run around when we take breaks, etc. I also find that he gets into the zone much easier and focuses on running instead of prey (we have LOTS of stray cats in my neighborhood)

I did have one foster who couldn't tire after 5+ miles running on the bike. So I started riding the brakes while she pulled me that tired her out a LOT quicker.


As far as which side of the road, I like the right side, and the dogs stay to my right. I can usually hear the cars coming so the right side is okay for me. I treat myself like a car (even if I'm only going 10 mph) when I need to turn, etc so it's easier and safer imo to stay to the right.