It's a Dog's Life in My Neighborhood

Some of the things I love most about riding my bike are the things I see only because I’m moving at bike speed. The little kids holding tight to their parents’ hands walking to school, the older kids on the ball fields practicing sports after school, and the old folks shuffling down the sidewalks throughout the day. But no matter how early I leave for work, how late I come home or how cold or wet it is, I can always count on seeing these intrepid folks–the dogs and their walkers.

Dog owners know that dogs aren’t happy unless they get out and explore their world, weather be damned. So on a misty wet day like today dog owners grab their umbrellas, and when the cold sets in they grab their heavy coats ’cause dogs just gotta do the dog thing every day.

Like Maddie. She leads her guardian Randy down the sidewalk when they go out on his trike. I assumed Maddie would sometimes ride in the trike’s basket. But no, Randy says Maddie has to be out front at all times, so he carries her when she gets tired.

Then there’s Eggie and her terrier Honey. Eggie and I worked at the same company years ago, so I was pleasantly surprised to see her out early on the baylands trails with Honey, even in the dead of winter when my friends and I were training for cyclocross. And now I see them both right here in my neighborhood too. Terriers like to have a big range to roam.

I wish I had more photos to show you of all the other dogs: a pair of graceful rescue greyhounds and the elegant older woman who walks them, the big white husky that a husband and wife team take out together every morning, the frisky chihuahua with the burly Latino man. They make me smile as I pedal past.

What makes you smile on your commute to work?

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