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We haven’t been doing much riding lately and our RoadDog doesn’t seem to be very happy about that.

First of all, there has been the weather. Call us fair-weather riders if you will, but Steve and I always say it’s one thing to get caught in the rain when you’re riding, but it’s quite another to actually pull out of the driveway when it’s raining. And, in case anyone hasn’t noticed, it has been raining a lot lately.

Hubby and I also came up with a plan this spring. We decided to try to get as much done around the house as we could in May and June with the theory that would then give us more time to ride in July and August when it should be really warm. I have to admit we have a lot to do around the house and yard this year because, well frankly, we neglected everything quite shamelessly last year. I was learning to ride and that seemed far more important and a lot more fun, so we kind of let things slide. That means we have twice as much to do this year.

That led us to replace our front steps with a small deck, which unfortunately isn’t entirely painted yet because of all the rain we’ve had. I also vowed to get and maintain control of my gardens this summer which led to a lot of weeding and transplanting and basically digging in the dirt. Jake likes that because he likes to “help” dig whenever I’m not looking. I get the feeling he somehow believes if I can dig holes so can he.

Jake has also been remarkably “helpful” with the other part of the landscaping that I’ve been doing. We had a dump truck load (yep, a full dump truck load) of bark dumped in our driveway for the gardens. I’ve gradually been moving it wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow load, but have spent a fair amount of time picking up the larger pieces from where they’ve mysteriously spread. The bark pile is very close to where Jake is tied out when we’re working in the yard and he’s been quite happy to help himself to whichever pieces he thinks should be his. He then lies around chewing on them looking happy and slightly smug. He’s actually been oddly enamoured of the bark pile since it first arrived and has climbed it many times. I’m not sure what the attraction is, but it’s definitely there.

Our RoadDog had seemed quite happy to be outside in the yard with us for a few days, but I noticed this weekend whenever a bike went by he looked at me as if to ask “soon?” I’m thinking he’s right. Soon, very soon.

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Okay, so if you read RoadDog regularly you know that Jake is all about his tummy. You also know that Timbits are practically a separate food group for our four-legged friend. What you may not know is, like the boy dog he is, Jake also loves a barbecue.

That’s not to say that grilling a meal doesn’t present our boy with a whole lot of issues. When I’m in the kitchen preparing food, Jake is never far away. He usually finds himself a spot two or three feet outside my traffic pattern and plunks himself down to watch, obviously hoping I’ll drop something or feel sorry for him and hand over a small snack.

The smell of meat, any kind of meat, raw or cooked, makes Jake a little crazy. Whether that’s instinctual to his breed or just because he’s a boy dog through and through (remember he burps after he eats), I don’t know, but I almost feel guilty sometimes when I take something out of the freezer and leave it to thaw because I know he won’t be able to ignore the odour. His nose is small but mighty, much like Jake himself (sorry, I know he’s a big dog with short legs).

Anyway, when we barbecue, Jake isn’t sure where to go. I’m usually in the kitchen making a salad or something to go with whatever is grilling, while Steve heads outside to the barbecue. Jake’s normal instinct is to follow Steve if he goes anywhere outside and when Steve has a tray with some sort of meat on it that instinct magnifies. But our RoadDog still wonders what he might be missing out on in the kitchen and clearly suffers some angst as he tries to decide what to do. It’s actually kind of funny to watch.

In the end, the smell of grilling meat usually wins out. Jake abandons me and the kitchen and sits by the back door, waiting for Steve to take him outside where he proceeds to hover near the barbecue, sniffing the wafting odours and waiting, just hoping, that Steve will get clumsy and drop something — a hamburger, a 10 oz. steak. He isn’t fussy. He’s just always hungry.

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Jake had a large day on Saturday.

It was our bike club’s first official club ride day, a day when we all gathered and went biking together. That may not seem like an unusual idea for a bike club, but for some reason it’s not something we usually do. We ride together on Wednesday evenings, but it’s a case of whoever shows up goes. Some people go each week and some of us drop in when we can and we often take along a few other people who aren’t club members, because, well, we’re friendly and the more the merrier.

The one problem with our Wednesday night rides is that about half of our club members live in the Valley, so they don’t get down here for those rides. And while our club participates in all kinds of charity runs around the province, like the Wednesday night rides, it’s the same idea — those who are available and want to show up and go. It’s never everyone. Our club has three organized runs a year, but those are open to other riders and we’re busy organizing and blocking traffic at intersections so it’s just not the same as what we did on Saturday.

South Shore members gathered at the Happy Cooker in Blockhouse and rode to Windsor to, you guessed it, a Tim Hortons to meet the Valley members. From there, 14 bikes, most riding two up (rider and passenger), went to Middle Musquodoboit where we had a picnic lunch in a beautiful park. From there, it was on to Sheet Harbour, then north to Stellarton for another Tim’s stop and back Highway 104 to Truro for dinner. At that point, Steve, Jake and I had to split from the group since our four-legged friend couldn’t go to the restaurant. We ate at a sunny picnic table outside KFC at Mastodon Ridge, then rode to Tantallon for another coffee before heading down the 103, through Mahone Bay and home.

It was a great day. Steve tells me we rode exactly 594 kilometres since he keeps track of these things. (My bike doesn’t have a gas gauge so I reset my odometer every time I get gas so I don’t end up running out.)

Our RoadDog had the time of his life. He got to see almost all of his bike friends all at once and, miraculously, every time we stopped and he got out of his carrier they were all still there. He did his happy dance for someone at every stop. He was crazy about the park where we had lunch, since it had lawn after lawn for him to romp on and, of course, there was food. He ate first when we stopped for dinner, since I packed his dog food and gave it to him while Steve went inside to order. Then he stretched out under the picnic table, smiling and looking around while we ate. When we stopped at Tim’s in Tantallon I thought he’d be exhausted, but instead he rolled around on the grass again and again. He even did his happy dance again when two other bikes from the run pulled in after they split off from the group on the way home.

It was truly a large day. And I suspect our RoadDog was also pretty happy because we broke our own rule. We never let Jake have more than two Timbits in any one day and then two is unusual. But Saturday was a big day. We were all together having a great time and, one year after getting my bike licence (this weekend a year ago was that weekend) I rode the farthest in one day I’ve ever done. We all exceeded our limits a little, so for Jake it was a four bit day.

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Yesterday was a great day in our little household.

I remember when I was a little girl once or twice a year my parents would take a drive to the Annapolis Valley. I don’t exactly remember why we went. I recall picking apples and I remember the big ice cream cones at Hennigar’s Farm Market outside Wolfville (of course I would remember the ice cream). But mostly I just remember driving along looking at all the farms and fields, seeing the horses and other animals.

Yesterday was a lot like that. Steve and I decided to head down to Chester and up to Windsor and, of course, Jake went along for the ride. Our first stop in the Valley was, you guessed it, the Tim Horton’s in Windsor. I needed a tea and our four-legged friend had to have his bit.

But instead of staying in the parking lot or thereabouts as we usually do, we took a walk behind the Tim’s down to the waterfront. What a fabulous spot. I confess, I had no idea that area existed until yesterday. I never cease to be amazed by the wonderful little spots we find when we take the time to explore.

Anyway we spent about half an hour there, drinking our tea and coffee, while Jake romped around on the grass and explored down by the edge of the water and around the canoe club building. It’s a wonderful park and I hope locals enjoy it as much as we did. Jake made a few friends — a lady who was quite enamoured of our Cairn who rides around on a motorcycle and another woman who works at the Tim’s who used to ride her own bike with her Pomeranian. Steve also had quite a chat when he went back to the bikes to get Jake’s water with a couple who were interested in Jake’s carrier because they have a pug that they now have to leave at home. It was just one of those days when we just seemed to meet nice people.

From there we rode through the Valley and out towards Starrs Point, a lovely twisting road that we hadn’t travelled before, then along as far as Middleton, where we stopped for another Tim’s (yes it was a two bit day for Jake) before heading for home.

We didn’t do anything dynamic, we just enjoyed the ride and the sunshine. We did pass by Hennigar’s Farm Market, but we didn’t stop. That leaves me with an excuse to go back soon so Jake and I can have ice cream.

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A few people have asked, so to let everyone know — Jake loves his new carrier.

By way of a recap (for those of you who may not yet know that Steve and I are truly bordering on somewhat insane), we had a custom doggie carrier made for the back of Steve’s bike last fall. We called it a “family” Christmas gift, but it was really a gift for Jake and, I suppose, for our peace of mind.

In the past, Jake rode in a modified airline pet carrier. It was sturdy, but because it was made of plastic, we always worried what would happen to our lovable Cairn if the unthinkable happened and Steve was involved in a crash. We had searched the internet, but hadn’t found exactly what we were looking for, so Steve approached a bike builder in Liverpool with a design idea.

We know Tony Roy of Custom Design Cycles thought we were more than a little strange when Steve first called him about a dog carrier and I’m fairly certain he still thinks we’re nuts, but he did a fantastic job. Tony has his own not-so-large dog, so I think in some way he sort of understood our hope of keeping Jake as safe as we could.

We made several trips back and forth to Liverpool to work with Tony to get exactly what we wanted, and we were thrilled with the final result. It was even better than we’d hoped. I particularly love what Tony did with the windows, both the metal work and the paint job. He also built brackets which attach to the bike to help support the additional weight. It’s just fantastic.

NAPA Auto Parts helped us match the paint to Steve’s bike and we worked with Tony to come up with decals to dress it up. I really like the paw prints with the tribal swirls and find it amusing that the word RoadDog is done in a font called Firecat. Jake might not like that so much, so we haven’t told him. Our boy is not a big fan of felines.

Anyway, when the weather warmed up, we spent an afternoon outside adding screens to the insides of the carrier windows to keep out bugs and bees (imagine being trapped in a metal box with an angry bee), and then lined the whole thing with — you won’t believe this — barbecue mat. Yes, that’s the rug you put under a barbecue to catch the drips. We had planned to use the stuff they put in car trunks, but stumbled across the barbecue mats at a local store. With a can of spray adhesive, it worked like a dream. I stitched up a new faux sheepskin pad for the bottom (Jake likes his comforts) and it was ready to go.

The carrier’s door will take a padlock so we can lock Jake in and leave him for a few minutes if we absolutely have to and the carrier locks on the bike with small padlocks. It’s also easy to take off, so it will still provide Jake with his own little home away from home in hotel rooms.

It’s wider, it’s comfier and, based on his reactions, Jake is happy with it. After all, he’s now got a really sweet ride.

Now, where did I put those doggie sunglasses?

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