Another episode...
Since I'm doing a mega-bike ride later this year, I've started getting out on the bike here and there - as long as temperatures are above 30F. There are limits after all! Thinking about how to do more of my errands by bike made me take a long look at the bike trailer. Many of you may have also had the experience of riding your bike and towing something like a Burley trailer with your kid in it, then having to come to a quick stop, and seeing the trailer (and child) coming up beside you instead of staying behind the bike....because most bike trailers don't have brakes. It was somewhat unsettling, although that particular child loves roller coasters and is unfazed. Still, I traded the trailer in for one that had a brake...child got too big for the trailer...and trailer stayed in the garage.
The trailer and bike came out of the garage when we got the K9 Kona. She was/is a wild child dog with somewhat boundless energy (although she has slowed a bit, she can still catch rabbits). I wanted to get more bike training time, but didn't want to leave K9 Kona all day while she was still in adolescent dog destructo mode. So I decided to bike train with K9 Kona in the trailer. I'd ride for a couple of hours, then let K9 Kona get out and run. This meant that Kona had to be harnessed, and hooked into the trailer...in case of bunny alerts.
Kona ... not happy with the harness
This worked pretty well as long as we rode on bike paths. That is, until we took the path next to The Horses. Didn't know there'd be horses. A quick turn brought us squarely behind them and K9 Kona, in her haste to get clear of anything that big, flipped the cart over. Dog, bike, trailer and me...all in a pile. We didn't ride there again...in fact, it took awhile to get K9 Kona back in the trailer. Still, now that she is 8 years older....I think she might like the bike trailer adventures.
Happy trails...however you get there.