http://community.active.com/blogs/GaleBernhardt Gale Bernhardt's personal blog on triathlon, mountain biking, road cycling, running, "for women only" stuff, running with a dog and other issues in the endurance sports world. Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:32:46 GMT Jive SBS 4.5.5.2 (http://jivesoftware.com/products/clearspace/) 2009-12-21T02:32:46Z http://community.active.com/blogs/GaleBernhardt/2009/12/20/one-way-to-make-cycling-harder-is-to-carry-your-dog <!-- [DocumentBodyStart:1e7e8a1c-3ede-414a-bfe1-d26ce0ce6306] --><div class="jive-rendered-content"><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"/><!--Session data--><input id="jsProxy" onclick="" type="hidden"/><div id="refHTML"> </div><p>Today was a scheduled Estes ride because the weather was so darn nice. Estes Park is a 32 mile climb from Loveland, if we go via Devil&rsquo;s Gulch Road. This route also includes some tough switchbacks. We went back via Highway 34, which is a bit shorter. For 62.83 miles there is 3787 feet of climbing &ndash; the majority of the climbing is on the trip up.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&#160;</p><p>It was a good sized group today, with plenty of strong riders. Carl Ciacci (Villanova graduate and cycling team alumni - he can sprint like he was shot from a cannon) shows up with Layla, his nine-year old Jack Russell Terrier. (Apologies to Layla, as I probably spelled your name incorrectly.) His plan was to carry Layla on the ride, unless she became uncomfortable at any point. If she wasn&rsquo;t having a good time, he&rsquo;d take her home.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&#160;</p><p>This dog was completely relaxed the entire trip. She sat comfortably in Carl&rsquo;s messenger bag looking around at the other riders and putting her nose in the wind occasionally. She got a break at the Notchtop Caf&eacute; and a chance to stretch her legs while we snagged something to eat.</p><p style="min-height: 8pt; height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">&#160;</p><p>I snapped the photo below when we made a stop to try to fix Dave McClure&rsquo;s broken spoke. Of course Carl is carrying Layla. Dave McClure is left of Carl and Bill Danielson is behind Dave.)</p><p><a href="http://community.active.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-16172-11048/CarlandLayla.jpg"><img alt="CarlandLayla.jpg" class="jive-image-thumbnail jive-image" height="337" onclick="" src="http://community.active.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-16172-11048/450-337/CarlandLayla.jpg" width="450"/></a></p><p>I&rsquo;d guess Layla weighs some 13 to 15 pounds. If you want to make cycling harder in the off-season, carry your dog or an additional 15 pounds in a backpack.</p></div><!-- [DocumentBodyEnd:1e7e8a1c-3ede-414a-bfe1-d26ce0ce6306] --> cycling ride dog messenger_bag carl_ciacci Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:32:46 GMT guest http://community.active.com/blogs/GaleBernhardt/2009/12/20/one-way-to-make-cycling-harder-is-to-carry-your-dog 2009-12-21T02:32:46Z 3 years, 5 months ago 0 http://community.active.com/blogs/GaleBernhardt/comment/one-way-to-make-cycling-harder-is-to-carry-your-dog http://community.active.com/blogs/GaleBernhardt/feeds/comments?blogPost=16172