Well, I had been looking online for months to find the perfect basket to attach to my bike's handlebars, so Champ could bike ride with me, because I most certainly wouldn't go for a ride without him. It would just be wrong plus lonely and not nearly as fun!! All the baskets online indicated that Champ's 16+ pound girth (ha) was too heavy for a front basket, which was important so we could share the adventure together and "talk" as we rode. Instead it showed that I needed to have him ride in a basket behind me or pull him in a covered little stroller (the type that jogging or biking Mom's use) Well, that wouldn't do.
After seeing a family at my Riverwalk area with a bike basket, I went to the local cyclery shop they referred me to and found the perfect super-de-duper basket. What made it perfect? It was much deeper, so he couldn't jump out as readily, a little wider, and had extra metal supports that extended down to the front of the bike frame, so it would be safer and would support a lot more weight than his mere 16 pounds. It was important to purchase and have extra goodies mounted, like a front headlight in case I'm out in the dark, lights in the back and an adorable little horn, plus I already had a really neat spedometer/odometer that indicates speed, distance and time of day.
It was a bright, sunny day when we had our first excellent adventure, which of course, started with a picture at the cycling shop where it all started as we loaded the bike into my van for the first time.
I had decided that our maiden trip, or our "bike voyage" (as opposed to "bon-voyage"), had to be in the first park I discovered when we moved to Corona 11 years ago. The Yorba Linda Regional Park was only about 20 minutes away and has many lakes, trees and birds, as well as paved and unpaved biking trails. So off we went.
On the way, I explained to Champ about our upcoming biking adventure and he listened intently.He was quite anxious to try out the basket that he had liked so much at the bike shop.By the time we arrived at the park, he was ready for his first bike ride up high in his very special basket.
We rode and we rode around the beautiful park with the many lakes and saw such beautiful birds and trees. In this picture, there are three Snowy Egrets in flight (very exciting to catch with my camera), an Egyptian Goose in the forefront, and many Mallard Ducks at the back. The lakes are so spectacular and there are countless varieties of ducks, egrets, geese and birds.
It was warm and sunny and so peaceful and quiet at the park. After biking for only a few miles (as per my handy dandy odometer gadget), but felt like a very long time to my very sore rear-end bones, we stopped for a rest. I had seen a bright blue beautiful bird flying about and wanted a picture.
Champ was very happy to stop for a few minutes so he could roll around on the grass and scratch his itchy back! This is one of his favorite pasttimes in the many parks we visit. And I was in heaven to rest my aching bones a minute and take pictures of the beautiful birds and trees.
Along the way, we also saw a Snowy Egret, characterized by black beak and yellow feet, in full mating plumage. The picture earlier of three Snowy Egrets in flight was interesting because they were fighting in the air, another sign that it was mating season (to the best of my knowledge. I'm not an expert but I love birds and photgraph them a lot).
Here's a picture of an Egyptian Goose. I've visited most of the local parks numerous times and have only seen them a few times. They are quite spectacular and look quite different than most ducks and geese.
We also saw many Wood Ducks. The male is on the left and the less colorful female on the right.
One part of the bike trail has a little bit of a hill. I was able to ride up it the first time, albeit with a lot of effort, but the second time I had to stop midway up. Well, I was bummed because I wanted to make it to the top, but then I looked to my left and beheld the most exciting view. A Great Blue Heron was fishing in the lily pads in a secluded part of the park. I was then very thankful that I couldn't make it up the hill! Here's a closeup of this amazing Great Blue Heron. I had talked to an older couple that lives close to the park and walks there everyday and discovered this Great Blue Heron has a large nest atop a pine tree. I was able to see one of its chicks which was so amazing since it was 75 feet up in the air or so. I love my camera with the zoom lens! : )
This picture was so fun because I was able to capture the Snowy Egret (right middle of pic) with the Egyptian Goose in the forefront.
As I rode along, the wind was blowing cotton through the air from this Cottonwood tree:
Here's the cotton along the ground.
At one point, I stopped to talk to some wonderful elderly women. Champ was so pooped from his long ride that he took a little nap. It's hard work being a puppy, you know! Thankfully he is very comfortable in his special basket. See his cute smushed nose up against the front of the basket!
We had a great time at the park. Here's the view looking out to one of the lakes. The park itself is over 1 mile long and has 3-4 lakes with birds of every variety in and around it! Heaven!
While I had taken my book and thought we might stop and sit in the grass and read, we had too much fun riding, taking pictues and enjoying the birds, lakes and trees. In this picture, you can see my headlight on the left, with the odometer gadget mounted on the handlebars, then a reflector light and the little d-ling, d-ling horn. Of course my cell phone and book are in the basket and luckily there's room for it all and Champ!
Alas, it was time for our journey to end. We were only there about three hours, but the time fly by, and we had such a blast. Here's a picture of Champ after the day's fun as I was ready to take him out of the basket to go home. He was a very happy camper!
I took hundreds of pictures and only showed some of the amazing birds and views. More to come in future posts!
We both had a great time and can't wait to go back again! Come visit us and you can go, too!
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