It's a dog's town!

I'm reluctant to say it's a San Diego thing. For all I know it might be a California or even a West Coast thing... this taking your dogs out for a ride thingy. There are lots of pet dogs in Missouri, but they generally don't get to go out joy riding in a car or on a bike very often. Here in sunny San Diego, though, sometimes it seems like there's a dog or two sticking their head out of the window of every three or four car that pass you on the street... among other places:

This was a really discipline dog. He wasn't tied down or anything, but just stood there in the pickup enjoying Mission Trails and my weird looking cycling gang.

This pooch wasn't as discipline, I guess. His owner had a good grip on him as he fought to get more of him over the ledge.

 

Coconut the English bulldog usually rides in the passenger seat, tho when his mom is away he keeps her driver's seat nice and warm.

Some dogs get to enjoy good view without even leaving his pad!

Though leaving the pad seems like a nice idea to some...

People here even like to take their dog out for a walk on their bike.

Now this last one wasn't working out very well. So many things wrong with this picture!

Even with that many obviously bike-acquainted dogs in town, many of my fellow cyclists are still quite deadly afraid of running into dogs on some deserted roads in the country side, however. I understand some dogs are friendlier than others. I have been lucky and haven't been really chased by a leashless dog yet... mostly because I spot them early and don't really give them the chance. I actually love it when a dog comes over to say hello while I'm on a bike. They usually are just curious and want someone to play with... so the best thing to do is to stop and dismount with the bike in between you and the dog... and let him sniff a bit. Unless you're on a fast downhill chances are you won't be able to outrun the dog anyhow, so better not try to take of 'cause 9 out of 10 dogs will give chase if you do.

This pooch saw me coming, but he was having too much fun swimming after the elusive blue heron to come over.

This gang of three at the Red Gate Rd corner on Hwy 76 on the way to Palomar Mtn did come over for a bit, though. They were quite cool.

But not as cool as these four dogs from one of the houses on lower Mother Grundy Truck Trail in Jamul. They not only came over, but actually escorted me for 2 miles - nearly to the end of the road - and I ended up having to turn around rather than going on my own way in order to take them home. They just flat refused to go home on their own!

This handsome old dog from the house near the top of Camino del Aguilar also tried to escort me and my friends to the top of Starvation Mountain.

And this lovely little pitbull knew a dog-petter when she saw one! She was roaming around Bullard Rd near Alpine as I tried to find my way across the mountain to Crest.

Wildlife From Bike Trips Around San Diego County

A wild peacock near Dehesa Rd.

A boat-tailed grackle at Lake Murray. A handsome fellow, isn't he?

I was rolling thru Liberty Station one afternoon when I noticed a bunch of European starlings perching on a tree, chirping something silly.

These white-tailed deers on Mesa Grande Reservation weren't chirping, though.

Of the many sheep grazing along Dehesa Rd, this ram was the most magnificent.

You never know what you'll see along rural San Diego roads. These camels were at Oasis Camel Dairy in Ramona.

I tell you, kestrels are the cutest of birds!

I really can't get enough of them!

A Western horned meadowlark hiding in the dry grass by SD Velodrome.

This cute bunny rabbit hopped over to the fence to say hi to me as I rolled though Spring Valley.

One of the kamikaze barn swallows that buzzed me near J St Pier in Chula Vista.

A pair of cormorants was too busy grooming to look at the camera...

This Grace's warbler wasn't grooming, though. He was just being pensive.

A western tanager lass hopping along a side street in Alpine.

We sure do have many yellow birds around here. This is an American goldfinch.

I'll confess to liking the blue birds better, tho. This cute western bluebird male seemed quite fascinate by my camera!

His girlfriend, the female western bluebird here was too busy feeding to notice any camera at all, tho.

But the gray hawk that occasionally visits my alley notices everything!

And so does this cool dog!

This cat also noticed me, but was too much of a cat to show much interest...

Blackjack, Lyons Valley's cutest donkey, wanted to know if I had any celery hidden away in my jersey pocket.

At least that's what this chatty little acorn woodpecker told him...

Spooky the squirrel says otherwise. He was convinced that the thing I had hidden in my pockets were actually acorns!

Alas, I only had a camera in the pocket, and when I pulled it out this roadrunner did a runner on me...

Btw, if you've ever cycled up to the spine of Pt Loma (Catalina Blvd) you might have noticed the quacking palm trees. I managed to catch one of their vocal chords one morning. It wasn't easy... these guys really blend in very well!

This beautiful wild turkey was a part of a group roaming around the eastern slope of Starvation Mountain a few months ago.

A steller's jay in Pine Valley.

For a while I thought he was a peregrine falcon, but I think he's really a young red-shouldered hawk. From below he doesn't seem to have the mask.

The three acorn-woodpeckers on Cuyamaca Mtn.

Can you believe that these...

...grow up to be these? American coots!

October catch up: catty neighbors, scenic cycling, Lisa Batiashvili

Casey (the black cat) and Theo still ambush me by my front door every morning. I swear I don't feed them (their owner does a good job of that himself, Casey is now so rounded she looks like a black furry basketball with big yellow eyes at night!), but I do find it hard to walk/bike off without first giving them a good petting session. Casey is good about letting me leave... after having dished out some returned petting of her own, that is (she likes to lick... and you know how cat tongues are!).

Theo is a more curious character... She is longer and more slender, and almost surreally elastic! You bend down to tickle her ears and the next thing you know she is completely wrapped around both of your ankles! I don't know how she keeps her sense of direction being nimbly twisted around like that, but she's coordinate enough to give you a good whack with her paw if you try to disentangle and sneak off...

The relatively new feline addition to the neighborhood is Ally the alley cat. Apparently she was a house kitten until a few months ago when her owner moved away to a new pad that doesn't allow cat, so he left a bag of dry cat food with a neighbor and just 'released her to the wild'. Ally isn't more than a year and a bit old, I think... A really street smart calico. It seems everybody feeds her, but she remains as thin as a stick (probably has worms). She usually turns up at the alley carport outside my window late in the afternoon and meows to see if I'm around and have a tin of cat food handy.

Nowadays she has also memorized the sound of my bike! I'd turn into the ally on my way home, and the next thing I know she'd jump out from one of the bushes and then walk all the way home with me to get her supper! Even my 'I don't like cats' 92 yrs old neighbor finds Ally amusing.

Anyhow, I've been riding around town a lot, of course. A lot of people like to pit 'commuter cyclists' against 'recreational cyclists'... Well, I do both! Luckily enough my part-time job is just 45 minutes ride away (well, 55 min on return trip due to hill climbs). And when I'm not working, there is still nothing quite like a good ride into the traffic-free San Diego countryside to sweat off the stress while enjoying fantastic change of scenery!

I'm not telling you where my favorite cycling hang outs are... I'm liking them remote! ;o)

Can you believe the last two photos are just 30 minutes ride apart??? San Diego is a blessed corner of the earth!
Now, if only we can lure one Vesselina Kasarova or Lisa Batiashvili into town for a concert or two, life would really be perfect in America's Finest City!