Cycle Days Challenge #4/15 Riding with Friends
What happened to Ride #3/15? It’s complicated, but took place on Oct. 3rd. I hope to tell you about it soon.
While at a checkup for one of the tiny kittens we are fostering, I asked the vet tech if he thought the kittens were old enough to go for a bike ride. It was an unusually warm day here. He said to make sure the basket was deep enough they couldn’t jump out. The basket? I hadn’t thought about bike baskets in years. I told him they’d be zipped in a small carrier, strapped to my back rack.
Since I wasn’t taking my regular rack bag, I had to make sure I had a place for everything. I traded in my regular lenses for an inexpensive lightweight pancake lens…a prime 40mm. Also had to carry all the things needed for bottle-fed kittens who aren’t quite three weeks old.
The ride began from home and was on some roads I’ve traveled before and others I’ve never been on. My friends slept most of the way. I had not been able to ride for two weeks and I could tell it on every hill.
You may remember my ride that abruptly ended when I came to a stream with no bridge. Today, when I got to the turning point, I went in the other direction. I hadn’t printed off an extensive map and soon realized I was on a road that looked familiar. I checked my phone and saw I was near McNeely Lake Park, where I’d ridden twice before this year. I had to watch my time so I would arrive back home before our caretaker was due to get off, so I turned around and headed back the same way I’d come.
I stopped to have a look at Cedar Creek…there are a lot of places around here named after it. Those places are more impressive than the creek itself.
We, also, stopped at the entrance to the Cedar Creek Wastewater Treatment plant, so I could feed “the kids” and give them a break from their carrier.
Every warm and dry day from now to spring is a real gift, so glad Jim was taken care of and I had a chance to ride. The ride was 9.1 miles.
18 response to "Cycle Days Challenge #4/15 Riding with Friends"
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Love, love, love this ;’-). Our cats (none as young as your two) always enjoyed a bike ride just like you set up for yours. We taught them young to enjoy trips with us, and they enjoyed car rides, camping, and kayak trips as well ;’-). So you have started right in case you decide to keep one or two ;’-).
Your photos are great — I could take some lessons. Thanks for the post. With potentially more good weather your way, there may be chance for another ride or three before the freeze hits ?
When they said they wanted us to expose them to a variety of things so they’d be more adoptable, I don’t think they had this in mind, but it worked out well.
Wow! Neat little kittens!
That is quite a great thing you are doing for them — pretty much an around the clock feeding schedule.
Were they abandoned by their mom or ? They look like could be a Scottish Fold?
Beautiful photos, especially the neighborhood trees.
The one in front was at least cleaned up by his feral mom before she took off from the bush where she birthed them. There were three, but the little female died suddenly last week. Sometimes, you do have to go through some tough times with them, but it is such a joy to watch them grow up. Due to the one being so much smaller, we remained on two hour feedings around the clock for an extra week and a half, but glad to say we are now up to three hour feedings. The little one is tube fed because he will only suck for a short time and was losing weight because he was not consuming enough Kitten Milk Replacer.
That’s absolutely great that you’re fostering those kittens. And getting them adapted to riding is a great idea. I think it might be a little late for our 10 year old cat Oscar to learn. Glad you got out for a ride!
I took off two weeks, but hoping I can get in another ride or two with them. They will soon be to where they can regulate their own body temperature, but I still wouldn’t take them out in bitter weather unless I can figure out a sling that would keep them close to my belly while I rode.
Kittens! This never occurred to me. We keep talking about getting a cat again some day when we finally settle down. It never occurred to me to take them on the road.
There’s a guy out there now (I think he’s still riding) who picked up a stray, had him checked out, and is riding long distance with him (or maybe it’s a her…I don’t remember). That cat looks like he’s really enjoying his adventures.
A few years ago I met someone at the grocery store who had 2 adult cats in carriers on his Yuba cargo bicycle. He said he was intending to ride to the Great Lakes. He politely declined being photographed.
Believe me, it was a double if not triple take seeing the cats in carriers strapped to that bicycle!
Were they the hard sided carriers? Those things are heavy. Seeing dogs on bike trips isn’t as rare as cats. Would have to do a double-take for two adult cats. There must be a good story about why the dude didn’t want his picture taken…he was a cat-napper? his hair wasn’t purr-fect that day? he pre-furred that his significant other didn’t find out he wasn’t cutting the grass?
It’s fun to take pets on a ride and, for some reason, I get a lot more smiles and friendly comments when people see me carrying my dog. In fact, about the ONLY time I get smiles and friendly comments is when I’m towing my little buddy. Plus, Diggity has a constant smile on his face too. I used to carry him in a basket mounted to my rear bike rack, but that was a little awkward as he weighs 34-pounds. This summer I bought a doggie trailer for him, which works better for both of us.
https://youtu.be/smqYe8qDyzQ
Diggity looks like he’s living the life of Riley now! That’s such a great set up.
How perfect, a kitty cat carrier! A great idea to go for kitty rides, good for the kitties and good for you!
The first week of November is supposed to be warm. If I’m not depressed about the election, I may try it again.
Oh my, what tiny little kittens! How old were they in that picture? Glad you all enjoyed the ride!
They were born on Oct 4th. The ride was on Oct 22nd, so they weren’t quite 3 weeks old. We got them when they were two days old. The big one is twice the weight of the one in the background. Totally different personalities, too.
I really did not think you could take such tiny kittens for a ride. But that carrier looks perfect and wonderful to acclimate them to that so early.
The biggest concern would be temperature. The rescue lady who passed them on to me said they were colder than any kittens she’d ever seen survive 24 hours. The big one was the first born and the only one the mother gave any care to. The other two were very small. The little male has had his share of problems…he had an abscess on the joint of a front foot and leg and he was not sucking enough to survive. They drained the abscess and put him on antibiotics and a couple days later taught me to tube feed him. He’s just starting to suck milk from a nippled syringe…yesterday only three ml, but today at one feeding he took in 9ml, so I have hope he’s over the hurdle. Tube feeding, once they have teeth, can be a problem. If they are strong enough to bite the tube in two, they could swallow the end in their mouth and choke. I felt his little front teeth for the first time today, so having him suck from a nipple is something to really celebrate. I’m sure this is really more than you wanted to know about a neonate kitten! 🙂 Appreciate you reading my post.