Jake is 5-6 years old. We started riding with him a couple of years ago. We tried him out more often and at longer distances on the bikes (at the time they were our only vehicles). He loved it. All you have to do is ask him, “Where’s the bike?” and he’s off like a shot for the garage door.
On long trips, he stays down in his Pet Palace just because I don’t like having his head out at highway speeds. When we are in a town, motoring around to run errands or just taking a leisurely ride, he likes standing with his head out the top of his Pet Palace to take in all the sights and smells. When he’s out, he wears Rexspecs goggles.
Jake’s longest ride to date was 722 miles when we recently rode to Louisiana for the HOG rally there. His first long ride was 482 miles round trip. He has ridden all over town with us as well as riding to all of the Tour stops we’ve made to date. Jake plans to keep me company on all our Tour stops.
Because Jake rides everywhere with us, we are very careful to pre-book pet friendly hotels and locate pet friendly restaurants in the area or restaurants with outdoor eating areas. When riding with your pet, you need to be very conscious of the climate and take more frequent breaks. We usually ride no more then an hour to an hour and a half before taking a quick break to give him water and allow him a chance to stretch his legs and take a potty break. About 10 minutes is all it takes, then he’s ready to go again.
I can’t recommend too strongly to get your pet a good set of googles if they are going to ride head out. Also get a good pet carrier with an interior leash to harness your pet into their carrier. When it’s cooler or cold weather, he has a downy blanket in his Pet Palace to wrap himself up in. And, when it’s hotter out, we live in central Texas after all, we have a cooling mat on top of his regular sleeping mat in his carrier.
Jake is a big hit everywhere we go. He is such a diva! He has made friends all across Texas and now into Louisiana. Everywhere we stop he is getting everyone’s attention. We have had people pull up to us at stop lights wanting photos of him when he rides head out. People come up to us at gas stations and restaurants to get photos. We’ve had Police Officers ride up beside us or pass us going the other way, laughing and giving us thumbs-up on seeing Jake riding. He loves all the attention.
When we made the tour stop at South Padre Island, it was lunch time. On the way to the water tower I spotted a restaurant named “Jake’s”, so of course we stopped there on the way out of town to eat. The owner/manager and staff just fell in love with Jake and were thrilled he shared a name with their place.
Rider 666 (Kyle) rides with Gabby.
