Every. Day. Ride #45 with James & Pickle

Tell us a little about yourself & Pickle

My name is James, but I also answer to Pickle's dad. I'm 56, she's 7 and we live in Seattle, Washington USA. I'm a self employed metal and woodworker by trade, I would call the stuff I make furniture and whatnot, but I kinda feel like I'm the guy you call with an idea who hasn't realised that he should charge like a designer. 

Pickle is a Bernese Mountain Dog, but she feels like she's really a tricolour Couch Bear - it rolls off the tongue the same way and it's fairly descriptive of her personality.

How and when did you get into riding?

I've always kinda been a cyclist, I remember my first bike from 5 years old and I don't think I've ever not had a bike or multiple since then. It's what I chose to spend my time doing, from BMX to mountain and road, back and forth between those - then I got obsessed with collecting old Campagnolo stuff for a while, then Schwinn Stingrays, just all over the place. 

What are the best and worst things about riding? 

I've had the most incredible feeling of freedom, feeling meshed with a machine like we were operating as one perfect unit - I've felt that on every kind of bike, dirt jumping, road, single track, such a rush. 

I would say the worst, and cause of the most frustration and helplessness in something I chose to be part of, is a headwind. I always seem to ride alone and there's no one to draft you as you yell at the wind to leave you alone. It's funny that a tailwind does just the opposite, making you feel more powerful than ever. 

Tell us about your most memorable ride to date.

I was working as a junior counsellor at a Quaker summer camp in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and I always took my Trek 400 out on my day off to ride up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's an incredibly scenic highway, amazing asphalt and a 35mph speed limit. There's a 7mile uphill spur off of it to the highest point on the US east coast, Mt Mitchell (6684ft, 2037m). I rode to the top with the intent to see just how fast I could go coming down. This was 1986 so very rudimentary computer tech, but I hit 55mph (88kpm) down that hill, passed a number of RVs doing it. 

What's the best piece of riding advice you've ever been given? 

"Keep the rubber side down".

I was a bike messenger in Seattle in the mid to late 90's and while this was said fairly often and is obviously good advice, I feel like it's more of a mantra or a spell to ward off bad luck. It's a niche community, bike messengers. Most of the work is you against the clock, but they are a whole bunch of people who have your back every day, are also obsessed with bikes and can have many beers talking about them. 

How do you keep your bikes secure at home and on the go?

This Riese and Müller cargo bike is the most expensive bike I've ever had, it was a bit more than the used Honda we he and I'm just becoming able to relax locking it up and going inside for a dinner or whatnot. This bike is 8.5 feet long and there's really only one good spot on the rear triangle that typical city bike racks are good for linking through. The LITELOK X1 PLUS is so great for making that easy with a big dog on board, and Pickle is usually ready to go home long before I start to worry that our bike is in jeopardy.

When someone asks what kit you recommend, you say... 

Carry a first aid kit! I made use of the one that I always carry in my backpack the other day, another rider had split her eyebrow pretty well open in a crash and I had the kit right there to bandage her up. I recently splurged on a Smith Forefront helmet after riding with a terrible thrift store brain bucket for months.

Pickle sports a Saker harness that is crash tested for riding in the car and she loves her RexSpecs goggles. I have a pair of RayBan Meta glasses that I like for being able to film Pickle hands free while riding, I can also call my mom with them as we roll along because everyone should call their mom.

What's on your riding bucket list?

This cargo bike was/is meant to be the daily driver that'll fit inside of a large ex-military truck I'm outfitting to be an overland rig-with the aim that Pickle and I can take off and go anywhere. I envision us riding around national parks all over the US, riding around California and up to Alaska. My bucket list is a life of riding with Pickle, showing her the world.