So here is a thread to introduce everyone to your dog ridding buddies. I do most of my fat bike rides with my dog Millie, Aka Mildred, Aka the dreaded mildred, or just Dread.
She is a small yellow lab, we call her "fun size". She is almost 6 years old and loves to shred the pow!
Now introduce us to your Friend(s)!
"Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished."...Dean Koontz
I also ride with my dog, Denali, almost every ride. She was named after Mount McKinley in Alaska. I just call her Nali usually, though. She is a 5 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback mix and loves the snow and trails. Does really well on longer rides too
Here she is a few days ago here in Darby Canyon in Teton Valley
My Lab & Chessie will be my training partners this winter. Very fortunate, lots of snowmobile trails out the door. Unfortunately XC & beach riding not an option. Need to get a hitch rack for the rear so they can ride along with.
My Irish Setter McGuinness. He comes from a long line of family owned show dogs and was birthed under my mom's roof. Great trail dog. His long coat works well in the dead of winter.
This is Maxx. Part Border Collie, part Lab and part Chow... has a completely black tounge. Almost 12 years old... not doin' to bad for an old fellow. He's missing in alot of shot's because he's learned when I start setting up a camera, he's got time to go mess around...
Here's my dog - Ullr (like 'cooler' w/o the 'c'). He's an Alaskan husky and loves to pull!! We're getting ready for ski season here in AK by doing a little bikejoring. In fact, we bikejor when there's no snow and skijor when there is. Now that I have my fattie I can bikejor year round!! We'll easily get up to 15-25mph and keep that up for about 5-10 miles. He's no sprint dog however so I like to keep it around 10-15mph . It doesn't matter what the trail is like - he just goes and you better watch out for what's coming next. SO FUN!!!
Sandi is also an Alaskan husky. She will be five-years-old this winter. She likes to pull, just bum along, or ride with, just so long as she is included...
I really enjoy fat-bikejouring with my Alaskan sleddog. Winter fatbike speeds are slow enough that she can keep up and even pull for long rides whereas summer MTB and road biking can be too fast to keep her harnessed if I want to also workout.
I have found that a shoulder skijor type dog harness (like Landlocks pictures couple post above) works well for bike-jouring together with a fairly long leash (8-10 ft) clipped around the stem of the bike. Too short of a leash and the angle of the line between the dog/bike is fairly steep, meaning the dog has to fight a upwardward force vector along with pulling forward. Too shortof a line and the dog is constantly in danger of being run over. Trying to hold the leash in your hand does not work well because pulling also induces the bike to steer, clipping around the center of the handebars/stem largely keeps the dog isolated from bike steering.
The other snow-dog-bike activity I like doing is using my fatbike to ride along with my little kids while they dogsled. Gives me good control of the dog+sled and the kids can go along with me farther than they are otherwise able to ski. Even my 3-year old daughter was good at mushing along with me last winter.
We got a quick ride in after work before the time change sets in and we no longer have light in the evenings. The tundra is frozen plenty hard to ride on now, but I buried my front wheel in a creek almost up to the crown of the fork. It surprised me, because the creek looked to be less than a wheel's diameter across where I dove into it and did not appear to be more than a few inches deep. Of course, most of the tundra is just a big waterbed, so it is a wonder I do not get into more trouble than I do...
Last edited by landlocked; 10-30-2012 at 09:27 PM.
I'd love to ride with my "kids." Problem 1 - They are hounds. Hound owners might understand how that can be problematic. Problem 2 - They are hunters, and you can't necessarily trust them not to... no matter what. If they spotted something, I might never see them again! Problem 3 - They aren't exactly the long distance Husky types. Short duration, at Mach 2. Problem 4 - They are not built for nor do they really like cold weather all that much, coats nothwithstanding.
You folks are quite lucky. Please enjoy them all you can!
Most people ply the Well Trodden Path. A few seek a different way, and leave a Trail behind.
- John Hajny, a.k.a. TrailMaker
I would think you northerly types would just about have to have lights?
Oh yea, I use my lights daily, save the summers when, well, it just never gets dark. Dark as the winters are, lights are quite effective when everything is white...
Mine is an 8-YO Aussie-Alien (think Alf) mix. She's kind of weird in the head (as you would suspect of any creature with Melmac heritage), but a great riding partner with her "anytime, anyplace" attitude. I do try to not stare directly into her eyes while riding so as to avoid being 'hypmotized' and falling over.
Thanks all for posting pooch pics.!
I know there is more of you out there, please post a pic. even if your fat bike is not in the shot.
Millie and I are still ridding snow but we sure need some more!( more mud than snow.)
Looks like we may get a few inches this weekend.
"Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished."...Dean Koontz
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Originally Posted by kevrider
