Back in the Saddle

TeamHumDog... Representing SoHum Mushers in the G.ville Rodeo Parade 2008. Pepper and Snoopy played the part of real mushing pups tied out to their rig. (in this case, a '92 Volvo wagon, in lieu of a properly tricked out Toyota 4x !)
The rodeo was a hoot. The day was hot and the crowd was festive. The dogs got to socialize and gain discipline around lots of different people, vehicles, (Harley Run was in town!) horses, other dogs, and even some mini donkeys. The donkeys were the closest to having a run in with the notorious Team HD. Go, Easy, Stop, Leave It, and On By were the main focus of our slow, 4 block adventure. They loved it, and we all hope to return again for the next parade in town. Hopefully a few more mushers will come out of the woods and join us!Pepper...Looking like she's moving, when she's standing still. Below, the still waters of our favorite redwood forest trail.
Why I Bikejor: Tired dogs are happy (and good!) dogs.
I am stoked to report I am back on the trail and loving it. I am taking it slow and must admit, I AM AFRAID! So I initiated a whole new set of rituals that I've added to the outset of our runs; it includes various prayers, affirmations, and outright bargaining with the Gods! "Please let me return alive." My knee injury sidetracked us but good, and it will be a while before we are up to our usual stunts and stellar mileage. In the meantime, I am loving the runs we have done, and am especially grateful to Humboldt Orthopedics, and specifically Ryan, and Dr. Shishido, who have given me superb care. Right now, the whole of inland Northern California is smothered in smoke. So we sadly, have had to curtail our activities yet again! SIDE NOTE: We did get to explore a great beach trail at Table Bluff. If you've not been out there, check it out! The area reminds me of Honeydew. To get there: Head west at Hookton Road for about 5 miles. It is coastal and beautiful. The beach is semi ridable, and there is also a pretty cool 4x trail that heads south out of the park. There is a picnic area, porta-potties, and lots of barely traveled, flat, paved roads as well. I wonder if it's smoky up north....See you on the trail! Oh, and please don't forget to check out my new YouTube videos.

Three Links and One Quick Book Review

arctic MOUNTAINBIKING goddess You must see it to believe it...I know, not dog powered, but pretty damn thrilling none the less. This girl and her pimped out ride are tough!YukonQuest which is considered the 1000 mile warm-up to the Iditerod, is underway now (started Feb 9) and is proving to be a fascinating race. Lance Mackey who won both the Yukon Quest AND the Iditarod last year, is currently in the lead. His story is very inspiring. Both his brothers have raced and won the Iditerod (victory for both on their 6th race). Last year Lance, after surviving cancer, won the Yukon Quest and with just a one week rest, took virtually the same team out, and ran and won the Iditarod. (his 6th run...cosmic)

The Iditarod starts March 1st. Be sure and browse their site. It features inspiring video clips, great educator links, and of course, amazing Alaska scenery. Photos above are from (deleted - to view visit:) the websites featured.

And now,
a Quick BOOK Review:Ski Spot Run: This is an well put together book on skijoring specifically and other dog powered sports generally.

For those of you who have never heard of skijoring, take note: (ski·jor·ing n. [modif. of Norw skikjøring, fr. ski + kjøring driving]: a winter sport in which a person wearing skis is drawn over snow by one or more dogs)

This book was written by Matt Haakenstad and John Thompson w/illustrations by Jack Lunde. It is an entertaining book with comical sections describing certain events on the trail, written from the point of view of the humans, and then the pups! Very insightful, and humorous! Here is a link to an essay by a young lad that also appears in the book, it is titled My First Skijoring Experience. In it, he captures the passion that rises in one that feels the call of nature, and the pull of canine power. One amusing question the authors pose to the reader early on, is "Was Murphy's law originally written with skijoring in mind?" They then illustrate their conviction that indeed it was, by coining various new Murphy's Laws, such as " The probability of falling or crashing, as well as the apparent severity (e.g.,spectator WOW factor) of stated fall or crash, is a function of the number of persons in the immediate vicinity. " The same zany logic is applied to many other areas of skijoring, and aspects of it, like improperly positioned harnesses for instance. The degree of screw-up, is of course, directly related to the dogs wriggling and fussing while you try to remedy it! This book is full of good information, plenty of great pictures and skillful illustrations, with clear descriptions of all the basic gear, commands and important safety tips. There is a thorough description of bikjoring with tips and photos as well. They cover scootering and skating behind your pooch too. I highly recommend this book to those interested in learning more about this fascinating world of dog powered sports. SkiSpotRun is available here ..Of course now I want my own skijor belt and a pair of x-country skis... for the 3 times a year it snows at my place...
:)
Beautiful pups...i love the two shots below they look like my doggies! All pictures are from SKIJORNOW!

From world Championships
Birgitte Naess, Norway

Photo by Jack Kuntz

Let's See If This Works - Video

VIDEO: Sunset Run With the Pups.

Pepper is naughty sometimes and will try to grab Snoopy by the neck, in a display of dominance, as we run. This was one of those times. Notice at around 36 seconds, after already going after him once or twice, they get so revved on each other they jump off into the ditch to wrestle, or chase each other! ...i don't even know! As always, when we ride, I am gripping the bike for dear life with either a stupid smile plastered on my face, or the fear of death dominating my expression, as we confront the 3 second rule; You have just 3 seconds in most crash situations to avoid disaster. So stay focused. And have fun! P.S. Super Gratitude to Pernell, my computer guru. He taught me in three minutes, the fix to my locked up movies. A glitch I'd blundered an afternoon away trying to remedy. Yea! Thanks PT! Enjoy~

New Gear More Pics

The Gear is Here...The pups are loving the new harnesses. Snoopy's is a bit small and I will be reordering his. I think he's either grown since we ordered it, or his scrunched up fear stance affected the reliability of my measurements! Pepper's fits great and hangs off her hips just right. I've got the primo set up now, with a bungee fortified tow line and my own two dog tow arrangement. Rather than the double dog line sold by the pros, which was much too long, I like to use a two dog leash unit with a spinning mid weight clip in between the caribeener and the two leash section, to keep the lines from twisting as they change sides many times throughout each ride. This, due to the fact we are not using a neck line. As a team we decided it wasn't worth it. The two leash portion is short, so it doesn't allow them to stray that much from each other anyway and they they are free to switch sides with virtually no tangles. I also really prefer having them closer than 8'. All the pro set-ups put the dogs out about 13'-15', which might be good for wide open trails, or skijoring. I attach the line to the bike t-post with a wide but small nylon collar through the end of the line and around the center of the t-post (my fave), or simply slip the line through itself, around the t-post, as pictured in the photos below. I've got some great videos to share, but am having some difficulty downloading them. Picture Project refuses to recognize them, so they are helplessly trapped in my camera. I read a great book, Ski Spot Run . I have a good review of it, and tons of fun and funny bikejor info to share. Stay tuned, and Keep Riding~!~
P.S.. I ditched the black background in this blog template, as the winter itself is too dark and gray. Besides, gold is my favorite color right now, easier on the eyes too, no?

Pismo and General Update

I am happy to report Pismo Beach is Bikejor friendly. This shot comes from Grover Beach which is a beautiful 5 mile stretch of user-friendly beach. It is one of the few beaches in California that you can drive on, so it is very popular with ATV & dune buggy enthusiasts. I was there on a holiday weekend and the weekdays may be less busy but I made a point of showing up early, as this beach was swarming with motorized vehicles by 9 am. It is a wonderful wide expanse of perfectly flat beach. There were a couple inlets, that made for exciting water crossings mid-run. It was a total blast and both the dogs quickly got into the daily routine. They were very enthused about our run each morning, and we returned to our quarters, and the activities of the day, relaxed and happy. Pismo is a very dog friendly city. Some restaurants even allow them on their patios! We worked some on socialization, but Snoopy basically made being out with him a living hell. His alert was on alert. He insisted on remaining alert to, fussing and lunging at approaching dogs. We have since started a new session of obedience classes and my behaviorist suggested medicating him with a mild tranquilizer beforehand, which seems to be beneficial. Canine aggression is a serious problem. Aggressive dogs are not welcome on the race circuit and if we want to compete at all, he must overcome this fear. It is a fear based aggression, so our goal is to have him experience many different dogs, in different settings and have no negative experience in it. I am grateful to Dr. Michelle Stone who has been a valuable aide in helping me help Snoopy reach his potential. We still have a long way to go. He is just one year old. I am bummed that he is not a friendly, dog-loving pup. It is common for McNab's to have little tolerance for strange dogs, so we are possibly working against an inbred trait. I taught him not to chase the cat, so maybe we can work through his need to mess with other dogs. We will all be happier, believe me! Of course Pepper was perfect and only when he started acting up would she get involved. So, if I can rein him in, then the whole pack can relax.

Since arriving home we have been working on our couch potato lifestyles, luckily dogs adapt! heh-heh.. Seriously, after riding everyday on the road, we took about a week off for a big storm and post holiday comedown. Our real mushing gear arrived soon after our return, so we could not stay off the trail for long. I got harnesses and lines from SkijorNow, and Nooksack Racing. I also got a weird bikejor adapter unit. We are testing them all. Full report with pics soon to come... I must admit we gave up on the neckline after just a couple tries. They are much happier not being restricted to one position, and are quite intuitive when it comes to disentangling themselves with the simple line-to-halter configuration. With the neck line, it was like biking with a plate full of spaghetti! ...and where did they pick up the habit of turning around every time we stop? That little habit results in an instant tangle with a neck line attached. I like the unison energy it requires when they are in their groove, but it was way too many tangled lines the rest of the time. So I'm letting them go pretty much as they please. It is interesting how they run hip to hip anyway, even without the neckline.

My bike is super torqued. We did a couple hairy rides in the park and there was tons of brush, branches, and entire trees littering the trails. At one point they zigged, (haw) when we needed to zag, (gee) so I had to dump the bike in an effort to save my life as we wildly careened over some forest windfalls. It completely bent my brake lever, and made a special adjustment to my rear derailleur. I broke my chain the next day, and today I heard a weird squeaky-creaky noise in my headset. Drive it til it drops i guess...

Ideally for bikejoring one would want a bike with front and rear shocks, plenty of gears, heavy duty rims and disk brakes. To me it seems a little silly to spend very much $ on a bikejor rig, when you might be dropping the thing down going about 15 miles an hour and watch it get dragged like 10 feet through the gravel, while the dogs figure out what is going on...just break it!

I have some great bikejor info to share. Stay tuned, click any link to the left in the mean time, to learn more, and keep running those pups!

Dogs Across America - Report

We completed over 11 miles this weekend as our contribution to Dogs Across America. The dogs are both in prime shape right now. They easily completed the double loop and in record time too. We clocked one 3 mile stretch at just 13 minutes! The rain started just as we completed our 5.5 mile outing today. I bent the rear rim bouncing down the single track with my over amped dual puppy charged mountain bike. I also had an embarrassing encounter with a couple small pups and their bewildered owner. WHAT? Never seen a crazed team of dogs, dragging an obviously equally crazed passenger (you'd have to be!) on a mountain bike, all carreening across the meadow to sniff and otherwise pester your pups? We must work on leave it, go-by, and a better easy would help a lot as well! Snoopy is just a naughty little block head sometimes. Pepper, of course, did her best to cooperate. But, he literally dragged her, me, and the bike. Like I said, embarrassing. My trust (assumption) that they would merrily go-by when they had already alerted onto the little dogs, was a serious mistake. I'm thinking disc brakes might help give me more control as well. Luckily, the dog walker was very calm, and she wasn't frightened or upset that our dogs all created a intricate spaghetti knot about her leg. Oh, and did I mention mountain bikes flying through the air?? ...nutty sport. These guys are still beginners, as am I. I hope we all survive long enough to at least semi-master this work/play.

Dogs across America in the news.

3rd Annual Dogs Across America Dec 15-16

Press Release: What is Dogs Across America?

Dogs Across America is a dog mileage event to demonstrate the pulling and traveling ability of ordinary (and extra-ordinary) dogs. It is an annual event that takes place in the cooler days of autumn before dog sled race season begins. Anybody who owns a dog can join and add their miles to their State's total. We strive to total at least 3,000 miles in a single weekend. With that number of miles, dogs will have crossed America in one weekend - state by state and province by province.

In each participating State and Province, teams of dogs and humans travel the chosen trail(s) in the State. They can travel with the dog pulling them on a vehicle or they can walk with their dog. Some State coordinators divide trails into sections so that the event is like a relay. Other State coordinators choose trails where groups can travel together. Individuals who can't drive to the group trail can travel their own trail and report their miles to the coordinator. The total miles traveled in the State by the dog teams gets counted toward the nation wide goal of 3,000 miles.

In 2005, our first year, the total miles was 205. In 206, it was 821.
821 should be easy to beat in 2007.

The dog teams vary in size and pull a variety of vehicles. Some dogs pull a scooter; others pull 4 wheel rigs (usually 4 to 6 dogs). Other participants may use sulkies, bikes, rollerblades or wheelchairs. Some will run or walk the trail on foot. Some of these walking dogs will be drafting - pulling a cart.

Some states, due to lack of a suitable trail or if the participants are too spread out, run local trails and add all the participants' mileage together. State organizer collects mileage, number of human participants, name of trail(s) and sends it to web master Mike Behnke for compiling and posting on this web site.

Interested in joining in on the fun?

We would love to have you and your dogs join us, but in the interest of being organized, we need to register everyone that would like to participate. We are now accepting registrations and you can sign up here or the signup link in the menu. You can also go to your state and clicking the signup link from that page.

note from Jj: One of SoHum's chosen trails is the Southern Humboldt Community Park. You may ride/run/walk any trail or road you desire, adding your totals to the rest in the state.

Photos

We're off!

Yes, that really is a huge glob of ...SPIT flying out Snoopy's mouth! Mr SlobberFace.
Pretty fun times. Notice my gear is still amateur style. Pepper runs with a traditional harness designed for use with a leash, and Snoopy has a harness from BikerDog that came with another side unit for running your dog. If I recall correctly, it was actually designed to discourage pulling, because when the dog is to the side you want to avoid them jerking around. Heh heh. He is a real bullet, and I can say this harness has done little to discourage him from pulling.....Anyway, I hook the two dogs to my bike with a simple double leash that is extended all the way. This is affixed to the t-bar of my bike with a small collar with metal buckle. We have already worn one collar out. The dogs have new gear coming soon. They will be fitted with real harnesses and I will be testing a couple different line set-ups. As you can see though, one can have a great deal of fun and harness some amazing canine power with just the simplest gear.

Welcome Aboard!!

This is the maiden post for the SoHum Mushers! Friday night the 7th of December, SoHum Mushers was represented at the 2ND annual Garberville Parade of Lights by the sole member of this fine organization, Jojo and her two dog team comprised of Snoopy and Pepper. They completed the first loop from the Cal Trans lot into Garberville and back again. With just two near dog fights, and lots of distracting lights and sounds, it was a raging success with the dogs performing impressively. "It was a blast! We will be back again next year, hopefully with more dog teams, and happy dog drivers!" report by: Jojo Roxx : Team HumDog... sorry - no pics :(