Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Two ride Tuesday and Church

It was Churchill's first mtn bike/trail ride Tuesday morning.  Seven months old and full of beans this dog can keep up! 

Well, almost full of beans.  It was pretty warm at 9 AM (mosquitoes are preparing to be in full force very soon) and everytime we stopped he laid down in the middle of the trail and I gave him a drink.  I really didn't know what to expect with him on the trails as he is still young, full of piss & vinegar, and his re-call isn't the best yet.  However, he did amazing and was a natural.  He stayed behind me, always kept close enough (but not so close to run into me if I stopped quickly) and responded so well. 

New signs out in SMH look great.  Churchill christened a couple with  one legged salutes.  I wasn't sure how I was going to feel after 140 + kms on Sunday and RoTD, but I was surprised how spunky I actually felt.

I was tempted to let him jump into the lake/swap but it was pretty dirty.  I'll be looking for better swimming spots.

I won a new pair of Giro gloves from a draw prize from RoTD on Sunday.  Whoot!  Not bad - comfy, grippy and light.  Best $20 I've ever spent on a bike event - registration, feed zone, free cookie, bbq and draw prize.  Whoot!  I feel like I owe them money for such a good time.

My only beef is that there is no velcro closure dealie.  Meh.  They're free so I ain't complaining.

Church liked them - good patting gloves.
To prove I was feeling good I went out, after dropping Church off, and did a 65 km loop of the Park.  Two ride Tuesdays!

3 comments:

Brian Garson said...

Did you do any "training" with the dog in a park or at home to get him used to bikes? For 7 months old I'm both stoked and surprised that he stuck around and didn't just f*ck off into the woods. I'm looking at getting a "bike" dog in a few months myself so this post excites me :)

the original big ring said...

Brian, did some training in the back year - rode around on the fat bike in the snow holding the leash having him follow - always at about 7 o'clock. Church always wants to be near me so he always followed. I was expecting him not to listen like he does when at the dog park . . . maybe not as many smells.
I don't think that I'd take him out during busy times in SMH (weekday evenings, weekends) - too many people out there.

Yeah, I'm really happy with how things went and looking forward to my next ride with him. I've never had a dog who I could take mtn biking with me (my last guy was too big!).

Thanks for reading!

Cheers

Brian Garson said...

That's awesome!