Bikejoring: And so it Begins!!

For the longest time I have been wanting to do mushing and had thought that mushing was only done with a sled on snow.  Living in an area where we don't really get much snow, mostly a lot of cold, I was excited to find out that there was such a thing as dryland mushing. 

In dryland or urban mushing, instead of using a sled that requires snow, mushers will have the dogs pull a wheeled vehicle such as a bike, scooter, or rig.  Being on wheels allows for a greater range of terrain to run the dogs on, allowing for more training to be done  during the year.  When I first saw videos of dryland mushing, I knew that this was something I wanted to do. 

However, I was restricted due to the limitations of the dogs we kept.  Tetsu, being a mere 21lbs, was too small even though he does have a great desire to run and pull.  Tikaani has LP, and though the vet did give the okay to do some mushing, I would have to take it easy and wouldn't be able to run him as much as I wanted to.  I was hoping to do some mushing with Miyu when I brought her home, but her bad hips meant that this was not the sport for her.

And then came Titan, a husky born to mush.  Coming from racing/working lines, has been built both physically and mentally for this sport that I have been dieing to get into.  Bringing him home renewed and invigorated my desire to mush.  I began to research and join online groups to learn from those more experienced than me. 

Sadly, there hasn't been much local interest, have found barely a handful of people who mush in my area.  I did manage to find mushing groups in neighboring states and though they aren't close enough to visit regularly, they're still close enough for me to attend events once in a while and pick mushers' brains in person.

One such event was the Betty Carhart Memorial Sweepstakes Race hosted by the Jersey Sands Sled Dog Racing Association (JSSDRA).  That was an incredible experience and even though it was really cold, I still had loads of fun. It was just me and Titan, Tom stayed home with the rest of the pups as he wanted to spend his day off relaxing instead of freezing.

There was a lot of energy, so many dogs barking out of excitement and desire to run.  I talked to a lot of great mushers, got to see so many different type of equipment and drool over some of the rigs. Though the real fun and action, if not racing, was being part of the trail help. Helped make sure the dogs didn't go the wrong way, and was rewarded with being able to see up close the teams in action.  Hoping to race at this event some day.  Check out the images I took, you don't need a Facebook account to see them:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151817629506379.1073741831.681261378&type=1&l=a24d3aeb25


Anyways, I've been bitten by the bug and have started training Tikaani and Titan.  Will try to keep a log of each endeavor.  Stay tuned to see what adventures we have during these practice runs.