What are your thoughts on bikejoring?



MayorDonut

New Member
Apr 10, 2016
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I have four dogs: two large mutts, a medium-sized mutt and a scrawny little mutt. Lately, though not in-person, I have seen more and more people acclimating their dogs to bikes and bikejoring. I've only just begun to look into the sort of things I would need to keep in mind in order to train my dogs to bikejor safely, and I'd love to talk to some of you cyclists about this, if you have any experience with this! Do any of you guys have dogs that you bike or bikejor with?
 
Never tried bikejoring. But It seems like a fun and smart idea for ownerswith active dog breeds. Like shepherds, pinschers, Malamutes, golden retrievers, boxer or mutts from that kind of relatives.

Although since I never tried it I don't have any idea how to keep distance between your bicycle and your dogs. Maybe allowing the dog to lead the pace and speed perhaps? Something not so easy to do in practice.​
 
Hey MayorDonut -- Getting into a new sport like Bikejoring is tough considering how uncommon it is in the United States. Europe has been doing it for a while, and unless you live in Canada or in a State that borders Canada, not many places have heard of Bikejoring. I've always been interested in too... I even wrote about it on my blog Reckoneer.com (http://www.reckoneer.com/alpine-racing/bikejoring-mountain-biking-gone-to-the-dogs/) to try and figure out how to get into bikejor racing. My bikejoring-ready dogs have since become more lazy foot warmers than sled runners, but I still think this would be a great sport to watch and/or have at least one go at. Not sure if Virginia is going to be bikejoring anytime soon, but I hope my research and links can help you find your way into bikejoring! Cheers!
 
I'm a huge animal lover, and I have several pets of my own. But I'd be too scared to take them with me when I'm out riding. Even though I'm a fairly experienced cyclist, I think my attention will be split with looking after my dog while keeping my eye on oncoming traffic.
 
I believe I heard about this recently. I didn't even know it existed. By the way a nice coinage. I have a golden retriever and he is quite strong and knows how to pull I never thought about this type of pulling. I wanted to buy some in-line skates and try it out with him. I lot of times he comes with me when I ride a bike but we just take it easy, no running just occasional jogging when I forget that I am not alone.
 
I have cats and dogs and I enjoy enjoining them with my favorite hobby. I had never tried this one though maybe I will be learning about it soon. I believe it is not as easy as it may sound because you have to consider if your pets are cool with it or how they are going to be acclimated to this thing that is new to them
 
Your mutts will get a great workout hauling you around.

A bijor crit would be epic.
Start_of_a_Bikejoring_race.jpg
 
The only problem with this, is that you'd probably get reported for animal cruelty even though I'm sure that it actually isn't.

Then again, having said that I'm on the large side so my 2 dogs pulling me around probably would actually be too cruel on them!
 
You be surprised how easy two working dogs can pull a mountain bike with a 200-225 lbs. rider. The build of a mountain bike at 28-35 lbs. does not take much to get rolling, while the dog team's combined pulling power can be something in the neighborhood of 400 lbs. before it becomes difficult. In other words, two "working breed" dogs (not your shar-poo and fluff-muffin, we're talking labs, hounds, and meat eaters) have enough strength to pull just about any tubby mountain bike rider for a few miles at a very good clip. Just like any sport, health of the dog team, good equipment, training, and rider weight are all factors in winning a bikejoring event. This is also why most sled events have officials and vets on-site to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. You do not get to race if your dog team is unfit.
 
It sounds like fun. I have never done it, but dogs love to run and they do like to pull on leashes, so it sounds like a good idea to bringing the two things together. I couldn't do it even if I wanted to, because my dogs are way to small, it's not to say they would want to but they are both about ankle high.lol
 
I personally love this forum because I learn a lot of stuff every single day I come in it.
This isthe first time I hear about bikejoring, I personally think that it is something amazing if you wanna take your dogs with you when riding your bike, it is also good for them because they will be working out as you ride, looks like something pretty fun!! I would definitely love to try it someday.
 
That could be a really cool activity in the countryside, the dogs will get a good run tagging along. But in a city, i think it's a bit dangerous doing that.
 
Though I would love to try this, I don't think it would work in the city where I live in where it's too congested and less informed people could take it the wrong way as well.