We've been running the dogs in groups of 11 to 12 with our bikes lately. We've never really done this before. It's going very well. We keep their pace faster and we can go further. It will hopefully give us a bit of a headstart come fall training. On Friday, we took the drive up to Marenisco, MI, to some of the trails/roads we were using this last winter. Its a really nice place to go with the dogs, no traffic in the summer, very little snowmobile traffic in the winter. Great trails in great condition all the time, with some longer distances if you know the area and take the right loops. The drawback is that its like a 60 mile or more round trip with the truck, so it costs in gas and time. We wish we had some property up there to stay at when we have time to train. Maybe we will someday move over that way.
We did almost 8 miles on the bikes, with the dogs obviously doing a few more than that. On the way back, they stayed right with us most of the way because they were getting a bit tired in the heat, but its nice because we can observe them running and trotting from any angle and see their strengths and weaknesses better. When they are pulling, we only see them from behind. We can also get a glimpse at whats to come, who may be the super stars this season and who might be keeping to just short, fun runs, and who may be getting put on the retired list soon. Right now we have 2 dogs that are completely retired and at least 2 more who will be soon. Thats one of the hardest things about having sled dogs. They love what they do, and don't want to be benched.
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| Towards the start, they are usually way ahead of us. |
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| And they like to stop and sniff everything |
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| There's lots of places to stop and cool off and get a drink. |
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| Jeremy had a hitchehiker for a couple miles. |
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Scooby Doo trotting right along.
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