Passing

A beautiful morning for a fast skijor on excellent conditions at Breckenridge Nordic Center!

Zoom!
All three are airborne with sprint-tucked Zorro & Jack on the outsides and
Rudy the flying reindeer down the middle.

I mentioned in yesterday's blog entry that the youngsters (Jack & Rudy) needed "on by" practice with people (instead of flirting with people). Well, today they corrected me and demonstrated they do understand "on by", they were just in flirtatious moods yesterday :)

Here we go, flying on by a skier on the trail. "Hi... Bye...!"

Who says we need "on by" practice?

You might be thinking that it is cheating in the prior photo because we have veteran leader Zorro on the inside for the "on by". Of course the youngsters will follow Zorro's lead.

Well, okay then, take a look at the following "on by". Distractible Rudy on the inside with his distractible buddy Jack in the middle and Zorro on the outside.

On by we go!!!!
"Who are you calling distractible?!?!" ask Jack & Rudy!

Proving their point again. Here we go "on by" a dog with Jack on the inside, Rudy in the middle and Zorro once again on the outside.

Merely glancing at the dog (for safety as you never know what it or the owner is going to do)
as we fly on by.

The video counterpart of the prior. We were flying along the trail when a loose dog appeared in front of us. We stop and wait for the owner to get the dog under control. Once controlled, I shorten the gangline for safety and release my pals to run. We perfectly sprint on by and I release the gangline to full length as we continue flying along the trail. Such good boys!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Why shorten the gangline? Well, you would be AMAZED at the things people do with their loose dogs. You do not want to know how many people think it is ok to release their dogs to "play with us" as we are running! Think about it - 3 sled dogs who want to go attached to my waist with me on skis and you think letting Fluffy jump in the middle of our group is a good idea?!?!?!?

End of the day and we have certainly earned our "end of run treats"! So much for saying Jack & Rudy need some "on by people" practice :)

"Cannot believe you questioned us!" state happy Jack & Rudy.
"Especially with my guidance, of course they know what to do!" adds happy Zorro.

A perfect day with perfect sled dogs: 7.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 95 days on the trails covering 535.0 miles with 48,700 feet of elevation climbed.