This page focuses on equipment used while bikejoring and how to use it.
ALWAYS WEAR YOUR HELMET. Buy a good one.
You only have
one brain, so don't waste it. Put reflective tape on your helmet,
make it visible.
These should be impact resistant enough to stop flying gravel and ventilated enough to prevent fogging. If you ride at night or in tunnels you want clear, not tinted, goggles. I wear ski goggles over my glasses. You will have to test before you buy if you wear glasses. Clear lenses are hard to find, but worth it in low light situations.
Leather (or some other skin or equivalent) that fit well and will protect your hands from rope burn and road rash. I use goat skin rappelling gloves from REI.
A mirror allows you to see what is behind you quickly. There are handlebar mirrors and helmet mirrors. I use both. I personally prefer a helmet mirror because I don't have to look down, away from the dogs, to use it. Also, I break handlebar mirrors a lot more often.
Sturdy mountain bike. It will be dropping to the ground and being dragged along and shouldn't have anything that is easily broken or bent.
Go for a test ride. If it isn't raining, pour water on the brake and tire rim. Can you lock the rear brake with it wet and skid to a stop? If not, the rear brake is inadequate. You must be able to lock the rear brake in the rain. I don't know much about bikes. I went for sturdy, but not real expensive.
Assume everything you put on the bike will get broken eventually.
Put lots of reflective tape on your bike. Expect it to have to be
visible at night in weird positions as it is dragged along the
ground.
So if you are going to do a long run , you have to ask yourself, how would I evacuate an injured or bloated dog? Would I carry it mile after mile by hand?
This is when you start thinking about a dog trailer you can pull with your bike, such as the doggyride novel. I have just bought this trailer, so I can't say that I have completed testing it. But this trailer is what may make some of my more ambitious running plans possible. A dog is not going to ride in a trailer without either training or being strapped in. I am busy training my dogs, but you may also want to carry a dog bag and several straps.
Essentially, the theory is that you put the injured dog in a large stuff sack, then strap it in place on the trailer. Since a frantic dog can flail around a lot, you need to strap it down securely. Not fun, or even very nice, but it beats the alternatives.
Note that you should also figure out near by vet clinics that handle dogs and do emergencies. If you travel, then get on the web and do your phone book research.
This is the line the dogs pull you with. It is also known as a gang line. I use a line with bungee cord embedded within it. There is a quick release snap.
I connect this to a nylon rope or webbing tied to the center of
the handlebars. Some people claim the quick release is important.
Frankly, I have never used the quick release unless I am off the
bike and want to move the dogs separately from the bike. Like when we
had to scramble over a large concrete block at the end of a trail.
If you are on the bike and things are out of control, letting go of the handlebar to grab the quick release will only make things worse. By the time I know there is a problem, it is too late for me to use the quick release.
The bungee can take some getting used to, but helps smooth out the shocks for both you and your dogs.
Many of the people I converse with use a Nooksack Racing Supply bay-o-net attachment to put the rope out in front of the front wheel. This is a very important issue because if the rope gets caught by the tire it will jam the tire and the bike will stop suddenly. However, you will keep going, over the handlebar. See the links page for the link to their web site. I have not used this attachment, but am told it works.
The neck lines keep the dogs together. The neck lines snap onto one dog's collar and either to the gangline or to the adjacent dog's collar.
I make my own neck lines. One design I have is a mini-bungee cord
with clips on each end and a velcro break away section in the middle.
This design is safer for the dogs than a plain rope neckline. If
the dogs pass on either side of a pole, the velcro will break and
prevent neck damage. (You are still in trouble if this happens as you
will hit anything your team splits around.) The break away neck lines
also mean if one dog stumbles or strays, the other isn't whipped
around by the neck. You can also get normal neck lines or make them
from clips and rope. I try not to use neck lines very much. My dogs
are experienced, know to avoid tangles and so I prefer to give the
dogs flexibility. But otherwise, neck lines keep the dogs in line.
I use traditional x-back harnesses. In order to cut out the
uncertainty, I take the dog to get fitted.
If you like to
sew, you can probably make your own harnesses, but remember that
doing it wrong will cause your dog unnecessary pain.
I don't know a lot about booties. I am learning as I go. Gravel is usually worse than paved roads. Big rocks are worse than smaller rocks.
Best is well worn pavement or a real fine crushed rock. Bootie up if you think your dog could get hurt, it's better than walking home real slow.
Big, heavy, fancy booties are bad, bad, bad. What you want is a running shoe or sock for your dog, not a hiking or climbing boot. If a bootie is too big or heavy or inflexible your dog will keep tripping over it. Be a minimalist. Figure on using and losing more cheaper booties, not heavy and too costly booties.
A real bad cut on a paw is a nightmare scenario. How do you get
home or to a vet?
Gauze, vetwrap, tape and booties are an
important alternative in this scenario. Different dogs have different
weaknesses in their paws, so I bootie up troublesome paws before they
will have problems.
Check your dog's paws in detail consistently.
Since my dogs
have a heavy coat I wear a headlamp while checking their paws and use
both vision and feel to find problems.
Do this regularly so you know what a normal paw feels like.
Feel
between the pads, feel the webbing between the pads so you will know
when it is hurt, cracked or swollen from infection.
Dogs hate booties. They will try to remove them. Initially they will stumble around, but if the bootie is a reasonable size and weight, they will adapt. The difficult balance is trying to teach your dogs to accept booties, but for you to be aware if a bootie is causing a problem.
(Imagine what it would be like if your first shoe was excruciatingly painful and you were forced to wear it.)
You need to put booties on securely enough so they don't fall off, or get pulled off, easily, but not so tight that you cut off circulation. I take my dogs' booties off and check their paws during long breaks.
Paw injuries take time to heal, days or weeks (especially if your dog keeps licking off the scab). So putting booties on sooner rather than later can be keep your dogs having fun instead of laying around bored. But keep checking to make sure booties are protecting your dog's feet, not hurting them.
For night or tunnel riding, get bike lights. Hey, I have a couple of hundred dollars worth of flashing lights and head lights.
I have had people mistake me & my dogs for a hovering UFO (those cars tend to screech to a stop about a block away).
What is important is that they SEE us and avoid us. People already know you are nuts (you are bikejoring in the dark), just do your best to stay alive.
I have sewn up reflective vests for the dogs. Then I hang flashing lights (one on each side of the vests) that are sold for bike riders.
If you want a cheap bright headlight, search the internet for plans. I made one and use a small car starter battery to power it. I can see a couple hundred feet ahead of my team.
I put a rack and some old side bags on my bike as well as a front bag. I can throw gear in these places.
The dogs stopping for a drink.
Dehydration and heat stroke can kill a dog. Only you can keep that from happening. Your dog needs water to stay alive. Never skimp on giving a dog water.
At a minimum always offer your dogs water on a schedule. I do this every two miles (at a minimum). Figure out what schedule will usually keep your dogs happy and healthy.
If you will run out of water, turn around and go home or somewhere you can get water. You must track water usage and never run out.
I am happy when my dogs keep peeing, because it means I am keeping them hydrated.
I stick a finger in their mouths back along the outside of their teeth to feel their temperature. If you do this a lot when they are resting, you will get a feel for normal temperature.
When in doubt, if your dog has been panting or is panting or has foam or white stuff on its tongue, your dog is dehydrated or hot.
I use wide mouth Nalgene Cantene bladders available at REI. When the weather is warm, I fill them ¼ full of water, and freeze them on their sides. Then when I am getting ready to go, I pull the bladders out of the freezer and fill them the rest of the way. Instant ice-water.
I figure on a quart every two miles for two dogs. In warmer weather they need more, but we don't run in hot weather. In colder weather we use slightly less. If you skijor, water consumption drops quite a bit.
Ice water can keep a dog going in warm weather it could otherwise not run in. It can also speed a dog up in marginal weather.
However, don't push too hard in warm weather. Your dog can't spill heat as well as you can. (Wrap yourself in plastic sheeting and put on a fur coat, then go for a run and you'll see what it is like to run in warm weather.) Remember, 25% of their energy becomes movement, 75% becomes heat they need to get rid of.
The dogs drink from Hydro Bowls collapsible water bowls available at Pet Pros. There are other brands, but I find these easiest to clean.
If I am going by streams or lakes I carry a MSR Waterworks filter available at REI. Yes, your dogs can drink from any source (just like you can). If you don't use a filter you can spend a lot of unpleasant time on the potty and cleaning up liquid dog poop. Prevention is better. Having a filter can really extend your running range.
Dressings, bandages, vetwrap, digital thermometer, anti gas tablets to deal with bloat, and other stuff. Take a pet first aid class.
Tools, tire pump, spare tube are all worth having if they save you a long walk.
Ropes and clips will break. Carry spares. Additonal ropes or webbing allow you to picket the dogs while you repair a gang line problem. The ordinary brass clips seem to break pretty easily when more than one dog pulls on them (usually a spetacular failure). A locking carabiner is helpful at that point. I carry extra biners as they are quite useful and are big enough to be manipulated quickly, even with gloves on.
I use x-country skis with metal edges. The metal edges and the ability to snow plow are the closest you will get to having a brake (unless you use your butt). However, you must take care not to hurt your dogs with the metal edges. Don't run over their paws! If you want to skijor, it really helps if you can ski well first.
This type of belt is similar to a climbing harness (though not quite as sturdy and a bit easier to put on and adjust). You hook the gang line or tug line to the belt. I find using a carabiner between the belt and tug line is helpful. There is usually a quick release on the tug line. Note that some people use a skijor belt for bikejoring. It works well for some people.
Since the dogs can eat snow and it is usually cold, this is not as much as an issue. However, you should still use the awareness and skill that you develop while bikejoring to monitor your dogs. Also remember to check their paws.
You will learn what snow conditions cause more problems and which dogs have more problems with paws. Booties are the answer. Since the dogs will lose booties either by accident or dislike, carry extras. Don't bother with the fancy, costly booties. They are too big, too inflexible and just not worth it. Your dog needs something more like a running shoe or sock than a heavy boot. Dogs will initially stumble over booties, but should adapt over time. If the bootie is too big and heavy, your dog will keep tripping over it.