麻豆社区

Since moving to the territory two years ago, I鈥檝e had the privilege of reporting on two Yukon Quests and too many recreational mushing events to remember.

Yesterday, I was granted an opportunity to experience the thrill of the sport for myself as a participant in the Hot Hounds dryland race series.

Loaned a husky by longtime racer Darryl鈥圫heepway, I decided to give bikejoring a shot at the Mt. Lorne Community Centre.

I鈥檒l admit I terrified myself by dreaming up the full gamut of possible disasters prior to the race, but all of the fretting was for naught.

Bikejoring proved to be a thrill a minute.

Upon arriving at the Mt. Lorne Community Centre, I was introduced to my race partner Coho 鈥� a prized seven-year-old husky from Sheepway鈥檚 Stardog Kennel.

After signing my life away on a pre-race waiver, the mushers gathered for a trail meeting, where the routes and markers were explained.

A few minutes later, I was fitted with race bib number 10 and a harness around my waist. A leash was then clipped directly from my harness to the husky鈥檚.

I used the time to grill Sheepway for some last-minute race advice.

鈥淗ow do I let people pass me? Do I鈥坧edal the whole way?鈥圵hat are the commands for turning?鈥�

鈥淵ou won鈥檛 get passed,鈥濃�圫heepway chuckled in response. 鈥淐oho won鈥檛 let that happen.鈥�

Coming out of the start chute proved to be the most nerve-racking moment of the day, as Coho immediately pulled hard down the straightaway towards the two-mile trail, rather than making the sharp left towards the one-mile route.

Luckily, the crowd of onlookers helped to sort us out and eventually pointed us down the right path, with only a few trail markers going down in our wake.

From that point on, it was just the two of us racing down the dirt trail. Blazing through the forest at top speed only heightened the intensity of the experience.

I rode the brake hard early, and can only remember pedalling once 鈥� during a slight uphill section.

Somehow, I managed to keep my mountain bike upright and tangle-free, while Coho strained ahead of me, at one point running so hard that he sent a cloud of dirt flying at my face.

The bond I鈥坒elt with the husky ahead of me was instantaneous.

I found myself yelling 鈥淕ood boy!鈥圙ood boy!鈥� on the straightaways, and quickly learned to yell out the commands of gee (right) and haw鈥�(left) well before the sharp turns in the trail.

Overall, I placed fifth out of eight racers in yesterday鈥檚 one-mile race. Or, I should say, Coho placed fifth, with little thanks to me.

Together, we crossed the finish line in 3:50, a second behind fourth-place finisher Janet Keller, and over a minute behind Sheepway, who earned his third straight victory in the event.

I can still picture Coho鈥檚 questioning eyes turning around to meet mine mid-race as if to say 鈥溾�榃hy are you holding the brake?鈥圠et鈥檚 go!鈥欌��

Following the race, I gave Coho a thorough patdown and a cool drink of water, before heading over to the gazebo for some post-race musher talk over burgers and smokies.

I highly recommend the experience to any dog owners out there who may be interested. In fact, is anyone selling a husky?