A quick tug of the leash followed by a blast of wind in her face, and Gina Peppard is in her glory.
Zooming down the trails at nearly 40 km/hr, she is one of a handful of Colchester County folks enjoying bikejoring, a sport from Norway that involves a dog pulling a cyclist down the local trails.
“It’s pretty exhilarating,” said Peppard. “You feel his power, it’s a bit of a rush.”
However, in this new sport of bikejoring, Peppard and her fellow Colchester Trail Dogs members stress that safety is paramount.
She started training Chester, a 75 lb German shorthaired pointer, in canicross, a similar sport in which a dog pulls the runner using a harness.
Peppard taught Chester to stay on the trail and not chase animals or sniff everything that he saw, by yanking on his line and speaking the command “on by,” to make him go forward without any distractions. He usually wears a bell to warn other trail users of his presence.
An attachment on the bike prevents Chester’s harness from becoming tangled up in the wheels, while Peppard herself wears a helmet and safety goggles, allowing both owner and dog to safely share the trail with other users.
“Safety is extremely important to us and our club,” said Peppard. “We ensure [that] we are always in control, we respect and give right of way to other trail users.”
So far, Colchester Trail Dogs only has four members, including Peppard. The club was founded last November as a local home for bikejoring and canicross enthusiasts. Its members typically use the Cobequid Trail, Victoria Park, or the network of tracks around Belmont and Debert that are also well-suited for mountain biking.
Peppard helped found Colchester Trail Dogs, having been involved with dog harness sports for about three years.
While the local club is tiny, a bigger group exists in Halifax, as well as another club in Moncton.
“I want to grow the sport here locally, there’s not that many people involved that we’re aware of,” said Peppard. “We want to help people get involved and discover the sport.”
On Oct. 20-21, Peppard competed at the Central Maine Dryland Challenge, placing fourth in the bikejoring event with a friend’s dog. Her husband and Chester placed second.
Peppard attended the races in Maine along with members from four other dog harness sports teams in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
For more information and club updates, please visit the Colchester Trail Dogs Facebook page.
