handlebar bag
Duluth Pack’s “Candy Bar Bike Bag”
top tube bag
rear rack + bag Topeak MTX DXP
Aerobar
Profile Designs “Century”
-- the aerobar keeps the towline off and out of the front wheel.
water bottles (3)
Disc Brakes!!
Garmin Edge 200
speedometer
odometer
computer (ave. spd, etc.)
online records
comes with two holders
so can be swapped between bikes, scooters
Bell
C&O NPS regulations require that bikes have a bell or horn audible for 100’ -- to give other C&O users fair warning of your approach.
water bottles
Bell (Electra brand)
Garmin Edge 200
Aerobar
Handlebar bag
Disc Brakes!!
Diggler Alpha Disc Scooter
Aerobar
(intentionally upside down on the Diggler)
Thule T2 bike rack
best rack style for scooters, too.
front shock absorber
this bike style is known as a “hardtail” mountain bike
Trek 7.5fx - hybrid bike
This bike came with 700x32 slick tires designed for pavement. Spokes bike shop in Alexandria swapped those out for 700x42 Continental Cyclocross (knobbies) tires that are about 60-70% of the width of my mountain bike tires. Bigger tire makes for a slightly softer ride and the tread provides a lot more grip on dirt paths like the C&O Canal towpath. This bike was also outfitted with a used Aerobar purchased on e-bay ($29), which was installed upside-down to better channel the towline. You’ll see a GoPro videocam mounted on the Aerobar.
I started scootering with Gidget in 2003 and happened upon an aerobar as an effective way to keep the towline off the wheel (if the towline gets tangled in your front wheel, you will come to an abrupt halt - risky for you and damaging to your towline.) Since then I’ve accumulated scooters, bikes and Profile Designs brand aerobars (their “Airstryke” and “Century” models). They are expensive, I’ve paid between $49-$90 for mine. Friends have been finding used aerobars on e-Bay for $29-$40. I can’t vouch for brands other than Profile Designs. There are other more common and less expensive options -- such as a “noodle” ($20) or homemade device using PVC pipe. You’ll need to do something to keep your towline off your front wheel. By the way, the Diggler may not be the best option for you and since they ceased being manufactured in 2015, that would be convenient. For those with just one Samoyed or two that aren’t really strong pullers, I recommend the Blauwerk “Willy” which is sold in the U.S. as the “Sidewalker.” They are much less expensive ($379 here) than the Diggler ever was and with lower ground clearance (i.e. easier to kick) may well make more sense. I’ve owned three of the Willy scooters (I keep extras for friends and clinics), they were what Gidget pulled on the National Mall and the C&O Canal, starting in 2003. A woman in the Potomac Valley Samoyed Club recently purchased an even less expensive scooter (Schwinn “Adult Shuffle Scooter” for $130 on Amazon) which I took for a brief spin (no dog) and it may be adequate. I’d prefer the Willy but this Schwinn is less of an investment than either the Willy or Diggler.
Doggyride Trailer
Gidget and I began scootering in 2003. In 2006, I bought a mountain bike to extend her running season by taking the pulling work off her during early fall and spring. Around her 9th birthday, (veterinarians define “senior” as dogs 7 years or older), I was pulling a bike trailer designed for dogs -- just in case Gidget ever needed a lift.
It had occurred to me that especially on the C&O Canal towpath, where there are no taxi cabs or other motor vehicles, that if Gidget or another dog we were running with were ever injured it would be wise to have a dog trailer to transport them back to the parking lot. And so I bought the first of a couple dog trailers (the beige “Croozer” with the white stripe in the photo to your right).
Last year, I bought the orange “Doggyride” brand “Novel 10” dog trailer/stroller. That is the one I most heartily recommend. It is lighter than the Croozer and very capable (110-pound weight capacity). I bought Gidget’s on Amazon (as did my friend, Brenda, who is very happy with the one she bought for her Dalmation, Darcy).
Fortunately, we’ve only needed the trailer for hauling dogs a couple of times (when Gidget burned a paw on chemical de-icer at the Lincoln Memorial and when Cathy’s girl, Shay, somehow knicked a paw pad at the C&O Canal). But we also value the trailer for hauling water for the pups and coffee and cocoa (and sometimes Krispy Kremes) for the peops. We just make sure that any gear inside the trailer is stored in or can be moved to backpacks, in case the trailer needs to be cleared out to transport a dog.
Among the reasons I recommend the Doggyride Novel 10 trailer is that it comes with a kickstand and luggage rack, to which a backpack can be attached. Also, its backdoor is a large pocket that can hold a jacket and other items (such as poop bags).
Other benefits of the Doggyride include wheels that easily pop off and on (the center hub is a button). And, the Doggyride is designed - when the wheels are removed - to sit flat in your car and serve as a soft crate.
The Doggyride attaches to your bike via a simple attachment that slips onto your bike’s rear axle. You can view it here: http://www.doggyride.com/us/en/P1275/Extra-hitch.aspx
“Fat” bike
Originally custom-crafted for the bicycling version of the Iditarod in Alaska, “Fat” bikes (tires up to 5” wide) are a recent innovation in bicycling and transformative for bikejoring with your dog as the super-wide tires make it possible to ride far more efficiently over snow, sand and mud. Samoyeds happen to love snow, sand and mud! If you don’t currently have any bicycle and are looking at buying one for bikejoring, I strongly recommend considering purchasing a fatbike. If you already have a bike but would like the option of bikejoring on sand and snow, get a fatbike. In the past few years, mainstream manufacturers such as Trek have begun offering consumers a variety of fatbike models. As with regular mountain bikes, you have the option of front or dual-suspension. The Trek Farley 5, which I purchased in January 2016, does not have suspension -- because the huge tires themselves offer significant shock absorption -- and we bikejor on relatively smooth paths like the C&O Canal, National Mall and the beach (best done at low-tide, even with a fatbike soft sand will be challenging). If you are going to a beach vacation area you may find that you can rent a fatbike. Friends have done that at the Outer Banks of North Carolina where fatbike rentals run about $80 a week. They take their own aerobar or noodle to keep their bikejor tow-lines off the front tire. Rental bikes tend to be heavier than ones you can purchase from high-quality manufacturers like Trek but the ones we’ve seen have done well at the beach. As with all types of bicycles, purchase prices will vary based on frame materials (steel, aluminum, carbon-fiber) and quality of the components (brakes, gears, etc.). By the way, I’m 5’ 3” tall and my Trek Farley 5 has the 15” frame (smallest Trek offers in that model), 26” diameter wheels and 4.7” wide tires.
Trek Farley 5 @ OBX
Schwinn Adult Shuffle Scooter
5-week old puppy
Gidget
