Women from Sussex, N.B., have started what they believe is the first “fat bikejoring” club in Atlantic Canada.
Bikejoring involves riding a bike with dogs pulling you. The fat in the club name references the “fat” type of wheel that their bike uses.
“You need a bike, you need a good-fitting pulling harness and a bungee line and you are good to go,” said Allyson Mitton, who started the club this winter.
She said if you love winter and have dogs that need to blow off some steam, this just might be the sport for you.
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Mitton and three adventurous friends from Sussex are the only members of the club so far, but they are welcoming new members.
Marion Moeller took up fat bikejoring with her two terriers Spider and Mila this year.
“They were epic failures in obedience class. They kept pulling and pulling and one of the trainers said to me I don’t know what to do with them and I said I do, I am going to hook them up and let them go,” said Moeller.
She has been obsessed with the sport ever since.
“There is no off switch even after running five or six miles they will just have a nap in the car and go again,” she said.
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Big or small, Mitton says any dog can be a fat bike mushing dog as long as they have the drive to run.
“What dog doesn’t like to run and pull on a leash? It is perfectly natural so we let them,” she said.
The members and the dogs peel through the snow like someone is holding a steak at the end of the trail. The look on their faces — and their owner’s faces — is pure joy.
“They don’t stop running so we get places and people laugh at ya and that is OK. Just stay out of my way,” said Moeller.