Cross-country skis

Bear has been going crazy not being able to go for a run. I run as I can on walks but I can't run as fast as he likes or for as long as he would like. As soon as we get into the driveway, he spins around and grabs the leash with his mouth and tries running...he still, after all these years, thinks that it's effective. It's cute and it makes me laugh but I can't let him get away with it or else he'll do it all the time. With all the snow and gross slush on the roads, I just haven't had the oppurtunity to take him out with the bike. So I have been thinking about how I can make it posssible for him and Jasmine in the snow.

The solution I have come up with is cross-country skiing. I went to all the different thrift stores in the area to see if it was even possible to find them. I found 5-6 pairs. I then went to REI and got a little bit of knowledge about cross country boots. Basically, none of the newer style of boots will fit the older skis. But to buy the newer style of skis to fit the boots would be way more money than I'm willing to spend for a couple of months worth of runs.

So what I've decided to do was to buy a cheap pair from Goodwill and figure some way to connect my snow boots to them. I got the skis for $15 and the poles for $5. The poles are a bit bent but I don't really care. I have an idea of how to connect the shoes but it will definitely take some work on my part so my goal is to have that finished by the time Adam comes home.



There is actually a sport called skijouring. It's where a person is on skis and they have one or more dogs attached to them by a line. Basically what I want to do. While I don't plan on going as fast as the woman below, I think it is a good example picture.

I'm kind of nervous about this since I've never skiied before in any form. I have good balance but no skills. I don't want to mow down my dogs! Hopefully the 20-30 ft leash (can't remember exactly) will keep them far enough in front that I'll have room to stop, or fall if I have to. I'm not too worried about falling on snow under normal conditions but with the sensetive knot on my thigh from the bike accident, I'm worried that I'll hurt that. Also, just like when I run my dogs with the bike, I will do it one at a time so I have more control (hopefully).