Homemade bikejor line

I get alot of people landing on my blog because of the post I made on building my own bikejoring line so I thought I'd share an update. I don't get to use it anymore since Jasmine had to have the knee surgery but I did get to use it a few times before she tore her ACL. I used it on the last ride I took Tucker on. I just doubled them up on his harness but since he refused to run without Jasmine, I haven't used it since.

As usual, Tucker stopped to pee on something while Jasmine trots away. The line stretched and the tension warned Tucker to be on his way before they both got a sharp tug from one another.

The splices held perfectly, even the one I made up. I added the bungee, which was a length of cheap shock cord found at REI. I knotted the ends and taped them with electrical tape so they couldn't slip out of the line. It was tough sliding them into the areas that had a rope already threaded through it but not impossible. It did negate some of the side pulling they did on each other. All in all, I was very happy with it. I just wish I had been able to use it more.

Working with poly rope & making bikejor lines

I've been looking for a better alternative to the leashes I've been using for bikejoring. I found my alternative in hollow braid polyproplene rope. I found out how to do a simple loop splice and then I ran with it.


All you need is hollow rope and a fid (the black thing in the above pic). Lehigh company supplies one with each bag of rope.


Simply thread the end of the rope into the fid. You need to have at least 6 extra inches of rope for the the splice. Put the end of the rope into the fid and thread it through the rope and pull out the other side.


Then, thread the fid through your loop (which has been pulled down to the size you want it to be).

By the spot where you originally threaded the fid through the rope, put the fid down the center of the hollow rope.

Feed the fid & rope through the center of the hollow rope until all the extra rope had been pulled through. Snake the fid out and you've done a loop.

So, with this new piece of information, I built myself a bikejor line for two dogs. I still have to buy the bungee to insert but other than that, it's done. I got all the parts at Lowe's for $18. (That's the rope, 2 steel rings & 2 swiveling hooks.) I made sure each piece was rated for more weight than my dogs are. The various parts are rated for 170 - 300 lbs working load.

I'm not sure how long it is but it's longer than what we've been using so I'm happy about that. I've been nervous about running into the backside of one of the dogs.

This is my favorite splice of the whole line. I had to add a second line to allow for two dogs. I did my own splice that seems to be as strong as the other. I think it looks the most professional of all the splices.

Bikejoring this weekend

I took the dogs out this weekend. These guys went out for about 4 miles, Bear went out for 3 1/2 miles (too long) and Jack went for a shortish walk. I took them to a future park. I was hoping that there would be a trail already. It turns out that there was a short trail that led to a current park. They had two of these cows with different designs.

Tucker was scared to death of Chatamoochee (that's the cow's name) it took a couple minutes for him to get this close and, as you can see, he refused to put his back to her lest she should do a sneak attack! I decided not to check out the other cow.

I love all the little churches around here. They're so cute and they make you feel like you're in a small town. This one is in historic downtown Suwanee.

Suwanee Creek Greenway...the same trail we were on last weekend. No dogs to chase this time though.

Water break on the boardwalk above the beaver pond. The pond is mostly dry right now...soggy but no deep water.

Tucker was tuckered! Notice the ball between his elbow and his face. He slept like a baby all the way home. Jasmine didn't sleep much. She was enjoying the wind in her face from the open windows.

Bikejoring with the meet-up group

Today, I met with a group of people, well, only two other people and 3 other dogs. Both of them were on scooters. Laura had her dog Luna with her, a deerhound. They're sighthounds like a greyhound. So they can sprint fast but they run out of steam very quickly. Laura and Luna were behind us for a while but she finally called it quits and turned around. Emjay and his dogs Indigo and Pepe and me and my dogs continued on. We would occasionally lose sight of them around a corner but we were never too far behind. On the way back, we stayed close enough that we almost didn't ever get out of sight. My dogs were more rested than his at one of our stops so we went ahead and left earlier than he did but he caught up to us and we followed his team the rest of the way in. Jasmine and Tucker really dug deep and ran faster than they had the ride up to that point for at least 1 mile. They slept all the way home.

Emjay, Indigo & Pepe

Laura & Luna

Here I am giving directions at the intersection of the trail as we pull up (Laura & Lune rounding the corner). It was so fun. I can't wait till we get to do it again.

Bikejoring

Our first bikejoring outing away from the neighborhood. I thought that all we would be doing was sniffing the trail at a walking speed but they did really well!

It snowed a little this week and a tiny bit has stuck around. It's supposed to warm up this week though so it will all be gone soon.

I've been getting more and more interested in bikejoring. It's a sport (competitive or recreational) where a dog or dogs pull you on a bicycle. Most do it with huskies, malamutes, samoyeds or other sled pulling dogs but my dogs like running (except Jack) and they are not real fast but they enjoy it! I enjoy it too. I recently started hooking up Jas & Tucker together for their runs. They have similar speed & pace so it works out well. Last night, I took them to a bike trail near the Mall of Georgia. Lots of fun. :o)

Here they are having fun running faster than my weak legs allow them to.