Gently Changing the Fabric of our Existence

Last weekend I knew it was time to take the final steps to accomplish a goal that I’d been dreaming of for three years.  At the start of this chosen three-day weekend, it took a full day for the burnout after a 60+ hour work week to move through my body.  A day where it felt as if there was sludge in my veins.  Although I felt a subtle shift on my second day off from work, my high-functioning depression still told me that it would be easier to strap back into my desk than to be out in the world.  The lift it takes to move from this low-low, to a normal state of ‘ok’, and into a space of stepping into something new is monumental.  Still, I managed to force myself to load up my truck with a few of my favorite things:

1. My beloved dog, Huck

2. My bike

All of this effort allows Huck and I set out on our the first bikepacking adventure of our shared life.  

For those who aren’t familiar, bikepacking is like backpacking… but you carry all of your camping gear on a bike, rather than your back.  Dogpacking is bikepacking, but you need to find a way to carry or tow your pup to cover the miles beyond what they can safety run.  Eure (or E), my old border collie, and I used to do this via trailer, which limited the types of road we could use.  With a trailer, those roads needed to be smooth enough and wide enough to tow E in the trailer. 

Throwback to bike touring with Eure, my old border collie. Circa 2017.

Huck was just a year old when I knew I wanted to try a setup like Mira and John’s.  This duo uses a long tail mountain bike to allow Mira to ride ON the bike, opening up routes that simply wouldn’t work with a trailer.  Three years ago I first reached out to Corvid Cycles to ask Chad if he would consider a one-off project to to make a dogpacker.  This would be a bike based off of his sojourner design, but with an elongated tail to allow for a basket to be added to carry Little Dude.  I actually think I sent a photo of Huck with my inquiry, figuring that if anything would inspire another human to lean into a challenging project, it would be the face of my adorable Little Dude.  A year later, after what I assume was a significant amount of blood, sweat, and tears on Chad’s end, Huck’s bike arrived.

During the second year of this dream, I rushed Huck through his training and he quickly decided that he had zero interest in staying in his basket on rides.  After he ejected himself from the basket for a second time on a deserted forest road, I paused asking him ride.  The risk that he could be injured from the leap was too great.  Although we did occasionally ride on forest roads where he could run along side our bike, Huck is the type of dog that does his processing in down time.  That means we shelved the prospect of a fully-loaded overnight adventure that season to allow him to get some distance from the project.

Enter the third year of dreaming.  Huck and I restarted this season with frequent but low pressure training sessions in the yard.  He learned to jump into the basket and was rewarded for laying calmly as I rode around my house.  We did this until the day that Ryan took this video for us:  

Our final pre-trip ride.

For those unfamiliar with my Little Dude’s body language, Huck is completely relaxed as he bumps along in the basket.

Mid-trip forest break to throw some pine cones.

This brings us to last weekend, when Huck and I set out for our very first overnight via bike.  It was an event that carried the undeniable significance of having the potential to change the very fabric of our shared existence, while also being so inconsequential in magnitude that there really isn’t too much to say about the endeavor.

Just outside of camp. Huck is still a little unsure what this adventure is all about.

• I loaded up my bike.

• Huck ran for 2-miles on a low key forest road.

• Huck asked to hop into the basket after those two miles.

• I peddled with Huck for 2 miles.

• We took a forest break so I could determine if Little Dude was carrying stress.

• He was, so we played pine cone and chilled until he reset.

• Huck asked to ride when we set out again, so I peddled him 2 more miles until camp.

• That was it.  The end of day 1.

Burning off any remaining energy at a nearby lake prior to dinner at camp.

Knowing that this was our first ever bike packing trip, my only goal was ensure Huck had a positive experience.  I’m someone who has been pushing my own comfort limits for decades.  My Dude though?  This is just year four of even being in this world.  As much as I know our time together will be too short, I do my best not to rush him into the great unknown.  For this trip, I had a route planned that had dispersed camping options with water at 3, 6, 10, and 16 miles.  Yes, I wanted to go on the 16 mile adventure but I pivoted to an easier overnight when it was clear that Huck was carrying some stress.  After our reset at 4 miles, I proceeded the extra two miles because LD had quickly returned to his baseline.  He was chill as we rode the next two miles, so I decided to end the first day on that note.  As soon as we found a campsite, I walked my guy down to the lake and we played fetch until he had the physical exercise that he is accustomed to.  The rest of the evening proceeded like any other fall backpacking trip.  We explored the forest, we played with pine cones, and we just generally enjoyed each other’s company.  “Girl and her dog”-ing it.  My favorite state of being.

Huck at Camp

The experience was both everything and so low key that it could’ve been nothing.  Another day, I may go into more specifics of our training and our gear.  Today, though, I want to end this entry in a way reflects the experience.  Simply.