Mountain Biking with a Trail Dog – A Reflection on Five Years with Darby

By Josh Clevenstine

I’ve been mountain biking with my five-year-old female chocolate lab, Darby, since March 2020. We ride multiple times a week, year-round, regardless of weather. The results have been pretty special. Here are a few key takeaways – the cornerstones of what works for us are consistency and patience.

On the trails, I have wheels and suspension – Darby has muscles, ligaments, bones, four feet and paw pads. If these paw pads aren’t calloused, they can and will tear. How do you avoid this? Ride and ride often. It’s not fair to the dog if you only run it once every 10 days and then wonder why it gets hurt. How long and how often should you ride? YOU know how much you want to ride, so work the dog up to what will mutually work. Just like us, dogs will build muscle. The dog’s strength and conditioning does not care about your excuses to not ride. Depriving a trail dog of its exercise is a negative, so if you decide to have a trail dog, commit to it. Get bike lights, a fat bike for the wintertime, and snowshoes for when the snow is too deep. 

I’m not going to list places I like to ride with my dog. Why? Liability… The trails are used by more than just dog loving bikers. There are many people who aren’t fond of dogs, and that is their right. We have to remember that one of us can ruin it for all of us. If you dig into most local ordinances, you’ll find leash/verbal command laws. Ideally, you want to ride in places that have, “under verbal command,” as law of the land. Do your homework on where to ride when it comes to local law. If your dog and a trail user get into an altercation and it blows up in legal retribution you may ruin trail dog privileges for future users. If you ride with your dog off leash, you must put in the work to have it be obedient. When the dog is young, it takes time, patience, and consistency to work into the habit of NOT running up to strangers. Running your puppy with an experienced trail dog can be helpful. 

For favorable trail terrain, remember that when we’re coasting downhill, the dog is in full sprint. If we ride somewhere easy, we ride faster, so the dog is going to run harder and faster. If you are trying to get the dog into shape, you’ll burn the poor thing out running at a blue flow-oriented park. You need to work up to high-speed flow and the best way to do it is a year-round diet of Northeast technical riding – rocks and roots build great callouses and naturally trim claws! Ideally, you want to take the dog to a park that has a mix of short ups and downs. A place that’s technically challenging on the bike keeps us at a slower steady trotting pace for the dog. Look for a park that’s away from the roads, more on the difficult side (you’ll get better at riding too), and the dog doesn’t care if you ride in the rain, snow, or slop.

Bells – I’m told you can hear Darby and I coming from a good ways out, and this makes me grin. She wears a blaze orange reflective harness with two bells taped and zip-tied high and tight to the handle (less chance of getting caught in the bike). Darby’s bells let me know where she is, while allowing me to focus on the trail. The bells also give local wildlife enough warning to steer clear – “bear bells” is applicable here! The bells also give other trail users a warning that something is coming – countless people tell me they love the bells. 

This time of Darby’s life where she runs with me year-round won’t last forever, and I will very much miss it. The small hassles a dog brings are more than worth it. I love when we’re halfway into a long ride, taking a break, and Darby just sits down next to me – those are good conversations. I also love watching her plunge into water, carry a stick, chase a deer, or tree a flock of unsuspecting turkeys. For those willing to put in the work to make it happen, the bond is a special one.

Josh Clevenstine is a truck driving Adirondack folk musician and trail/comm director for Saratoga Mountain Bike Association. When not ripping around on his bike, you may find him strumming his guitar at venues in the Capital Region and Adirondacks. For gig and streaming info, visit: joshclevenstine.com.