Climbing or descending, known trails or exploring a line for her first time, The Clairebarian generally takes the lead. This has been our system since she started riding. It gives her the first crack at reading the trail, and the chance to make her own decisions, and while I’m always feedback-light, it provides the best opportunities to see and make suggestions while in motion.
Occasionally I will be sent ahead to spot a feature or take a photo, and more rarely to demonstrate a move but for the most part Claire’s confident in what she can ride today. Certainly, in the case of a few uphill and downhill moves that she finds intimidating, the fact she’s done them before bears little weight on the go/no-go decisions of the moment, and I love that.
Now, occasionally I am molaring my mucosas watching from the back seat as things go sideways. But, in general, I’ve not doubted our system until today.
It was the first full day of the school year today and when I picked Claire up she was thrilled about her day and also the lowest energy I have seen her in months. Navigating social interactions and the noise-noise-noise can be draining, especially when you’re out of practice, so I suggested a few options for shorter pedals than originally planned. She came back with hike-a-biking up the power lines to Forever After (“Thank You” to Trail-Team-Tom!). Okay!?
We made good time up the hike. Claire thinks it’s because we were walking faster than in July & August, and I suppose that is technically true. In fact, the utter lack of delicious salmonberries and huckleberries shortened our stoppages to two short water breaks rather than a summertime smorgasbord of cessations.
In any event, she dropped into her new(ish) favourite trail on Mt. Seymour and away we flowed up and down on I-love-this-rock-number-one, I-love-this-rock-number-two, I-love-this-rock-number-three, and so on. And truly everything was going swimmingly until we were riding down one of the steeper single-track-and-a-half rock-armoured sections and suddenly were not alone.
By body language and barking this f*cking dog wasn’t friendly. I was trapped behind Claire’s wheel and there was nothing I could do but yell “HEY, HEY, HEY” while Claire hit the brakes and tried to find her footing and the animal’s owner attempted to recall it.
{To be that guy quoting myself, “I love dogs the way I love beer. Which is to say I’m into most of them but if they have too much bark or bite or they’re f***ing sour then I’m good thanks.“}
In the end, the owner managed to collect and physically control their animal, it had charged up the trail quite a ways to get to us. We rode through with nothing more than a proper scare. In hindsight, I should have stopped and photographed the dog to report it – it should clearly be on a leash at all times and probably muzzled. But for every nine, nineteen, twenty-nine amazing dog owners who get it, there’s one who thinks it’s their privilege to walk their animal off-leash even when they have no control over it and I was in no mental state to have a conversation on the subject.
You know how it would be reported. Headline: “Middle-aged mountain biker man threatens violence on hiker and dog because he doesn’t want to share multi-use trail infrastructure.”
Well clear, down the trail, with open sightlines, Claire and I stopped and had a long chat that was probably, sadly, long overdue. I’ve been bit twice in my years of mountain biking. Neither time did it break the skin or pierce through my clothing, but both times it still properly hurt. Both times I was scared. Angry, aggressive, dogs are scary.
We talked about always trying to get our bikes between ourselves and an aggressive dog. Claire rightly pointed out that would not have been possible on the steep section of trail we were on. We talked about being loud and assertive, but that’s a lot easier for a twice-bitten 190lb man with the pent-up angst of a bicycle mechanic than a 70lb kid with a sweet disposition who wants every animal to be her friend.
So, we came up with a different plan together. It’s called Move Out Of The Way Papa’s Coming Through. I sincerely hope we never have to use it. I sincerely hope that you never have to use it. And on that note, if you’re mountain biking with your kids and they’re taking the lead, and you haven’t had the chat…
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