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- Trail dogs have amazing abilities on even the toughest mountain bike terrain
- A new international short film features these amazing mountain bike dogs
- And two South African dogs, from KZN, have starring roles in 'A Dog's Tale'
To many, Shimano is cycling. The Japanese component brand celebrates a century of innovation this year and as part of its marketing campaign, is a new film all about mountain biking dogs.
If you have been mountain biking for long enough, you will know exactly what a trail dog is. And the joy, they can provide.
Although most of South Africa’s trails are either on private farmland or in nature reserves, which limit trail dog interactions, we do feature in this new Shimano film.
A film about how good dogs are, at 'mountain biking'
Shimano’s ‘A Dog’s Tale’ was produced by acclaimed mountain bike filmmakers and it shows. The story follows Raven, a retired trail dog from British Columbia.
For those unfamiliar with the athleticism and ability of trail dogs, this new film will be a pleasant revelation.
Trail dogs are often quicker than many mountain bikers over challenging terrain and hardly shy away from jumps and other technical obstacles. Their inherent balance, four paw contact points and low centre of gravity make them ideal at chasing after mountain bikers on a singletrack descent.
A very proud local chapter
In ‘A Dog’s Tale’, the film crew journey from Canada to South Africa, where they meet renowned trail builder, Hylton Turvey, and his trail dogs: Lucy and Syd.
Turvey has created an incredible mountain bike trail network within the KZN midlands, spread all across the inspiring Karkloof.
Long days of digging and trail building, in isolated areas, are made a lot easier with the companionship of his trail dogs. And they aren’t shy of testing the new singletrack lines that Turvey builds - or chasing their owner on his mountain bike.
South Africa might lack the ubiquity of trail dogs and freedom for them to roam, compared to Canada, but our trail dogs have all the energy and skills. As Shimano’s ‘A Dog’s Tale’ proves.
