It finally dawned on me: I don't need to wait until I save enough money for that dog scooter experience, I can turn my bike into a scooter almost for free. All I had to do was disconnect one of the crank arms (the piece that the pedal connects to), turn it 180% around, and reconnect it, so instead of it being opposite the other side/pedal (one up, one down), it is exactly in the same position so I can stand on both pedals and both of my feet/legs would be extended down (similar to standing on a dog sled or scooter). Then I just removed the bike seat and mounting bar, and voila(!): my mountain bike is now as close to a dog scooter as you can get without actually owning a dog scooter. When I can get my wife out there, I'll have her take some pics for a better visual, but I hope you get the picture.

I was so excited to take it for a spin that I attached King Kaze to me and off we went into the night darkness for a short 2.5 mile ride. We even saw a shooting star blaze across the wide open Idaho sky. I'm headed to bed so I can get back up in 6 hours to take all 4 dogs for their first dog scootering ride (no more calling it bikejoring...ha!). I am so excited, I'm not sure I'll even be able to fall asleep. It is such a different feeling than just sitting on a bike seat. I'm in LOVE!

Meant to add: I didn't have all of the tools to do it myself. I needed what they call a "Puller" to get that crank arm off. I had to take the bike to my local bike shop, where he did it for $1 labor fee. Not kidding. Love small towns! I asked him to order me the Puller so I can convert it from scooter to bike back to scooter as I need to. He sold a $20 Puller in his shop, but my Specialized Mountain Bike needed a different kind of Puller that costs $22, so he put it on special order for me.

sounds clever! Can you post a picture?

I'll get pics for you as soon as I can free up my wife to take some. She's the "expert" photographer in the house. I went out this morning at 5:21 in the dark and saw 2 more shooting stars. I had all 4 dogs this time. We had a blast, other than multiple encounters with early morning joggers in the same area we go to be alone. Ugh! Can't blame my fellow military members for wanting to stay in shape. Ha! FIT TO FIGHT!!! I won't complain. It certainly isn't a normal thing to run into people or cars on the loop that we run, so I'll mark this off as a (hopefully) one-time occasion. Especially once it starts getting colder, it's better for the dogs, and most people around here don't go outdoors when the temperature drops. We normally have the whole place to ourselves! Love it.

sounds like a beautiful morning. Cant wait to see pictures of your "invention". I have been thinking about how to do that myself, that why I asked. I am challenged when it comes to handy work so a picture is worth a thousand words to me.

Your dogs are beautiful

your fur babies are very beautiful. very cool contraption, i was thinking of doing that to with my extra bike frame. cant wait to see the pictures. sounds like and awesome morning with very nice star gazing.

I haven't forgotten about this. I got put in bed for the last 2 days by the flu. This is my first time coming back to this forum to check for updates. I should be back to 100% by tomorrow. I think waking up at 4am the last few days to exercise the pups took a toll on my immune system. I gave them today off, but will hopefully be back on the trail tomorrow morning as long as I wake up feeling better! Pics to come soon, I promise.

get well soon!

yesh, hope you feel better soon.

I'm well. I would say I'm back to about 95% today. I was able to bike the dogs yesterday and today. We're prepping for our return to the Promised Land: OREGON (for the first time since we moved away 2 years ago). I can't wait to take the dogs back to their old bikejoring spot where this wonderful experience all started, and scooter with them! I wonder how they'll react or if they'll even remember!?! I also wonder if they'll remember the trails and directions we used to take!? We always did the same 1.5 mile loop, and just repeated it multiple times to get in the distance. I bet they never thought they'd see that area again. So many memories of me spending time with them there! And now I can see if my lead dog, Kaze, will throw a monkey wrench into the whole system! He knows his GEEs and HAWs, so hopefully he'll just listen and obey.

so how are you feeling? still looking forward to seeing pictures of your rigg

Ozhaawa wrote:

so how are you feeling? still looking forward to seeing pictures of your rigg

So, bad news, partly.

My wife broke her camera and has to mail it in for repairs. It goes out tomorrow. Just yesterday, we talked about her taking pics of my bike-turned-dog scooter, as well as the first pics of me scootering/bikejoring with the dogs in a 2x2 formation instead of the old 4-dog fan formation. I'm excited about that. I put Kaze and Beowulf up front, as they are my 2 youngest, strongest and fastest dogs. Kaze does most of the pulling now. He's my workhorse and locomotive, as I call him. Ha! Paw Paw and Nara, my 2 old-timers, go in the back so I can watch them closer to ensure they are able to keep up. I attach that Burley canopy trailer loaded with 100lbs of dumbbells (367 total lbs) to help slow Kaze down so the other dogs can keep up with his pace. Who would've ever thought a German Shepherd could run circles around 2 huskies when playing their own sled dog game?!? Kaze is truly an amazing and exceptional dog. So glad I rescued him from the situation he was in with his former family who neglected him and messed him up for life by making him chase laser pointers.

The other bad news is that I just had surgery and have been doped up on pain meds. Today is day 3. I'm almost back to 100% though.

Thanks for waiting patiently. I know it might've seemed as if I fell off the map. I started taking college classes online, and being that this is my first online experience, I don't have a lot of time to spend on forums. I want to crush this class. I need 3 classes to get my associate's degree, and then I'm transferring to U. of Idaho to begin my Bachelor's in Wildlife Conservation to be able to work with, protect, and take care of wolves for the rest of my life.

So yeah, I have a lot going on, not to mention a growing family of 4 children (wife is due with #4 in late Jan), a full-time job defending the nation with my life in the military, and 5 kitty cats to tend to. It's a zoo here, no doubt.

Can't wait to see the rig when you're able to get pics. Talk about a lot going on! Four dogs and four kids sounds like a dream ... or a nightmare, haha!

Get well soon, and all the best to your wife in the last leg of pregnancy.

OK, I know it's been a while, but my wife finally bought her new camera, which means I get her freshly-repaired old camera. I took the pics today and uploaded them. Here you go: