Tully’s Second Adventure: Utah

Swedes call it resfeber, that pre-journey feeling of anticipation mixed with anxiety. I’m feeling it already, with departure still half a year away. Though Tulliver did exceptionally well on our thousand mile trip last year, I don’t have the history with him – nor the absolute confidence – that Barley and I developed over so many miles. Running into canine recalcitrance 2500 miles from home is a whole different set of issues from experiencing it a day’s ride from home. And yet, I know from my years riding with Barley that things will turn out, that when traveling with a cherished dog the goal is never a particular destination, but rather the journey itself. The British call it coddiwompling: traveling in a purposeful manner toward a vague destination. For all my extensive planning of routes over the long winters, when I finally hit the road I tend to coddiwomple…

The Rockies have a powerful way of tugging on my wanderlust!

If Tulliver and I make it all the way to Salt Lake City we’ll have a great time at the BMW Rally meeting new friends and getting reacquainted with old. Last year in Hamburg NY a few online friends who had never met in person were told to look for a big red dog in the beer tent. With his friendly demeanor and cherished orange  ball Tulliver was a big hit; that informal gathering was christened The Red Dog Saloon in his honor, and already plans are being made for another round this year. Even so, if storms, heat and humidity, or any other factors prevent us from getting that far, Tully and I will cut the trip short, find a string of nice spots in the Colorado Rockies in which to spend a week enjoying each other’s company before attending the smaller, more intimate Top of the Rockies Rally in Paonia, Colorado.

Tulliver did just fine at his first rally

I recall an enchanted evening three years ago, cuddling with Barley on the cold shoulder of Mount Rainier by the light of the stars and the burble of a nearby glacier-fed stream. Sitting next to the campfire while gently tugging Barley’s ear it dawned on me that what he and I shared – that incredible bond based on mutual love and respect – was older than time itself. Thanks to that dog I know what is possible and more importantly, how to cultivate it. I sense it flowering with Tulliver…and budding with Glenlivet. That relationship is more precious than any timeline or destination.

A bond older than time…

If conditions permit, the week between those two rallies will be spent meandering from Arches National Park in Utah all the way back to Colorado’s Front Range. Before we head for home we’ll pass through Colorado National Monument, the San Juan Mountains (including the legendary Million Dollar Highway), wander through abandoned mining towns, cross numerous high altitude passes both paved and unpaved, camp in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River, and ride to the summit of Mount Evans at 14,265’.

The only plan that matters is having a good time together!

Stay tuned for updates on our training rides (once the snow melts) as we prepare for this trip. Right now, with Vermont locked up in winter’s icy grip, the bike and sidecar are being carefully dismantled, cleaned, and reassembled.

Friday, June 30th: One week remains till Tulliver and I head out on our Utah and Colorado adventure! Nothing is packed, though I believe all the pieces are present. I’d hoped to practice setting up the tent a few times before our departure, but that hasn’t happened thanks to our incredibly wet weather so far this year. As I type this, much of Vermont is under flood warnings after yesterday’s two inches of rain on top of already saturated soil. Tully’s tonneau cover has been modified with a larger zippered hatch to accommodate his much longer body. He is back to using his old memory foam mattress though, as the new bolstered version allowed him to lean out well past my comfort zone.

There is an art to packing for a trip like this, an art I’ve not yet mastered after repeated iterations. I get it right by the time the trip is over, but invariably forget the method in the year between each rally. And to be fair to myself, how things are packed varies depending on weather conditions, camping vs hoteling, whether we will be in bear country, and a few other factors.

Like heat.

While not experiencing the punishing heat wave that’s centered over parts of Arizona and New Mexico, part of our trip this year will take us through regions with highs in the high nineties or low hundreds. That’s too hot for my dog, and so I reserve the right to skip parts of our planned route and head instead for the coolness of the mountain heights. Even if it means we miss the annual family reunion that the BMW Rally represents.

That said, here is our planned route:

  • After our transit of the Midwest and Great Plains, we’ll visit the Morris Animal Foundation in Denver. These are the folks running the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, a well-designed prospective (as opposed to retrospective) study that hopefully will shed light on why so many golden retrievers are being lost to cancers.
  • The Peak-to-Peak Byway to Rocky Mountain National Park
  • Across northern Colorado to be at Flaming Gorge for sunrise
  • On to Salt Lake City via the Uinta Range and Emigrant Canyon
  • Two days at the BMW Rally at the fairgrounds in SLC
  • Capitol Reef National Park
  • Natural Bridges National Monument, Moki Dugway, Monument Valley, Valley of the Gods
  • Up Hwy 145 to Lizard Head Pass and Telluride, Colorado
  • Over to Ouray, then down US-550 to Durango, Colorado
  • US-160 to South Fork, Colorado, then Hwy 149 over Slumgullion Pass to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison
  • Over Kebler Pass between Crested Butte and Paonia to the Top of the Rockies Rally
  • Over McClure, Independence, Tennessee, Vail and Loveland Passes
  • Say goodbye to Colorado from the summit of Mt Evans, then head east
  • Visit friends in Tioga, Pennsylvania, and possibly attend the US Sidecar Rally in Corning, New York before heading for home

Remember, though, that in all my years of motorcycle travel I have yet to follow one of my carefully plotted routes!

WE RIDE UTAH AND (MOSTLY) COLORADO

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2011: Around the Great Lakes

Our first serious trip: a two-weeker up and over the Great Lakes hooking back into Minnesota, crossing into Wisconsin and then Michigan’s Upper Peninsula before dropping down to the BMW Riders Association Rally in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. These rallies are like gatherings of family you’ve never met, but with whom you share a common interest.

I pour over Delorme atlases before every trip. I prefer them in the planning phase because they are incredibly detailed, and help me find out of the way gems that don’t even show up on most foldable maps.

After the rally we would drop down into southern Wisconsin to visit online friends in Janesville, then continue south to US 24 before turning east well clear of the chaos that is Chicago. Hwy 224 would nudge us up a bit, leaving us positioned to ride Pennsylvania’s Route 6 from west to east, stopping in Tioga to meet more online friends for the first time.

Limping Home

We said our goodbyes the following morning, heading south at Charles’ urging to check out the Algonquin Provincial Park. We stopped at an auto parts store in Huntsville to replace a blown fuse which I installed while the parts manager gave Barley a tour of the warehouse that included several treats. We set off again, entered the park, and had a great time exploring a series of dirt roads in the backcountry. By noon we were heading for a small brewery on the north shore of Lake Erie. Unfortunately we had to pass through a tourist town along the way, with traffic so bad the bike started overheating. When rain clouds approached I realized the only way to keep Barley dry would have been to snap the solid cover into place, leaving him in complete darkness. Can’t do that to my dog, so we turned around and outran the storm. The plan was to cross back into the US and ride south to the Finger Lakes region of New York.

By the time we reached the Thousand Island border crossing the heat and humidity had reached epic proportions. The line of cars was long, and as we waited our turn in the heat I was worried about Barley. The bike was no problem; I simply turned off the engine and pushed the rig ahead, but the poor dog was in direct sunlight with no airflow. All I could do was offer him water and words of encouragement. As we sat there baking I resolved to visit a sail maker and figure out some way of giving him a bit of shade.

We eventually got through customs and were heading south when Barley gave me the look that told me it was time for a break under a shade tree. We exited the Interstate and pulled into a small town, got lunch at Subway, then drove across the street to a McDonald’s that had a shady park in back. The sidecar made a grinding sound and lurched to one side. Not good!

Not knowing what could have caused this, I called Hannigan Motorsports down in Kentucky. Dave K, one of their designers, helped me troubleshoot over the phone and we quickly concluded that the electric camber control had failed. The ECC allows the rider to adjust the camber, or angle of lean at the tub relative to the bike, to compensate for crowned roads, heavy crosswinds, etc. The rig was rideable, but would be very difficult to control. We turned east and limped toward home at a reduced speed.

As we passed through Fort Drum in the western Adirondacks I realized there was no way we were going to reach home before dark, and I definitely did not want to ride a crippled rig at night. I reached for the cell phone and called Tom and Kelli, a couple living near Saranac Lake with whom we had placed CJ, a rescued golden retriever, years earlier. “You’re both absolutely welcome to stop here,” said Tom. We altered course into the heart of the Adirondacks to visit our old canine friend and to cement a friendship with his humans.

Tom and Kelli opened their lakeside home to us, fed us, put us up in the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in, and sent us on our way in the morning with instructions for a shortcut only a local would know about. Their kindness was touching, as was the knowledge that CJ the Rescue had found love in a bit of Paradise.

ON TO OUR 2011 ADVENTURE

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Sidecar Overhaul

With mixed feelings, in the winter of 2018/2019 I started stripping down the sidecar for a major overhaul. The tail/brake light on the fender will be removed and the opening glassed over, to be replaced with something more visible mounted on the trunk. The recessed headlight will be removed and glassed over. Air flow through the vent will be improved somehow. The rig will get a new paint job. The sidecar will be moved from the 2010 GSA to a 2012 GSA with fewer miles and non-adjustable suspension. Lastly, the spoked wheels will be replaced with more easily cleaned cast rims, and the tub lowered for better control on twisty mountain roads.

I’ve never done anything like this before, but with the guidance of a friend who is a retired autobody repair expert, well, if it goes horribly awry I’ll write him a big check and ask him to put it back together!

Stripping the original paint off

All the parts that could be removed were set aside, then the beautiful (albeit badly pitted) paint was stripped off. I had several OMG what have I done! moments in the process.

The black patches are high spots. The fiberglass was remarkably uneven from the factory
The gap where the two halves of the tub were joined had been covered with a strip of trim

My friend and mentor, who had specialized in the repair of Corvettes for thirty years, had a trained eye for flaws and would accept no shortcuts. Not content to have me fill gaps and holes with Bondo, he had me grind each one then fill it with fiberglass. When I thought I had each one ground down sufficiently he had me do the same thing with the low spots on the body. At that point I started calling him Miyagi-san.

Me getting the hang of the fiberglass thing.

Fiberglassing is a skill gained through experience. And what an experience it was! Miyagi-san showed me how to work the resin and fibers into the defects, how to compensate for temperature fluctuations (though the shop was heated the outside temp was hovering around zero), and how to avoid getting my fingers stuck to the work.

Working my way around the entire tub filling that unsightly gap

Between layers I’d scuff the joint with sandpaper to identify low spots. Those would then be filled with yet more layers. Once the seam was gone, I turned my attention to the recessed headlight. That light had burned out with annoying regularity, and the fiberglass around the recess was starting to crack. Since I had already decided to replace the OEM halogen light with a pair of high-powered LEDs mounted on a lightbar, that recess had to go.

Headlight recess cut out. Holy crap, that’s a large hole to fill!

I stared at the hole, appalled at its size and wondering how in the world I could make that right. Miyagi-san handed me some cardboard, foil, grease and duct tape. He had me cover the cardboard with aluminum foil, grease the foil so my fiberglass repair wouldn’t stick to it, then tape it inside the hole as a backing plate. Now you have something to work with, he told me.

Miracle!

Greased backing in place; ready for fiberglass

It worked! Sort of. The recess had opened on a curve in the nose of the tub, so building it up to match that curve required layer after layer of fiberglass. I was soon to discover the joy of endless sanding.

Fiberglass matting sandwiched between layers of fiberglass cloth. Slowly rebuilding the curve.

Once there was enough glass to work with, I mentioned my desire to add a scoop to the air intake. With a Hold my tea look (he doesn’t drink alcohol), Miyagi-san used a chunk of styrofoam to fashion the shape I wanted.

He started with a chunk of styrofoam
Patiently sculpted it
Used adhesive spray to tack it into place
And told me to give it a light coating of grease and start fiberglassing over it

He told me not to go wild on fiberglassing the scoop as there would be a lot of layers ahead to blend it in with the body of the tub. So I moved onto the fender, using the same method he taught me with the recessed light.

The taillight was recessed, but the rim was elevated so there was a lot of sanding to do before I could begin laying fiberglass

On the original rig the brake and taillight assembly had been on the fender, which meant it wasn’t visible to drivers behind me from certain angles. My plan was to relocate the lights to the back of the trunk, so the light assembly on the fended had to go. With the holes being much smaller I simply backed them with duct tape and started fiberglassing over them.

He never told me how much sanding would be involved…

With the fiberglass curing I took a look at the sidecar subframe. There was a non-functional and aesthetically unpleasing bumper on the back I wanted to cut off, and a few very sloppy welds I wanted to redo.

Ugh, I did better than that in high school shop class!
Blobs ground down and joint inspected for gaps and cracks. There were none.
Much better!
Sidecar subframe ready to sandblast

With the sidecar subframe welds redone, it was time to sandblast. We set up a sawhorse outside in the snow, fired up the big compressor, and stripped paint and corrosion down to bare metal.

Blasting the swingarm and a few small parts before moving on to the subframe

It took about an hour to sandblast my subframes and a few other parts, plus driveline components to a Porsche 911 Miyagi-san is restoring. From there everything went directly into the paint booth for a double coat of epoxy primer.

Parts curing after being coated with epoxy primer

The primer did a fantastic job and the metal had bombproof protection. Unfortunately, I found a crack that should have been found and fixed a couple of steps before. The mounting plate for the upper rear strut – one that takes a lot of stress – had cracked and bent. It would have to be repaired.

Not good!
The entire mount was bent downward

I also found a cut in the bike’s subframe that was not visible till the subframe had been removed from the bike. It looked like someone with a cutting wheel had scored the metal during assembly. Being the smaller job, I tackled that one first.

I used a cutting wheel to widen the wound so welding material could penetrate
A quick weld filled the gap
The weld bead ground flat
The repaired subframe ready to prime

While the primer was curing, I revisited the nose of the sidecar, sanding endlessly to remove all the waves and ripples from my fiberglass modification as well as those left by the factory

Still a couple of high spots to address
More ripples below the edge, but you can’t even tell there had been a recessed light on the nose!

Then back to the fender. After much sanding there were just a couple small dips of about a millimeter in depth, so I applied body filler. Then, you guessed it, more sanding.

Enough sanding. Now let’s apply some filler
The filler dries quickly, then must be sanded before it fully hardens
Damn, still a bit of a high spot! I sanded it down and reapplied filler
Once the filler was sanded down, a thin layer of glaze was applied to fill micro holes
Glaze really makes pinholes pop!
Looking good!

Since I’d missed the damage to the subframe, I closely inspected every single part. Upon flipping the tub upside down I noticed damaged fiberglass at one of the mounting points.

You can clearly see cracks in the fiberglass. The entire area felt spongy!
Removing the bad section felt a lot like debriding a wound during my years of service. Gotta remove all the dead tissue…
Bad sections removed and edges tapered into the solid stuff. I’ll leave what’s left to serve as a backing plate for the new fiberglass.
The initial layer of fiberglass. Note how it extends well beyond the bad section
Building up the thickness one layer at a time
Once cured, I used a long board to ensure the mount was level all the way across

One more light sanding of where the halves of the tub were joined, then an application of body filler followed by more sanding.

That will never chip out like the filler used at the factory!
This was a tricky seam to sand as it curved fore and aft as well as top to bottom

And finally, back to the air scoop. I reinforced the leading edge, then filled out the profile and used both fiberglass and filler to transition the curve into the body of the tub.

Getting the edge right took several attempts
By this point I really enjoyed working with fiberglass. It’s amazing the things you can do with it!
More fiberglass behind the scoop, with a thin layer of body filler on top. This was about attempt #10 to get that compound curve just right!

I needed a break from sanding, so fabricated a plate from 3/16 steel to reinforce the mounting plate that had been cracked and bent. It turned out pretty well!

The new and old plates bolted together, edges welded together then ground flat, and the new plate welded onto the sidecar subframe. Shouldn’t have any more trouble with that mount!
The day’s high temp. A good day to work inside.

I wanted to lower the tub a bit to enhance stability in curves. I gathered boards in various thicknesses and by trial and error found how low I could go before the tub contacted the metal subframe.

Side view with everything clearing. The home made dolly allowed me to wheel the tub around the shop
Back view showing the tub clearing the swaybar by 1cm

Armed with that information I sourced steel bars to run the full width of the tub. Previously the mounts were just six inches long. I felt having them run the full width would provide greater support. To protect the fiberglass I would top the metal bars with high density rubber strips

Short original mounting block in rear, with my revision and rubber pad in front
Carefully measuring where the holes should be drilled
Holes were drilled on a milling machine for greater accuracy. Note the small support underneath to eliminate deflection while drilling

Now back to the body. The curve of the nose had bothered me for some time. It was asymmetrical from the factory, and with that recessed headlight gone I saw a chance to make the inside curve a bit gentler. More filler, more sculpting, and I had it! Lastly, a coating of glaze to fill tiny imperfections.

Ooh, I think I got it this time!
A coat of glaze, a final sanding and…

I knew better than to think the surface was flawless. Miyagi-san applied guide coat to my carefully sanded tub and had me sand it with 600 grit. Sanding would remove the guide coat from perfect surfaces, but not from imperfections. Sure enough…

The moment of truth!
Crap, tiny scratches!

But after still more sanding it looked fantastic! Time to deal with the remaining bits and pieces.

I almost forgot about the paintable parts of the bike! These, with all those angles and recesses, were a total pain in the ass!
Tank cover stripped practically naked. Because the parts were plastic I couldn’t use paint remover. Also because they were plastic the sandpaper left a rough surface that felt furry. To get it ready for paint I ended up wet sanding with 3000 grit.
Prepping all the smaller parts was a joy — not!

And finally, the whole thing gets epoxy primed!

All the pieces parts on jigs for priming, with the tub in the back
An hour later!
Two coats of epoxy primer and it all comes together!
It’s so beautiful when it’s all one color!
Another touch of guide coat to check for imperfections
Looks like a kid with chickenpox, doesn’t it? Every spot would have been a blemish.
Filled with glaze and sanded smooth, these will vanish in the paint booth

I painted the swaybar red. Even though nobody will ever see it inside its protective tube, I’ll know it’s there. Sort of like you know it’s going to be a great ride when you slip on your red underwear.

The red swaybar

The subframe, sidecar frame, lightbar, struts and swingarm are all either painted or covered with chipguard. Reassembly begins.

Miyagi-san mixes the paint. We’re going with Dodge Viper Yellow. The first coat is unimpressive. The second coat is meh. The third coat begins to look like something special and the fourth coat is OMG beautiful!

Dodge Viper Yellow
Did I make a mistake going with this color?
It looks…okay. Sort of.
Hmmm, it’s beginning to look kinda nice…
Holy cow, I’ve died and gone to heaven!
I couldn’t stop staring
Wowser, I’m gonna burst into tears when it gets the first scratch!

I couldn’t stop staring at it!

Meanwhile, I’d made some changes to the bike as well. Gone were the spoked wheels, replaced by cast wheels. The front rim was from a BMW R1200RT. At 17″ rather than the stock 19″ GSA rim I hoped it would make steering easier. The rear was also a cast 17″ rim, but from a BMW K1300. Both were wider than the original rims, which meant I could go with wider tires. To accommodate the wider rear tire I had to replace the stock exhaust with a slimmer version. I went with the Akropovic as it was not louder that stock. I’ve never been a fan of loud bikes.

New rims, tires and exhaust

Next came the task of mating the sidecar frame to the bike. With the new tug lower than the old one I expected some adjustments.

Lining up the subframes
Hmmm, this is going to be more complicated than I thought!

The original struts were sized to the taller bike and lacked sufficient adjustment to mate properly unless I moved the sidecar subframe back three inches. Doing that threw the linkage between the final drive and the swaybar way off. In the photo above that shiny heim connector linking the bike to the swaybar arm should be nearly vertical. It was way off.

Time to consult the experts. Claude Stanley at Freedom Sidecars in Pennsylvania agreed to squeeze us in, so we loaded the unfinished rig onto my trailer and headed south.

Trailering is so undignified!

Claude quickly saw the problem and fabricated new struts and a forward mount. Glenlivet supervised at first, but soon got bored.

Glenlivet is particular about who works on his rig.
Hey Dad, this rig smells like it belongs to another dog!
Are they done yet..?

I’ve never been a fan of urban traffic, especially pulling a trailer, so we started the drive back home at 2am. We were on a lonely stretch of Interstate west of Binghamton NY, in the right lane slowly overtaking a Subaru in the left lane. Behind us another car was coming up fast in the left lane. The overtaking car flashed his high beams at the Subaru. A woman’s arm came out of the driver’s window and flipped the one finger salute. By this time the faster car was abreast of me and I noticed it was a state trooper. Shit was about to get real, so I backed off. He flashed his high beams again. From the Subaru came a paper cup full of coffee. The trooper lit her up in spectacular fashion.

Instant karma had been served!

Back home, we started the process of mating the tub to the subframe.

The clamshell lid in place
The trunk lid reattached
The new brake and taillights
Hooking up the wiring. We have plenty of lights in the rear now

I can’t say that wiring is my strong suit. In fact, it is a pain in the tush. But with Miyagi-san’s help we managed to get all the lights working when they were supposed to. Brakes, turn signals, tail lights and markers all worked. Next came the windshield and the ragtop.

All the fasteners were torqued, all the wiring connections checked and secured. The lean was a bit off but in my uneducated opinion not too bad…so I rode it home to do the finishing touches and free up work space in Miyagi-san’s shop.

Glenlivet racing alongside his rig

It handled well at low speed in our village. As I pulled into our long gravel driveway Glenlivet raced from the house to escort me to the garage. He was absolutely delighted to have his rig back and insisted on a ride. So off we went!

After a long, cold winter we were back in the saddle!

Departure date for our ride to the Tennessee rally was fast approaching so we did several local training rides. In all the excitement I skipped several important checks and ignored a few warning signs of trouble ahead. Those issues would come to a head halfway to Tennessee. But for the moment we were both delighted!

LINK TO TENNESSEE RALLY: 2019

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Glenlivet

Gilly has some huge paws to fill.

I chose to go with a reputable breeder – not a rescue – to get the puppy who would be trained as my next long distance adventure dog. Susan and Steven, of Sunshine Goldens in southern Wisconsin, had met Barley and me several times on our cross-country adventures and had long admired the bond we shared. I, in turn, loved the way their dogs behaved, and how a seemingly endless supply of little girls in the form of their grand-nieces and their little friends managed to socialize each pup. We discussed the personality traits that had made Barley such a phenomenal riding partner: confidence, courage, calmness and a healthy dose of curiosity. As to color, Sunshine had two litters on the way – one red and one blonde. While color was entirely secondary to me, it seems people perceive the blondes as more approachable, more “golden.” Since we will be out together in public, I gave a minor nod to a blonde pup, more of a tie breaker in the case of two pups with identical personalities.

Flame and her pups.
Puppies grow a lot and sleep.. a lot!

Armed with the knowledge of what I was looking for, Susan went to work once the pups were born in early July. She carefully observed their developing personalities, the way they interacted with each other and with people, and within a few weeks began narrowing the field. By the time the pups were six weeks old she was fairly certain she had a match, though the final decision wouldn’t be made till I met the pups. That process of collaborating on the match between well-socialized puppies and prospective buyers is one mark of a good breeder, one in it for the love of the breed and not just for money.

The pups got plenty of stimulation…which was exhausting!
By six weeks the pups were pretty big

I flew to Wisconsin on a Wednesday morning. Susan and Steve picked me up and introduced me to the pups. Folks look at a litter of puppies and think they are all adorable and that’s true. But just like people, dogs are individuals. One needs to consider personality in the light of their lifestyle and expectations. There was the timid male favoring corners, the big female bullying her siblings, and several others between those two extremes. In just a few minutes I could see that Susan’s choice was the right match for me. Blue collared male of moderate size able to stick up for himself and fascinated by everything going on around him.

It’s hard work being a puppy!

Okay, I admit it. I’ve never been a puppy person. Puppies leak, they chew on furniture and favorite boots, torment adult dogs, don’t listen very well, and interfere with REM sleep. My attempts to instill in them some manners have often been undermined by Tamara playing the role of indulgent mother, fussing over them and generally letting them get away with anything short of murder. Somewhere around the age of two, however, they seem to realize that Dad is more fun. He tosses tennis balls and rolls on the floor with them. He cuddles and grooms them and offers praise and treats…but only if they behave in certain ways. After a year of this, a special bond sprouts and soon blossoms. That was the case with Tetley, Tuppence, Tadcaster, Tulliver, Kazoo…and Barley.

Barley’s flame went out far too soon, but his legacy will remain in my heart for the rest of my life. He taught me that patience and love were the main ingredients of that incredible bond we shared, and that if I regifted his love he would not be my last soul dog. He also taught me that life is too short to wait, that I needed to bond to my next dog from the moment I first saw him.

Asleep on my arm at the airport
Napping on the first leg home
Gilly slept through most of the flight home

And so I found myself early one morning sitting in the airport in Madison, Wisconsin, an impossibly small bundle of sleeping fur draped across one forearm. He resembled nothing so much as a fuzzy baked potato with stubby legs. Sunshine Goldens’ Shot o’ Glenlivet, Gilly for short, was mine. I watched him breathe, one tiny paw draped instinctively over my arm in a gesture so like Barley, and I realized that bond in my heart had already been primed.

A visit to the vet is exhausting!
Give me another five minutes and I’ll have the cutting board spotless!
Gilly trying to look as grown up as his big brother, Kazoo
He was baffled by slopes. Wisconsin is so flat compared to Vermont

I had forgotten how difficult it is to pee outside in the presence of a puppy who tries to catch everything! We’ve gone through the leaky phase, and while there are still occasional accidents they are generally when we’ve not paid heed to his signals – and usually in front of the door as if to say, “I tried to tell you!” He sits, comes, and takes treats very gently. He retrieves well, eats off a fork, and at the end of each work day runs to greet me in that comical puppy way where the front and rear legs seem to be racing each other to see who gets there first. In the evening when I lay on the floor, if he’s not engaged in tormenting Tulliver or Kazoo he trots over and flips upside down with his paws waving happily, his tail thumping the floor, reaching up now and then to nibble on my earlobe.

First trip to Eligo Lake: Gilly was at home in the water from the start 
The day after homecoming he waded right into the lake and paddled a few feet!
A good stick to chew on makes the world a better place
At 12 weeks, Gilly was giving Kazoo a run for his money!

I’m always surprised to see confidence in a creature so small. From the start this little guy has been remarkably unflappable, save for two encounters with the electric fencing that keeps our sheep contained. He has no fear of water, and to my surprise began swimming in nearby Eligo Lake the day after he came home. He retreats from the sound of a tractor or chainsaw, but not out of fear. He loves toys and will make his own if none of the store-bought type are readily available, picking up sticks or clumps of grass to flip in the air and catch.

He was not a fan of kayaking, baling out and swimming to shore when we got within twenty feet
He had a short sidecar ride at ten weeks and showed nothing but curiosity 
He excelled at snuggling…for a few seconds at a time
He gets into the digging thing. Remind you of anyone?
Gilly appears to have inherited Barley’s love of digging!

Late October 2016: Gilly will soon be four months old. It’s an adorable stage where the paws are disproportionately large, like Ronald McDonald’s shoes; the ears hang down like drapes cut a tad too long, and while the clumsiness of puppyhood is fading, the grace of adulthood is still elusive. His body is changing to that of a leggy, awkward adolescent dog. His shoulders and hips are getting definition, his chest is broadening, his puppy fluff has converted to fur and his tail is beginning to sprout the feathers that typify his breed. He is teething aggressively and will soon get a full set of permanent teeth even before his face takes on adult lines. He is discovering his voice, telling the world how he feels with puppy grunts and tiny barks, excited snarls and squeaks of surprise. He gets hiccups which cause his entire body to twitch. He makes funny sounds in his dreams, and accepts that he is entitled to half of my pillow. Gilly knows he is loved, and will never know anything else but love.

From an early age he had his father’s good looks!

It’s fascinating to watch his personality develop, to see him recognize that his actions impact those around him, that his behaviors shape, and in turn are shaped by, his interactions. Gentle reprimands, whether from humans or older dogs, earn an immediate and comically contrite sit. He is torn between a desire to be cuddled and a desire to act grown up. He yearns for independence, but when frightened or feeling ill he burrows right into my embrace and reaches up to cover my face with tiny kisses.

It doesn’t take much time at all for that bond of trust to blossom.
Gilly snuggling with dad at 13 weeks.

He has learned to scale the baby gates we use to close off rooms. He humps the cat. He has the makings of an exceptional countersurfer and has learned to hook his paws over the edge of the kitchen sink to pull his entire body up onto the countertop. I’ll most definitely have to make sure the Stay command is ironclad before beginning his sidecar training! On the plus side, he is extremely eager to please and responds very well to praise…and appropriately to correction.

He is, in every respect, off to a good start.

Tossing sticks in the freshly fallen leaves
He’s a big boy now, able to jump onto the furniture without help!
Is it okay for me to go a little further, Dad?
Checking out the scents in the adjacent forest

Soon his training will start in earnest. Not the short and intense Sesame Street sessions of puppyhood, but two years of patient and repetitive drills that will prepare him for life as a long distance sidecar dog with a man counting the days till his retirement and eager to ride to places he has long yearned to visit, but hadn’t the time. The sidecar currently bears Tulliver’s name. Before it changes to Glenlivet the pup will have to earn that right.

Warming up by the woodstove after a busy day of play in the autumn chill

Early November 2016: Glenlivet is coming up on four months. Gone is the puppy fluff. His adult coat is a lovely medium dark gold. He has a few adult teeth. More importantly his personality has moved beyond the egocentrism of puppyhood. He has passed through the “I am” stage and is well into the “You are” phase of his personality development. As we interact and begin to cement that bond I know is coming, the two of us will discover “We are” and all the joy that entails. As he begins to respect boundaries Tulliver has started playing with him. It’s a joy to watch them play!

Tulliver, awakened from an upside down nap, senses a puppy attack!
Tully turns right side up and prepares to defend himself
Tulliver and Glenlivet tussle on the living room carpet
Kazoo defends himself without giving up his favorite piece of furniture

Late November 2016: Gilly is more or less gracefully entering adulthood. Well, physically anyway! Emotionally he’s still a puppy. He still enjoys curling up on my chest, but wonders why he doesn’t fit as comfortably as he used to. And he’s made new friends among our Icelandic sheep! Fiona the ewe and Stump the ram are the most gentle among our small flock. Stump seems fascinated by Gilly, and every time he sticks his head partway through the fencing Gilly is right there to cover him with kisses!

Gilly and Stump have a special relationship.

Mid December 2016: Shot o’ Glenlivet is now five and a half months old. He still gets hiccups and still makes little puppy grunts when being cuddled. But he has outgrown the awkwardness of puppydom (mostly) and while not yet as fast as the grownups he now runs with the fluid grace of a young dog. This past weekend poor Tulliver was clearly outraged when Gilly ran down a ball and snagged it mid-bounce while running at full speed. Me? I’m simply enchanted by this little guy, thrilled at watching him mature and form bonds with those around him. Especially with me…

Torn between wanting to sleep on the Big Dog bed, and wanting to be with me, Gilly falls asleep next to me
Tulliver, Kazoo and Glenlivet leave enough room for me to slide under the covers

Tulliver and Gilly both sleep with me. Kazoo sleeps with Tamara. When I sleep with Tamara all three dogs join us on the double bed…which probably explains why my bride keeps banishing me to the guest room. Generally Tully sleeps with his rump against my hip and his head draped over my ankles. Gilly sleeps with his rump against Tulliver’s and his head at the edge of the bed. But several minutes before the alarm goes off he sits up and watches me in the early light of dawn. The moment I look his way he taps my chest with one paw, then crawls forward to nibble my earlobe and cuddle in close. It’s a great way to start the day!

From left to right: Glenlivet, Kazoo, and Tulliver
Gilly napping on the couch after a morning play session in the snow

Winter appears to have settled in. Given Glenlivet’s love of the woodstove, I was a little concerned that he wouldn’t do well in cold weather. Not to worry. Like all goldens, he counts snow among the best things on earth. And he is discovering that just because he can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s gone; there is this thing called a nose to help him find things hidden from sight.

Watching him emulate Kazoo brings a smile to my face. The first thing Kazoo does every morning when I let him out is to trot to a spot in the front yard, sit down, and calmly survey the lower pasture. Deer or joggers on the distant road get deep voiced warning barks. And behind him a few feet is his Mini Me, Glenlivet, attentively copying those behaviors. Little Gilly has also finally broken through Tulliver’s reserve. The two of them often play together, often cuddle together. The pack, tossed into disarray by Barley’s passing a year ago and then by the arrival of a puppy this summer, has finally coalesced into a trio of brothers.

Gilly launching an attack on Tully
Glenlivet and Tulliver looking guilty
Glenlivet snuggled between Tulliver and a toy stolen from Kazoo

And Barley was right. I would never have another soul dog only if I closed my heart to the possibility…

6 January 2017 –  Six months ago today Sunshine Golden’s Shot o’ Glenlivet was born. I expected our bonding to be a slow and steady process as it had been with previous dogs, but thanks to the things Barley taught me on our cross-country adventures my relationship with Gilly got a huge jump start. From that first private cuddle in the airport waiting for our flight home, I knew this pairing felt right, that it would only grow from that moment.

Gilly, on left, with his brothers Kazoo and Tulliver

Gilly shares many of Barley’s personality quirks, but has put his unique stamp on each. He is, in every respect, his own dog…but one with a furry angel always nearby. Watching him mature both physically and mentally has given me hours of joy. Seeing how quickly he learns and adopts the behaviors he’ll need as a long distance sidecar dog, I know we’ll share many wonderful adventures in the years ahead!

Gilly has perfected the retrieve, and is damned proud of the fact!
At six months, Glenlivet more often than not can hold his own when it comes to playing keepaway

March 2017 – Eight Months Old!

Shot o’ Glenlivet isn’t so little anymore! He has physically matured into a beautiful young dog so full of grace, speed and agility that watching him run takes my breath away! Several dogs have shared my life, but only one, Glenfiddich, was as fluid in motion as this one.  The irony of them both being named after fine Scotch does not escape me…

Gilly doesn’t run so much as he boings

Kazoo, with those long legs, can stretch out and cover ground in a blur, but he’s not particularly nimble. Tulliver is fast, and his reactions are incredibly quick, but he is hesitant when faced with obstructions like downed trees or a stream running across his path. Not so Glenlivet! He makes speed seem effortless, and his leaps across streams and over other obstructions reflect the confidence he has in his physical abilities.

Gilly spots the ball

He is also confident in his dealings with other dogs. As a pup he would twist and turn, desperately trying to maintain possession of the coveted ball as the older dogs chased him. Now he simply growls, lowers his shoulder, and knocks the other dogs out of his way. He is a natural retriever with the gentlest mouth of any dog I’ve had.

And he is glued to me.

If I log into work remotely on my laptop, he lays down atop my foot. If I watch TV he is alongside me, often watching as well. I can’t work on the sidecar without him being in physical contact with me. If I slide under the rig to check something out he is right there with me, his magnificent tail knocking tools and parts all over the shop. He no longer sleeps in bed with me, but in the morning jumps up to stretch full length on top of me, waking me up with enthusiastic kisses.

May 2017: Ten Months Old

I love all my dogs, but it’s a fact that some of them live in the shadow of others. Barley, as great a dog as he turned out to be, lived in the shadow of Tadcaster for four years, and only blossomed when that magnificent red dog passed away. Tulliver was brought up in the shadow of Barley, but given his extreme lack of early socialization he has always been rather timid. Now he finds himself being eclipsed by Glenlivet, a far more assertive and outgoing young dog.

One must, in multiple dog households, share the love. Maybe not in equal doses, but for a breed as sensitive as golden retrievers each must have quality time in which they as individuals are my focus. Glenlivet will cheerfully push the older dogs out of the way for treats, water, dish cleaning…or affection. I find myself reminding him that it’s not his turn. To wait. It comforts them to know that when their turn comes they will be my focus. That there are no favorites.

But this one so tugs at my heart!

Glenlivet is an exceptionally easy dog to love. His is the confidence born of a dog who has always been cherished, and recognizes that he always will be. He accepts love without reservation, and reflects it in a hundred different ways. He hugs and kisses enthusiastically. He nibbles my ear lobes in greeting. He’s a leaner, and rather than sitting next to me, he often sits on me. He uses his paws extensively, turning objects over to study them, or holding something overhead to play with as he rolls belly up. He no longer sleeps with me, preferring for some odd reason the hardwood floor in the hallway where we can trip over him. And he rarely licks the water off my legs anymore as I step out of the shower. Those two quirks I miss a bit, but the incredibly loud THUMP-THUMP of his tail on the hardwood floor at my approach reminds me of another dog who gave me all his love…and insisted I regift it upon his passing.

I delight in the way Glenlivet reflects his inner Barley – the selfless sharing of joy and love – the similarities and the differences that tell me he is of the same caliber…yet at the same time an individual in his own right. The trust he has in me, the trust that lets him do things beyond his comfort level because he knows I’ll never allow harm to touch him. The love he expresses each morning by stretching out full-length on top of me, his tongue covering my face with kisses while his incredible tail hammers out a rapid-fire beat upon my toes. The way he follows me everywhere and rears up to meet my touch.

Gone is the tiny puppy I brought home months ago. He still curls up with me, sometimes on the couch and sometimes on the living room carpet. At ten months of age he is a splendid example of all the breed should be: agile, fast, loving, intelligent and playful. His coat is resplendent and his tail simply stunning! The diminutive, Gilly, no longer seems to fit this young dog with so much grace, so much promise.

He is Glenlivet, my furry diamond in the rough.

BACK TO OUR DOGS

GILLY GOES! Gilly’s Travel Adventures

How to Train Your Dragon : Barley

To say I trained Barley to ride would be a gross exaggeration. He took to it from the start, and tolerated my ignorance of the art of setting up a sidecar in a manner befitting the sort of travel he envisioned for himself. Sort of.

I understood the basics. The Look meant it was time for a break. The Look with a paw on my thigh meant it was REALLY time for a break! The Look coupled with walking in place while barking meant, “If you don’t pull over right this instant I’ll pee on your sleeping bag!”

I also understood from the start that he is a hunter. His prey drive was highly developed even as a puppy. He stalked birds and frogs and mice. At the age of ten weeks he attacked a duck sitting on her nest near the edge of our pond. Two weeks later he went after a full-grown bull moose crossing our meadow; he survived only because the moose was completely unimpressed by the snarls of one so tiny.

So he was initially tethered when he began riding with me at the age of three. It turned out to be a sound idea, as he lunged after small animals several times. Because his lunges affected the balance of the sidecar, I became a very conservative driver. No flying the sidecar, for I was worried that an ill-timed lunge after a squirrel might flip us. That’s not to say I was a sedate sidecarist, just that I made it a point to keep all three tires on the ground.

To give Barley more room for longer trips I removed the sidecar’s seat, replacing it with a thick slab of foam topped by a dog bed. That pleased him no end, but also marked the portion of the hack he considered his turf. Sacrosanct, no less. Anything impinging upon his turf was fair game. I lost a couple of flashlights and a nice camp stove – he just picked them up, gave me the evil eye, and pitched them over the side – before I learned to redistribute the load properly.

Because much of our riding is on gravel roads, poor Barley was often bounced around like the ball in the bottom of a can of spray paint. I eventually replaced the dog bed with a memory foam version from Orvis.com, which was a huge improvement. I also stopped tethering him while we were in motion after he promised to stop lunging after small animals. With no tether to tangle his legs he was able to stretch out and sleep more.

We were traveling in upstate New York late in his first riding season when the large coffee I had that morning required release. I pulled over at a gas station. Like many modern gas stations, however, it was coupled with a convenience store. The restrooms were inside. There was also food inside, which meant dogs were not allowed. Barley at that time had been trained to remain with me, always. There was no leaving him behind as he would struggle to free himself, then come looking for me. Desperate as only a middle aged man can be in that circumstance, I returned to the rig, emptied a large internal frame backpack, stuffed Barley into the main compartment, and wore that seventy-five pound dog into the restroom.

The likelihood of finding myself in a similar situation during a future ride was fairly high, so that biological need drove an urgent training goal.

The sidecar became his crate, his place of safety. Nothing bad ever happened in the tub. He was never scolded or punished in the sidecar. He was fed and watered in or near the rig. There were always a couple of toys inside. The goal was to make it the place he ran to, his haven when frightened or uncertain.

It worked, and I can now relieve myself with dignity.

ON TO OUR ADVENTURES

Our Sidecar

Choosing a Sidecar

I first saw the sidecar that would be mine at the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America rally in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was attached to a 2007 BMW R1200GS, a virtual twin to the bike I already owned. This meant I already had the tools needed to wrench on it, already knew how to perform routine maintenance on the bike. The Hannigan sidecar was a sleek fiberglass affair painted a bright metallic yellow with the bike painted to match. The design included a clamshell lid with a high rim that, to my mind, was more dog safe than the traditional hacks with the step-through tub.

Barley and Tadcaster checking out this strange new crate

I returned to Vermont with sidecars on my mind. I investigated other brands, but while I found them attractive I always came back to the sleek lines of the Hannigan. A year later the gently used rig from Tennessee went up for sale. I put a deposit on it immediately. The dealer asked to use it one last time as a static display at the Americade Rally in Lake George, New York. Bonus for me! Americade was just a few hours away from my home, while the Hannigan factory was located in far away western Kentucky; I quickly agreed to meet Dave and Ruth Ann Hannigan at their motel as the rally was wrapping up.

The plan was to enjoy a leisurely trip in perfect weather, with me taking to the feel of piloting a sidecar as naturally as I’d done with motorcycles four decades before. The reality was a harrowing ride home in driving rain, herding a rig that seemed intent on ignoring my efforts to stay in my lane, leaving me wondering if I could turn around and get my money back! Puddles at the side of the road seemed to pull me toward the drainage ditch, roadway debris was difficult to avoid with an extra wheel to worry about, wind and crowning of the pavement seemed to require an awful lot of strength to compensate for, and steering was about as easy as doing figure eights in an antique truck with flat tires up front.

But after a hundred miles or so the sun came out, the wind dropped off, and I began to sense a very different type of thrill. It wasn’t fast, it didn’t lean, handling was not effortless, but there was a certain coolness to navigating the roads of Vermont in a vehicle so different!

Thus was born the crap-eating grin.

There were no sidecar classes in New England, and the thought of driving my new rig one thousand miles to learn how to drive it properly didn’t sound like a very good plan. I figured by the time I arrived at the class I’d be pretty good. So I bought The Yellow Book, a sidecarist’s bible, studied the lessons and practiced endlessly in the parking lot of our local high school. When I felt fairly proficient I convinced my wife to don her helmet and ride with me, but it didn’t work out.

I found her screams somewhat distracting.

It was time to train the dogs to ride with me. I had four goldens at the time. My hope was that Tadcaster, who had just been diagnosed with an aggressive variant of lymphoma, would take to it like a fish to water and we’d have one adventure together before I lost him. But even though Tadcaster loved riding with me on our ATV, he was terrified of this rig. I tried Tulliver next. While he was comfortable on the dog bed, the moment the clamshell lid was closed he would try to claw his way out. Not good. Next came an abortive attempt to convince 18 month old Kazoo that this was a real treat, but at that age he had zero interest in anything he couldn’t eat or hump. That left Barley, the runt of the pack and my last hope.

“Hey, Barley! Wanna go for a ride?” I asked, kneeling next to the rig holding the lid up. He jumped right in and sat facing forward behind the windshield like a natural. I clipped him in and closed the lid while he smiled happily. I started the engine – no change. I slipped into gear and pulled slowly forward to the edge of the driveway; he looked at me and wagged. I pulled out onto our dirt road intending to check our mailbox at the start of the pavement a quarter mile down the hill. Barley did just fine, peering ahead to look at the world with interest, noting every bird and rodent along the way, so I kept going. We passed the nearby Trapp Family Lodge where tourists pointed and took his picture, introducing him to celebrity.

He did just fine.

Looking a tad worried with the clamshell closed

For the next couple of months we did training rides every day. They were short at first, with frequent stops for treats or play. Rural Vermont is extremely dog friendly, and many merchants keep treats behind the counter. Barley quickly memorized the good spots and gave me the evil eye if I passed any one of them. “There’s bacon in that building you just passed. HELLO!”

The cancer took Tadcaster in early Spring. He took with him a mountain of joy. Barley felt it too, as Tadders had been his constant playmate. We needed to recharge, he and I, so set off on our first multi-day trip, a trial run of sorts to iron out the bugs and find our shared rhythm of the road.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

OUR SIDECAR ADVENTURES