A Dog’s Tale | SHIMANO

It all starts with the trail. The crunch of the dirt, the smell of a dewy morning ride, or the feeling of brushing away pebbles with a perfectly timed belly scrub. These are the happy memories of a trail dog’s life well lived.

Raven is a 13-year-old retired trail dog from Squamish, British Columbia who’s spent countless days frolicking on loamy singletrack beneath towering spruces. Old age has slowed her down, and now Raven happily lies in the driveway, watching dog after dog, and their human, head for the hills.

Celebrating the joys of mountain biking through the eyes of the trail dog, Raven takes us from her driveway memories in BC to the high deserts of Utah, to freshly cut South African trails and back again. We meet some of the feistiest, four-legged trail personalities along the way, who all enjoy the mountain bike world in their own way, just like us humans do, whether it’s hitting jump lines, lapping through the loam, or setting out to build new trail.

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(water running) (gentle uplifting music) – [Narrator] A wise old dog once told me, give me a yard and I’ll run in circles, give me a trail and I’ll run to the end. I don’t run nearly as far
or as fast as I used to, but I still find freedom in the forest. I have my pack around me. I smell a thousand different smells. (dog sniffing) I see younger dogs on the trail too, endless energy, impatient, always excited, they’ll see it one day too, how life on the trail is
the best life there is. Every dog has that time when
they’re young and strong, fast as lightning, so fast
they beat their humans down every trail, every day. (sighs) I do miss those rides. The forest blurring by, no time
to stop and smell the bees, or eat the bugs, just run.
(dog panting) Run until you can’t pant any harder. (lively upbeat music)
♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ (bike chain whirring) (dramatic inspirational music) Some dogs live way out in the country, (chuckles) they’re the real lucky ones. (dog whimpering)
(gentle uplifting music) – [Man] (whistles) Come on, come on boys. There you go. (dogs barking) – [Narrator] But those
trails never made themselves so sometimes us dogs need
to chip in and help out. Sure, they get in the way sometimes, but hanging out in those
hills with their best friends, it’s hard to beat. Of course, the next best thing is testing out those fresh trails. (dog barks) (lively upbeat music) It was one thing to run,
but it was another to fly. Some of us just have a knack for it. (dog panting) Even the ones you’d never expect. Not every dog is satisfied
with the fenced-in parks. Some just need to be free. (bike tire crunching on dirt) (bike thumping) There was never any such
thing as too wet or too cold that just made it more fun. No one ever heard of a fair-weather dog. Rain, mud, puddles. What could be better and nothing beats that wet dog smell. (bike tires crunching on dirt) (water splashing) (dog panting) (bike clunking) (water sloshing) Is there anything better than
time spent in the deep woods with your best friend? The forest is full of
adventure at every turn with endless sticks to chew on and logs to jump over, I think every dog would agree the forest is where we
feel the most alive. (upbeat rock music) (bike tires crunching on dirt) (dog barking) (light guitar music) I never did quite reach
the end of the trail there was always more. As the years passed and
I began to slow down, I realized that the trail
was just one part of it. Having my friends along for the ride made it all the more fulfilling. To be a trail dog means
you were lucky enough to find a human that loves the wild places as much as you do, someone
to share adventures with and grow old with. And if anyone ever wonders
why dogs are so loyal, well, we have the best friends on earth. – [Dog] Ah okay, now I
can just take my time. – [Man] There it is,
there it is, there it is, I’ve got it, there it is. Oh where’d it go? Oh, there it is, there is is. (mouth flopping) – [Dog] Listen, you cannot escape
from – where are you going. I can still see you you little. (tongue slurping) – [Dog] Snack break time, oh
a stick, oh, so much fiber. Oh, love stick. – [Dog] Coming in, oh wet, no, ah, oh. (dog slurping) – [Dog] Listen, my
pretty, I’m really trying, don’t touch me, don’t touch me. – [Dog] Trail dog, trail
dog, trail dog, trail dog, Trail dog, squirrels, squirrels,
squirrels, squirrels, squirrels Squirrels, squirrels, squirrels.