We made it 99 miles in two days. Busta ran half of it or more. It's hard for me to believe and I was there. Let me tell you about it.
First Busta the dog and I are traveling St Louis to Columbia, MO and back. Over 230 of about 275 miles are done. Here are a couple of background links.
Three days into our ride and run
Busta What user group
If we finish the last 40 miles by tomorrow, we'll be home for family birthdays and graduations. We'll try our best.
Two days ago, we set out from Columbia, where we had much needed rest and comfort with close friends.
We also toured the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, and participated in a honk for peace event. Keep an eye out for those reports and videos.
So we left Columbia a little late, as usual. I promised to let Busta run when he wanted, and not keep him in his cage, so that's what I did.
We left late, Busta wanted to run, rain was coming and we had 50 miles to park shelters in Mokane. I would ride until Busta wanted out, and then he would run. He got in 15-20 miles that day.
But that was just the start. It rained all night and into the morning. I seriously considered staying another night. However, I have birthdays and graduations to attend.
The sky was still overcast and thunder could be heard rumbling. I decided to get out. Even 10 miles would get us closer.
Busta was ready. It was cool and he was feeling good. I put him in the trailer for a mile before he was whining and scratching to get out. Then I let him run some.
Thunder and rain were close, so we raced away with Busta alternating between trailer and running.
Before long, Busta showed me he was not only up to the task, but was chomping the bit to run. I couldn't keep him in.
Of 48 miles covered on day two out of Columbia, Busta ran about 35.
At about 11 pm, and just two miles from our destination, I ran empty. I made the mistake of pushing too hard with not enough breaks. I had to stop. I pulled out the dog bed for Busta, rolled myself into my ground cover, and slept in the middle of the trail for 2 hours.
Busta had my back. He stayed close and kept an eye, ear and nose out for trouble.
Shivering cold, I got up and we finished our ride to Marthasville, where decent shelter and food awaited.
We made it through those two days. It was unbelievable. I've been training him since he was a pup and Busta still exceeded my expectations.