DSSP and Stav Agility

This weekend was DSSP ("Den Store StyrkePrøven), the 540 km bike ride from Trondheim to Oslo. This is the final test of the winters cycling training. Both Husband and my friend Nils were participating. Friday, he met up with the other members of his team, they loaded their bikes, extra wheels, food, water bottles and overnight bags into the support vehicles and took off for Trondheim where they would spend the evening at a hotel, eating well, hopefully sleeping, doing last minute checks of the gear, and planning stategy for the ride. They were riding as a team, 17 strong, with a goal to finish in 18 hrs.

Meantime, Lucy and I were participating in our first big agility event. 4 clubs arranged a 3 day event with 4 rings going simultaneously. It was a qualifying event for the national team. I had only entered Lucy in 2 runs: a novice standard agility, and a novice jumpers. It was a warm, sunny day with a nice breeze. I found an out-of-the-way spot for Lucy's crate, in the shade - well I had to keep moving it to stay in the shade.

The standard agility run was first. I did some contact exercises before we started. Lucy seemed a little unconcentrated, but that was to be expected. Wel l no wonder: it was a huge open field, the 4 rings marked off with lime and plastic bands on the ground. The whole surrounded by the tents of the various participants. We got though the run: Lucy had a tendency to want to wander out of the ring, though I was able to call her back. It led however to her taking a jump from the wrong side, automatically disqualifying.
The jumpers run was a disaster. After a couple of jumps Lucy just shut down, and started sniffing the grass at the side of the ring. My initial thought wass that the whole thing was overwhelming for her, and that she had had enough. Later I was reading in an agility blogg (susangarrettdogagility.com) how performance dogs can get hypoglycemic, and that feeding them cookies throughout the day is recommended. So another possible explanation for Lucy shutting down, could be that she just didn't have the energy. I hadn't given her breakfast, because she always thows up in the car, and while she had had some cookies, ie pieces of sausage, it maybe wasn't enough, what with the stress, and the hot day.

Next time I will feed her at least half her ration on arrival, pluss take more time to aclimatize to the new surroundings.

At 9:30 pm I went to the Esso station in Ottestad to wait for the cyclists to pass on their way toward Oslo. They were to make a short stop there to fill up on food and drink, their boxes lined up, each with a cyclists name on it. A large crowd was gathered to cheer them on. Members of the cykling team had set up the finish gate across the road with Ottestad Cykling Club written on it. 5 teams had completed the shortere distance from Lillehammer to Oslo earlier in the afternoon, and were in full swing with a garden party accross the street. Several teams from other places passed while we waited, and all recieved applause, but when our boys (+ 1 girl) showed up in their yellow and black uniforms the crowd greeted them like heroes. I had brought coffee, and chocolate and water bottles for my man. Exchanged a few words with my friend 2 boxes down. Someone was passing out salt tablets. 2-3 minutes after arriving They mounted their bikes and were off.
I had subscribed to sms updates, which told me when the team passed various points along the way. For example since I had recieved an sms that they had passed Lillehammer at 8pm I knew approximatly when to expect them to the Esso station in Ottestad. So when my phone peeped in the middle of the night I had a look: they had just crossed the finish line at 17:47 hrs, without having lost a single rider along the 540 km stretch!