As reported by the BBC:
A stray dog has completed a 1700km journey across China after joining a cycle race from Sichuan province to Tibet.And he has those short little legs!
The dog, nicknamed "Xiaosa", joined the cyclists after one of them gave him food. He ran with them for 24 days, covering up to 60km a day, and climbing 12 mountains.
Addendum/amendment/clarification: A tip of the hat to Nolandda, who found a report here indicating that while the dog "accompanied" the cyclists on their journey, it did not run the entire distance; they built a cage to carry her on portions of the trip (and in fact some of the cyclists took the bus when the road was too steep).
Something is wrong about this story.
ReplyDelete1700km over 24 days is 70.8 km/day that he needs to cover, not "up to 60km a day".
Additionally dogs are OK at distance running, but not great. A grey wolf can maintain a gait of 8-9 km/hr for many hours (but that is when it is cool I suspect in the heat the poor creature would collapse and die of heat stroke). While a leisurely to moderate bicycle pace is 15–25 km/h. The animal could never keep up especially in a race.
Looking into it a bit more reveals that my suspicions are correct. The cyclists carried the animal. According to this article:
"[...] they made a cage for her for when the group had to go downhill and the road was to steep."
That makes more sense. Thanks, Dan - I've amended the post.
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