Video: A Trail Dog's Perspective on Covid-19

Tarantino gets it. He once said he could make an entire movie just filming Brad Pitt driving a car listening to good music. Watching my dog run has the same effect for me. I don't know why but it's mesmerizing. Satisfying. I'm a big hater of excessive slo-mo in biking edits but add a dog and I can't get enough. I almost went over the bars once trying to film Ludlow with my phone. So I got a GoPro Max and started filming. When I realized how good the stabilization feature was I got a harness and Ludlow became my camerabitch.

Shortly afterward we plunged into the Covid chaos. As a sales rep for Ion (among other brands) my hours got cut by 75%. I had lots of time for riding but Ludlow became my sole riding companion. Which is kind of essential for a project like this because let's be honest no one wants to ride with the camera-wearing dog or the kook who keeps fiddling with it. I kept filming Ludlow and she me with no real plans for the footage.

Over dinner one night my family was discussing what Ludlow must make of the whole Covid/isolation thing. Our lives have been so profoundly impacted but to her it mostly means that she: 1. Has us around her all the time, and 2. Goes on a lot of rides. These are Ludlow's two favorite things besides bacon. We joked about how much Covid has improved her life, but it got me thinking that she must sense the weirdness. That I actively avoid people on the trail, that friends swing by but never come in, that things just aren't normal. Anyway, I realized I could edit the enormous amount of footage I'd accrued into a mediocre video touching on the Covid response and a dog's response to that response. Also biking. Because honestly that's been a large part of how I cope.

Just a note, I'm a huge supporter of 'ride where you live' during these times. Most of this was filmed on trails I ride to from my house. The few shots that required driving were filmed in January/February before all this hit. All filming was done within the guidelines of riding locally and responsibly when these rules were in effect, and I recommend everyone continue to follow these simple rules.