Medio Friuli is in the central zone of Friuli Venezia Giulia. One of its characteristics is that the landscape is mainly flat. The plain is ideal for many outdoor activities, with or without a dog. I have an Alaskan Malamute, a Nordic sledge dog, and the nice thing about him is that he helps me to explore the special places in my region. The kind of places that without him I’d never have considered worthy of a visit or getting to know.
Today I’ll tell you about an ideal route if you want to start cycling with your dog. It’s a country route that is good for the mushing activities associated with Nordic dogs, and for training Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs for 40 km working trials with a bicycle.
If for some reason you come from Palmanova/Mortegliano and you have to go to Fagagna (or San Daniele or Cimano) your sat-nav will probably send you through Basiliano. It’s a direct road and as soon as you leave the village you’ll see a short cycle path on the left. Continue in your car to the next village: Blessano.
To start this easy itinerary for your bikejoring activities (being pulled on your bike by your dog), I take Blessano cemetery as the point of reference. It’s not particularly interesting from a touristic point of view, but it does have a large car park (unattended) and two fountains inside the cemetery. In this flat area there are no irrigation channels with running water where a dog could drink reasonably safely. Remember that if you don’t have enough water with you, cemeteries are good places to find clean, cool running water.
The dirt road starts directly from the car park. You can choose the one in front of you, which goes directly in among the fields, or the one to your left covered in white gravel, which takes you as far as Vissandone if you want. As you can see on the map, I took the left-hand path to illustrate this route and, after about a hundred metres, I went to the right and followed the dirt track through the fields. From here on you can enjoy the beautiful countryside of Friuli and an easy trail, along which you can teach your dog the basic sledge-dog commands: turn right, turn left, stop, keep straight on.
This initial stretch of less than 1 km features a number of shallow dips. If it has rained recently, you could get your trousers and shoes muddy. This is the only stretch with something of the off-road about it. However, it’s very easy. In fact your only job will be to direct your dog on the right turns. Eventually, you’ll have the Friulian mountains in front of you and, on the right, you’ll start to see a dark red house with solar panels on the roof and white-framed windows. The area is bordered by wheat fields and grassy areas, fallow land and small woods. This countrified area is nonetheless close to the village, so remember that you might meet someone out running or another dog off the lead. However, this is a short stretch that you’ll cover quickly by bike. As you can see on the map, the wide space is bordered by country roads, loops and paths leading to ploughed or fertilised land.
When you go through a clearing with an emerald green wider part, you’re about to reach the only road crossing. Once you cross over the road you can relax and enjoy the next 10 km of stony track, with sharper zones only close to approaches to the road. However, as you proceed away from the road the path becomes a dirt track with a fine sand or soft earth surface, so your dog’s paws will be safe. Now you have a choice. You can turn left here and onto the country road which goes alongside the asphalt road and continue for 3 km without turning off it; but you should be aware that the large, sharp stones on the road surface make this a difficult route. Mercurio cut one of his pads (not badly) the only time I unwittingly decided to start there. I advise you to continue straight on after crossing the road and allow your dog a good “stretch” as you head north.
While he gets a good run, you can enjoy the surroundings of a few bare, wild areas where hares and pheasants sometimes hide. On ploughed fields you’ll see flocks of seagulls, magpies and blackbirds, a few robins and, in spring, swallows. You’re in the Basiliano Game Preserve even though it’s the Mereto di Tomba district. If you go right at any of the junctions you see, you’ll proceed to San Marco and the rest of the fields towards Martignacco. If you choose to go left, you’ll go as far as Pantianicco, Plasenci, San Vito.
You can do 2, 5 or 10 km loops without leaving the dirt track. It’s easy to get your bearings because it’s a classic countryside east-west/north-south layout with the horizon and excellent visibility in all directions because the land is flat. You’re sure to see ducks on this route (there are swamps here and there) and you might see a fox, roe deer, field mice, perhaps a field snake. But don’t worry, they’re all shy animals that don’t show themselves easily. More often than not, you know they’re there or they’ve been there more or less recently because you see traces of them: paw prints in the puddles, tufts of hair caught on the bushes, faecal debris and anything else that those interested in wildlife identification consider a “sign”.
This simple route could be for you if:
- you’re just starting out in the worlds of mushingand sledge-dogs
- you need visibilityto manage your harnessed dog
- you need a safe trailto create a bond and empathy between you and your dog
- you want to stop occasionally to take photosof wild plants and flowers, birds of prey
- you want to let your Nordic dog run free without worrying about problems caused by encounters with other dogs, hares or pheasants.
Leonardo Portelli
Enrico Cappellaro
Andrej Bandelj
