‘Scooter on steroids’

Heads naturally turn when they see Costa Mesan Rancy Reyes speed by on a big-wheeled scooter harnessed to domesticated dogs that pull him around the dirt trails of Fairview Park.

That’s just the nature of the unusual phenomenon of urban dog sledding, which he institutionalized in Costa Mesa a couple of years ago when he founded the Southern California Working Snow Dogs society.

In the last year, the membership in his club has almost doubled to roughly 460 people from around the Southland.

On Saturday, Reyes will host his Third Annual (not so) Great Serum Run and Barbecue at Fairview Park.

Teams of dogs hitched to vehicles that look like a cross between a scooter and a mountain bike will race around the park on courses from one to three miles long.

“It’s basically a razor scooter on steroids,” said Dennis Grady, a neighbor of Reyes and dog owner who got into the sport.

One of the race categories that Reyes calls “canicross” even pits people without scooters against each other to see whose dog can drag them 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) on foot in the shortest time.

Aside from the annual races, a group of the sport’s local enthusiasts meet in Fairview Park around 7:30 a.m. on weekend mornings to exercise their dogs and teach anyone interested about urban mushing.

When clueless passers-by see Reyes or Grady cruising through the park people usually ask whether they’re from Alaska and if they’re training for the Iditarod — a famous sledding race through icy tundra.

A few accuse the men of abusing their animals (which couldn’t be farther from the truth, according to Reyes, who says the dogs were bred for the activity and become antsy and poorly behaved if they don’t do it).

“And of course there’s the comment, ‘Hey where’s your dog sled,’ and the funny part is that their jaws drop when I tell them the dog sled is in the garage,” Reyes said.

He actually does own a sled, which he straps the dogs to when he takes trips up to the mountains of Big Bear Lake or Mammoth for some real mushing.

The dogs love it, Grady said.

“Especially when we see the dogs first start to do the sport and it kicks in with their instincts then they just take off and run,” Grady said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Third Annual (not so) Great Serum Run and Barbecue

WHEN: 8 a.m. Saturday

WHERE: Fairview Park

COST: $25 adults, $10 children

INFORMATION: www.urbanmushing.com

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].