Who Said "Dogging it" Was a Bad Thing?

Meet Kaia: She’s only a couple of years old and she’s faster than most mountain bikers in Port Moody, British Columbia.

Foxwood Films' Bryan and Kaia isn't your standard death-defying mountain biking flick. In fact, it de-stigmatizes the reputation mountain biking has gained from those daredevil films. As the fluffy border collie sprints down winding, muddy trails without getting her little white paws dirty, we’re left to question how extreme mountain biking actually is—and that’s a good thing.

"Mountain biking has been a victim of its own success," says Carlton Reid, editor of the bicycle industry magazine BikeBiz. "It got popular quickly, diversified and created lots of product. For new blood, that much choice is stultifying. It's a hidden cult now—people used to get into mountain biking because it was an accessible form of cycling. It's not anymore."

Mountain bikers are portrayed as a bunch of reckless Evil Knievels that throw themselves off steep, rocky mountain tops and down slippery creeks, confronting life-threatening surprises around every bend. Unsurprisingly, this kind of activity turns a lot of completely capable mountain bikers off the sport.

Ironically, the dull—albeit constant—threat of motor traffic involved in road cycling presents a substantially greater risk than that of your average mountain biking session. Almost two cyclists per day were killed in traffic crashes in 2012, while 50,000 cyclists were injured in the same year. Sure, mountain biking isn't entirely without risk, but it's safer than a lot of sports.

Creator Jonathan Kang hopes Kaia will take the curse off mountain biking: "People who don’t normally mountain bike are now being exposed to its awesome subculture. It could get more people into the sport.”

With coverage on CNN, Global, CTV, and NBC, it might. In the end, Bryan and Kaia shows the softer side of mountain biking and invites the uninitiated to join the fun.

What drew you to this unconventional mountain biking story?

There are a few famous dog videos in the mountain biking community, and when Bryan got Kaia we thought it’d be fun to make one ourselves. It was supposed to be a short, fun project.

But it went viral.

Yeah, like overnight. We were totally not expecting that. We just got bored over winter break and decided to do something quick on the trails—it only took about four hours to make. Then all of sudden we’re getting interviewed by CNN.

Was filming Bryan and Kaia a lot different than filming your standard mountain biking video?

Not really. The filming process was pretty normal: Get the shot, hike back up, and repeat, until we get what we want. Working with a dog was different because she was so much faster than Bryan. We had to hold her back so they could go through the shot at the same time. The “race” was definitely rigged.

Any plans for a sequel?

Bryan also has a really fat cat named Skittles, so we thought about doing a joke video, like Bryan and Skittles.

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Note: Bryan and Kaia was filmed in an area that permits mountain bikes and off-leash dogs.