50 years ago, a man won the ‘US Dakar’ with an unusual co -pilot: his dog

Dogs have been evolving thousands of years to become our best friends and They have a special memory When it comes to remembering our pampering. Other memories have a very short life in their head, but the safest thing is that Kookie, a mestizo dog, will remember throughout his life the adventures he had with John McCown, his owner. Because they did not give normal walks through the park: they toured the motorcycle desert competing in official tests.

And Kookie was not the package: it was the co -pilot.

The strange couple. Imagine The scenetoday impossible due to so straight regulations, the era of telemetrías, the absolute control of each extra gram in a competition vehicle and the most absolute technification: a dog uploaded on the deposit of a motorcycle, which competed in official tests and was moving based on the land they were going through.

In the 60s, the carnicero by profession John McCown liked to walk with his bike. He did it accompanied by Kookie, his dog, who placed a back basket. At one point, John was going to go one step further: he bought an off -road motorcycle and began to get into his head that could compete in Cross competitions. He did so, and did not leave Kookie behind.

My dog ​​knows how to wear the motorcycle. Instead of a basket, John improvised a “seat” with a blanket on the gas tank of his Husky 400 and OSSA 175 SDRand that is where Kookie felt like fish in the water. I imagine that the dog would be waiting for good doses of bones at the end of the day and that was the motivation, but the truth is that I was not there to make bulk: John and Kookie trusted each other to wear the motorcycle.

During about 300 tests, the couple ate hundreds of potholes, swallowed dust and crossed puddles while both adapted their position on the vehicle to tame it in the best possible way. In This article From the American Motorcyclist magazine, McCown’s wife, McCown Describe That Kookie bowed to the curves, leaned on the deposit in the rugged field and stood up when potholes came.

A bomb. Both executed a choreography on the motorcycle, and although at first they did not do it as an advertising maneuver, it is evident that it caught the attention of many. They appeared in the documentary movie ‘On Any Sunday‘, Kookie starred in children’s books such as’ Kookie the Motorcycle Racing Dog’ and ‘Kookie Rides Again’ and even brands like Ossa, Can-Am and Kawasaki the They sponsored.

Kookie Junior. When Kookie got on the motorcycle, she was 10 years old. Hundreds of races later, and with 13, after a check, McCown preferred that his compi would limit to some shorter and less demanding races. Until 14, when John decided that Kookie should hang the helmet and live on the couch. He died at age 16, but as John remembers in the 1981 article, before leaving he left a litter.

One of them was baptized as Kookie Junior, and for 10 years, he ran with John as Kookie had done before. They got some off-road championship (such as the 175cc class championship) and, although some wondered if it was not crazy, it was a friendship that benefited both of them for fun and for the company in the long and hard careers for the western American deserts.

To the hall of fame. Such was the legend of McCown and Kookie (s) that were included In the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame, an organization and museum dedicated to preserving the history of motorcycle races in ‘Flat Track’ and ‘Speedway’, recognizing both the pilots and the mechanics, personalities and influential journalists in that world.

Unfortunately, that recognition is something that John did not live. McCown He died In 2011 due to complications after cardiac operation. On the other side, surely Kookie and KJ were waiting for him, with the engine on and ready for one more adventure.

Images | McCown, Race DezertAmerican Motorcyclist

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