“There was one day when we climbed the 14,700ft-tall peak of Anjiala mountain,” he said.
“We did more than 40 miles uphill and at the end I had to get off and push my bike instead. But the dog ran ahead of me and stopped at a crossroads. She waited for a while, but got bored because I took so long, so ran back, put her paws on my calves, and started licking me.
I could see she cared about me,” he said.
He said the dog had enough energy to run with the cyclists for at least 30 miles to 40 miles each day, but that he would sometimes pick her up if she was tired and carry her along in a makeshift box on the back of his bicycle.
At night, she slept on the team’s raincoats, but there were a couple of occasions when she cuddled up to Mr Xiao for warmth, he said. The team also decided to share their rations with the dog, feeding her custard tarts, boiled eggs and sausages.
At first, Mr Xiao said he suspected the dog of only following them for food, especially as other cyclists in Sichuan had reported seeing her follow them in the past. “But I can now see a bond between us from the way she looks at me,” he said. “I think we have definitely moved beyond food.” There were also fierce encounters with other dogs along the way.
“Once, a large dog started chasing us along a series of dark tunnels and his barking drew a whole pack of others. I put Xiao Sa on my bike and started peddling desperately. One of my bags was ripped, but otherwise we got away,” he said.
On Monday, Xiao Sa was on her way back to Chengdu by aeroplane, after being adopted by Xiao Yong and getting a full medical from a vet in Lhasa, who pronounced her free of altitude sickness.
Chinese internet users have nicknamed the dog Forrest Gump, in honour of her simple-minded stamina, and cheered to see photographs of the dog in front of Lhasa’s Potala Palace.
Additional reporting by Valentina Luo
Related posts:
Views: 0