Meet Princess Leia, the Bike-Loving Bulldog of Los Angeles
Phil’s Fondo on October 27 was full of everything you’d expect and more: cookies, scenic California roads, fun-loving cyclists, more cookies, and an adorable, four-legged participant named Princess Leia.
Princess Leia is a two-year-old miniature English bulldog who would much rather go on a bike ride than a regular old walk. Her owner, 30-year-old Eric Diaz, is a competitive cyclist who lives in Los Angeles.
In the two years that he’s had her, Diaz has trained Leia to ride on his back in his Chrome Industries Bravo 2.0 backpack. Luckily, she grew into it well—all 30-some pounds of her.
“These dogs are really sensitive with their atmosphere. Since she was a puppy, the idea of leaving her alone always kind of bothered me,” Diaz told Bicycling.
Most of his time outside of work is spent on a bike, riding with friends and training for races. He wanted to ensure that he was spending enough time with Leia as well, so one day he thought, why not combine the two?
“I always give her lots of treats and lots of love, and she just grew to like it,” he said.
They ride almost every day, depending on the weather and Leia’s mood. Whenever Diaz asks if she wants to go for a ride, she’ll either perk up her ears or head over to her dog bed. He won’t force her if she’d rather stay home.
Before taking on Phil’s Fondo, their longest ride together had been 50 miles; he usually tries to keep it within 40 miles. When Diaz found himself without a dogsitter the day of the fondo, he figured he’d take Leia with him, maybe ride a few miles with his friends, and then wait for them at the end.
He didn’t think they would end up doing close to 70 miles, on the Chocolate Chip ride.
“Somehow, I just ended up going most of the way with everybody,” Diaz said.
A post shared by Eric D. (@ericdaze) on Oct 28, 2019 at 10:11am PDT
When they hit the climb up Potrero Road, which reaches a grueling 18-percent grade, he became momentarily discouraged and questioned how much more he could do with Leia in tow. But then he saw that everyone around him was struggling up the climb as well, and the vibes of the group felt too amazing for him to give up just yet.
There were plenty of aid stations along the way too, and Diaz stopped frequently to make sure Leia’s needs were met and that she still wanted to ride.
“It was really inspiring to just be there,” he said. “It was just the perfect riding weather for us, and the energy, the vibes from everybody on the ride itself was really motivating.”
Diaz and Leia proved equally motivating to those around them, too.
“People had priceless reactions when they saw us riding by. They were amazed, happy, almost starstruck to see a doggo in a fondo,” he said.
Cute as it may be to the onlooker, we don’t recommend just throwing your pup in a bag and hoping for the best. Diaz has worked extensively on training Leia to get to this point. He started when she was five months old, and even then it took some practice getting her used to being in his backpack.
Leia’s safety during rides is also a top concern, and Diaz did have a scare riding with her when they first began.
“She needed to use the bathroom, and I wasn’t aware of the signs she was giving me, and she hopped out of my bag,” Diaz said. “She hopped onto the street, she tumbled, rolled and went over to the sidewalk to go to the bathroom.”
Leia was perfectly fine and unfazed by the incident, but ever since then, every single day, Diaz has worked on communicating with her. He’s taught her to understand certain keywords and phrases.
“In order to prevent that from happening again, we take a break and I talk to her to see what she needs,” he said. “If one of them resonates, then that’s what she’s needing or wanting.”
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They haven’t had any problems since—well, except for whenever they pass one of those inflatable waving tube men. Leia gets excited whenever she sees one, but Diaz has taught her a command to keep her from hopping out of his bag unexpectedly.
“I taught her ‘Leave it alone,’ which is my way of telling her to stop,” he said.
Now that they have Phil’s Fondo under their belt, Diaz said they have their sights set on other similar events, especially now that the weather is getting cooler (and more favorable to Leia).
“After challenging ourselves at the cookie fondo and seeing the joy we brought to the riders, we will do more fondos and bigger rides,” Diaz said.
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