The 10th annual Canaan Mountain Bike Festival took place in over a warm and sunny weekend for the Highlands.
The festival began with a trials event in Canaan Heights. A trails event puts riders on an obstacle course of sorts to determine who can make it through with impeccable balance and precise riding.
The key to trials success is for a rider to make it through the course without losing their balance and putting their foot off their pedals and on to the ground.
Friday’s event proffered a number of different courses, each subsequently more challenging than the last. Rock gardens, acute angled turns, and difficult grades strewn throughout the courses separated the good from the best riders.
Advertised as a spectator sport, the event was well attended by a cheering and impressed crowd.
As the sun set on the trials event, out of town attendees and local riders alike were anxious to get back in their saddles come Saturday morning. Riders gathered out back of Blackwater Bikes to take off on a number of different group rides in the area. Eight, free group rides navigated through the Canaan Valley and the Davis area, each with its own purpose and theme.
Groups rides led by Tucker County riders included a beginner’s ride, a nature lover’s ride, a women’s ride, a mountaintop ride, a valley ride, the double down ride, local’s choice, and an adventure ride.
The Hares vs. Hounds Bike Hash closed out the festival weekend. A hash race is a sort of cat and mouse game. The two hares began biking with a 13-minute head start along trails that left from Davis.
As the hares biked, they left signs to denote the direction they went. The hounds chase the hares by following these signs. This year, the hounds succeeded in catching the hares before the event ended.