Rally in the Valley

from Highland Outdoors | Spring 2019

18 Silver Lining

By Sue Haywood

For the last ten years, the Canaan MTB Festival hasn’t strived to be the biggest or most commercial mountain bike festival in West Virginia. You won’t be able to demo a $10,000 carbon fiber bike. We don’t give out a plastic swag bag filled with corporate advertisements. There are no lines to wait in. We do things our own way. We’re here to welcome you with smile, hug, and a fist bump, and then show you a home-grown good time on two wheels.

The Canaan MTB Festival is a grassroots celebration of our Tucker County mountain community through the prism of the mountain bike. Ultimately, the festival celebrates our area’s trails, which are the veins that deliver the lifeblood of an outdoor community.

INSPIRING REVOLUTIONS

The Canaan MTB Festival was inspired by two renowned mountain bike festivals in the Virginias. During the late 80s and until the late 90s the Slatyfork Fat Tire Festival at Elk River Touring Center reigned supreme. I went in 1996 and rode the deep, dark woods of Gauley Mountain with folks from all over

Riders relax after a group ride at Pendleton Point in Blackwater Falls State Park.

the East Coast. It was a homey affair yet had lots of wild and wonderful going on.

My other inspiration was the Shenandoah Mountain Bike Festival held in the aptly named town of Stokesville, VA at the Stokesville Campground. It started in 1997 and is still a volunteer-run affair with a strong emphasis on trail work, group meals, and a legendary nightlife that included a beer crit and night slalom course on slippery grass. The festival has since matured and now raises thousands of dollars for the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition. I attended last year and was blown away by the strong attendance, including kids of all ages all riding their bikes non-stop around the campground trails.

DEEP ROOTS

The Canaan MTB Festival is a tip of the hat to the deep roots of the Davis mountain bike racing from the 80s— including the infamous Blackwater 100 motorcycle race from the 70s. Canaan Valley was the epicenter of racing over gnarly, muddy terrain. National races were held where thousands of hardy riders tested their mettle among rocks and bogs. If the land could talk, it would tell stories of curses and tears, of lost shoes and busted gears. Building off the template of other festivals with the tools of our rich racing heritage, the driving motivation for me to start the Canaan MTB Festival in 2009 was to give back to the area that has contributed so much to my life.

The terrain here can have a beautiful brutality to it. It’s gorgeous yet can be unforgiving on body and equipment. It’s this terrain that forged my career as a professional racer, where I went on to win National and Continental Championships and even a World Title. I wouldn’t have been successful as a professional racer without my mental spitfire being forged in the bogs of Moon Rocks or my technical skills being honed on the brutal terrain of Plantation Trail. If you can ride well in Canaan, you can ride well anywhere. I wasn’t born in West Virginia, but I my love of mountain biking—and the outdoors—was born here in the Mountain State.

"If you can ride well in Canaan, you can ride well anywhere."

NON-STOP FUN

Over the course of this long weekend in June, attendees can choose from a diverse menu of locally-sourced, bike-related activities. We kick it off on Thursday evening with the Ride at Five—a massively fun group ride that heads out from Blackwater Bikes in Davis. On Friday, both men and women can take a range of skills clinics with professional instructors and then enjoy a locally-catered lunch in Blackwater Falls State Park. Kids get their chance also to work on their skills by riding over purpose-built obstacles before a group trail ride.

If you’ve never seen our organic take on a bike trials contest, come to the Run What Ya Brung bike trials on Friday evening, where riders show off their technical skills on mini courses designed to push their limits. It’s like an 18-hole mini-golf course on steroids. While only about 20 people compete, hundreds spectate, cheer, and gasp from section to section.

You can put your strength to a good cause by doing volunteer trail work to help with maintaining the many miles of trails. Saturday is the big day with group rides of varying abilities offered and led by interesting locals. And you should save some energy to dance the night away at the FUNdraiser party Saturday night.

If the trials is more of a pro-style event, come join in on the Sunday bike hash—a classic game of hounds chasing hares. A duo of skilled riders gets a head start and leads the chasing mob on a wild goose chase through our local trail network. You could say the bike hash is the event for the people!

We recently celebrated our ten-year anniversary with over 250 intrepid and friendly people and raised thousands for our local International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) chapter, the Blackwater Bicycle Association (BBA). BBA uses the proceeds from the FUNdraiser and dinner raffle to advocate for trails, organize routine trail work, and advance the stewardship of local riding areas. I’m proud that the festival can give back something to the local trails while bringing in people to support our local economy.

This year’s festival will be held June 14 – 16. We are continually uplifted by the way the festival is sustainably growing, positively influencing the community, and bringing the mountain biking fun to residents and visitors. Hop on your bike and come inspire future revolutions! w

Sue Haywood is mountain biking legend, world champion, and overall badass. She teaches skills clinics and inspires riders of all ages to get out and embrace the mountain biking lifestyle.