12 hrs. of Canal Loop

Many thanks to Steve Wilson and all of the hard-working volunteers who made the inaugural 12 hrs. of Canal Loop a success!

The 11 mile-plus loop is perfect for a long distance event. There’s just a touch of climbing as most of the trail system is flowing with limited technical (or dangerous) sections. The open trail corridor proved very beneficial during the night riding portion as there were very few, if any, areas where you had to worry about clipping a pedal on a rock or log next to the trail.

Due to the extremely dry weather we’ve been experiencing quite a few of the turns had loose dust/gravel, but if you adjusted your speed accordingly, you didn’t have much to worry about.

As expected, the scoreboard had numerous sub one-hour lap times (none from me of course). For timing you simply said “Your race number- On” (ie- 235 On) to start your lap, and then “235 Off” when you came off the course.

The good people from Red Bull showed up and set up their inflatable start/finish banner, while also providing plenty of ice-cold energy drink to keep the racers flying around the loop.

The only downside were the unseasonably warm temperatures, I think it hit around 95 degrees mid-day. Had more traditional early fall temperatures been in place, the event would’ve been even better.

Here’s hoping that the event continues to grow and is around for years to come.