June 10 SIgn up on Bikereg.com !

Things are lush in Canaan right now with the frequent light rains and mild temperatures. Once in a while, you can look around and think that you could be in Costa Rica, Scotland or Portland. The mountain laurel and ferns are  becoming showy and proud, while the rhododendrons and blueberries are getting strong  for their prime time later in the summer.

Members of Tucker County Trails (TCT) have been out clearing trails after the destruction of Sandy and then a snowy winter that saw over 235 inches fall.  Chaga Todd said Plantation Trail is cleared all the way end to end.  Eric says most of the trails in Canaan Heights are looking good.  It never hurts to have a hand saw in your camelback, though.  A big thanks go out to all the folks that keep these mountain treasure trails in riding shape.

Your participation in the Canaan MTB Festival helps the Tucker County Trails stay active and motivated.  Its nice to have people contribute with money, time and great vibes to this special area of West Virginia.


On Friday June 21st , the summer solstice, there will be a Ladies Lunch ride.  We will do skills sessions in the morning and then ride to a homemade lunch.  We will tour around in the afternoon and end with post ride refreshments.  This day is a casual day for the ladies to learn and perfect some skills and then try them out on the trails.  All levels are welcome.  We will have several instructors for the different levels. Come enjoy riding with a fun group of ladies.

Please sign up for trail work on Sunday June 23rd.  Roger Lilly of Blackwater Bikes leads this group trail work.  Roger is still deciding what project we will be working on.  There is a lot to choose from.  You are welcome to bring your own tools, too.  We will work from 9-12:30 with a light lunch provided.

Please join us for a VIP Fun and Fundraising Party at Tip Top coffee shop in Thomas, WV.  The $25 ticket pays for food and the rest goes to Tucker County Trails.  We will also have a raffle with a Stan's Wheelset, Toasted Head wine, a weekend stay at Blackwater Falls State Park, a season pass at White Grass Ski Touring Center.  And hopefully some more goodies.  Raffle tickets are $5 for one or 5 for $20.  You can buy the raffle tickets at the party.

There is free primitive camping in the Monongahela National Forest on Canaan Loop Road.  There is also free primitive camping along Camp 70 road in Davis.  Also, Boomtown Coffee has offered a limited number of camping spots behind them in Davis.  Please let me know if you are interested in camping there.  There is a link to lodging through www.canaanvalley.org


Please email me with any questions that you have.  We would love to have you riding in Canaan that weekend with us!  suzehaywood@yahoo.com

2013 Poster

Liza gives some insight into her and Paul's artwork:

"Two foot long salamanders? Unexploded warheads from WWII? Plants that start life looking like tiny aliens? We looked no further than the bazaar mythology of Canaan itself to find inspiration for this poster. We brought our love of co-creating strange drawings together with our appreciation of all things bike and our admiration of the amazing wild and wonderful nature of West Virginia.

We have been collaborating artistically for going on one year now. The Canaan Mtb Festival is our first of what will hopefully become many posters. You can see our art through May at the Larkin Arts 6x6 Juried Show in Harrisonburg, VA. The same gallery will be showcasing our artwork along with Tim Skirvin for the month of July.

In our spare time: Liza Marshall Frolkis is the assistant manager at Radical Roots Community Farm and a participant in the Valley Herbal Guild. Paul H. Forrester works with Shenandoah Bike Company and plays music with his band Nip Twissle."



We want to thank Liza Frolkis and Paul Forrester for designing such a unique and wild poster. Their artwork will be added to the other awesome posters that bike lovers have made for our annual festival. We really like giving regional artists free reign on creating a fun representation of the festival.

Nature Ride

Chip Chase will once again be leading the Nature Lover's Ride! Chip is long time resident of Canaan Valley and runs White Grass Touring Center. He is a amateur naturalist and has strong observation skills and a keen sense of curiosity. And if you know Chipper, then you know he has boundless energy and is a totally positive person. His ride will meet at the Blackwater Bikes at 10 and last around 3 hours. The pace is very casual and will involved stopping and learning about the wonders of nature. This is a favorite ride of the festival.

Thomas Trail Work Photos

Athey Lutz sent me these pics from the recent trail work days in Thomas

Thomas is a small town, but has several outstanding individuals that have a lot of energy to make trail work projects happen! Please consider volunteering your time to do trail work on an organized trail work day or on sunday morning the weekend of the Canaan Mountain Bike Festival.

Thomas, WV

Even though the festival headquarters are Davis, Thomas is our sister town. And there is great momentum with the community over there and the trails. You are invited to this celebration of their hard work. And remember when you come down for the Canaan MTB Festival, go over to Thomas and check out the trails and restaurants, art galleries and shops.


Do you know your community created 5 miles of beautiful, clean, bridge-enhanced trails in Thomas?! It is awesome and you should come see it.

Come celebrate the opening of the Thomas City Park Trails with a community potluck hosted by the North Fork Watershed Project on Friday June 1st! The event will mark the culmination of a two and a half year project to create a 5 mile long sustainable trail system in Thomas.

The fun will start at 5:00PM and will include guided hiking and mountain biking tours of the new trails, a ribbon cutting ceremony, a scavenger hunt for kids followed by a potluck at the pavilion around 7pm.

The park is the first right after the bridge on 219 S if you are heading away from Thomas, towards Parsons. Join us at the pavilion down by the river and bring your family and friends along with you.

If you have any questions or need directions please call/email Ben or Athey at 259-5600 or vista@northforkwatershed.org

Ride at 5

Out of the quaint town of Davis is the Thursday Ride at 5 that leaves from Blackwater Bikes. It usually breaks into a couple of groups and is well attended. The cool thing about Davis is that all the riding is right from town and there are lots of trails to pick from. And often there is some spontaneous trail work. Chaga and Kurt have worked on this hard rock problem on fire break to make it rideable for us mortals( Timmy R and Joey R could ride it as is!)

2012 Poster

We want to thank local artist, Ruth Melnick, for her beautiful and original artwork. Ruth's inspiration was the serene and intimate beauty of Tucker County.