Eighth-grader excelling at mountain biking

Published 10:21 am Tuesday, February 20, 2018

DALTON, Ga. — With six miles remaining in the grueling, 300-plus-mile Cross Florida Individual Time Trial mountain bike race, which spanned coast-to-coast across Florida, and a rare breath of cool December air rushing in, 14-year-old Canaan Barrett began to pull away from his father, Chris.

After three days and nine hours of exhausting pedal churning, fence hopping and camping — stopping at convenience stores along the way for nourishment — Chris’ legs began to tighten, but his son, the youngest competitor by far, used a youthful burst to surge toward the finish.

“Some days I get stronger and stronger,” Canaan said. “That may sound pretty weird, probably the opposite for most people, but I can get stronger some days.”

Canaan, who is an eighth-grader at Christian Heritage School, is not what might be considered a typical 14-year-old. He has no interest in social media or video games or pretty much anything indoors. Instead, he spends the majority of his spare time on two wheels sending dirt and twigs flying as he races through the wilderness.

“I don’t have social media, I don’t get on my phone a lot,” Canaan said. “My dad started getting into mountain biking and he decided to get me into mountain biking and I just fell in love with it. I just really liked it.”

Canaan started biking when he was 5. He and his father went to the trails at Dalton’s Raisin Woods Park and he slowly got a feel for trail riding.

“He started right out here,” Chris said, sitting at a picnic table just outside the opening of the trails. “He couldn’t ride any of that. We used to walk up and then he’d ride the flat stuff.”

They started out with short rides through the trails, walking when they needed to, but eventually they moved into longer and much more difficult rides. His father helped him train by taking him on long-distance rides to gradually build up his endurance.

Canaan also got help once a local middle school and high school team, the Pinhoti Vipers, was started in Dalton to help younger riders excel in the sport.

Before long, he was setting the pace.

“I did a couple events and then we started taking him on some of those long gravel rides just preparing him,” Chris said. “We’d go 20 miles and he was like, ‘I feel great.’ Thirty miles, ‘I feel great.’ The further we went, the better it seemed like he felt. We just kept stretching it and stretching it. It turned into weekend 200-milers and stuff like that.”

Then came Cross Florida.

It’s a three-day, 321-mile gauntlet that begins off New Smyrna Beach before wandering northeast and back down through the Ocala National Forest. Roughly 150 riders entered the most recent race, but only 48 made it to the finish line along the Withlacoochee River just north of Crystal Springs, Fla., most of whom were in their mid-20s or older.

Both Chris and Canaan entered with Canaan edging his father by about 10 minutes.

“It was actually good,” Canaan said, smirking at his father. “I could’ve done it faster without Dad. I didn’t feel tired except for the end of the first day. I sat down for a while and I started getting tired. But while I was riding, I didn’t feel tired.”

The Barretts cleared 100 miles on Day 1 before grabbing a bite to eat — with Canaan falling asleep at the table — and setting up camp just south of the Lake George Conservation Area.

The duo carried the essentials with them on their journey. A small lightweight tent, a small sleeping pad, a quilt, peanut M&Ms and water strapped to their frames in packs were all they could manage to bring with them.

“You’re bike-packing, so you carry everything with you,” Chris said. “It’s pretty much living convenience store to convenience store. You kind of load up on food and you really have to map it out.”

The oddest leg, just at the end of Day 2, came on an eight-mile stretch known as “Ghost Trail.” It’s an abandoned sandy trail in Ocala lined with fallen trees that is rarely ridden.

“It’s just really creepy because there’s no lights, no noise,” Chris said. “Not even the frogs chirp.”

As the end neared and fatigue began to set in, the mental game became a crucial element of the ride. At 14, some might have difficulty blocking out the desire to stop for a break or even quit. But that’s not Canaan’s style. If he starts a race, he intends to finish.

“I just stay calm,” he said. “I don’t think about what’s ahead. I just look down and just say, ‘Shut up, legs.’ I don’t think about what’s ahead because if you think about what’s ahead, it gets in your mind.”

For Chris, mountain biking is more than just sport. It’s a chance to bond with his son and watch and help him grow doing something they both enjoy.

As they neared the end, watching Canaan head toward the finish was emotional for Chris.

“Whenever you finish one, it’s always an emotional rush, but to see him finish, there was definitely a different type of emotional rush than the normal finish,” Chris said. “I’m just really proud of him.”

After nursing a respiratory illness for the past few weeks, Canaan is back on his bike training for his next accomplishment. He has his sights set on the Snake Creek Time Trials, known as the “buckle race,” because of the belt buckle Canaan will receive if he completes the second leg.

He finished the first run-through of the 50-mile race in just over eight hours back in January, but to get the buckle, you have to complete it twice. The finale is set for March 17 with the trail finishing in Dalton on the Pinhoti Trail.

As accomplished as he is, Canaan is still young in the sport and wants to continue building his skills to attempt bigger and harsher terrain. There are a lot of hobbies a father and son can share, but for the Barretts there’s nothing better than being on the trails.

“Just meeting the people, different people coming up and talking to you, asking what you do,” Chris said. “Seeing all the cool stuff. You see a lot of stuff that people just wouldn’t get to see, that’s what’s neat about it.”