Photo: Luc Rempel

Salty Dog racers head out from Klahani Park to begin their first lap

More than 600 riders descended on Salmon Arm on Sunday to take part in the 23rd annual Salty Dog Enduro race at the South Canoe mountain bike trails.

Participants compete solo or in teams to see who can complete the most laps of a roughly 10 kilometre circuit over the course of six and half hours.

“It's one of the largest cross country mountain bike races in Western Canada, at least,” explained David Major, president of the Shuswap Cycling Club.

The Shuswap Cycling Club took over as organizers of the event in 2022 and have continued to run it ever since.

The event features several divisions in the main six hour enduro event as well as a U15 three and a half hour event as well as the Salty Pup and Salty Pup Junior events for even younger riders.

This year’s event featured 654 registered riders across all the divisions and events and Major said the event attracts a wide variety of people.

“We have people who are doing their first mountain bike race ever, or it's their only mountain bike race of the year,” he said. “Or we have people like our champion, Cory Wallace.”

“He's a sponsored rider from Kona bikes, and he races all around the world, and so it's just a great event for everybody.”

Wallace won in the solo category by completing nine laps in the six and half hour competition.

This year’s event drew 280 riders from Alberta, 220 from around B.C., 60 from Salmon Arm and a handful from places farther afield like Ontario, Nova Scotia and the United States.

During the event the South Canoe trails parking lot was filled with tents, a variety of food and drink vendors, a beer garden operated by Ricochet Brewing and hundreds of bikers preparing for or recovering from their last lap.

Race weekend also featured Springfest on Hudson on Saturday which is a downtown street festival organized Shelley Desautels and Tom Peasgood of Shuswap Community Events. It also featured a pie-eating contest and taste of ethiopia tent organized by the Rotary Club of Salmon Arm.

The event is set up as a way to support local Salmon Arm businesses by giving visitors a reason to come downtown.

“We sell out nearly every year, and this year was no exception, because I think it appeals to families,” Major said. “They can bring their whole family into Salmon Arm and enjoy the weekend.”

“There's something for everybody on race day, whether it's the kids or or the parents,” he added.

The race serves as one of the Shuswap Cycle Clubs largest annual fundraisers and part of the funds raised during the event includes donations to the Shuswap Trail Alliance and Shuswap Search and Rescue.