LA GARITA — The Third Annual 12 Hours of Penitence endurance mountain bike race is set for Oct. 14 at Penitente Canyon Recreation Area.  Race solo, duo, or trio teams on this gnarly 16-mile course.  Stay tuned for more details to come.  Registration runs $100/racer.
Registration is capped at 150 riders, so register early to save your place!
For those not riding but who would like to volunteer, there is a volunteer sign up opening up soon. Check this site and the12 HOP Facebook page for updates.
Interested in sponsoring this year’s race? A big thank you goes out to all of the individuals and companies helping make 12HOP happen through sponsorship funds. Those interested can also support this year’s race by becoming a sponsor! Check out the sponsor page below for more information.
This year’s race is centralized, so everything riders, volunteers, and attendees/visitors need will be within Penitente Canyon. Vendors interested in being on site for this great event can visit the Vendor page at https://12hoursofpenitence.com/2016/07/25/racers-volunteers-sponsors-vendors/ to learn more.
Any questions? Send an email to [email protected]!
About the race
The “12 Hours of penitence” will consist in riding a 21-mile lap that gains 2,000 feet in elevation per lap as they course the tortuous footpaths of Penitente Canyon Sunday Oct. 18. For now, racers are asked to use the map found at https://12hoursofpenitence.com/the-race-course/ for practice laps.
The actual lap will not be made public until the week of the race in accordance with the BLM permit. Raleigh Burt, Kristi Mountain Sports, LLC, Business Development Manager, offered the following summary of the challenging event following last year’s race.
“Rich in history, full of perfect trails, flagellation, cactus fields, bouldering-by-bike, and a large rattlesnake population to keep it interesting, Penitente Canyon is going to make for a memorable weekend of suffering on two-wheels,” the group’s website predicted.
The site has been recruiting “mountain bikers who like to suffer… not unlike Los Hermanos Penitente” for the ride for the past several months. The Windsor Hotel and Three Barrel Brewing Co. in Del Norte sponsored the ride last year.
“Thanks to the BLM and the Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, we are working to create new trails that will make our laps amazing, raise enough money for signage and open some otherwise impermissible trails to 12 Hours of Penitence racers (only on race day!).”
“The general course overview is 16 miles with 2,000 vertical feet of climbing/descent.  The course ascends the Penitente Canyon (which is generally closed to bike traffic). The climb out of the canyon is very difficult with a bike — basically every racer has to push/drag their bike to the top. 
“After that they descend to the southern portion of the trail network which is fast and open desert single track.  The route then becomes much more technical as riders climb the rocky trail named Sunshine Kitty, then descend through Rock Drops, Blue Sky and the San Juan Iglesia trail back to the finish line.”
Overall the event was a success with almost every rider planning to return next year, Burt concluded, happening now with the third annual Penitente registration for 2017. 
Proceeds from the race will benefit “Youths on Bikes” this year. The following schedule is listed at the site (http://12hoursofpenitence.com/the-area-what-to-do-where-to-stay-and-play/):