Florida Endurance series #3 / 12 Hours of Santos- Vortex Trails – Ocala, Fl

A perfect weekend for racing bicycles at the Santos trails in February, after some cold on and off days recently it was good to bask in the mild temps that engulfed the event. The race helps to benefit the OMBA club (Ocala Mountain Bike Association) that stewards the trails. The team participation was notably down this year most likely due to the uncertainties surrounding Covid but overall it was a good turnout and the competition level was high. An E bike race was held on Friday and it used the same trails as the 12hr and after two laps of racing it was Nick Mackie and Kelly Jones Lalima taking the top male and female spots, thanks to Gear Bicycle Sales for the support.

Saturday at 10am the fans got to see the famous or infamous La Mans (hope I spelled that right) or running and in some cases walking start which is always awkward in bike shoes. This year it was split into two waves, the first was the 6hr & 12 hr folks and the second wave which started 15 minutes later was just for the 3 hr racers. The course this year was the longest ever at this event at 9.5 miles and was designed by the warped mind of Ron Henion (many thanks Ron), he always comes up with something fresh and challenging and this was perhaps his best.

Topping the fields were as follows, fastest team was Gear Bicycle Sales with 18 laps (the only team to achieve 18), fastest male and female in the 3 Hour race was CeeJay Moody and Simone Berger, top 6 Hour racers were Victor Alber and Nikki Davies, top 12 Hour solo racers were Bob McCarty (17 laps) and Jessica Nankman. The Pemon Cycling Wear Leaders jerseys remain on the shoulders of Mark Delibertis and Nikki Davies after round three. Congrats to all and many thanks to all of the fine sponsors.