Florida Endurance series #1 + Short Track – El Lagarto – Loyce Harpe park – Lakeland, Fl

This was the race that almost didn’t happen, we have been crossing our fingers for months now hoping that our scheduled date was going to happen due to the hurricane and the resulting FEMA clean up efforts at the park but we had received word in December that the park would be open just in time for the race. So on Saturday as the trails opened for the first time in months we held the series short track at 3pm on that same day. Sunday the endurance race started at 9am as well and I must say the trails were in super shape thanks to the efforts of the Ridge Riders mountain bike association (RRMBA) that has spent weeks prepping for the reopening, awesome job and many thanks! The weather was awesome by the way with chilly temps in the morning but warming up nicely during the race (credit more finger crossing I assume).

The short track was moved to a different section of the trail system this year and seemed to work pretty well for the racers as it was a mix of fast single track followed by a blistering fast double track road that fed into the finish line. In a mass start featuring both sprint and marathon racers it was a three lap affair and was covered in 22 minutes and 56 seconds (18mph average) by Mark Delibertis resulting in a close win over Bob McCarty. Annelly Oviedo logged the fastest time of the women over the same course with a 26:13.

John Day claimed the overall win on Sunday on the ten mile course and after 60 miles held off second place (also Bob McCarty) by a few bike lengths. Beata Wronska had a battle on her hands as well in the women’s marathon class but took command at about the half way point and came away with the win.

The round sponsor LeRoy’s Bike works served up the prizes (and pizza) for the racers and as always went above and beyond, many thanks!

The 2025 version of the series is off and running and hope to see everyone at the next round in Lake Mary.