Coconut Cup series #1 + ST – Dyer Park – West Palm Beach, Fl
After a string of wet events at Dyer park it was great to have a dry (or not at least not wet) race. There were threats of rain all weekend and even a few sprinkles now and then but Mother Nature apparently was just playing with us, the conditions were actually great, even the temperatures were nice hovering in the mid 80’s. Speaking of the conditions, the trail was laid out in perhaps the longest and most interesting version to date with a 6.8 mile loop that felt like two different courses, with one having a flat tropical forest feel with lot’s of turns and canopy and the other a climb and descend type with fast flowing turns and more in the open air (aka few trees). Many thanks to the club FORCE (Florida Off Road Cycling Enthusiasts) for putting it all together and keeping the riders safe all weekend.
Saturday the short track kicked off at 3pm and it looked like rain but no, it only sprinkled and then stopped just in time for the first wave of Cat 1&2’s to hit the course. The short track loop was a 1.2 mile layout that stayed mainly on the top of the hill and even featured some asphalt sections, the yellow or first wave had 4 laps to worry about and the two following waves (Cat 3 men and Women / Juniors) were slotted for three laps. In the end it was Marco Carrie taking the men’s overall, Roberto Ramirez claimed the second wave and Patricia Doring won the final wave and topping the women’s classes.
Sunday the youth racers hit the same trail as the previous day’s short track course at 8:30am. Following the riders meeting there was a well attended special “silent lap” to honor fellow mountain bike family member for Raquel Rodriguez who passed away this week and appropriately a rainbow occurred at the same time.
At 9:30 the yellow wave hit the trail and coming out with a strong solo win was Jacob Zimmerman, Marco Carrie however will take the points lead into Markham park next weekend. Patricia Doring made it a sweep for her weekend with an XC win to back up her ST first place on Saturday. Next CC race of the series is October 12th at Markham park in Sunrise which will also be an FSC race.