Blog - Page 7 of 19 - Gone Riding

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

Florida State Championship series #8 – Santos Trails – Ocala, Fl After dodging two hurricanes the FSC ‘24 version landed safely on the fields of Santos with great weather and awesome conditions. A 7.6 mile mix of flow and tech was the signature of the eighth race of the series and as one rider put it, the course was a good representation of the whole series, in other words a little bit of everything. And as always thanks to the Ocala Mountain Bike Association for all of their hard work on the trails. Ryan Woodall notched his 4th win of

Coconut Cup series #3 + TT – Amelia Earhart Park – Hialeah, Fl Picture perfect weather for the third round of the CC series (which was also an FSC make up) plus of course the CC time trial on Saturday. The park has a new trail crew and they put together a great trail for the racers from both the FSC & CC series. Set at 7 miles the course was fast and fun and the youth loop was one of the longer of the circuit at 2.3 miles per. Saturday’s time trial was won by Victor Alber with a

Florida State Championship series #7 – Caloosahatchee Trails – Alva, Fl It was a nice to arrive in SW Florida and find cool temperatures and a dry and well groomed race course considering all of storms of late. The 11 mile trail was in primo shape and smoking fast and is one of the trail systems where we use a split course (long and short loop) to get the right mix of distance for the variety of classes. Many thanks to the Mudcutters club and to the Lee County park crew for all of their hard work in recovering the

Florida State Championship series #6 – San Felasco Trails – Alachua, Fl Warm but nice conditions for the sixth round as the series moved into North Central Florida at the popular San Felasco trails. The 11 mile course is a fast flowie type with plenty of hills and single track to keep a rider on their toes. Many thanks to the Friends of San Felasco for prepping the trails and working the event, they did an amazing job clearing all of the downed trees that came down during the hurricanes! The defending Elite champ Ryan Woodall (pictured) has started a

Florida State Championship series #5 + ST – Vortex trails – Ocala, Fl Two weeks have gone by since we last raced and it was again at the same location, the Vortex trails however the course was set up differently to the surprise of many. This time the distance was same (seven miles) and the trails used were the same (for the most part) but the order in which they came and the addition of the last punchy rocky sections changed the feel drastically. Plus there was a Saturday short track race which always seems to spice things up a

Florida State Championship series #4 – Vortex trails – Ocala, Fl We have hit the midway race in the series and it was good for once not to be faced with a weather situation, in fact the weather was awesome and trail conditions dry for a change. Many thanks to the OMBA volunteers that pitched in to get the trails open by the way, after all we were only a week past the last hurricane damage. The seven mile course was set up with most of the heavy lifting in the first half (the vortex red trails) and then the

Florida State Championship series #3 / Coconut Cup #1 + CC Short Track – Dyer Park – WPB, Fl Caught between to hurricanes, with Hurricane Helene just recently hitting Northern Florida and beyond and Hurricane Milton forming in the Gulf we did our best to squeeze in a South Florida mountain bike race at Dyer park over the weekend. With a scheduled Coconut Cup short track race on Saturday (which was relatively dry) and a Sunday XC race (predicted to be wet) it was going to be close with some of the far outer bands of the storm expected to

Florida State Championship series #2 – Hanna Park – Jacksonville, Fl Wet conditions were threatening all week but the weather did a quick turn around and stayed away allowing the trails to dry out in time for the weekends race. The course modification efforts of the club (SORBA Jax) also helped Immensely and with the exception of a couple of water crossings made for a great race course on Sunday. Round one’s winner Victor Alber came out ahead in a close race to the finish (3 seconds) to last years champ Ryan Woodall in the men’s elite class and Kelly