Blog

Florida Gravel Grinder series #3 – Seminole Grind – Eustis, Fl It was a chamber of commerce type of day, just what all the broachers advertise when it comes to wintertime in Florida, sunny & mild and a big switch from what the racers have been facing in the series so far. The 16.8 mile double lolly pop loop has a lot of variation with some open areas, some canopy roads, some small hills and plenty of turns and holes to help keep the focus. The park is proving to be very popular with the riders and this year there […]

Florida Endurance series #3 + E Vortex – 12 hours of Santos – Ocala, Fl Friday’s E bike race was held on the same course that the endurance riders would use the next day (although dry) which was a nine mile mix of flowing single track and punchy red trails (which had been toned down due to the weather forcast for the next day). The E MTB’ers faced two laps and there was $500+ on the line for the top riders, and it was Nick Mackie and Simone Berger that took home the bulk of the loot by winning the

Coconut Cup series #5 – Oleta River State Park – North Miami, Fl Another picture perfect weather event at this picturesque South Florida park setting, where else would you want to be in Winter especially with the sun the sand and bikes right? These beach side trails however are known for being demanding with lot’s and lot’s of turns, roots, rocks and surprisingly virtually sand free which makes this race feel nothing like a vacation, it tests every riders week points and here only the strong and skilled survive. Angel Rodiguez topped the men’s podium for the third CC race

Florida Endurance series #2 + Time Trial#1 – Markham Woods Masher – Lake Mary, Fl It was a dry one, yup, despite all of the doom and gloom about how the day was going to be a rainy washout it only dropped three maybe four small drops that I could see. The course could have actually used some of the wet stuff as it was a little loose in some of the turns. And temperatures were shall we say perfect t-shirt weather. The forecast certainly hurt the attendance but all in all the riders seemed to have a great time

Coconut Cup series #4 – Virginia Key Park – Miami, Fl Virginia Key Beach, the site of round four was in great shape for the racers as the club Virginia Key MTB club had the trails groomed to perfection for the event. The course this year was set at 6.7 miles and features some of the most creative designs you will ever see on a mountain bike. The park is located right in the Miami port area and some of the many views you will get are the cruise ships, the great beaches, Star Island (home of the stars) and

Florida Gravel Grinder series #2 + Time Trial #2 – 3 Forks Grind – Palm Bay, Fl Chilly & windy, sound familiar? At last year’s memorable race, the wind speeds were 40 to 50 mph & cold, this year was not as bad only around 20-25 mph and while yes it was around 45 degrees when the race started it did warm up to a sunny almost 60 degrees by awards time. So with a strong North wind carrying the racers South to the turnaround point, the second half of the course was brutal as the head winds never let

Florida Gravel Grinder series #1 + Time Trial – Cary Forest Grind – Bryceville, Fl The fourth annual Florida Gravel Grinder series kicked off in the Northern region of the state near Jacksonville but it kinda felt like the Northern US as a cold front blew in and lowered the temperatures about 35 degrees overnight. The area has seen a ton of rain this season so much so that sections of the course that had been used in previous years had to rerouted and even much of the parking areas were too wet to use but thanks to the efforts

Florida Endurance series #1 + Short Track – El Lagarto – Loyce Harpe park – Lakeland, Fl El Lagarto is back in its place again as the opening round of the series and this year we added a new short track bonus to the weekend and despite our best anti rain dances it turned into a wet affair on both days, good news is it didn’t rain during the events and the sun was shining during the awards. We had a moment of silence for Florida MTB pioneer Jimmy Cotton who recently passed away, Jimmy had many friends in the

Florida State Championship series #8 – Santos Trails – Ocala, Fl Picture perfect weekend for the last round of the series at the popular Santos trailhead, cool temps, great trail conditions and lot’s of uber prepared racers. Racing kicked off at 8:30am with the Shimano youth race and then the adults hit the 7.5 mile full course that started out fast and easy and ended with some technical, focus oriented trails. Many thanks as always to the OMBA club or all of their hard work building and maintaining the trail system! Jack Mizzoni took the holeshot and thewin in the