Florida Endurance series #7 – El Lagarto – Loyce Harpe park – Lakeland, Fl
This race is normally held in January (when the alligators are kind of slow and lazy) but due to hurricane Ian the park where the trails are located (Loyce Harpe park) turned into a FEMA site for debris and all events were suspended. Long story short the annual El Lagarto was rescheduled for last race of the FLE series on June 4th but that’s not all, it was once more rescheduled to June 11th due to another change in the regional race calendar, so yes we were glad to finally see the event happen even though this time of year the alligators are bit more lively.
Oh did we mention that it can be warm in Central Florida in June? Well that was certainly was the case but we did get lucky by avoiding the wet stuff as June is also known as being in the rainy season, in fact it rained the night before but the race course was in great shape by Sunday morning. Which brings us to the Ridge Riders Mountain Bike Association (the club that stewards the trail system), they are one of the hardest working and most effective clubs in the region and they had the trails prepped to perfection, so much so that even a heavy rain in the middle of the growing season did not hamper the race. Many thanks to crew for also working the safety marshal positions during the hot summer day, real troopers!
Bob McCarty tore into the 7.5 mile course and after eight laps and sixty miles amassed over a seven minute lead to clinch his third FLE title in a row while in the women’s marathon class Diana Bridges took the win on the day and Patricia Doring defended her 2022 title with a second place finish. Chris Carroll and Erin Corbett claimed the top sprinter spots with strong rides in the thirty mile race. The series awards were held immediately following the event and the top three eligible riders in each class were recognized, congrats to all and already looking forward to next year’s series. Also many thanks to our fine sponsors like Fields Auto Group, Giant Bicycles, Pemon Cycling Wear, Lazor Helmets, Clif Bar and our round sponsor LeRoy’s Bike Works!
Don’t forget there will be a new race on August 20th at this same park that will benefit the Ridge Riders club, it is also a 30/60 miler and it is called “Gator Bait”, see you there!
