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Important Details |
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When: Feb 13-15, 2004 |
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Where: Ocala, Florida - Specifically, Silver River State Park which will be "home base" for the gathering. UPDATE: Camping sites are limited. So far, two have been reserved -- #9 and #12. Site #13 is a companion site to 12 (meaning they share the same driveway) so if someone could reserve that, we'd be set I think. |
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Agenda: |
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Feb 13: Easy day of warm-up riding at San Felasco Hammock Preserve. The Preserve contains approximately 20 miles of singletrack trails over rolling terrain. The course is divided into several loops so that the rider can configure the distance ridden to their level of ability. Distance from home base to park = approx. 1 hour drive. Cost of admission to park = $2. Additional website info: Friends of San Felasco. |
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Feb 14: Santos. Santos is a part of the Cross Florida Greenway system of trails. The trails are built and maintained by the Ocala Mountain Bike Association (OMBA). Santos has trails for all levels of ability from beginner to advanced. Trails are color coded to ability level: yellow for easy, blue for intermediate, and red for advanced. There are many, many miles of trails to ride here. Riders can do an epic ride of 30 or more miles, and there is no one particular route that has to be ridden. Riders can configure their ride in any way they choose. Santos also has a small area with "stunts" such as teeter totters, ladder bridges and the like. Distance from home base to park = approx. 20 minute drive. Cost of admission = $0. |
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Feb 15: Razorback. Razorback is a privately operated ride area open only on weekends. It is the site of an active limerock quarry. The trail system consists of a uni-directional course of approximately 10 miles with a shortcut option that avoids the most technical sections. The shortcut option can be accessed as bailouts if needed. This course is one of the best in the state. It has numerous sharp steeps climbs and descents and lots of rocks to negotiate. This course is not recommended for beginners however beginning riders can ride the shortcut loop (which is about 5.5 miles) with little difficulty. Distance from home base to park = approx. 20 minute drive. Cost of admission = $4 per day plus a $2 fee for an annual membership card. |
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Camping and Hotel Info |
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We will be camping at Silver River State Park. You can reserve camp sites by using Reserve America. At this time (Nov 2, 2003), the campground is nearly full!! I just booked site #9. The only other sites available are 12, 13 and 17. BOOK NOW!!! The sites are large so several people can camp together on one site. I will send a list of those camping so if you'd like to coordinate with someone else, you will be able to do that. |
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There are many hotels right near the State Park. I suggest you do a search through Expedia or some other such website. For location, put in "Silver Springs, Florida". I will send a list of those wanting to stay in a hotel so that if you'd like to share a hotel room with someone, you will be able to do that. |
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Airport Info |
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If you're planning on flying in, you have several options. The closest airport is Gainesville Regional Airport which is about 40 minutes from our gathering location. However, Gainesville is a small airport and the cost is probably going to be too high. But don't rule it out... check prices. The next 3 airports are all approximately 2 hours away. They are Tampa International, Orlando International, and Jacksonville International. The only difference between the three airports would probably be price. I'd choose the one that is the cheapest. |
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Driving Info |
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I will post driving directions soon. |
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Other Info |
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You're probably wondering what happened to riding at Alafia. Well, I went there this weekend to scope things out. As I said very early on in this planning process, the logistics of Florida mountain biking stinks. All our ride areas are far apart. So here's what I found out. First, the camping area is totally open... no shade!! That would not be pleasant at all so that was immediately out. Next, Alafia is fun riding but we did all the trails and only did 8 miles. Granted, we were tired after 8 miles. The issue though is that it's a good 2 hour drive from our other ride areas to get to Alafia. I didn't feel that it would be worth the trip there for 8 miles of riding. Therefore, I opted for San Felasco which has many more miles of really nice singletrack and is only 1 hour from our gathering headquarters. Logistics won out. |
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Email |
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