Florida MTB Trail Challenges

Freeriding in BC? Nope – try central FL. It must be frustrating to be a Florida mountain biker. The weather in Florida is great for riding pretty much year round but most of the trails are nearly pancake flat and damage from a single storm can shut down a trail system for years. Now there’s …

florida-freeride

Freeriding in BC? Nope – try central FL.

It must be frustrating to be a Florida mountain biker. The weather in Florida is great for riding pretty much year round but most of the trails are nearly pancake flat and damage from a single storm can shut down a trail system for years. Now there’s another threat to one of Florida’s most important mountain bike trails: budget cuts.

The Florida Office of Greenways and Trails (OGT) manages the land where Santos (an IMBA Epic) is located and is facing a potential 80% cut in funding. There is talk of rolling OGT into the state park system but this means the Santos freeride park and jump area may be nixed because “these types of uses are not compatible with the mission of the State Park system.” Yikes. The Ocala Mountain Bike Association has put together a sample letter Florida riders can send to their state representative and we’ve posted a copy on the forums for your convenience. Speak out and help save a FL MTB gem!

Speaking on Florida MTB trail challenges, the Blackwater State Forest MTB Trail Blog has some info on the latest storm damage and pics of a submerged road within the park. I’m not familiar with the Blackwater State Forest trails but from what I read on the blog this place has had some bad luck with forest fires and now flooding. Just goes to show you that mother nature can be a bitch sometimes – as a trailbuilder you just gotta get back in and rebuild.