Birth of a trail

In the 90s, Hardrock MTB park was da bomb. It was the home course of Gone Riding and while we had to share it with motorcycles, it was the best and toughest trail in the state. I entered my first race there in '99, the 12 Hours of the Rock, on a beginner team and had a blast. In late '99 Dave Berger and the owners came to a disagreement over the management of the park. The owners wanted to give more priority to the motos and Dave wanted to give more priority to the mountain bikers. It ended in a stalemate and the loss of a great trail. A few months later, Razorback was born. It grew to be twice the trail that Hardrock ever was. History will repeat itself again.

Over in Lakeland, the Ridge Riders are going like gangbusters, making the trails at Loyce Harpe Park more sustainable while maintaining the technical difficulty that make that trail great. Raymond Wells, RRMBA head honcho, is on the advisory committee for Colt Creek State Park, where a new trail system is on the horizon. Word from Ridge Rider land is that a private trail in Fort Meade will be re-opened and there is work being done to re-open a trail in Hernando County. Gran Canyon? Hoo boy, that place was a doozy back in the day.

The project I'm most passionate about is SWAMP's work on the new Sidewinder trail at Boyette Park. Sidewinder will add about 3 miles of trail to my favorite dog-friendly local trail. I worked on the new trail the weekend before last and it's gonna be a great addition. Work crews will be assembling the next two Saturdays. Wanna help out? Be there at 8:30 AM. Send an email here to RSVP and you'll get lunch afterword. I was planning on being there for both work days, but my new plan is to ride Razorback as much as possible before it's gone.

This weekend we're gonna ride Razorback Saturday, camp at Santos with some friends and ride there Sunday. I'll probably trim up a couple of red trails that need some love to keep my trailwork mojo going.

Next weekend is the big Razorback farewell party. Normally open only on weekends, it will be open Thursday through Sunday with free camping. The party Saturday night sounds like it's gonna be a raucous funeral for a friend. I think a 3-day weekend is in order.