Razorback Mountain Bike Park Closing

According to http://www.goneriding.com/ Razorback MTB Park in Reddick, FL is closing after seven years of trail riding and mountain bike racing. The last day will be Sunday, 11-04-07 . The owners of the property have decided to pursue other interests with the property and although a good relationship has been maintained with the owners and they have been very complimentary to the management of the park, the decision is none the less final.


This coming weekend the park hours will be like normal but on the last weekend we will open the park on Thursday 11-1-07, Friday 11-2-07, Saturday 11-3-07 & Sunday 11-4-07 from 9am to dusk and camping and night riding will be allowed all four of those days. An informal farewell party is planned on Saturday night (all are invited) 11-03-07 at the park (more info to follow). Again the last day to ride Razorback will be 11-04-08 a Sunday.


This also means that the scheduled final round of the Florida State Championship which was scheduled for Razorback will now be moved to the Santos Trails with the date remaining the same 12-09-07. The Santos location will be the best choice for the final event even though the seventh round is also at the same location.


The popular 12 Hours of Razorback (scheduled for 2-16-08 ) will be moving to a course in the area and information will be released ASAP. Also the first round of the SERC series will now be held in Gainesville at Haile’s Trails on 3-16-08 .


Please help pass the word as it is such short notice for everyone!




compliments of http://www.goneriding.com/ and the Gainesville Cycling Club, http://www.gccfla.org/.

Another Loss for Cycling, and A Story Illustrating the Imperative for Traffic Justice

Norman Benzing climbed tall mountains, sailed to far-off islands and bicycled
across the country -- twice.

Before 9 a.m. on Thursday morning, while he
and his wife strolled along the sidewalk on South Orange Avenue, a car jumped
the curb and hit him from behind.

Friends and family members of the
67-year-old man were shocked that he was killed while walking down the street.

See the Orlando Sentinel story here.

I didn't know Norman, but sometimes saw him and his wife riding their tandem in the neighborhood; they only lived about a mile away.

ACTION ALERT: Tell Senator Martinez Florida Needs Trail Funding

On September 11, 2007, Florida U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez (R) voted to eliminate all federal spending on trails and other walking and biking facilities.

Tell Sen. Martinez that Florida needs more opportunities for walking and biking, not less.

Sen. Martinez’s vote was in support of an extreme amendment proposed by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) that blamed bicycle and pedestrian funding for the August Minneapolis bridge collapse. This claim was made despite the fact that, since 2006, states have returned more than $2 billion in unspent bridge project funding to Congress. Coburn’s amendment was defeated 80-18.

This misguided scapegoating attempt cannot go unchallenged.

Please explain to Sen. Martinez why cutting trail, walking and biking funds would be a huge blow to Florida.

Bicycle facilities and trails have strong transportation value, produce zero emissions, support healthy lifestyles and provide economic development opportunities. We need more, not less, funding for bicycle facilities and trails. Federal funding has helped to create numerous miles of highly used bike lanes and trails: the Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail and Cady Way Trail; regional connectors such as the Withlacoochee State Trail and the Suncoast Parkway Trail; and the soon to be constructed 50-plus mile East Central Regional Rail Trail and 49-mile Palatka to Lake Butler Rail Trail.

After you have taken action, please be sure to ask other Floridians to act as well. By multiplying our voice, we can convince Sen. Martinez to do the right thing in the future.
Floridians deserve better transportation choices. Please act now by visiting this link.

Why Wait for Government?

While they're not a cycling organization, the Tampa Bay organization Green Armada caught my attention this weekend; their story made the national news. The guys who started the organization were seeing too much trash floating by on the Hillsborough River. Instead of pounding on the doors of state or local governments to demand something be done, they just went out there and started cleaning up. Eventually major corporate interests (and not to mention individuals) realized that what Green Armada was doing was worth something to them, and started supporting them.

So the question for cyclists is: "What can we do that's of value to the community that also benefits us, and how do we make it happen and publicize it?"