Camping and mountain biking!!!
These are a few of my favorite things!!!! This weekend a group of us are heading up to Ocala, FL to hit Santos Bike Trails!!!! I can not express how excited I am about this!
The weather is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL!!!
Camping Trip Forecast
Friday morning The Doctor and I are heading north to get the excursion started. Our plan is to get up there, set up and get a ride in before everyone else starts arriving later that day.
I have my Excel spreadsheet ready to go with all the essential camping gear. Yes, I do have an Excel spreadsheet. The proof is below. I have one for each type of camping trip that I need to pack for. Camping trip with either mountain biking or kite boarding. It is extremely helpful and you don’t have to worry each trip if you forgot to write anything down.
Excel Spreadsheet of Camping
Santos is amazing! As far as trails go in Central and South Florida, this is by far my favorite trail system. The campground is located right next to it, so all you have to do is jump on your bike and ride over the start of the trail head.
If you want to read more about Santos Trails, here is the link: http://omba.org/
The area that we enter through is located next to the campsite in the main parking lot. Before you reach the trail head, there is a great little stunt/play area. Little mounds of dirt to ride over, a wooden plank to go across and a couple of other fun obstacles to get you pumped for the trails! Out of all the times that I have been here, I have yet to take pictures of this area so I will make sure to this weekend and post them.
Once you enter the trails, it is a hell of a ride! There are so many trails to choose from. They range from the easy and relaxing trails all the way up to the super extreme trails. I’m not going to try to sound like a super hero here, there are trails that I have to walk my bike through. They are extremely challenging, at least to me.
Santos is divided by S.E. 25th Ave. Once you cross 25th you enter Vortex Trail System. This area is insane!! There is two ways to enter the Vortex. The first way is the easy way, you ride your bike through an opening in fence. The second way, and my person favorite, is along a trail that has twists, turns, climbs, drops and every little thing you would want hitting a trail.
Santos Trail Map: http://omba.org/maps/Santos3b.gif
Once you get into the Vortex area, there is a Whoops section. I have yet to ride the big whoops section but I do ride the little section, usually home to the young kids. Yeah, I just admitted to riding the kiddie whoops section. It absolutely makes me giggle and I love it.
On the other side of the Whoops, lies the “Free Ride Area”. The Free Ride area is where they hold “Special Events”. There are a couple of drops that are only open when there are paramedics on hand. These jumps are pretty high up, think the highest is 35 feet. Insane!! The picture below is one of the high drops. The picture doesn’t do it justice. I’ll get some better ones this weekend. This picture was taken 2 years ago during one of our trips.
The Vortex Free Ride Area
They have smaller ones jumps. They may be smaller than 35 feet but it is still impressive when you see guys go off of them. Here is a picture from one of our trips where a guy is jumping off one side of the cliff area. They are in full gear. Full faced helmet, shin guards, full suspension bikes, the works.
Vortex Area
My favorite part of the Free Ride Area is the 3 jumps off to the side. There are 3 wooden “planks” that go off the edge of the hill. I haven’t made it to the final 2 of the planks (which you can see in the right side of the picture below), but one day I will conquer them! The picture below my first time there checking out the drops.
3 Drops at Vortex
Here are a couple of pictures from our last trip there.
The Doctor after making it up the "Wall of Rocks"
Just playing, I didn't really crash. Only being silly for the camera!
I’ll end this post with one of the best things about camping! Until this weekend, this picture will have to hold me over!!!
Camp Fire - is there anything better?!
