ThE LoSt

Indeed. Being Lost is a scary feeling.

One time, My good friend and I were on a "journey" in the forest. Late at night, riding the white trail towards the river at Econolokahatchee.

And at some point I just lost the blazes.

I could feel the panic settling in.

It was dark, the Trail Rat lights we have only last 2 hours tops, so soon our lights were gonna die, and I could not figure out where the trail went.

For a moment the thoughts of being lost in the forest raced thru my head. What was I gonna do, where would I go, how would I get out, what is the solution.

I managed to calm myself down and just back tracked till I found the blazes again and we just scrapped the ride to the river mission and headed back to the boardwalk we had been hanging out at.

Eventually, we made it, but the lights died and we had to ride that trail in the dark.

Often my friend and I joke about Superior Jedi skills, well we sure pulled them out that night, navigating that overgrown super buff singletrack with no lights. Did I mention it was rooty with creek crossings.

The Owl is a nocturnal animal that hunts at night and can see in the lowest of light settings. It has very big eyes that it uses to absorb more available light and see thru the darkness.

I need to be able to see thru this darkness right now.

I need my Jedi skills right now.

I need not panic from this Lost feeling.

Happy New Year folks, 2009 GET THE F*** out of here, 2010 has got to be better.

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

CaNt Do It!

It was a warm summer morning as I scanned the event listings of Mountain Bike Magazine that I saw the listing for a 50 mile off road Eco tour In San Felasco.

I thought to myself? 50 off road miles. Mind you, this was back in the day when 50 off road miles was something I considered to be insurmountable. I still remember how grueling my first Ididaride was. Coincidentally, my first Ididaride, as hard as it was, was my second fastest only to last years time, on the Fixie War where I KILLED.

Since they have offered the Tour de Felasco I have made the ride and participated. Have not missed a year. BUT, in the past 3 recent years, the registration always seems to hit when I am the most financially distressed. AND, because the thing fills up in 3 days or less, I rarely ever get in. SAD, so SAD.

So every year, I am left to beg and Scramble for a spot.

This year is no different.

If you don't feel up to it, cant make the ride, don't want to make the ride, Let me tell you this up front, I hear its gonna be cold and raining.

Email me at Nakedindian at Singletrack Samurai dot com. I am trying to take the entire Singletrack Samurai Productions crew up there, so Ideally I am looking for 2 tickets.

EDIT, NOW ONLY LOOKING FOR 1 TICKET TO THE TOUR!!!!

HIT ME UP, you know your not up for it, WE ARE.

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

ThIS HeAdS NoT BiG EnoUgH foR the Two OF us!

Wow. Tug of war up inside my cranium.

Trying to find peace in all of the perceived chaos my universe has crumbled too.

Seems simple at time. Others, I am left puzzled and perplexed and downright miserable.

This weekend was interesting. Although in my mind I wanted to ride, my heart was not in it. Did 10 rain drenched miles Christmas day and found excuses the rest of the weekend to not ride.

Took out the fixie machine, damn 42 x 17 is a hard gear but relatively easy to maintain a 16mph avg, not alot of effort to achieve that.

BUT man, did it make me sore, in weird places. At one point almost went over the bars when I forgot it I couldn't coast and it majik jaked me into the sickest nose wheelie I have done in a long time.

Part of me wants to find focus in preparing for the Huracan ITT and the Pisgah 36. I am so Leary of cold and wet and yet I am going to sign up to do just that. Do you sleep during the Pisgah 36? I better, cause I get sleepy sometimes. Man, that race is gonna be tough. The logistics are blowing my mind and I am choosing to ignore it and focus instead on the prep.

Whats the prep? New technology and lots of cold rides till I find that the cold doesn't bother me. I somehow need to make sure I tech up, on a budget. Gosh, why does on a budget have to be part of something so crucial as not freezing to death. And snow? I suspect there will be snow. Never ever ridden in Snow, I guess I will slap on my fattest tires, them being the Panaracer Rampages and hope for the best.

Wow, the first time I will get to experience snow will be in that race, along with freezing cold conditions. Preparation is gonna be essential.

The year is coming to a close and I am wanting 2010 to be better than last year. Seems like my head is on right and my mind is moving in the right direction. Seems like I am getting better up in my head space. Accepting some realities, establishing new agreements and truths.

O what challenges lay in my path.

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

WhaT R U DoInG!!!

So, its Christmas Eve and I am at work, at my desk doing the good work. BOY I tell you what in these challenging economic times its good to be employed, so no real complaints.

I had vacation time this year and each time I had a vacation it was spent taking care of one problem or another, not such a fun thing to happen when your supposed to be doing nothing. Regardless, I still found time in those off moments to enjoy.

So This evening and tomorrow I get to see my brothers and my nieces and my nephews. This year I plan on being a good Uncle and getting all my nieces and nephews gifts. Truth be told, I am probably the worst Uncle in the world, but I'm working on improving that.

In Fact, thru the advent of the not to be named social networking site, I have been able to improve as an UNCLE. I talk more to my nieces now then I ever had, since they message me all the time when they see me logged on.

So, Family time today and tomorrow. Then what? Well, I made a secret pact with myself to get on the bike everyday this weekend. SO, that means I will go pedal early tomorrow, maybe go to Santos with Rob on Saturday and then maybe some more dirty/solo miles on Sunday. Friday eve? No plans... Saturday Eve, No plans, Sunday Eve, no plans... So who knows, well see what happens. Maybe I will go out and do grown up type things and act like a young man who has no cares and no responsibilities.

Feels kind of good to look at all the possibilities.

Made a funny observation over the past couple of days. Lately, like for the past couple of weeks, I have had trouble sleeping. But the past few nights I have slept well. I think I know and understand why the sudden change, but I care not to elaborate on an explanation, just feels good to get some rest. I don't know if it was a psychological change or just the side effects from 94 dirty miles last Friday. Sometimes that does indeed happen to me, after a seriously hard effort, for days, I will require more rest than usual.

So happy Holidays to you and yours, get out there and enjoy, Life is a highway, and My plan is to keep pedaling along till I see an interesting sight or I reach the next town, whichever comes first!

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

BLuE.....

Normally one of my favorite colors, but recently just the way I have been feeling.

I have been spending way too much time thinking and pondering why things happen in life in certain ways to certain people.

I have had several responses and even a most courageous effort by one of my Nieces who is reading a book about the meaning of life, "to get back to me" when she finishes it. Very sweet.

BUT, this year, was so unbelievably hard, in so many ways, and it doesn't seem to be letting up, in fact, its full steam ahead as the year comes to a close with more bad news and unfortunate happenings.

Maybe its mid life crisis, but lately I have been doing way too much reflecting an way too much looking back and my life and wondering what it all means.

Envious at times when I see people who seem to have all the things I wish I had. Angry that things are not turning out the way I want.

It's a total bummer the way I have been feeling lately. In fact, Last weekend I was hoping to gain some escape and some release for the way I have been feeling, but it seems in a sense that it added to my feelings when it turned out "not so good" and the trip had to be scrapped because of my obligatory time constraints.

Life is so confusing at this juncture. I wish I could have some clarity. I keep looking back to a year ago and remembering how much happier and satisfied I was.

Ain't that something.

Bummer post y'all... Wont make y0u suffer thru too many more of these...

And no you cant ask for the two minutes of your life you just spent reading this back.

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

ItS NoT as EaSy As It LooKs: HuRaCaN RePorT

So, I have gotten really good and really effective at packing.

Friday morning, bike was loaded up with packs as I headed up to work, to spend my half day there, cleaning and organizing and preparing to leave by 2pm.

A hustle here a Bustle there and I get Rob Roberts and we haul Ass to Tucker Hill trailhead for the start of the 300 mile tour.

Rob was only gonna do about 100 plus miles of the trip with us, but Heck, He is a great friend and the more the merrier when it comes to adventures.

The weather was Ominous as You could feel the humidity in the air.

When we arrived at Tucker Hill, Low and Behold, where the Hell was "Kanning".

The convo went like this:

Nk: "Kanning, were at Tucker Hill, where are you at?"

Kanning: "Liars"

back and forth for about `10 minutes with the end result being he was still at home.

(say this next part, ala Simpsons Character, the Superintendant Chalmers yelling at Princinple Skinner,)

KANNING~!~!

So TWO HOURS LATER, we roll out.

Now, you sit at home, and you hear about a trip, but, riding a fully loaded bike with a fully loaded pack, is alot harder than you think it is. Food for thought.

Its not impossibly hard, but until you experience it, its real easy to look at these rides and just say, hey, doesnt sound so difficult etc, etc.

We rolled out, 30 miles later, were on the withlacoochee, and its pissing rain and its cold.

15 miles later were at Circle K warming up, eating grub. 1100 calories out of the 2200 I brought were already gone and we still had an estimated 60 or so miles to go.

We ate, warmed up, got batteries, got outside suited up.

From there on Green Swamp, Kanning and Roberts hammer away from me and I am left alone. Its dark, its cold, its wet, and all I can think about is how good it would feel to crawl in my sleeping bag and sleep.

So many people out at 3am, WTF, we finally hit pavement, then back to dirt, then I stop at the fire station. Lube my squeaky chain, refill my water, and pop in my headphones. Roberts said we got 19 miles left. So I get into work it out mode.

AND I start riding strong again, feeling good, ignoring the Freezing temp and the harsh conditions.

THEN, we make a LEFT on US 27 into one the most fearest Headwind I have ever encountered in 2009.

So strong in fact that at top effort all I could muster was 7.1 mph.

On the downhills I could only get up to 9mph and I was working.

Feeling very demorralized and pretty much ready to shoot myself in the face, seriously.

I get to the top of a gradual climb, find Kanning and Roberts there. Here is how the conversation went.

Roberts: We got two miles to Hancock.

NK: According to my count we got two miles left.

Roberts: nah, two miles to the turn, then 7 more miles, then two more miles.

NK: Somebody KILL ME>...

I pull my bike into the grass, break out my sleeping bag and crawl in it fully dressed. I was DONE.

It had taken all my motivation to have ridden the past 19 miles, I did not have 11 more in me.

I bivy'd up and waited for a pick up or the sunlight whichever came first.

I actually, shivering and all, fell asleep, was woken by the strongest urge to pee.

After an 11 minute argument with myself, I unzipped the bag and let loose with the extra water. It had been like the 10th time I peed. Was that over hydration or a sign of hypothermia??

Anyhow, I get back in the bag zip up, and I hear my phone go off, its Rob Roberts, they made it and he was on his way back.

I got scooped up, 11 miles short of the 105 mile total for the stage. 94 miles I did, suffered for about 90 miles of it, LOL.

Some changes are going to be made for the race. For one, we are going to exit the woods a little earlier in Croom. No sense in backtracking its a loop and I want it to be as LOOPY as possible.

For two, we will start every stage at 9am, riding in the dark, was really hard, I had to do it with my Princeton Tec EOS, which at 50 lumens is enough in a pinch, but it does require your eyes to work a little harder, I think that added to my fatigue.

I now realize that after the CFiTT both lights needed to be fixed, the MIni newt is ready, I now need to send the stella in for a repair.

SO, what now. Well, I will send my ETREX in to get replaced or repaired since the SD card slot malfunctioned. Still works, but I want my topo maps to work as well, helps with water sources and referances. In the meantime, I am going to prepare, get back on a steady Yoga routine, and get back to riding steady to prepare for My Individual Time Trial of the Huracan route.

The Route, first part, was beautiful, we've ridden the other parts, and I have every intention of riding all of it, as soon as I get my GPS back!

It was actually in retrospect, pretty awesome, except for the adverse weather.

I think I need to add some rain pants to my arsenal.. I had some goretex, cold/wet weather gloves that I left at home, not expecting it to get so cold on night one, next time I wont be so naive.

I admit, I am still trying to harden up and get a grip of all the variables that go into a self supported enduro. IN retrospect, I wish I would of thrown on all my clothes, changed my sock and rolled miserably slow to finish. But, all I wanted to do was sleep, so I listened to the body, maybe it was all for the best.

At 637am is when the ordeal finished, after sleeping till about 12pm, Our timetable for the rest of the weekend was destroyed. We accepted the truth of our situation, and got a ride back to Croom on Saturday and spent Saturday evening hanging out in Tampa with Kanning and Mucaro.

Next time Huracan!

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

DrY iDeaS

This weekend Mike Kanning, Rob Roberts and I are going to map some if not all of the route ole school style one pedal stroke at a time. Rob is only hanging till Apopka, but thats cool, Mike and I are going the whole way.

Been kind of predicting and expecting rain for this voyage, sure enough the forecast calls for nasty weather when we are expected to roll out tomorrow eve.

What does that mean?
Well it means I got to waterproof all my gear and be ready for what the wicked weather may bring. On top of that, come Sunday night when we are out in the wilderness the weather is suppossed to get down right chilly with the lows in the upper 30's. To some, thats not a big deal, to us in Florida, thats a cold night.

So the mission from Friday Eve, till Saturday Eve, is to keep the gear dry, so I may have an opportunity to sleep well. O what an interesting challenge it will be indeed.

I used to go the expensive route and buy all sorts of zip loc baggies and bag all the items, but now, I just take them excess plastic shopping bags and just wrap the items I dont want to get wet.

In Fact, I had the foresight to order a Bag cover for my Osprey pack. Ordered it with 3 day select shipping so it would arrive in time. BUT, when checking the UPS tracking site today, it shows that they rescheduled my plan delivery to Monday. O just about 3 days short of the day I need it. WTF... Of course I called the retailer and complained and they did the only thing they could and refund me the differance in shipping, but that still leaves me with a lot of tedious prep to do tonight after I get home and do the myriad of other things I have to get done.

BUT, dont mistaken the tone of this post, I find lots of fun in the prospect of waterproofing my gear, preparing well, and dealing with what nature can throw at me. So much, that the fact we are scheduled to pedal 300 mostly off road miles in 2.5 days is not even registering as a concern nor an issue. Its just something that's got to get done.

As I sit in my big office and look out the window, I can already see the Thunderstorms on the horizon teasing me about what is to come. Well thank you creator, you know I like to suffer and you know I love a challenge!

Still plenty of time to fill up a backpack and join us on the ride, Dont be Scared!

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

LeAsE?

The miles don't come easy enough for me as finding time away from my sons and my other obligations really robs my ride time.

BUT, this weekend I was determined to get out and do some exploring.

Using a combination of Google Earth and Topofusion I scouted a short 30 mile dirt road route.

As I sat there sipping my Latte and checking various Internet sites, I finished the details of mapping the route and loaded it on to my etrex gps.

I quickly rush to use the bathroom before I go start heading towards the door and noticed that it is literally raining cats and dogs.

This is Florida and I really do believe in the scattered showers phenomenon so I got in my car hoping the rain would pass quick or not exist when I reached my destination.

No such luck as I drove to my planned parking and starting area it was raining even harder then when I had started driving to the place.

SO, I took quick inventory. I got nothing to do and nowhere to be for hours, best to get to pedaling. I suited up, grabbed my Showers Pass rain jacket and got on the bike. Indeed, it was raining and there was thunder and there was lightning, BUT, I was amazingly comfortable in my showers pass jacket. So comfortable in Fact that I even zipped my jersey underneath the jacket almost all the way open to balance out the temperatures.

The road was offering resistance with the wet sand and the mud and there were several HUGE water crossings. My first destination was the dirt road that ended up by the river and I was well on my way to following my route and heading there.

I hear a beep from my Etrex and discover that the batteries are dying. I stop and ponder going to a store and buying more, but I was low on funds. I pondered going back to the car and grabbing my rechargeables which were in there, but I didn't want to pedal all that I had pedaled all ready. SO Instead, I decided to make quick for the river, and then feel my way back to the road and then make my way back to the car.

The ride was pleasant enough, Except for the constant downpour I was enjoying myself. My chain, was not lubed and I had a couple of incidents of chain suck, but I eventually was able to anticipate it, back pedal and not have to stop. AT one point a small piece of tree got into my front chain ring and derailed my chain. Some of the water crossings LOOKED so deep that I stopped and carried my bike across not wanting to break the number one rule of cycling to not submerge your hubs or your bottom bracket.

And after some pedaling and some challenging soil compositions I found the absolute most beautiful spot by the river. Snapped a rain soaked pic, and on my way back decided to explore a side trail. Eventually it dead ended but I did find an even bigger wide open spot for possible camping.

On my way back, I see a man with Hunter Orange and a big truck, as I roll up he says to me "Am I on the Lease?" I say to him "What's the Lease?" He responds, "This is private managed Land you got to be on the lease to be back here?" Myself being an expert at these types of scenarios, I say, "I didn't know, hadn't seen a single sign saying a single thing, I thought I was on the Water Management property(only sign or marker I had seen)." He said," well one of them down there may know for sure". I said, "don't sweat it, I'm on my way out anyway," and pedaled my way up out of there passing several more trucks fully loaded with recreational animal killers. Hearing Gun shots as I pedaled away.

Got back to the road, made my way across and road the pre construction new bike trail dirty path, till it finally turned paved. Got back to the car, packed up and headed to my place of stay for the evening. 17 miles of FUN..LOL...

This weekend I got a gigantic dirty loop ride that I call the eye of the huracan. Turns out we will be taking out about 8 miles of dirt roads and substituting it with 8 miles of single track. You got to love it!

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

RSvP

The Naked Indian Ride is January 2nd 2010 with an expected 10am roll out.

IF YOU ARE GONNA come and ride.

Email me at nakedindian99 at aol dot com.

I have not heard any definite attendance from anyone and I would like to know if I will be riding alone or not.

thanks,

The NaKeD InDiaN

GUiLTy PLeAsURe...NPR

Recently I have become a "FAN" of NPR.

I have learned so much listening to it...LOL..

Actually part of the motivation to change my Blog colors and Font came from a show I listened to about effectiveness in mediums for electronic media. Spoke on various techniques on what has been "scientifically proven" to be more effective in retention and interest in fonts and colors used for electronic sites and books.

BUT, That was not what inspired my post today. It was actually a story I heard, very interesting story.

This Woman worked for a magazine as an editor. In this Magazine she saw a picture of an author, and she said when she saw his picture, "OMG that is my soul mate". So she wanted to very much meet him, and decided to write him a letter. In this Letter she made up a story about how they had previously met at an airport and spoke before, and that she was really interested in him and had seen his picture and wanted to know if He was the guy and possibly meet. Admittedly she felt embarrassed that she had written this letter and made up the story and after 3 months passed and she had not heard from him, she was actually relieved.

Relieved because, it was a little embarrassing to lie and do something so desperate. One day, while waiting for the Cable Guy to show up, who coincidentally enough was a couple of hours late, she was on the phone with Customer Service and they had told her that he was gonna call any minute to tell her when he was on his way. Just as they told her this, she received another call and clicked over, and the person on the phone said, "I am the guy". For a brief moment she thought this was the cable guy and immediately jumped in with an impatient tone, "where have you been". HE (who was not the cable guy, but the author she wrote the letter to) responded with, "I am so sorry, I have been busy..." . After a couple of minutes she realized that this was not the cable guy but that it was HIM.

Eventually, they made plans to meet. And eventually she met up with him. The entire time, her mind was tricking her, cause they were communicating and he kept bringing up interesting points about the time they had met in the airport, which she found strange, because she had made it all up.

When they did meet, she said he looked nothing like the guy from the picture. She immediately was no longer interested, her obsession and infatuation died in an instant. But, as they continued to converse, she found it odd, even annoying that he kept bringing up their meeting and bringing up things that happened that day when they met at the Airport, and she was irritated by the whole thing, because... It had never even happened. She wondered what kind of game was he playing and why was he messing with her.

Then, finally, she announced she had to go, he wanted a kiss and to see her again, and she said no and then admitted that he was not the guy. He insisted, then she fessed up, that he could not have been the guy and she could not have been the girl, since she had made it all up.

This didn't phase him as even though she was walking out, he insisted that it had happened and that he was the guy, flabbergasted, she left. All the time wondering, if he was playing a game or did he really believe that this Airport meeting had happened.

I found this story fascinating to say the least. And always find something interesting to hear about or learn about on National Public Radio. LOL... A sign of my impending Old age.

LOL.

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

So?WhaTs It GoNNa TaKe

For you hard charging riders and cyclist to pony up to the line to ride the Huracan?

If your riding, Go ahead and announce your Intent, in Letter format.

I already got two letters and expect a third.

I know the price is right.

I even took the difficulty down a notch by adding a stage format, the Team option and the Relay Option.

That my friends was done to encourage participation.

Life is too short to be meek and timid. Life is too precious to not go out and challenge the physical limitations of your Creator Given Body.

Do the damn thing!

Email me at nakedindian at Singletrack Samurai dot com.

Laters,

LOS

I CaLL it WoRkIng OuT

After a chilly night spent in the middle of the forest sleeping in the Back of my car, I woke up and got ready for the day.

Broke down my camp quick as I could and made my way towards Borders to have some Coffee and Internet access as I got ready to start my day.

The evening before was WET and COLD, not my favorite combination of adverse conditions. Regardless, I slept well in my make shift campground and felt rested that morning. AS I played on the web and the not to be named social networking site.

The Hits to the Blog have been a plenty regarding the Eye of the 'CAN' Loop. But the Email response has been non existent. It may have to do with the fact that I put the WRONG EMAIL on the original POST, AMATEUR.

As I mature in my cycling or in this current facet or existence of my cycling, I am enjoying exploring. AND I had made a pact to explore this tiny 26 mile section of trail. At work, I got a hold of a trail guide and description, but was unable to find any GPX file for it.

That afternoon around 2pm or so I rolled out, bundled up, with my "EPIC" kit packed up.

Started following the trail, and immediately I notice how BUFF it is. Now BUFF to me is trail that rarely sees traffic and is super technical and offers more then the average challenge or obstacle to the rider. The first time I attempted this traverse I got spit out after 4 miles lost as ever and had to fire off the back to start feature on my Garmin Edge to get back to the parking lot. This time I was determined to be more diligent.

Beauty was abound on this track, discovery was all over the place. Lots of Lil creeks and bridges, as I eventually broke thru the cherry and made it past the initial point that I got lost at the first time. The trail was enjoyable, but it was a conscious effort as I was having to stand and pedal and really work, the entire time.

I got to a point deep in the trail where I could hear Cars hitting a bridge, and then, for what seemed to be 1/4 mile I rode thru a flooded section of the trail constantly in 10 inches give or take of water. On top of that it was super tech and super cold, so I was super diligent to not stumble and get my feet wet.

AFTER, completing that section, the Forest got denser, deeper and even more challenging. To the point, that I stumbled not one time and fell, but about 5 times I stumbled and fell over. Pretty interesting. At one point the trail was like a tunnel thru the brush, with trail on my left, trail below and trail above. It was at this point that I looked at my computer and marveled how far I had traveled in one hour ~5 miles? WTF, at this rate it would take me 4 hours plus to complete the trail, then 2 hours or so more to take the road back to the car. At that point I was cursing the fact that my SD card slot had gone out on my Etrex and without my topo maps I had NO CONCEPT of where the heck I was in that thick brush.

Then It finally happened I stumbled and got my feet wet. So cold feet, toes hurting, then I started thinking of what was missing from my epic kit. WTF, did I forget my extra socks, no lighter???

I was breaking the number one rule in the wild, don't panic, and although it was very small and minuscule, I was a bit panicked. I had to "talk myself down" and just kept the push going and moving forward at my miserable pace. Just as I was peaking in my panic, I emerged into the wide open again. And I started riding some old abandoned double track, which then turned north along Powerlines and I started actually covering some ground. At that point I felt as If I was in a race and I was standing and pedaling and hammering from one marker to the next, time to recover some ground. I had a light, and I had enough calories and my water filter, but I was not in the mood to be out there in the super cold in the dark.

I started eating a little, there were some big sandyish climbs, but I'm a good adverse conditions rider, so It was no biggie. THEN, after a couple of miles I emerged on to the road. Straight was continuing my track, west was heading back towards my car. It was now 430 and It would be dark in one hour so this trail would have to get another visit and another rematch in the future. As I slipped on my arm warmers, zipped up my under shirt and wool shirt, I donned my wool hat under my helmet and began the cold breezy road ride back to the car.

Reached the car after only 15 minutes or so of pedaling, my pace was fast, was I just a beast after all that buff tech trail or was there a tail wind, LOL.

The parking lot, was empty as I packed up my car and headed towards the room I had rented at a ridiculous cheap rate for the evening.

While it was happening, I was not enjoying it, but in the car, I reflected on my adventure and declared that it was indeed fun. Next time, topo maps, extra socks and a lighter.

SHRED.

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

FoR ImmEdIaTe ReLeAsE: SinGLeTraCk SaMuRai ProDuCtIonS PrEseNts ThE EyE of The HuRaCAn LooP

The eye of the Huracan is a mostly off road Loop that starts and ends at Croom MTB trails, 3 stages with 3 classes Representing the finest in Self Supported adventure.

The eye of the Huracan is a mostly off road Loop that starts and ends at Croom MTB trails, 3 stages with 3 classes Representing the finest in Self Supported adventure.

Stage 1 Begins on Friday February 26th 2010 at 9am, starts at Croom, and takes you via single track to the withlacoochee rail trail and then you make your way across Rich Loam Tract across to Clermont, ending in Minneola.

Stage 2 Starts Saturday February 27th 2010 at 9am In Minneola and takes you Across the hills of Clermont, across lake apopka, across wekiwa & rock spring runs preserve into the seminole Forest, to Maggie Jones Rd into Paisley Florida along the MTB trail to the Southernly FOrest road route across to Marshall Swamp ending at Santos MTB park.

Stage 3 Starts Sunday Ferbruary 28th 2010 at 9am from Santos and takes you along the Spider Kingdom trail to the Epic MTB Trail to the Limestone wagon road hanging a sharp right on 49th ave trails with all the hard options to Nayl's trails and then across Pruitt and Haltapa Preserve across Potts preserve to the withlacoochee rail trail and back to croom.

At each staging area the Clock stops and then starts at the beginning of the Stage. Best Overall time in each class wins.

There is no entry fee and their are no prizes, this is a ride for HONOR and Bragging rites.

The route is an estimated 300+ or - miles.

Self Supported rules apply. Please refer to the rules section of the upcoming site on Singletrack Samurai dot com.

The classes are SOLO, DUO and RELAY.

SOLO riders are responsible for all their supplies and equipment, must resupply using commercial sites along the way and are required to follow Individual Off roading time trial rules of no drafting and no outside or prearranged support.

DUO riders follow the same rules as solo riders but the Pair function as a team and are allowed to draft off one another and help each other with the responsibilities of the supplies. A DUO must finish together to stop the clock on a stage.

RELAY riders follow the same rules as SOLO riders BUT are able to Hand off their ride at the designated staging areas at the end of each stage. The Relay class could be two or three riders but the hand off's can only be done at the staging areas and they must follow self supported rules between staging areas.


An unofficial GPX file is available upon request for your review. Guide sheets listing the singletrack route you must follow in Croom and Santos will be provided. If your interested in Participating email me at nakedindian at singletrack samurai dot com.

This is not just a ride, not just a route, but a Journey of Self Discovery and pure Unadulterated adventure!

thanks,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

SiNgLeTraCK MiND!!

Hmmmmm..

Curious enough, this time of Year, every Year, I get a serious Singletrack Itch. I want to ride Lots of singletrack, the rootier the better, the faster the better, the more tech the better.

For years I couldn't figure out why. Why am I so inclined to hunger for singletrack shred specifically at this time of the year.

AND then this past Saturday, as I was sponsoring a 24mph sprint down some trail, I remembered. AWWW, Seasons and Seasons of XC racing usually went down this time of the year every year.

Here is the run down of the track I been shredding:

Pine Log MTB trails, Crooked Creek and Dutchman Trail.

When I go to visit the Warrior's Princess I always ride this system. I do all the Singletrack in as much as a loop fashion as I can to maximize the miles. When I ride Trails like this I usually BIG ring them, to really get the most out of the work out. I figure, hey, got to get some extra resistance out of this somehow.

Some would say that this trail is not worth much, BUT, being the DIRT SLUT that I am, I like it. Its twisty, rooty, pretty and fun. You can go and hammer the hell out of it without consequence. I digg it...

Interesting story from the ride. There's a particular plant in the forest that if you touch instantly makes your hand burn something fierce. I cant remember the name of it, but I came across it on this ride. The one thing that can instantly neutralize the burn and I learned this in the Army, is URINE. Let's just cut the story short and say that it works.

Tom Brown Park Trails: Magnolia Trail and Upper and Lower Cadillac.

Super Rad trail. Super cool features both natural and man made. Some killer drops, some long climbs for Florida. My only beef with the system is the marking system they used. Arrows work so much better, instead, they got you following these little diamonds with numbers on them. They start at 1 and rise or descend in value depending on which way you go and it kind of makes it hard to follow. Would love to see what IMBA would do with this trail. BUT, regardless, tons of flow, super bad ass, great chances at speed, I just loved it. I only rode 7.5 miles or so, but still had a blast and it rained while I rode it which just added to the fun.

SnowHill Road, the entire Enchilada and then some.

This is the Trail I grew up on and I like to claim that I am the KING of Snowhill. Not proven nor tested, but I like to say lots of things that may necessarily be not based on Fact. Took my buddy Rob out there who has ridden that place many a time. AND attempted to show him some new stuff. Ended up rolling my front tire, and then had leak issues almost the entire ride, that was a bummer considering how many tubeless rides I have had. I wont blame the tire set up, I should probably you know pump some air in them things from time to time. BUT fun ride, lots of kick ass super technical trails. I would say that most of the state of Florida Sleeps on how cool this system is and I am Ok with it. The less people that ride it the better, LOL. I know this place like the back of my hand and it shows when I ride it...

So that's two weeks worth of single track shredding. I don't get to ride as often as I would like, but who does right. I think dissatisfaction is a factor of the human condition. I think if I don't travel this weekend, I may want to go do Epic trail on Sunday at Santos, well see what happens. I still got to hit the bike shop and get that front wheel fixed.

Ok, enough for now I recon,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

PS: Eye of the Huracan Official Announcement this week.