I would like to claim that I was the very first to at least coin the phrase Tree Fiddy.
I was even going to make T shirts,m but there was no momentum.
BUT its important to rehash and recap what 3 fiddy is.
Its doing all the famous off road 50 milers that come at the start of the year in a row.
Now I would like to claim I was the first to do this, but I don't honestly know if I was.
BUT, I have done 3 fiddies every year for as long as I can remember. Sadly this will be the first year that I wont make them. I guess I don't see the financial investment worth it this year, not the Fitties fault because they are indeed fun and they are indeed great.
NOW whats the best Fitty in the state???
Well, the first one I ever did was Suwanee. I remember pedaling in the granny gear across the flat cause my legs were cracked. And it continued to be a challenge in the following years requiring even Naps to complete the rides. NOW, I smoke the trail on a geared bike and crush it on a fixie. This one has to be my personal favorite only cause of the fact that you get to sit 50 feet above the river and see some big rapids. Big for Florida of course. By far the coolest shirts are from this ride and the food is the best and they tend to have the cutest local chicks...LMAO...
I remember how I first heard about the Tour De Felasco. I was looking in Mountain Bike Magazine and read about this ride, it would be the first running and I was there. In fact I was there every year since and I never missed a one, this will be the first year I miss. It has the most climbing by far and some kick ass singletrack. The only issue with the Tour is that its almost always cold, but I still love this place, and its so much fun to clean all the climbs. The first couple of years I caught some of the worst cramps in my life out there. But I learned, I got stronger, and now Its a joy ride, even when its freezing. I liked it when their shirts perpetuated the conquistador theme and bones i.e. like the original shirt. Now they strayed away from that and I dont even wear last years shirt at all, it just hangs there.
Croom 50 went on for a long time before I got to experience it. And by far its the hardest of the 3 since its 99.9% singletrack and offers no place to venture off mentally and escape like you can do on forest road or on double track. This place requires 100% concentration. And contrary to popular mythology, this place is chock full of descents and ascents. Seems like there are barely any flats and it has some HUGE stuff way in the back that will blow your mind.. PLUS the folks from Swamp know how to put on a event, simply put, some of the most interesting sag stops from all three as well, although they did borrow the wine and cheese Idea from Ididaride. If you like to suffer and you want to make sure you can get registered into the ride, this one is by far the easiest to obtain a spot too out of the three. I like that they experiment with the swag. Sometimes they do a shirt, or socks or a mug, thats good, makes it different and I for one appreciate variety.
Now some rare few have obtained the sacred four fitty feat. And with that being said, the raddest fitty of the state is the Naked Indian ride. Why? Well its free and I made it up... email me cause its next weekend and if you wanna join you got to ask,
take care,
Laters,
The NaKeD InDiaN
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