Prior to moving out of at the end of 2005, it had been a good year or so since I had made the trip from South Florida up to Santos to do some riding. As a matter of fact I hadn't ridden Santos subsequent to OMBA/IMBA's first major renovation to the trail system. I had ridden there a number of times and it was always a great place to ride. However some work obligations forced me to be in Florida this week, so I decided to suck it up and make a road trip down. BillT was kind enough to offer me a place to stay and a guided tour of Santos (and Carter road on Sunday).
So I left the Carolina's late Friday afternoon, stopped some where in Jacksonville for the night. The drive from Jax down 301 through Gainesville certainly brought back some memories. Anyway, I arrived at the trail head right around 8:45. I was immediately impressed with the changes. The big pump track right at the trail head looked fun.
there are even little TTF warm-ups in the trail head for fun.
Then it was off into the trails. My attempt to clean Magic Mountain was thwarted as I was quickly reminded of the difference of "climbing" in Florida vs NC. In FL its all about short bursts of power as the trail gets really steep for a few feet. Then it was off to the other technical trails around the first pit. Again I was reminded of how trails in FL can be VERY technical. I dabbed more in the first few miles of the Reds at Santos then I have on any local trail in the Charlotte area. We pretty much hit most of the red trails on the way over to the Vortx side.
In IMBA fashion there is a nice filter for the secondary trail head as you cross over the road.
Up and over
And turn around and do it again.
The signage at Santos is perfect.
A little warm up before hitting the real stuff I guess
Bad form the first time
A little better the second time
A ride around a few of the red Vortex trails, down into the pit where you can see the REALLY big drops and then the stuff for the rest of us. We started on the little ladder drops.
Did I mention it was a beautiful day?
Again bad form on the first try
A little better
The ever camera shy (or it maybe in comparison to me) BillT
Santos always gets rave reviews for the Dirt Jumps, great wooden structures etc. The reality of it is the technicality XC trails are the real fun. Its all about identifying a line, and making your way through them. Here are a bunch of rock garden pics.
BillT sequence
Me
Fun ladder bridge to a big rock with a little drop
BillT
sequence of ME (are we noticing a pattern?)
So many rock structures, so little time
Same rock different angle
This was another great two part rock garden, seperated by a 90 degree turn
BillT climbing up a nice ladder bridge and over a rock.
Then there were the roll downs. It looks like you could launch these, and I know it has been done in the past, but the lips were a little worn.
They were followed by some more rocks and a little drop.
After riding most of the trails, we headed back to the trailhead for lunch. After some Subway it was time to head back and play on the dirt jumps a little.
I just messed around on the small line, they were a little lippy for me, but I still had a good time.
Then I headed over to a drop I wanted to hit before leaving. They really build things right here. This was super smooth.
From the other side.
Great times...
Thanks to OMBA and IMBA for making this a great place to ride, and of course BillT for the hospitality.
So I left the Carolina's late Friday afternoon, stopped some where in Jacksonville for the night. The drive from Jax down 301 through Gainesville certainly brought back some memories. Anyway, I arrived at the trail head right around 8:45. I was immediately impressed with the changes. The big pump track right at the trail head looked fun.
there are even little TTF warm-ups in the trail head for fun.
Then it was off into the trails. My attempt to clean Magic Mountain was thwarted as I was quickly reminded of the difference of "climbing" in Florida vs NC. In FL its all about short bursts of power as the trail gets really steep for a few feet. Then it was off to the other technical trails around the first pit. Again I was reminded of how trails in FL can be VERY technical. I dabbed more in the first few miles of the Reds at Santos then I have on any local trail in the Charlotte area. We pretty much hit most of the red trails on the way over to the Vortx side.
In IMBA fashion there is a nice filter for the secondary trail head as you cross over the road.
Up and over
And turn around and do it again.
The signage at Santos is perfect.
A little warm up before hitting the real stuff I guess
Bad form the first time
A little better the second time
A ride around a few of the red Vortex trails, down into the pit where you can see the REALLY big drops and then the stuff for the rest of us. We started on the little ladder drops.
Did I mention it was a beautiful day?
Again bad form on the first try
A little better
The ever camera shy (or it maybe in comparison to me) BillT
Santos always gets rave reviews for the Dirt Jumps, great wooden structures etc. The reality of it is the technicality XC trails are the real fun. Its all about identifying a line, and making your way through them. Here are a bunch of rock garden pics.
BillT sequence
Me
Fun ladder bridge to a big rock with a little drop
BillT
sequence of ME (are we noticing a pattern?)
So many rock structures, so little time
Same rock different angle
This was another great two part rock garden, seperated by a 90 degree turn
BillT climbing up a nice ladder bridge and over a rock.
Then there were the roll downs. It looks like you could launch these, and I know it has been done in the past, but the lips were a little worn.
They were followed by some more rocks and a little drop.
After riding most of the trails, we headed back to the trailhead for lunch. After some Subway it was time to head back and play on the dirt jumps a little.
I just messed around on the small line, they were a little lippy for me, but I still had a good time.
Then I headed over to a drop I wanted to hit before leaving. They really build things right here. This was super smooth.
From the other side.
Great times...
Thanks to OMBA and IMBA for making this a great place to ride, and of course BillT for the hospitality.
Even though I only live 140 miles SE of Santos, I always make the effort to ride there at least once a month. I will be there for the 2009 Spring Fat Tire Festival next month. This is an awesome place to ride, and the camp grounds at the trail head make it even more worthy to ride. I always spend the majority of the time in and around the Vortex Section and then jump on the red trails in the Santos Section to top off my ride/trip. Freeriding & downhilling is the name of the game!
