well, noah (lil manimal) and i were unable to make it to our favorite and only local DS race this year at hobby park (winston salem, NC). we had worked and practiced out there a lot lately and were hoping to have some fun on sunday....but...my grandfather-in-law passed away and the funeral was on saturday in balmy florida.
so as a concellation prize, i got sunday to do whatever i wanted to do in FL. i'd heard of Santos in Ocala and have seen pics but i haven't been there yet so that's where we decided to go...and let me tell you, that place rocks! for you NC folks, it's like a bigger, badder version of country park. huge dirt jump line with a mulch pit for learning new stuff and a curved wall ride. drops galore, some natural, some man-made but all buttery smooth on landing (although i did bottom my demo on the 10' one
) and it's all legal and maintained through the Ocala Mountain Bike Association. 
major props to the north florida crew that hooked this place up 
so anyway, i took A LOT of pics but i'll just throw in a few of the better ones here. i can't remember anyones name except for doug, he pretty much hangs out there from 10-6 every sunday to open/close the place, ride and show new guys like me and noah around. super nice guy.
doug and noah talking about riding and spiders
we started out in the "skills" section which is a really smart feature to have at a bike park. it's very benign and easy to learn on. they have a set of rollers to a steep hill to roller, some berms, a 10" wide bridge skinny and a 4" wide skinny to learn to balance on. there is also a rock garden and slalom gates to practice with as well. very good idea to have at a place that attracts riders of all skill levels.
noah on the bridge skinny
and the skinny skinny
from there we took the easy trail for about 3 miles over to the freeride area. this place is RAD!
your truly on the 10' drop, (the 20' drop scared the poo out of me after i bottomed on the 10 footer
)
noah rolling/dropping the side of the smaller 4' drop. he wanted to hit it from the platform but, for once, i said no. he probably would have made it but had he crashed it would have been the end of our fun for the day.
here are some random shots from the dirtjump area
this is one of my fav's, i'm not sure why...it just came out cool. ( i haven't edited these for color yet)
noah on the beginner/table line
??
me trying the first double on the expert line. it was either too fast and land flat or too slow and case. i never could perfect this one
the third gap in the expert line
bottom of the dj area w/ the wall ride and mulch pit
noah on his way up and over one of the tables
me, noah and my brother-in-law commemorating the day.
so did it make up for missing an awesome race? i dunno, but it was definitely a good day
so as a concellation prize, i got sunday to do whatever i wanted to do in FL. i'd heard of Santos in Ocala and have seen pics but i haven't been there yet so that's where we decided to go...and let me tell you, that place rocks! for you NC folks, it's like a bigger, badder version of country park. huge dirt jump line with a mulch pit for learning new stuff and a curved wall ride. drops galore, some natural, some man-made but all buttery smooth on landing (although i did bottom my demo on the 10' one
) and it's all legal and maintained through the Ocala Mountain Bike Association. major props to the north florida crew that hooked this place up
so anyway, i took A LOT of pics but i'll just throw in a few of the better ones here. i can't remember anyones name except for doug, he pretty much hangs out there from 10-6 every sunday to open/close the place, ride and show new guys like me and noah around. super nice guy.
doug and noah talking about riding and spiders
we started out in the "skills" section which is a really smart feature to have at a bike park. it's very benign and easy to learn on. they have a set of rollers to a steep hill to roller, some berms, a 10" wide bridge skinny and a 4" wide skinny to learn to balance on. there is also a rock garden and slalom gates to practice with as well. very good idea to have at a place that attracts riders of all skill levels.
noah on the bridge skinny
and the skinny skinny
from there we took the easy trail for about 3 miles over to the freeride area. this place is RAD!
your truly on the 10' drop, (the 20' drop scared the poo out of me after i bottomed on the 10 footer
)
noah rolling/dropping the side of the smaller 4' drop. he wanted to hit it from the platform but, for once, i said no. he probably would have made it but had he crashed it would have been the end of our fun for the day.
here are some random shots from the dirtjump area
this is one of my fav's, i'm not sure why...it just came out cool. ( i haven't edited these for color yet)
noah on the beginner/table line
??
me trying the first double on the expert line. it was either too fast and land flat or too slow and case. i never could perfect this one
the third gap in the expert line
bottom of the dj area w/ the wall ride and mulch pit
noah on his way up and over one of the tables
me, noah and my brother-in-law commemorating the day.
so did it make up for missing an awesome race? i dunno, but it was definitely a good day
