Woods Riding in South Florida

[YZThump]

From what I hear Okeechobee/Thundercross has closed the woods for some reason.Does anyone know of any other places to ride in the area.I'm an old MXer from way back and still ride the tracks but would prefer a nice rough woods loop.

[sirthumpalot]

Yikes!! I wonder why they closed it.. Their MX track is my favorite place to go and seems to be the only good MX track around! Did you hear if it was perminant or temporary (too much rain, etc..)? I think that they just had an FTR race there a week or two ago.

Where do you live? I'm in Palm Beach Gardens. I'll bet that there are some places in Ocala though I don't know where. Also if you're near me, I've seen people unloading bikes off to west side of the turnpike about 20-30 minutes south of palm beach gardens. I think it's the del-ray exits but I'm not positive. It was just a small spot of woods, maybe they haven't started clearing it for houses yet. My last idea is I have heard a rumor of someone who ownes a lot of land in the delray area that they are not using and will let you ride there but I have not found out who this person is yet. The salseman at Powersports DelRay told me about it when I picked up my bike but he heard it from another customer and didn't know how to get in touch with the person. Maybe if you dig around you can find more info.

Do you ever ride MX? I'm always looking for new riding buddies if you're ever interested in riding MX at thundercross!

[Thumpin_426]

By the way, thanks for your reply on the BK mod.

Okeechobee sold all their land with the exception of the MX track and the Circle track.

I don't know if you are familiar with Becker Road in Stuart but we've been doing alot of riding out there. It is posted and has been for many years but alot of people still ride out there. As long as you "Hide" your truck in the woods and stay away from the East neighborhoods, we haven't been hastled. There is an awsome hair scramble!! Very, Very tight! Mostly 1rst and 2nd gear with a couple 3rd's. There is around 3000 achers to ride. Everything is sand and alot of high speed riding as well. Take the Palm City exit. Go through the first two lights. You'll come to a stop sign. Turn left. Go a few miles to Becker Road. Turn left. Just before the Turnpike overpass you'll see a dirt road on the right. Follow it back to the riding area. There are tons of places to park in the woods. The farther back you go, the better you are.

The second place is up off of Gatlin Blvd. in St. Lucie. The "Power Lines". As soon as you get off 95 go east to Edgrace ( first right). Take that to the 90 degree turn and look right. Follow the dirt road left and park way back by 95 ( out of sight). Same thing, it is posted but the cops seem to leave us alone. If you follow the power lines all the way back to I-95 we built a bunch of jumps ranging from 25 - 40 foot gaps. We also concreted the faces due to the soft sand. There's also tons of hair scramble. The only problem here is it tends to really hold water. It's soaked now!! During the dry months this place rocks on Sundays. I've seen as many as 40 riders out there.

If we've had much rain, Becker has been the better choice. We're usually out there on Saturday's and a couple times during the week. Maybe I'll see ya out there. Listen for the Whooomp!! I'm usually riding with a guy that's 52 years old and SHREADS on a KX250.

Later....

PS.. I think this weekend will be rained out everywhere.

[sirthumpalot]

Sold their land, OH NO!! Wow this is going to give me nightmares about no place to ride. I hope that they hold on to the MX and circle tracks for years to come. Any idea why and to who they sold the land and what may happen to it in the future? I sure hope that the tracks stay open..

I almost forgot to ask, Thumpin where do you live? Are you hear PBG? I'm just getting back into riding after about a 10 year layoff and all of my old riding buddies are not into it any longer.

[This message has been edited by sirthumpalot (edited September 12, 2001).]

[Thumpin_426]

sirthumpalot, I live in Jupiter for now but we're building up in Palm City. Probably be in around December. Most of the guys I ride with are in the same boat, took off for a while and are getting back in to it. I don't know about this weekend (weather) but I usually ride 2 - 4 times a week at the discussed locations. I had to lay off the Okeechobee MX track for a while to let my ribs heal. Yeh, that back tripple kicked my ass when the track was soaked. Came up short!!! Keep in touch. Later.........

[SteveW828]

I am hopefully getting a 2002 and getting back into riding. I am worried about finding a place to ride. Has any one ridden the Homestead MX track??

I live in Plantation and would love to ride with you Sirthumpalot when I get my ride.

Thanks to everyone for the good information. It really is a great forum!

[YZThump]

I was so glad that Okeechobee had a woods loop I wnet out and bought a new 426 I would ride in the woods with my older buddies while my kids would ride the MX track it was great.A place where you didn't have to worry about your truck or tools or the law. for 30 years I've been getting run out of riding area's and I'm tired of it.Maybe its time to purchase my own property for private use or form a club .I don't know,hell they lease land to Hunters,think about it Rifles and alcohol now thats safe stuff!!

[sirthumpalot]

I have not ridden south of PBG but I have spoken with someone who has riden Air Dania. He said that it was an OK track, supercross style. Not at all like okeechobee. If it's near your house then it's definitely worth testing out. I'm not sure what else is down your way, that's a bit south for me.

You guys drop me a line if you ever want to go riding in Okeechobee (or any other non-posted spot)! I'll be out at okeechobee the very first weekend that it's not under water, hopefully next weekend. If you're there I'm in a white toyota tacoma 4x4 and I've got a bright silver helmet, can't miss it. I think Thumpin is right about this weekend being wet just about everywhere. ? Also thanks for the invite to your local area, but I think I'm going to stick to the organized tracks for now. My years of being chased by the boys in blue are over for now (I've got a wife to take care of and a house to pay for ). I just wish I were rich, first thing I would do is buy up a bunch of land and make a nice public riding area. If they close the okeechobee MX track then you will definitely see me out your way!

I'll have to check out the FTR club and if it doesn't seem to meet our needs then starting a new club sounds like a stellar idea!

I wonder what they're going to use the Kirton ranch land for now that it's been sold?

[sirthumpalot]

How many of you would be interested in begin on an email list for people who ride in south Florida? I'm thinking of starting a list where when one person sends to the list everyone on the list gets it. The goal is to discuss things related to riding in this area (looking for riding buddies for the weekend, places to ride, etc..). If more than a couple of people are interested then I'll go ahead and get the list setup. ?

[YZThump]

Hey Thump-a -lot ,count me in for sure!!!Other than FTR races I have no idea where to practice without being hassled

[Thumpin_426]

I went up to Becker road yesterday and it was pretty wet, no supprise. There was still plenty of places to ride. All the big HOOPTY 4x4's were there. You'll like it, especially when both places dry out!!

[SteveW828]

Sir Thumpalot,

Count me in. I want to get a bike but am concerned how much I can use it if I can't find legal places to ride.

I posted a while ago regarding a public park with trails over in the Tamps area. I know its far but there is camping areas.

Let me know if I can help.

[Thumpin_426]

Come on guys... Where is your sense of adventure? Who wants to drive 2-4 hours every time you want to go ridding? I sure don't!! There's so many places to ride around here it's not even funny. Here's just a few places I ride: All the power lines out west, Jupiter Farms, Palm Beach Country Estates, B-Line Highway, around Moroso, Becker Road, Gatlin, Palm City & West North Lake Blvd. When I want to ride MX I go to Mesa or Okeechobee. That's enough to keep me busy.

A little advise, I've been riding down here for 17 years and if your looking for legal places to ride don't even buy a bike unless you have friends with lots of property or want to drive 2-4 hours everytime you want to ride.

There's basically 3 places to legally ride from Ft. Lauderdale to Sebastian: Dania in Ft. Lauderdale, Thundercross in Okeechobee and Mesa Park in Vero. Anyone know of other places let me know!! Dirt Biking in south florida is looked upon like owning a big dog in a large neighborhood with a zero lot line. You can do it but you're really going to piss peolpe off!! I say the hell with 'em. 9 times out of 10 if the cops come they give you a warning. Most of the places I listed are far enough away from homes that no one knows your there anyway.

Well anyway, that's my two sense and it's been working for me and everyone I ride with.

Good luck!!

[sirthumpalot]

Believe me I share your frustration with the rude city dwellers who are moving in all over down here, but there really isn't much good places to "ride" anymore. Please allow me to vent. ? I'm on your side 100%, but I will tell you the following. I grew up in palm beach country estates and I can tell you that there USED to be miles of good trails, but now there is absolutely nothing there but dirt roads with lots of houses and stray dogs. Not to mention half of the palm beach county sherrifs office lives out there. It's great for teaching my wife to ride her XR100 up and down the road at 25mph, but not good for a YZ426. And for jupiter farms, I was given a ticket out there when I was much younger (about 13 or 14 yrs old I'm guessing) on my YZ80 on the way to a friends house; not cool. After that myself and my friends started running every time we saw a poliece car and we were lucky enough to not get any more tickets. Now that I'm much over 18 plus there arent' as many trails to run and hide in so I'm going to stick to the private tracks for now. If they close thundercross then I will probably say the hell with it and take more chances since there really isn't anything left to loose at that point. I try to "tread lightly", but it seems like it just doesn't do any good any more.

All of that said (sorry for spewing like that), do any of your riding areas have motocross like areas, or do they have any long stretches of trails? It's tempting to at least check them out.

I'll get the email list started and I'll post a message here when it's up. I will likely get to it this weekend.

[sirthumpalot]

All,

I've created the florida riders email list and I've also created a public photo album there where you can post your pictures (supposibly the public can post photos, email me if you cannot: mwpublic@telocity.com). The list info/homepage is here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southfloridariders

And you can subscribe by sending an email here:

southfloridariders-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

My hope is that this is a good way for us florida guys to get together to ride more often. Just me and one other person so far, everyone is welcome!!

[jamracing]

Hey guys,

If you need any info about riding up in Central Florida (Ocala, Croom, Titusville area), drop me an note at JAMRACING@hotmail.com .

Do you belong to FTR? There is a Hare Scrambles this weekend, and it's on probably the best property in the state! Go to the site, and check out the race flyers.

If they sold the property around the Thundercross track, where is the GNCC going to be!!!???

[sirthumpalot]

I would like some info about that, could you post it here or email me at mwpublic@telocity.com? Thanks!

Also the story of Thundercross (as I understand it) was that the race tracks (motocross, car, airboat, etc..) were sold to someone who is into stock car racing, but the property which contained the offroad trail wasn't included in the deal. I don't know if it's still owned by the original owners or if it was sold to someone else in a separate deal. I hope that they will eventually open it up to the public again. I'm wondering if a club (such as FTR) would be able to make a deal with the owners at least for special events such as a race?