Posts
80
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
NC
US
Edited Date/Time
3/4/2014 4:45pm
Ok, we are finally taking a trip to Florida from western North Carolina. I'd like some ideas on what not to miss out on. My 20 yr old is competitive and loves A/B level tracks that are well prepped. In my current level of physical fitness, I just want to have some fun, like some vet friendly stuff. I'd like to check out some trails also. I have found so many places to go, so I would like some feed back on places. Places change, management changes. Who is currently taking care of their tracks to make if worth my effort, time and Money???
Thanks
Thanks
I always liked that track.
Track prep is second to none!!
The people who run it are super nice as well. Plus they ride mx, so they know how to build.
Let me clear it up. I have no problem finding choices, which ones are actually worth it, the cream of the crop?
The Shop
Free shipping: VITALMX
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$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
PAx Trax - Small track but has very good flow, worth at least one visit. Nothing real hard here except triple in the middle for the vet rider.
Bostwick Creek - very deep sand, track is usually fully prepped but goes away pretty quick, if corners are your thing, this is where they are at.
Hard Rock - its OK, a place to hit in a day when others are closed. Main track has good layout but it usually is not prepped and the name tells you everything, lots of rock. But the back jump flow section is incredibly fun. There are also several other tracks there, intermediate track and sand track.
Thundercross - Track is nice, kind of like WW but hills not as big. Careful who you talk to here, the workers either hate their life or there is some serious cheerio pissing going on. Owner was nice, but all the workers think they own the track and they are doing you a favor for taking your money. And be very careful in Okeechobee. This is a redneck wet dream and it can and usually does get very rowdy. (i'm a country boy) Hotel we stayed at told us he doubted our trailer would still be there in the morning. We took shifts watching.
Dade City MX - Run as fast as you can in the opposite direction. I was warned, went there anyway and if the owner didn't have family controlling the Pasco County Sheriffs office, he would be registering as a sex offender for the rest of his life. NOW YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm an ex-police officer and the owner went into the womans restroom to yell at my 7 yr old daughter and held her in there and wouldn't let her leave until people outside heard her crying and screaming, because "he said" she rode an electric scooter, the only thing legal on the property, to the restroom, and no, he would not step off his property that evening).
Croom - riding area with several hundred acres, you better like sand whoops though, because they are on every trail everywhere you go.
County line MX - pretty far from the others above but it is in Florida, Fountain to be exact right above Panama City. This is also a very nice place, track is challenging and fun for all levels and it is prepped every day.
These are the tracks I have had experience with so these are my opinions. To cut to the chase, make sure you hit WW and our other favorites are Pax, Bostwick and County Line
http://www.monstermx.com/live/
How long have you been going to Monster, we have been going there for 7 years and the place just isnt the same as it use to be. Dont get me wrong when you first pull into the place you can hear angels singing from the gates of heaven but riding the track these days has seriously went down hill..
I swear Tom can;t destroy the jumps fast enough and on the current path the place will be a flattrack national. (of course Tom is a flattrack guy)
Would really love to see him hire back the old track maintenance guy and let him fix things up. Don;t know if you know this yet, my son was there couple days ago and I guess he got rid of the stariway to heaven landing. He had cut the face of the jump down so much that it was taking to much speed to hit it and people were clipping the landing so now he cut it down. Son says that it is almost at the double landing now, said 65 could hit it.
Taking over a track that use to have a full SX track, AX track prepped every day all for $20, then bulldozing the SX and AX track, only prepping 3 days instead of 7 and raising your price to $25 is not a very good business model. If you notice all the upcoming pros that use to camp there all winter have all moved on and this year has been the smallest turn out we've ever seen.
I really love going here, I hope he can have an open mind and bring in some help cause at the current pace, that track may be hurting real soon.
Your take on Monster is interesting.
I was there the week after xmas and thought it was actually too jumpy. But I'm an old guy with diminishing skills. lol
They must have taken out some jumps since then. It had rained the day before I was there it was a little muddy, so I didn't get a good feel for the track. And the vet track was not very good either. But they did work the track all day trying to make it better.
Track owners have a real challenge though, trying to make a track fun and safe for all skill levels. But I understand your point.
The young guys really like to fly. It's always been that way. Then you get to my age and you like to fly a bit less. lol
For me, I'll probably give them another shot next time I'm thru there hoping the track is better. But I can't wait to get back to WW. That place is awesome. Only critique I would have for WW is there's no elevation changes, but that's just Florida...flat.
Btw, Hilliard is a neat track as well.
Pit Row
It's not the track, its the competition.
So really it is not an opinion of how many, I myself love to jump, it is probably what I am best at and at 44, I can clear all the jumps easily but it is just not as fun to do so, most jumps, you now jump into the face of the landing and it just makes its no fun and painful.
Now if your intentions are to go JUST for cornering than Monster is still Heavan in that respect, but who actuallly goes to an MX track and not jump.
And the last problem is, Tom is not open minded. If you try and mention this politely, he gets all pissed off and walks off. To each his own but I know for a fact, that this cost him 35 riders last year that will never return. A group that lives by me took their only MX vacation in a decade and Tom pretty much thumb his nose at them and all said they would never return.
We usually take 3 or so trips south in the winter so we almost always hit Monster because they are open every day, but my son usually complains and does not want to go if anything else is open.
And yes the GP track is lame, but Tom as a flat tracker holds this track dear to his heart, even cutting some of the main track after the mountain to make room for the GP/Vet track. In fact the only improvements he has made is putting pipe under the GP track to drain water so he can open this track after it rains.
12 pack - Dade city doesn't create fast riders, it is nothing bigger than an AX track, my backyard track is twice the size of Dade city. Fast riders go there after they are fast cause the owner pays them to come there. Dont know any top pros that COME from there. You might be able to say Tim Ferry, but even he is a transplant to the area.
Then there is Stewart.
And some kid who just won the amateur all-stars race...
C'mon, man. I think Randy Yoho is just as much of a dickhead as the rest of you do, but hte competition level there produces talent. And yes, it's a 47second laptime shithole... but you have to qualify to race A class, where as some AMA district races struggle to get 10 guys on the gate.
RV, Reed, Wilson, Barcia, Weimer, Roczen, Pourcel, Alessi (probably more but you get the point) Have all moved there after they were pros.
Saying Dade city is a good MX track is like saying your paper airplane is bigger,better than a 747. Those words should never be in the same sentence. But I understand, other than Bartow and Okeechobee and way down in Miami, where are there any places to race in mid/southern Florida.
I said it produces talent because of it's level of competition, and that cannot be denied. I would attribute that to it's outlaw status as much as it's location.
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