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We arrived right around 10 am, which was a mistake I don't think we'd make again. We waited in line for a while to park, even out on the main road. An officer offered parking across the street for $10 with a free shuttle to the gate. I asked how much regular parking was and he said $10. So we just drove in. The ladies collecting the money were a little frantic which was understandable. The lady that collected from us said $20, and we said, the people back there said it was $10. She then went to the other lady asking if it was $20 and she said no, it's $10. She said "Oops! I've been charging everyone $20 and they were all telling me it was supposed to be $10". All I can say is Bummer......
We got in, parked where they told us to on one side of the grassy field turned swamp/mud bog. We had a cooler and folded chairs with us but left the cooler because we knew we were going to be mobile most of the time. We decided to daringly trek through the field and we really should have just walked all the way around the parking path. We both had our shoes fully submerged before we even made it to the track.
We had no umbrellas, no sunglasses, no sunscreen, or anything. (We're geniuses). We walked around during practice, trying to see the best spots to watch for the racing. It was a little difficult to walk due to the slippery ground, but smelling the race fuel and watching the bikes race through the air made it all okay.
We wanted to get pit passes, and tossed the idea around for a while, but decided to spend $50 on 2 umbrellas instead just to survive. It was extremely hot, and if it wasn't for the great track and great racing, the trip would have been a bust. We now know for next time we are taking a pop up tent, a cooler, and chairs, and we are marching to the infield as early as they'll let us in to pick our spot unless we save up and go with the Air conditioned seats! haha
I think that WW, MX Sports and youthstream put on an amazing show. Most of all I'm appreciative of them coming to FL and hope to see some Nationals here as well.
Here's a video I made from my infield view to give you an idea of the different views I had:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxRTwb_p_qQ&t=3s
The clip of Tomac Scrubbing at 1:36 is one of the nastiest things you will ever see.
Here it is again:
The Shop
Bloss is a big dude too.
Yesterday at the podium ceremony, there was some big, dumb neck from hell trying to get the crowd to get into his "USA!" chant. Didn't work. Disrespectful as hell if you ask me. Sure, when Eli is getting his trophy, but to keep yelling at JH and TC...to be honest...embarrassed me. Those two rode their hearts out yesterday and showed everyone why they belong on that podium, and they did it in humidity from hell.
We didn't stick around for the podium but I would have been embarrassed as well. Probably the same idiot that ran out on the racetrack.
It was great meeting you, Harriet and Shaggy as well. Your braids are luscious
BTW we lucked out this morning at the airport. Look who we spotted! Peace ✌️
He was behind us on the plane but everyone was tired. Let em rest and come back at the MEC swinging.
Enjoy retirement Harry!
I liked the signage they use for the gps much better than non stop repeater. It just looks tidied and I think the individual sponsors stand out better. I also think it helps it look more like motocross when you can see unobstructed views of the track.
I think the podium thing where the riders come out was cool. It would have been nice to hear some interviews there.
And I don't want to offend anybody, but playing the national anthem of the country where the winning motorcycle was made is just a tad bit goofy. I almost expected the bike to leak antifreeze because it got emotional. I also have a hard time picturing Austrians high fiving each other while watching the camera pan over a ktm with their anthem playing. My secret fear is that discussions will start breaking out about how only austria, sweden, and Japan have awesome cnc machinists and fabricators.
It was an awesome first effort in stressful conditions with the changed venue and then the rain friday. I hope they are able to make it an annual event and I hope the owners escape the tales we hear about past us gp promoters.
The gp riders are impressive. We often see how hard it is for ama privateers, but can you imagine the journey to the top of the gps when you are from someplace like Slovakia?
Glad that nobody picked up the chant during the anthems.
Wonder if any of the euros asked to go a walmart to see if there are really 300 lb women in cheetah print thongs or any of the other crazy stuff they look at in those "people of walmart" things online.
I know most of the riders understand English but it would be funny as hell to see the asking someone in a blue vest "where is the mule ett"?
It was just good to see that Eli was backing it down and didn't forget how to ride!
Track Condition: 9
Camping: 7
Food: 6
Restrooms: 5
Viewing areas: 6
Racing: 10
Overall Experience: 8
To lead off, I've never been to a GP, and haven't been to a national in a decade. When the race was announced at Gatorback I was stoked, I've raced there and know it is spectacular for spectators. I was more than a little bummed when the change was announced, but was still happy to be going to a GP in my own state.
The track was very very good for being on a flat piece of property like it was. The dirt was spectacular, a lot of tracks could have gone to crap with as much rain as we got Friday but it held up well. I would like to see what it would look like if given a full year to prepare.
We debated on coming in Friday or Saturday, and chose Friday morning, and I am glad we did. There were plenty of spots available, and we got pulled into a spot with only a handful of campers around us. We were impressed with the field, dry ground and pretty even, and it was located in close proximity to the track. Of course that changed Friday night as we got DUMPED on. When we woke up Saturday the entire place was wet. Luckily our spot had no standing water but others weren't so lucky. There were some that were ankle deep when they stepped out, but those were obviously low lying spots. Obviously there was not much the organizers could do about the rain. The one thing I think could have been done better was parking the campers. We were left to our own, like you would normally see at a local event which works fine. But the camping area was finite in nature, and some people left awkward distances between each other, which led to a lack of spots. There ended up being campers blocked in, and people pulling in too small or awkward spots. But overall I thought the camping area was a win.
The food vendors were great, the only negative is there just wasn't as much as needed during the event on Sunday.
I would love to have seen the nicer portable trailer bathrooms at a high level event like this. But there were plenty of porta john's so that was a plus.
For being a flat location I thought the viewing areas were pretty good. The in field area was excellent. My big gripe was the lack of areas to watch the finishing section. Unless you dropped 400 for he skybox you just weren't watching the last few turns, which was a major bummer. There were plenty of areas in the back of the track you could watch from, but they were not open to anybody. The gatorback club was also disappointing. It was just some metal bleachers in an ok viewing area. Never bothered using them. They did intend for them to be shaded which would have been a major bonus but the weather Friday put an end to that.
Overall I had a great time and will definitely be back next year. It was a great event. I have no idea how big the crowd is, but it felt like a successful size to me on Sunday. Enough of a crowd where it was pretty hard to grab spots in the good viewing locations.
- I hope Junior makes the investment to put in a raised road (crushed limestone or something) around the track. A saturated field of grass simply can't withstand the amount of foot (and vehicle) traffic that an event like this brings. The mud was a mess and smelled like shit in places. That or maybe it was the shit.
- Put a drink vendor on the infield spectator portion of the track. There were enough people in there to justify having one. Plus, it was hot and I'm lazy.
- Have more than one person taking credit card payment for tickets purchased on site. That and figure out the WiFi so that the chick taking payment doesn't have to walk 30 feet away for the transaction to go through.
- Maybe the parking process can be sped up by directing cars in two different directions on the property at the same time. It was cool seeing the property on our driving tour of the north 40, but we really just wanted to quickly park and watch the first 250 moto. It took us an hour from the time we hit gridlock on the road until we were parked. I understand that some of the closer fields weren't useable due to mud, at least not in the Prius I was in.
- Edit: Add a recommendation to get large TV screens in a few select locations. I realize this isn't Formula 1, but at car races I've been to in the past, they had screens so that the spectators can actually follow the race instead of just listening to the announcers and seeing the riders come by the same section of track for 35 minutes.
Also, when the announcer came on and said "Please no drones. Get the drone down before we do it for you." I want you to know that it wasn't me, dudes.
I told Chad that I was surprised that Jonas staged outside next to Seewer because Seewer is a maniac and one of my favorites but he won't let off and could come over on him. Chad said that's where he would line up because of Seewer starts and then they hooked up right out of the gate and Jonas went down. oops
The track is awesome. Viewing was a bit tough but you could see action everywhere. The track was prime on sunday for sure. The VIP tent was nice with cold ac and a nice food spread and my wife was happy. When we first went to the skybox Saturday morning, no one was up there except Paul Malin interviewing Eli, Herlings and RC. I knew right away it was going to be good and DC came on up and i gave him a thumbs up and told him i was thinking about him as we passed the antique sign shops on the way in. He is a busy guy that's for sure and everywhere, maybe at the same time it seemed.
Those guys are so pinned out there in that cake. Its hummbling. Track looked really good and so fun. Great for Convingtin who won the qualifier easily and looked really fast and controlled all weekend except a bit of heat and a error here or there. I think he wants to show that he is a great pick for our team and i agree. He was very impressive. Eli rode so great in that first moto. He was the only one hitting the 1st breaking bump up the mountain and clearing the whole top for the first half of the first moto. When he first tried it, he went way too far and almost flatlanded. It was fast and awesome. That quad in the back and table were huge as were most of the obstacles and I'm a guy that likes big jumps. Herlings has the edge on speed and fitness at the moment and congrats to him in the well deserved win. Guy is on it. The gp guys are animals and impressed me very much. Great racing for sure. Rj looked awesome and was railing and had great style. Being eye level at that finish line as they styled over it was awesome. And what a start from the far outside gate for Hampshire . Just wow, held it pinned around the outside. Great for him. Value rising. AC222 was awesome to watch. His style is excellent and calculated. I'm glad he didn't ride to conservative to hold his points lead. He is top class. It was a great mx USGP.
My wife and i kind of splurged and got a beachfront room on Amelia Island and although the waves were small the hotel was great. Sushi, drinks and dj's every night and midnight shark teeth hunts were fun and we decided to stay another day. Just home now after 6 hours on road so excuse my long rambling post but i am happy we went. Now doing hurricane prep. Good times. I have a ton of video to go through but here is a few pics.
Pit Row
The parking was damn horrendous for those with or without VIP. I know they can fix it for sure and make it run smoother.
I bought a Gatorback pass for one of my kids friends and my kid went to sit with her in the section, he got booted out because he had a VIP pass and not a Gatorback pass....say what? So they had to watch Saturday from the Monster Energy section.
The crowd was really awesome and loud, lot's of people from all over the world that came in to watch people race a dirt bike. It was really hot/humid on Sunday, I was glad HarryBro kept volunteering to go get us adult beverages!
Awesome event and awesome time, we will sure be back again. Cheers from a dry/hot desert.
Honestly, I was impressed.
If you are wheelchair bound... stay at home and watch it on TV. They don't care about you. Well, unless you have a name or know someone.
Had to go through a mud bog with my car to access the handicap parking. Which I was expected to wheel through after I parked. Not sure if the guy just didn't believe me when I said I have a wheelchair or what. I've been to enough nationals to know that those conditions can happen. And I don't want to sound "entitled". But I would have thought they'd have enough sense to park me somewhere better than that. I know there wasn't much they could do with the rest of the facility. There were some deep spots I had to get through, and that's on me. I only ended up in the mud once. I'm thankful to all the help I received from people walking about.
I never did find a handicap viewing area though. It was marked on a track map, (and one of the main reasons I decided to go in the first place. As I know from experience that it can be difficult to find a spot to watch from a sitting height) but the fence around the entire place was lined with people standing against the fence, or even sitting on it. After searching for someone to ask (fail), my wife, baby, and I decided "screw it, lets go into the VIP area and hope we find a spot in there". Which we did manage to get some help from other spectators to clear a small spot along the fence for me (there was a table and something else blocking the way). Meanwhile all the MXsports people were sitting in the bleachers. Had a little run in with them after they sent their security pitbull over to me not once, but twice. (Keep in mind, at this point there was only 1 1/2 motos left. And we didn't take any of their food or drinks). So after the first time they knew that I had a problem but yet didn't care enough to actually come to me and see what was up until I waved the one lady over. Here is me, looking through my viewing window...
And heres the baby She was cheering for Tomac.
She is super gorgeous in my opinion but never see her but in highlights.
Post a reply to: My USGP @ WW Observations/Thoughts