Update time!!!
http://eclipseracingteam.com/blog/?p=206
With nothing but training going on for the next few months, we took a break from the monotony and did a road trip along with the Club Mud regulars to Alafia River State Park and Balm Boyette, both just southeast of Tampa. Both trails are maintained by the Swamp Mountain Bike Club, and maintained very well. They were in excellent shape, well marked and a blast to ride.
Our first stop was a Balm Boyette which had one of the most fun sections I've ridden in Florida. It's called Ridgeline and it just opened in December of '08. I sadly forgot the new Stealth cam so we didn't get any new riding footage but here's a video I found online from some of the locals.
Ridgeline Trail @ Balm Boyette Scrub Preserve in HD. FL MTB from ProEdgeBiker on Vimeo.
After exploring Balm Boyette, we all packed the cars and took a short drive over to Alafia for a quick bite and back to more riding. Alafia is considered one of the best parks in Florida and it didn't let us down. We rode for about 90 minutes there (after about 2 hours at BB) and were pretty beat, but did make it to the better known Moonscape and Roller Coaster trails.
The day wasn't without mishaps though, too bad they were mainly by me. Alafia was pretty uneventful with crashes, but something about Balm had me uneasy most of the time out there and I took quite a few silly spills. By the end of the day I wound up with a black and blue big toe from the strangest endo I've ever done, and a small gash just below my calf muscle. A trip to the Doctors' on Sunday left me with butterfly bandages (went too late for stitches), antibiotics and a TETANUS SHOT to remember the day by! Still had a blast though! Next time we'll make sure to get some better pics and footage!!