[FloridaFish]

The presentation by Scott Linnenburger from IMBA outlined most of the proposed work that will they be doing to the vortex quarry. Work will start on December 1st with the IMBA guys doing the heavy lifting with tractors, front end loaders, etc, and with volunteer help on Sundays to smooth everything out.

The mess of trails in and around the Vortex area are going to be pretty much closed down and a single "freeride oriented" loop will be in it's place. The way it was described, the freeride loop will be a mostly flat ride with numerous stunts and drops into the quarry. They are trying to make it so that the quarry will be entered via drops and exited via two main "exit trails" back up to the freeride loop. There will also be a dirt jump park in or around the quarry somewhere, and a skills park somewhere near the parking lot.

The dirt jump park looked really cool. Scott showed some possible layouts that had small, medium, and large jump lines with a few hips a big funbox type thing with a high berm or wallride at the end of the jumps. The drawing also showed a small, medium, and large ladder drops off to the side of the dirt jump area.

Overall it sounded like OGT (Office of Greenways and Trails?) was very much in favor of having this freeride area, and very happy about funding this project.


the picture is of a different IMBA dirt jump park but the overall layout is pretty similar to the drawings that were shown for Santos.

 

[rcmay]

awesome, I cant wait. We need something like this in central florida. I should be getting a new bike soon, and just in time!

 

[Acme54321]

That's pretty cool that all of this is going to happen at Santos, looks like it's going to be really nice. How many people were at the meeting Adam? I saw you called me on Friday but I have been non stop all weekend and never had a chance to call you back.

 

[FloridaFish]

There were about 30 people at the meeting and then about half that went over to vortex to look at some of the existing stuff. If I can find a scanner I'm gonna post the memo that was handed out at the meeting. It outlines all of the work that IMBA is planning on doing.

I also heard that OGT is putting about a hundred thousand dollars into this whole project.

 

[Acme54321]

I'm suprised it didn't cost even more than that. That kind of stuff can get expensive.

Sounds like it's going to be awesome. I saw on the ridgeriders board where someone had said that the DJ section is going to start at the wall, where the existing jumps are. That's gonna be so nice with the tress there. The progressively bigger jumps will give wimps like me something to work up to

 

[FloridaFish]

I think that the IMBA guys will be using heavy machinary from OGT and the local Sherrif's department. OGT is also providing clay based building material for the jumps and hopefully some lumber too. The trails are gonna be sick out there soon. The red trails around the first quarry have all been rerouted too, the one we rode and the Ant hill trail on the other side.


BTW, I'm gonna ride San Felasco around 4:30, give me a ring if you wanna go.

 

[atomrcrkhsbiker]

hey I live in the northeast part of orlando, how far/how long does it take to get to santos?

 

[FloridaFish]

hey I live in the northeast part of orlando, how far/how long does it take to get to santos?

Maybe about an hour or so.

I'm not exactly sure, but all you would need to do is take the Turnpike until I-75 and then take I-75 for a little while. It's the exit with the drag racing museum (if that helps). Here's a link to some better directions

http://rogersunderland.com/mountain_biking/mtb_trails/santos/trail_review.html
http://www.omba.org/

 

[atomrcrkhsbiker]

thanks for the help

 

[XCProphet]

Does Anybody Know?

1) Will it be done by Christmas?

2) Will it be lighted for midnight riders?

 

[FloridaFish]

1) Will it be done by Christmas?

2) Will it be lighted for midnight riders?

IMBA will be working for three weeks and then it should be open. As for lighting, I very highly doubt it.

Here's the handout that explains the work being done. Sorry, but I'm too lazy to go to campus just to scan some papers.

 

[FloridaFish]

and the last page

 

[XCProphet]

NO LIGHTS...Ahh SHHHUCKS

Guess someone could possibly rent lights for a special night riding event...A strobe light with controlled explosions too?..

Thanks FloridaFish,
Everyone involved please keep the heads up on proposed design & construction

 

[FloridaFish]

Guess someone could possibly rent lights for a special night riding event...A strobe light with controlled explosions too?..

Thanks FloridaFish,
Everyone involved please keep the heads up on proposed design & construction

Here's a thread from the ridge riders (the guys that run TOE) about all the santos stuff. No one has touched it for a while, but it's supposed to be the thread that IMBA was monitoring.
http://rr.securelink.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1155

At the meeting the IMBA rep was talking about trying to get a dedicated water supply out there for building the jumps and they were having trouble trying to get that worked out, so I bet that getting power out there would be even more of a challenge.

 

[FloridaFish]

Bad News

I'm not sure when this was posted on OMBA but it can't be good.

Freeriding: OGT/OMBA/IMBA Partnership

It looks like we may be able to proceed with at least part of this by reducing the size of the project, doing some of it in December as planned and phasing the rest in in the future. I believe the freeride trail / red trail reconstruction with the qualifiers and filters and features and optional drops would be the part we would do first if we have to scale back the scope of the December project.

It's looking very good for at least the one part to get done on schedule. Unfortunately there are no guarantees until there is a signed contract. The worst case scenario would have us postponing the project for much longer than anyone would like, probably for about 12 months because of the complexity of the competitive bid process and the availability of IMBA's Trail Solutions team.

Again, thanks for everyone's support on this, we're doing everything we can to make this happen, I'll let you know when things become more concrete, feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Thanks,
---Valerie.

---Valerie Naylor
Trail Coordinator
Office of Greenways & Trails
Fl Dept. of Environmental Protection
352-236-7143 (office) 352-427-4483 (cell)
[email protected]
December 4th, 11th, and 18th dates are up in the air until final notice

 

[atomrcrkhsbiker]

I'm not sure when this was posted on OMBA but it can't be good.

Freeriding: OGT/OMBA/IMBA Partnership

It looks like we may be able to proceed with at least part of this by reducing the size of the project, doing some of it in December as planned and phasing the rest in in the future. I believe the freeride trail / red trail reconstruction with the qualifiers and filters and features and optional drops would be the part we would do first if we have to scale back the scope of the December project.

It's looking very good for at least the one part to get done on schedule. Unfortunately there are no guarantees until there is a signed contract. The worst case scenario would have us postponing the project for much longer than anyone would like, probably for about 12 months because of the complexity of the competitive bid process and the availability of IMBA's Trail Solutions team.

Again, thanks for everyone's support on this, we're doing everything we can to make this happen, I'll let you know when things become more concrete, feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Thanks,
---Valerie.

---Valerie Naylor
Trail Coordinator
Office of Greenways & Trails
Fl Dept. of Environmental Protection
352-236-7143 (office) 352-427-4483 (cell)
[email protected]
December 4th, 11th, and 18th dates are up in the air until final notice

That Sucks!

 

[FloridaFish]

That Sucks!

yeah, big time. I got the info from omba.org but there was no date on when it was posted so I'm hoping it's really old news, but I'm not sure.

 

[FloridaFish]

Good News!!!!

Just saw this on omba.org

Freeriding: OGT/OMBA/IMBA Partnership

Just got the GOOD news:

The Felburn Foundation is going to fund phase 2, the freeride trail/ red trail redevelopment, slopestyle jumps area, and skills development area. We are good to go.

Yay! Thank you Felburn Foundation, thank you Mickey for pursuing every avenue, thank you Scott & IMBA for being patient with this whole process, thanks Brian and OMBA & the freeriders for not giving up on us.

So IMBA will be arriving later this week, they will be constructing all 3 projects in December, we will have our first volunteer workday this Sunday 12/4. I know it's short notice but let's get a big turnout - spread the word! December 4th, 11th, and 18th dates are confirmed.

Thanks,

---Valerie Naylor
Trail Coordinator
Office of Greenways & Trails
Fl Dept. of Environmental Protection
352-236-7143 (office) 352-427-4483 (cell)
[email protected]

I'm definately heading down there this Sunday (Dec. 4th), anyone who wants to carpool let me know.

 

[Acme54321]

That's awesome...

I would go but working at a bike shop/finals consumes most of my free time. Adam if you are going to be in town at all after finals week I'd like to head down there. I'm in town till the 23rd working so I'll be riding after finals are over.

 

[Acme54321]

I rode Santos today on my day off and ran into the IMBA guys down there. They are going to do some awesome stuff down there. They are bringing in an excavator, front end loader and other heavy equipment next week along with dumptrucks full of dirt and clay. They also had a big trailer loaded up with wood for the stunts ect. One thing that I hadn't heard of being built before was a DJ/Slopestyle line down the gravel road into the quarry that starts at the wall, along with the DJs that are going to go where the present DJs are. The red trail around the quarry is also going to have stunts like teeters, ect bult into it.

Sounds pretty awesome.