Overview of biking Reddick Mountain Biking Park, Florida

Thumbs Up:

- Technical riding, drops, climbs on well marked trails deliver big thrills to riders ready to ride intermediate to advanced level trails.

- Organization and the atmosphere of being around a lot of people who enjoy the biking culture. Friendly fellow riders.

- Short cut trails and the "kids loop" are convenient and offer the advanced beginner as well as the brave child something to ride!

Thumbs Down... and Up:

- There was a big crowd that often was a little inconvenient to this less than speedy rider. That said, I can't say enough about how nice and courteous and helpful everyone was.

Lessons Learned:

- Take a comfortable folding chair and a cooler of drinks and lunch. You'll want to hang out in the grassy parking lot after your ride and recover so that you can ride the loop again!

- The beginning of the trail almost immediatetly drops a rider into some pretty technical stuff. Less than very skilled riders can be intimidated early.

-Your first time through, make sure to dismount and check any part of the trail that you may not be sure of. There are several drops where the correct line isn't in sight until it becomes difficult to actually run it.

- Navigation isn't an issue here. The trail is a loop and is clearly marked. Any options go the same direction and end up in basically the same place - the end of the loop...

03/20/04 - Christopher visits and rides quite well considering his ass has been on the couch all winter...

Dana Farnsworth

Christopher, an Outdoor Travels contributor, was visiting me from West Virginia to do some mountain biking. Seems perverse doesn't it? Someone visiting Florida from West Virginia to do some mountain biking.... Determined to show him some of Florida's finest singletrack, we packed up and road tripped it to Reddick. Along with my friend Reggie and my wife Kelli, we set a blistering early pace through the "warm up" initial part of the long loop. At the first short loop option Kelli took off on her own, as the rest of us dove into the first technical section of Granny's Revenge. The first big drop came a little early for Christopher as he opted to walk it. Better to walk and ride all day that to crash early and sit the rest of the day or weekend out!

After that, he put his big Velcro biking balls on and rode pretty much everything in veteran style. Oh, there WAS that ONE tumble over the hill.... hee hee. The other notable moment was Reggie (the retired Army Ranger) took a wrong turn and got lost on the Tree Slalom trail - not an easy task to do. He did find his way back and proclaim that "Ranger's don't get lost. I DID find my way back!"

All the tough climbs, nice drops and fast singletrack were still present. Everything seems to be in great order. I'm especially enjoying the relatively new route called Dempsey's Doozie or something of that sort. Around mile nine Dempsey's offers up a series of three or four challenging and thrilling short, but relatively drops that sport equally as steep rolls/climbs back out. Momentum is key here....

Biking Log

Arranged most current to oldest entry. Make sure to check out the old entries as they have lots of valuable "first time" information.

11/08/03 - Two new to Razorback riders, some newly cut trail and some puke!

Being two hours from my house, I had not been to Reddick for several months - I was itching for a road trip. Two of my friends Reggie and Scott joined me today for their first ride at Razorback. We were also joined by a new friend, Rob, who had been to Razorback before. With its propensity to be re-routed due to the active mining operation that is adjencent, I was curious to see what this visit would bring in terms of new trails and re-routes. After several issues with my chain, and several starts and stops due to the unfamiliararity of the trail, Rob said, "we are riding like a bunch of old men!" After a failed attempt to (chain suck) to make a new climb, Scott breezed by me, crested the hill and stated, "I'm going to puke." He dismounted, calmly walked over to the side and very matter-of-factly began hurling. After several chunk sessions, Scott was sporting a new trail nick name, "Puke Skywalker" - it isn't his first time yaking during a ride. May the Force be with you - bluhhk!

Long story Short, Scott later bailed out by taking a short cut back to the parking lot, there were several bike malfunctions and a couple of small tumbles. The trail still sports at least three sustained climbs (rare in Florida) and now also has a very nice new technical section that I think is around mile 8-9. Somewhere around the end of the ride Reggie cramped up so bad, he failed a short but steep climb that sent him tumbling ass over tea kellte style into the underbrush. Later in the parking lot I grabbed his quad as a joke and was surprise to see him drop to his knees in a heap! Lesson learned: Razorback is a 10-mile loop. You'll need to bring plenty of water!

All in all, I would have to say that the earlier (see the next review) loss of a sweet section of Granny's Revenge trail has been more than made up with some very nice new trail. To some degree, that's the lure and the charm of Razorback, it throws something new at you every now and then.

4/19/03 - Update

Kelli and I along with a new riding friend (Larry) rode today. Of note is the recent loss of a nice section of the advanced trail Granny's Revenge. The mining company that operates a mine on the same property seems to have a right-of-way. They just plowed over a nice section of trail. The management of Reddick seems to have re-routed the course nicely though. If I didn't know what I was missing, I wouldn't think twice. Apparently this isn't a unique event. The course seems to change on a regular basis. Overall the trails were in good shape. Larry rides incredibly faster than I do. I tried to keep up and just about blew my spleen out!

02/02/03 - Top-notch technical trails through terrain that doesn't resemble Florida. My wife was pissed - then elated!

My wife Kelli and I chose to ride Reddick for the first time today. For a point of reference, I currently am a "beginning advanced" rider and Kelli is probably a "beginning intermediate" rider. Although Reddick is almost a two-hour drive from where we live in Tampa, we found it with no problem. Arriving at the front gate, we purchased our membership cards for $2 each and paid the $4 each entry fee. I'm not accustom to paying to ride, but I can say that this private venture park is well worth the price! The guy taking our money was friendly and helpful. He had some snacks and drinks for sale too. We parked our car close to the trailhead and began our preparations. While we readied our bikes, a friend of mine and his wife and kid came peddling out of the exit trailhead. It certainly is a small world. At any rate he had a big grin on his face. They all were glowing with stories and advice. We were excited to say the least!

As we started out, the trail, as it is in the entire park was very hard packed - a rarity in Florida. After a very short period of time we found ourselves navigating several small changes in elevation. Kelli is sometimes slow to warm-up to her skill level, which meant that she was already pushing her bike over some of the more challenging drops and technical sections. As we rode on, things for me at least, got better. The trail continued its characteristic drops and rises. While I was having blast, Kelli was very unhappy. It was also difficult for me to get into a rythm as I was stopping a lot in order to stay with my wife. It wasn't long until we came upon one of the several well marked junction that offer an easier alternative as well as a short cut. We chose to continue on the more difficult and longer route. What we found was more of the same. Once again, it was great for me, bad for Kelli. Eventually we came upon another short cut/easier route option. We decided to split up at this time. I would continue on the longer harder route. Kelli would strike out on her quest to exit without harm.

What unfolded for me was to be some of the best singletrack I've ever ridden! Being a trail built through an abandoned mining area, Reddick is full of scenery and trail conditions found only in a few places in Florida. Cliffs, long climbs and nice drops, one spectacular section after another. I seriously screwed up a couple of climbs and dabbed and dismounted many times as the trail was tough and new to me. I was however getting a rythm to my ride and was enjoying myself much better. I was hoping Kelli was enjoying herself too, wherever she was.

Eventually I came upon one of the longest drops I've ever seen! Pictures just don't do it justice. I actually rode a smaller one to the side of it that gave me a rush due to its initial steep drop-off. (see the trail video to see two friends screw up as bad as I did on the ascent that comes after the drop) Eventually the drops and climbs and rocky terrain gave way to very fast hard-pack single track that flows beautifully through oak canopies. It's not only beautiful, but it's a sweet change of pace. This section is referred to as the Tree Run and is approximately halfway through the current loop. Somewhere around mile 8 Kelli spotted me and caught up. Following the shortcuts and easier options, she had cut off miles 3-5. She had finished ahead of me and had spotted me riding by when she jumped back on her bike and rejoined me around mile 8. She was much happier and judging by some of the things I saw her ride, she had advanced her skill also! She commented that she was riding stuff now because she was tired of pushing her bike around! The last two miles are similar to the first couple of miles. I rode a long, steep drop known as "Tripple Dipper" that was a real accomplishment for me. It was so much damn fun, I carried my bike back up and did it again! After a twisty and technical section with plenty of smaller but challenging drops, we came upon "Hero Hills". It's a rather long climb that I actually made it up! There is one more long climb later before the end. The last mile is a treat of whoop-dee-doos and drops. Kelli was really riding well at this point! We took a small shortcut near mie 9.5 the end to see what the "Kids Trail" was like. The "Kids Trail" is some very entertaining singletrack, that to me seemed to be every bit an intermediate level trail! Soon after, we easily found the exit and our car. We sat in the shade by the car and had a few laughs as we talked about our next trip Reddick.