Florida Rally - Ocala 2008

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http://www.nelsonsoutdoorresort.com/index.html

[bsps1111]

Hello ladies and gents.&nbsp\\; I was your bike ride planner and hotel scouter for Murph last year.&nbsp\\; I have lived in Ocala for 28 yrs and will put in my two cents worth on this topic for whoever is interested.&nbsp\\; The hotel in Silver Springs was chosen last year as it was the only one in the area that fit the price constaints of the group.&nbsp\\; As for the fish camps / cabins they&nbsp\\;are from what I have seen and as Poorboy&nbsp\\;described (rustic).&nbsp\\; I don't want to burst any bubbles but here is a reality check.&nbsp\\; You will&nbsp\\;likely be&nbsp\\;riding&nbsp\\;on dirt roads that will be mud if it rains.&nbsp\\; In the morning your bikes will be covered with the dust kicked up by vehicles riding those rodes and it will be glued in place by the overnight dew and tree drippings.&nbsp\\; Further, these places are not usually close to anything.&nbsp\\; About the "forest".....and don't get me wrong here.&nbsp\\; I was born and lived in FL for over 50 years and have a deep appreciation for the Florida scrub (forest) and all it affords all the furry and feathered critters that live in it....but it is BORING to ride thru.&nbsp\\; If you video taped any 1 mile stretch and looped it over and over and over on your screen you could duplicate an 8 hour ride easy.&nbsp\\; It is flat as a pancake and you can see as far as the first tree that is taller than you.&nbsp\\; There is an 80% chance that tree will be an oak or a pine.&nbsp\\; The roads are great.....but they are straight as a freaking arrow and go for MILES.&nbsp\\; I would stick to horse country and / or the lake areas from Mt Dora / Leesburg to Homosassa / Crystal River to Gainesville and back down to Ocala with a few miles of "forest" thrown in just for the experience.&nbsp\\; HDRick is from Ocala as&nbsp\\;also and hopefully he will put in his opinion as well.&nbsp\\;

[cHarley]

ORIGINAL: bsps1111

Hello ladies and gents.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I was your bike ride planner and hotel scouter for Murph last year.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I have lived in Ocala for 28 yrs and will put in my two cents worth on this topic for whoever is interested.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; The hotel in Silver Springs was chosen last year as it was the only one in the area that fit the price constaints of the group.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; As for the fish camps / cabins they&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;are from what I have seen and as Poorboy&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;described (rustic).&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I don't want to burst any bubbles but here is a reality check.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; You will&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;likely be&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;riding&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;on dirt roads that will be mud if it rains.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; In the morning your bikes will be covered with the dust kicked up by vehicles riding those rodes and it will be glued in place by the overnight dew and tree drippings.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; Further, these places are not usually close to anything.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; About the "forest".....and don't get me wrong here.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I was born and lived in FL for over 50 years and have a deep appreciation for the Florida scrub (forest) and all it affords all the furry and feathered critters that live in it....but it is BORING to ride thru.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; If you video taped any 1 mile stretch and looped it over and over and over on your screen you could duplicate an 8 hour ride easy.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; It is flat as a pancake and you can see as far as the first tree that is taller than you.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; There is an 80% chance that tree will be an oak or a pine.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; The roads are great.....but they are straight as a freaking arrow and go for MILES.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I would stick to horse country and / or the lake areas from Mt Dora / Leesburg to Homosassa / Crystal River to Gainesville and back down to Ocala with a few miles of "forest" thrown in just for the experience.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; HDRick is from Ocala as&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;also and hopefully he will put in his opinion as well.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;

Barry,
Those are all good points and I agree with that riding the horse country vs. just the Ocala Forest.&nbsp\\; The motel last year worked out fine and thanks for all your work that went into putting the trip together.

My idea this time for a Fish Camp was more along the lines of looking for a Mom &amp\\; Pop kind of place somewhere a bit out of town so that there might be some socializing areas/space around the place for gathering after hours. I was thinking chairs under some oak trees, maybe on a lake, etc. rather than an air conditioned conference room, the weather is too nice that time of year to be inside.&nbsp\\; And yes, it would have to be reasonably priced and a biker friendly place.

Again, these are just my thoughts and an attempt to gather other's input and ideas.

[wilburz]

salt springs park is across the street from elite resort.&nbsp\\;it is big and would be a great place to have a bbq.
&nbsp\\;&nbsp\\;http://www.tfn.net/springs/Salt.htm
&nbsp\\;
and the swimming and snorkeling are excellent. also elite resort does not have dirt roads and is not that kid friendly.

[cHarley]

ORIGINAL: wilburz

salt springs park is across the street from elite resort.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;it is big and would be a great place to have a bbq.
&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;http://www.tfn.net/springs/Salt.htm
&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;
and the swimming and snorkeling are excellent. also elite resort does not have dirt roads and is not that kid friendly.

Hey Don,

I checked out the video on their site and the place does look nice, cabins affordable, and worth putting on the list of possibilities.

The video though seems to stress that the place is Large, has 2 pools, gated entrance and very family oriented.

I'm not so sure the Bikers Welcome Mat will be out.

Maybe someone in the area can give it a second look and find out just how appropriate it is biker wise.

Thanks

[bsps1111]

Charlie,
I hope you didn't take my post as discouraging, just wanted all who haven't been there my take on a forest ride and finding places in and around the forest.&nbsp\\; Feel free to let me know of any sites you want scouted out.&nbsp\\; I can post pics and info on them if anyone wants.

[bulldogmoe7]

may i suggest something? if we are going to post a place in here for a "mom and pop" place lets give them a call first and see if they will allow about 50 bikers before posting a place in here. you don't want to be looking at a great place and find out they don't "allow" bikers.

i think this year will be a much better turn out than last.
cHarley you might have a point the hotel was great last year, but as i mentioned above i feel this is going to be a big turn out and that conferance room will not handle the turn out i am expecting

[cHarley]

ORIGINAL: pscheval

can someone send a pm to those in this thread when a date is set????... I'll be there!

Hey Paul,
I will try to remember but there is no facility on the forum for tracking who has been on the thread and over the next months as the thread grows it will likely get lengthy. As things develop, date / place etc, I will try to add that info to the first (top) message in the thread so no one has to keep reading through the whole thing to get a current status on things.

Hope that helps.

[bulldogmoe7]

ORIGINAL: cHarley

Hey Paul,
I will try to remember but there is no facility on the forum for tracking who has been on the thread and over the next months as the thread grows it will likely get lengthy. As things develop, date / place etc, I will try to add that info to the first (top) message in the thread so no one has to keep reading through the whole thing to get a current status on things.

Hope that helps.

yea because in just 2 days this thread will be 2 pages and to think we still have 4 months to go