The "cost" of riding here in FL

[Bailey28]

For years growing up I have been so fortunate as to have virtually limitless trails and riding areas literally right across the street from my house. I could jump on my bike in the garage and ride it down the driveway and into the trails across the street. I could burn 2 tanks of gas and not cover all of the area available to me.

I moved to Gainesville 10 years ago and got back into biking. Since then a number of places have closed locally leaving me no option but to travel to a riding destination.

Right now, I have three places that I can ride, Waldo MX park, Hardrock MX park, and the Ocala National Forest.

Waldo is 30 miles North of me and has a $20.00 entry fee. They have one main MX track that the KDX will do fine on, nothing too big out there, and one sugar sand track. With the cost of gas, admit fee and food/supplies I run up a $35.00 bill for one day.

Hardrock is 35 miles South of me and has five riding areas with a $20.00 entry fee. The main MX track is gnarly but do-able, a sand track, a vintage MX track, a long woods loop that gets gnarly, and a rollercoaster Euro style track. This is the best bang for buck riding area. My total bill is usually around $40.00 for this day.

I can go 75 miles one way to the Forest and ride whooped out sugar sand ATV trails all day, 3000 acres of sandy delight. I try not to go by myself for safety reasons because I don't want to crash and the first thing that finds me is a black bear or something. Park fee is $6.00 per vehicle and gas makes the trip usually around $30.00 total with food/supplies.


I can usually ride from Sept to May due to the weather being too hot/humid in the summer. If I ride 25 times in between October and April, I will spend a total of $1,000 in six months just to ride the bike. That does not include gear, parts, oil, etc. Anyone else out there in the same boat? I try to go riding at least once a week for the entire day, very few weeks can I not go. I told my wife about moving out West, it seems that most of you guys still have the land accessible out there. BTW, I cover no "new" area when I ride, its the same trails and tracks that seldom change. For some reason, I love riding and don't care where it is as long as I am riding. I have had the evil


thought of turning the KDX into a street motard bike and buying a set of 17" rims and steet tires for it. Only major obstacle there is getting a tag for it..... Is all the dirt gone forever? I don't want to get out of dirt biking, I've been doing it since I was 9. Anyone else here in a pinch like this? Is it worse for you? Lets hear it!

[krazyinski]

I am in San Antonio, Texas and the cost is here via fuel and entry fee or member ship. I road in California years ago and miss the open land that was available then. but as far as now we do much the same here but a few more options to ride larger areas but travel is the big cost. I pay 255 a year for a membership to ride 900 acres, or travel 2,4 to 6 hours to ride other parks. riding twice a week is 100 bucks easy. but there are other places to live, that have more acess to open areas. I would love to live there. hell my inlaws have 8000 acre game ranch I would love to ride. find some land that you can ride start a club get 300 members at 300 a year and that will get you 90,000 a year gross. or buy a duel sport.

[fuzzy]

Consider yourself LUCKY!

[Tusk]

Consider yourself LUCKY!

Three and half hours on the road one way just to get to ANY riding areas for me..... AND most are $35-$50 a rider. Not including gas (for the truck too), food etc..

You're VERY lucky my friend!

[wanaride]

Any real riding area is at least 1hr from my house, so including gas & admission, my cost is at least $30 a trip. I do have some family members with land I can ride on though.

[Bailey28]

Yeah, I guess you guys may be right about this..... I have the opportunity to go riding at least once a week so the cost does add up. Maybe I'm just bitching about the price of gas too and didn't realize it. I hope the areas here stay open, as the tracks tend to change owners regularly. I am just up the street from Gatorback and from Reddick but they don't allow any practice there. The Forest is fun when you have a large group of people riding, no fun alone. I could go to Croom and get a yearly permit but Croom is 2 hours South of me and just like the Forest.

I am coming to the realization that I was extremely spoiled growing up with all of the riding available to me at my front door. But even now in my old neighborhood, all of that riding is gone, just golf courses and new homes. This was 1983 to 1992, the "GLORY DAYS" of Vero Beach. From what you guys are saying, sounds like I need to hush and be thankful for what IS here.

[NM_KDX200]

Well, I live out here in the West on my family's ranch of 30,000 acres. I can ride right out of the garage. However!!!, it's all the same- there's very little terrain variation. It's not like having 30,000 acres of forested country. Plus, I don't have an MX track and even if I did, what fun is it riding by yourself? So, I go other places to ride.

I'm a member of a little track in Raton, NM and that costs me $150/year. It's 65 miles to Raton, so 130 miles round trip. At 15 mpg pullling the trailer, that's 8.6 gallons of gas. At $2.75/gallon, that's $23 worth of gas for the truck. The bike takes 2 gallons plus oil, so call it $6. Add Gatorade and water and etc- $10- about $38...call it $40. Divide that $150/year by 12 and you get about $50 to ride. Not including tires, chains, grips, plastic, etc. To drive to Red River NM is 120 miles * 2 / 15 mpg * $2.75 gal = $45 gas. Drive to Pueblo CO is 180 miles * 2 / 15 mpg * $2.75 gal = $66 gas. Pueblo is basically a $100 bill every time I go. And none of this included the time spent driving- since I'm basically self-employed and can work as much or as little as I want, an hour spent driving is an hour of productivity lost.

And it doesn't stop there! Ever wish your lovely girlfriend/wife rode? Well, mine does. So does my daughter. That's 3 people...my track membership was actually $450/year to cover them. My two boys aren't riding yet, but when they do...well, I basically won't be able to afford it! Take my food and water bill and multiply it times 5.

Dirt biking is expensive. It is THE most expensive thing that I do. Archery doesn't cost nearly as much, guitar costs almost nothing once you've made the investment (and for the price of a new KDX200, you can get a NICE guitar that will increase in value, not decrease). Plus, I don't get hurt in archery and I don't get hurt playing guitar. I get hurt dirt biking.

But, you can't jump 75' tabletops or powerslide corners or roost berms or ride wheelies with a bow or a guitar and, well...that's FUN.

[skipro3]

Out in California they are trying to shut down the National Forests for riding. Fortunately the private forest/timber areas are accessable. The law here says that any uncultivated and unfenced land is available for trespass. Most ranchers post and fence. Most timber outfits don't.

Now Idaho, that's the place to live!!!!

[canyncarvr]

One thing you can likely count on...everything changes...or, there isn't a whole lot you CAN count on (staying the same).

When I read things like, '900 acres...' and '3000 acres'...frankly I cringe.

Not because that is bad (it is) but because I know that is what THIS area will turn into...in time.

I can relate to 1/2 a million acres...cuz that's some of the riding you will find around here. But...the last big forest fire in this area was 500,000 acres+..so things are just kind'a 'big' around here.

But that is changing.

Between BLM, privately held property, lumber company held property, land held by municipalities etc. they are ALL heading toward the 'limiting access' frame of mind.

Forget the $3 a gallon fuel costs (way under prices paid 30 years ago when adjusted for inflation btw), what it takes to make the bike run and KEEP it running. If you have no place to ride, what does it matter?

The secretary of the USDA (Forest Service) is on record as saying ATVs are a part of the National Forest scene and WILL be taken into consideration. Still...of the several forests around here (Winema, Siskiyou, Rogue, Siuslaw, Deschutes etc), only ONE of them has any 'official' or sanctioned riding. Under the auspices of the FEDS, it is closed unless posted open...NOT as ski says. Not for non-licensed vehicles.

There isn't an acceptable answer. There are more and more people, LESS places to ride, more and more people wanting to LIMIT the places the public can access let alone ride. One ride in my local riding area and I can show you literally TONS of crap left behind by riders..because humans are basically scum.

Kind'a like the scum that stole my credit cards and cash out of my wallet a week or so back...and the subsequent $1200 they 'spent' the next day.

Guess that doesn't really fit into the subject at hand...expect for the scumbag part.

Sorry, Bailey. You are correct on a number of fronts. For one, you WERE very lucky growing up. And from the sounds of it, I'd be grousing if my riding opportunities were similar to yours.

Life is short. Move out west while there is still SOME opportunity out here.

It's fadin' fast!!

Idaho? Isn't about 90% of everything above a smiley face drawn from Pocatello to Twin Falls to Boise persona non gratis? It's worse than orygun I thought...one big wilderness area.

Well...several adjoining areas actually...but might as well be most of everything.

No?

You're certainly welcome to come out here for some riding. Heck..take a couple weeks off..drive non-stop...ride for a handful of days...red-eye it back. Remember it for the rest of your life.

MemDay at ski's!!

We'll see 'ya!!!

[Indawoods]

Riding dirt bikes is expensive no matter where you live.
I personally don't care 'cause I'm gonna do it anyway.
If there was no where to ride around here.... I'd move.

I may not be a base model person but that's the way I think.

It's true that playing guitar is cheaper but I have as much in my rig as I do my bike. I only have to feed it electricity, strings and tubes occasonally. I get as much out of playing "The Bleeding of Me" as I do riding my bike... it's just different...that's all.

I will ride as long as I can physically do it... just like guitar, wrenching or anything else I love.

Live life and be happy that you have something you love doing!

[Mark W]

Riding in Minnesota is taking a big turn for the worse. We have what CC has, all areas area are closed unless posted open. how do you know if they are open, you drive there to find out. The DNR website is never up to date and on a whim, they can close an area. Not to be an ass, but the ATV crowd is ruining it for everyone. The local rag has taken an interest in banning all motorized vehicles from currntly available riding areas due to ATV's riding off the trails and into wetlands etc...

Funny thing, the paper talks about all the tickets issued to ATV'ers for irresponsible riding. Claimed it was a tradgedy of epic proportions (my words not theirs, theirs was similar in scope). I ran the numbers and it came to something like .05% of all ATV riders got a ticket in any given year. Think the paper has an agenda?

Flew into Pittsburgh this afternoon and couldn't believe the number of riding area I flew over. Then drove into West Virgina and passed many riding areas. Looks nice to me. Too bad I couldn't fold up the bike and put in on carry on.

Of yeah, to ride any State Foest areas in Mn cost $33/3 years - not too bad. I'd pay 10X that to ensure good places to ride. Hope the State doesn't figure this out.

[Bailey28]

I started riding at 9 years old. Even at that age, I realized that if I fell/crashed, etc. that it was MY fault, not the person who owned the land I was riding on. I still feel the same way about it, and everytime I ride at one of the current riding areas I know that if I crash, I did something to make that happen. I would never dream of asking the owners or anyone for a cent to fix my bike or myself. I have put myself in the hospital about 3 times in riding accidents, only to say to myself "Gee, I wish I had not done that..... " I learn from each crash but would never think of getting someone else to foot the bill. At Hardrock, slow guys get landed on from faster riders on the big track. I know not to go out there when the pack of 17 year old 250cc'ers are trying to be the next Charmichael or Stewart. I need to go to work on Monday.

I guess I do have a lot available to me in the area, it seemed like you guys out West and up North had more. Too bad things are changing, what it must have been like to ride 50 years ago with the bikes of today, pretty much anywhere you wanted. I agree CC, that people leave an extrodinary amount of trash behind when they leave the riding area. I leave with everything I came in with all of the time, except spooge!

I had a DRZ400S that I put hundreds into suspension, motor, exhaust, tires, etc and thought that was the way to go for the dirt. No, the 280lb beast was very tiring, and I almost killed myself jumping it!! I think I shook the earth when landing.

[jafo]

Be happy you have something that close. The nearest riding area to me is over an hour away, it has no entry fee, but the gas prices have made up for that. The best riding area is over 3 hours away and costs me $35 a year, but now that the gas is so high, it turned that trip into maybe a two times this year trip. So I stick with a few areas around that can go to with some buddies because they know the land owners and i don't. I have MX tracks fairly close but I'm not to interested in breaking anymore body parts right now.

[motorhed220]

Dudes, you wanna play, you gotta pay...thats all Period. You are all VERY luck if i do say so...your all VERY fortunate, and VERY screwed...All those laws and crap? I dont know how y'all do it and i respect y'all for it. But Up here, you get on a bike and ride unless its a nature preserve.

Here in Ontario, once you get outta the city, ridin is limitless, and lets be honest, Ontario is the size of about 6 or more states. So you can imagine the available acerage. There is everything you could possibly want, sand dunes, forest trails, sand trails, groomed, ungroomed, whatever u want, MX, SX, and Enduro tracks...its all up here. And almost entirly unrestricted. You can ride whatever you want however you want...And we love it. Now all this ridin is about 2-3 hours from the border, coming from buffalo, or about 4-6 from Detroit. Suffice to say you can ride all weekend and never pass the same spot twice, ever. (or pass within the same 10 mile vicinityOF that spot) BUT you gotta have maps, know where EVERYTHING IS, cuz if you get lost your what we call DEAD, and people do die up here. But rarly.

Now i have access to different trails, not nearly as good, mostly rugged ancient road trails, and its ok, it good technique training and conditioning, it makes me that much faster. And i have an MX track bout 15 minutes Northwest of me.

Now here is where you are all very fortunate. 40 bucks a day? man i would kill to pay that little. You pay 40 bucks in gas to GET TO the riding spots by Car. and in some places just as much for a seasonal permit, if you ride in clubs and so forth. But 40 bucks is pocket change pal, a day can set you back bout 80, to 100 dollars (our money) for lodgeing, food and mabye gas. Then ther is maintainance f you bust something and so forth.

Now if u wanna check it out, (cuz the price is definatly WORTH the riding) go to
http://www.odsc.on.ca, its the Ontario Dual Sport Club, and it does all kinds of group rides etc.
These guys even go around Algonquin Park, a massive park in the heart of Ontario...check it out...

[skipro3]

Just to clarify; National forests are closed unless posted as open. Here in CA or anywhere. Private forest is under the fenced/cultivated/posted rules. Hence, places like ragdump, sierra city, wild plum, etc., exist for riding dispite the government. But these places are closely guarded secrects. They are never spoken of on forums (could be edited by Vince even here if someone complains) I won't even take CC there until he's visited at least 3 times!! Ha!! BLM land in Nevada is all open unless posted closed. Places like Moonrocks, Yearington, etc. are wide open desert, sand washes, timber, open pit mines that aren't marked, etc. Races like the Secret 250, a 250 mile race in Nevada, are legend around here and all on BLM land where only you and wild mustangs roam. Indian reservations sometimes welcome riders for a fee. Even churches with large land holdings are allowing one-time events like the Leoni Meadows HairScrambles. (Held on Sunday and Monday since they are 7th day Adventists)
As far as Idaho: The Idaho City Qualifier is a pretty fair example of some of the best riding America offers. The locals we spoke to told us that we were riding the "tourist" single track last year. I can't even imagine what those lucky locals ride.
Just like gun owners were made to be ciminals for owning firearms that were one day banned, so it will be with dirtbikers. I didn't sell my guns then and continued to shoot; I won't sell my dirtbike and will continue to ride. I guess if becoming an outlaw is what it takes, then that's what I'll become.

[motorhed220]

AMEN...outlaw dirtbikin IS what it is comin to, and what i have no problem being...Except that the cops around here are equpied with DRZ 650's... son out runnin em is hard...but when it comes to cruisers...hell anything else, i have the tried tru attitude "Catch me if i Crash..."

[KarlP]

Let me ask- who cuts trails? How do they come to be in the first place?

Down here in lower Alabama we have lost several "riding areas". Two areas are out of business because they are national forest land and when Katrina came through, the land mangement guys closed them. No great loss, as they were overidden anyway and all torn up.
Another area is kind of risky because the locals will call the cops and try to get you in trouble for parking. I suspect that happened because of some yahoos causing trouble in the unofficial parking area. This area had been ridden for ~20 years. The guys who first laid out the single track trail loops are still maintaining it to some extent, but the 4-wheeler guys make that a lot less rewarding, if you know what I mean.

Near my house we have cut close to 20 miles of single track. It has taken over 5 years. I don't know who really owns the land, but I believe it belongs to the Alabama State College system, or something like that. I guess the land is just sitting there increasing in value. It will be developed eventually, of course. We've had problems, all related to stupid a##holes on 4-wheelers tearing stuff up where they park. Keeping them from encroaching on the single track takes some strategy
Now we have bike riders coming from Florida and Mississippi to ride here. I wish they would fix up thier own trails!

My suggestion is to find a local plot of land with a couple of dirt roads across it and cut your own trails through it. Keep it discreet, keep your bike quite and if anyone in authority says anything, apologize and leave.

Just a thought. There are 640 acres to a square mile. With a trail density of say .05 miles per acre, that's 32 miles of trail.

Karl