SADRA HEADLESS HARE SCRAMBLE

What a weekend we had down at the SADRA Headless Hare Scramble just outside of Bartow. This was the second year the Sarasota Area Dirt Riders Association (SADRA) held a race at this property and it did not dissapoint.

The course featured fast open fields, flowy switchbacks and some challenging deep sand sections. With another year under their belt the club was able to have a sepereate course for the quads which allowed for some nice bike-only sections.

The Clear Springs/Bartow races are always hard to predict. If the property has moisture on the ground the fields get uber slick and the hard-packed sections tend to tack up providing ultimate traction. If it is dry, the hard sections are like ice and tend to develop harsh squareedged bumps. We had a bit of both this weekend as some sectiions were tacky and rutted up and others were dry and slick. It provided a tough challenge for all skill levels.

If you raced on Sunday you got to experience one of the best sections I have ridden in a long time. The off-camber pine section about halfway through the lap was EPIC. It was short, but oh so sweet. Multiple lines formed giving ample opportunities to make passes all while climbing up and down one of the many hills on the property. Man! Was that fun. The weather was beautiful on Saturday with the weather in the upper 70’s and lower 80’s with a slight breeze that kept riders cool. Unforunately for the Sunday riders the normal hot and muggy Florida weather showed up which provided an additional challenge to the racers.

One of the best parts of the weekend was the Trick-r-Treating and the Haunted Trail that the club put together. Once the Quad race was over hundreds of kids flooded the pits going from campsite to campsite collecting candy. It was so awesome to see everyone get involved with bringing candy and the kids costumes were top notch.

We even had some racers get into the spirit by wearing costumes while they raced. I saw Evel Kneivel, Iron Mon and even Joe Exotic out on the track. Perhaps the most important thing to take away from the weekend was the rider turnout. For a third straight event the parking lot was absolutely packed with people and the rider turnout stayed on par with the previous events. Something that is great to see.

We had 318 riders in the Sunday AM race and 146 in the Sunday PM race. Much higher than the average turnout. We also had close to 80 Sportsman riders in the Saturday 2PM race. All great signs for the growth of our sport.

Photos by Kandy Williams