COHEN’S CORNER
by Adam Cohen
So this month’s write up is going to be a little bit different than the usual race reports. A few weeks ago I picked up an E-Bicycle to use as a training tool and to be able to do some GNCC EMTB races in 2022. Well like most dirt bike racers I have a lack of patience and I found a race to attend on an off weekend of our FTR series. I made the long haul from North Miami Beach all the way to Gatorback (The mountain bike section of the park is actually referred to as Hailes Trail)! Prior to racing FTR I raced the mountain bike equivalent which is the Florida State Championship series(FSC) for 10 seasons. Goneriding (The promoter of the series) recently incorporated EMTB racing into their 2021 schedule so I signed up and went racing! The format for mountain bike racing is quite a bit different than our FTR races. On Saturday the course is open from sunrise to sunset and racers are able to run as many practice laps as they feel necessary. All of the racing takes place on
Sunday and it is split up into waves which are determined by age and riding ability. So let’s fast forward a bit and talk about the race! Well I can definitely say I knocked the rust off! The race was three laps so about 20-21 miles of awesome trail. Hailes Trail is built throughout an old rock quarry so you get a ton of elevation change for a race in Florida. It took me a little bit of time to remember how to race, as far as pacing, strategy and technique goes. After the halfway point of the race I was able to pick it up and finish with a 4th place which was solid considering it was my first race since 2019. I would absolutely recommend doing an MTB race to anyone that races dirt bikes as there is a ton of crossover and many things that you can learn that will improve your racing at the FTR series. Head over to Goneriding.com to learn a bit more about the series if you’re interested! The EBike is an awesome tool for racing and training and I’m glad that I added one to the stable! Next Month’s write up is going to be very different! We are
FLORIDA TRAIL RIDERS
going to do a “Bike Check’’ with one of FTR’s fastest racers! Hope you all enjoyed a brief overview of my experience doing a little different type of racing. As usual please feel free to reach out to me with questions or recommendations for future write ups.
