Me & JPOK are getting sick of winter. Period. We are not weather worry warts, and we don't let weather keep us inside, and we've both lived in Pgh all our lives so the annual changes are no big surprise. But yet, somehow we keep talking about how nice it is elsewhere....we know that is not true (you know the other side of the fence thing...) but it's still on our minds....so with that thought and a lot of late fall riding still sitting under our belts we plan a road trip to the annual 12 hrs of Santos.
An alterior motive is that a portion of the following months Huracan 300 will traverse over Santos....I want to get a little test on western FL soil and see how it rides.
So, all goes well, for me anyway....and for the bro wayne who does a team w/some FL locals. But for JPOK and copilot Durb...not so well. As I wheel past the pit during lap #1, there they are.....huh??? I get the scoop later, a pile up happens at the lemans getting JPOK in a horrible jam & a loaner just doesn't cut it (thanks karl r!). Durb is feeling the heat....I guess we forgot to tell him FL has a rep for being a little warm. lol...
Without knowing it, I slowing creep up into a 2nd place solo spot out of over 10 girls, lose track of 1st place & end up not taking the last lap out. Turns out 1st did not take the lap either.....darn! Oh well, Sandra Tomlinson (jamis) gets me for lack of me knowing better.
Santos is a small loop, but def worth checking out if in the area. Sections vary between smooth cruising packed dirt, hand built obstacles, exposed rock, the swirly technical 'vortex' with quick turns and ups/downs and lots of loose rock. Very surprising for FL, but due to an old dug out quarry left unattended.
Thanks to everyone in the pit that helped out for the day: karl r., durb, wayne, jpok, carol c.
The drive home from this bites.
