Great weather and the two best century routes in the state of Florida drew a record 416 registrants to the Gainesville Cycling Festival on September 25 and 26. 182 riders departed on the inaugural Santa Fe Century on Saturday (at least 85 did the century, 82 the 59 mile ride, the rest didn't say). The ride was led out by the Alachua County Sheriff's department, using two screaming cars to block traffic all the way out to US 441. 58 of the riders had enjoyed a delicious pancake breakfast at the Boys Club beforehand, and thus had a carbo edge over the other riders. A special thanks to Santa Fe chairman Bear Bryan and all of the other volunteers and staffers from the Boys and Girls Club of Alachua County who made this event a success.
The socializing event of the weekend was the spaghetti dinner at the Boys Club on Saturday evening. The spaghetti was great, the salad crisp, and the beer wet. A few lucky diners even walked off with door prizes.
The grand finale was the 13th Annual Horse Farm Hundred. 171 century riders formed a formidable pack ably led out by the GPD (they used a car this year, forsaking the cute little red scooter). Another 96 riders trickled out of Irvine on the shorter routes (24 did not state a ride length), thus a grand total of 291 riders meandered through the horse farms of north Marion County. Many of those who did not carefully study their maps before departing turned the ride into an orienteering event...miss one arrow and you either were at the lunch stop much too early, or on your way to Ocala. NEXT year the arrows will be bigger and there will be signs at critical turns. But despite the wrong turns, most riders thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and especially the rest stops (some riders spent over an hour grazing at the lunch stop!).
Mark your calendars now for the 1994 Gainesville Cycling Festival, October 1st and 2nd.