FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2012 AT 9:02AM
This past Thursday was a treat for anybody who’s been a long time mountain biker. We had the distinct pleasure of welcoming the man, the myth, the legend Ned “The Lung/Deadly Nedly” Overend for a meet and greet at the North Point trials at Virginia Key.
If you’re a bit young or new to mountain biking then study up! Ned Overend is one of the earliest and most decorated mountain bike champions there has ever been. He was one of the originators of mountain biking along with Gary Fisher and his crew back in the late 70’s. Ned was a 6 time NORBA National Mountain Biking Champion just to start! You can check out his Wiki page for more of his accolades.
With the great help of Mack Cycles and Fitness which has continued to help the trails at VKey since day one. Ned was making a quick layover in Miami on his way to Bahia Brazil for a convention. He only had about 7hrs on the ground here and he was able to pass by the trails for a quick lap with some of South Florida’s finest mountain bikers.
It was a fantastic Thursday afternoon happy hour at the Key, with music, drinks, and fantastic food thanks to our favorite caterer and fellow volunteer Aaron of Sidewalk Salads. Ned greatfully hung around mingling with locals, signing books, t-shirts, and taking photo’s with long time fans. He also expressed how impressed he was with the work done on the key along with the amount of trails we were able to fit on a relatively small chunk of land.
Sadly around 8pm with the South Florida summer sun just barely begining to drop towards the horizon Ned had to leave to the airport to catch a long flight to Brazil. But that wasn’t the end to a great day, it was just the beginning. As the sun dropped below the beautiful magic city and temperatures dropped from sizziling to warm riders started to gear up because it was time for our first open night ride!
Near 100 riders suddenly lit up the early night. Behind the lead of VKBC president John Voss we organized into groups dependant on rider skill level charged back into the trails. If you’ve never been on a night ride its a sight to see. The stream of light just flowing through the trails from 20-30 rider groups will have you a bit breathless, along with the excitement of navigating the trails by head or handlebar light. Some groups had the rare treat of seeing one of the most unique night views of downtown Miami anywhere accompanied by an amazing near full moon. Remember though, night riding at the Key is strictly prohibited unless you are at a sanctioned club/city event. If you are caught in the park at night you can be arrested and your bike confiscated. Lets just say you may want to look into becoming a VKBC member if you intersted in night rides… wink wink…
We would like to again gratefully thank Mack Cycle and Fitness for organizing Ned’s visit to the the park, Ned Overend for taking the time from his short layover in Miami to visit the park, and Sidewalk Salads for providing fantastic food for all to enjoy. The VKBC looks forward to holding great events like this for the mountain biking community in South Florida whenever we can, we hope to see you out on the trails.
