ATV Florida Forum

Guys & Gals, I know lots of you have your own little "hotspot" near your neck of the woods, and pretty soon whether you like or not IT WILL BE SHUT DOWN.  You’re comfortable now with it but soon you’ll be crying like the rest and wonder why you don’t have a place to ride.

What will it take for you guys to show up at an OHV Advisory meeting ?  Seriously, more members need to get involved in our “so called recreation” because at this time the way things are going with politics, environmentalist, tree huggers etc, our future as ATVers does not look good. 

Fine, this is an open forum to discuss all sorts of issues but in reality there is so much BS being discussed here. Don’t think I am knocking this site or it’s members but seriously guys – get involved.  DO SOMETHING !

Ps – If anyone got offended, too bad- because it’s the truth.

when is the next meeting? whts up I rode with you this past weekend it was nice to meet u and thank 2 u I now am buying GPS, know who I am yet?

How can I forget.

NEXT MEETING .............. JAN 18TH 2007 11am to 3pm in OCALA.  The committee wants to do a HUGE group ride the day before the meeting.  The 18th is on a Thursday, the ride on Wed, so call it a little vacation.

 Ok just replyied on other topic but just in case I am in dade and will plan on showing anyone plan on going let me know we can either ride along 2gether or convoy.

Great idea sounds like a plan.     16 views and only 1 comment, great support.   :Clap.gif

I cannot agree with you more. Those of you under 21 are the one's that are in the greatest danger.You are the "generation" coming up behind us and if you do not get involved, you will have no place left to ride. Florida is the # 3 in sales, but probably the most anti-atv state that I know off. These tree huggers are SLICK.They partner up with the state and form NPO(non-profit organiozations) to help in the "managing" of the forest. What happens is these folks take control of these areas and do with them as the please.(Fakahatchee), then you have the disguise of creating"scenic highways" where the local coiunties have no more saying in what happens there.We can keep talking about tires, handlebars, etc, but if we dont have a place to ride, you are going to stick all these things up the arse....

Well said. 

probably people are of the idea I cant makeit but whats 1 less person going to do It will be ok if I dont go WRONG!

Now it 27 views -the 7 we did and still only 3 people talking back at each other

do you know the physical address where the meeting will be held?

If a hand full of riders show up at a meeting, do you think they (County) will consider opening a place and spend time and money on just a few riders ?  Give me a break. Numbers count.  

I will contact John Waldron this week for the location and I will post it.

Thank you.

This site isn't what it used to be.  

That's the spirit! Great way to boost moral and get support!  ::)

I have been to the rallies in North Port.  I have taken off work to attend the events in Ft. Myers.  None of these events are in my back yard but are very worthy of support for the reasons stated above.  I will look at my schedule and see if I can reschedule some patients to attend this meeting.  This is important for me.  The only problem is there is no one to treat my patients when I am not present, and the cost for office coverage for that day is more than I make in a month.  I'll put it on my calendar and see what I can arrange.  I wish they could do these on Fridays or Saturdays.  They would see the real support there is.  Or so I hope they would see that...

QT, we all know that you and Muddfreak have been a pilar in trying to get change, for this I thank you and all the other ones(few) like you.....

I think you should just get QT to appear in a Tback and pasties  :o

 Big Daddy said he'd show up for that for sure !  ;)

Rick and Dennis, dont give up on this site. Mr Bones works very hard to keep it up for us to use.

 There are mostly kids here now and they just dont understand that it coming sooner than they think. You can remember when you were 15 years old want you care about the most, it wasnt saving your riding spot.  

There are alot of good members on this site that live in the northern part of florida that will help the cause.

I was there for the Miami meeting, but I unable to make the long drive to the Ocala for this one.

Thank you both for all the hard work and time you guys have put into saving our riding spots :bow.gif

Cain keep it up! I'm going to slap your wife around tonight...

Cain you live in that area, are you going?

Thxs... I still believe that there are people that care, otherwise, I would not still be lurking around as I do. As far as when I was 15, you're right, unfortunately today, that place is closed forever, and I know that if we stood shoulder to shoulder that would not happen.I really wish I had a way to light a fire under the people arse and motivate them. I think this is where I am lacking, We need someone that can energize the site and run with it........

Where's the ride scheduled for ? My schedule permitting I'd like to show up for the ride and the meeting (even if QT doesn't show in her dancing get up  ;D)

Mr Bones, Rick and Dennis are fighting our battles to keep the sport live. but Rick is right we need to fight together and show support.  

What did you get a job?  Get Quad and some of the guys to show up too!

I will do what I can to be there. Thursdays are not easy days for me to take off work. Friday would be better but I know you cant control their schedules. I wish I could have been to the previous meetings but its not easy for me to get off in the middle of the week.

Well, I start more sh!t then anyone else on this site.......I'll energize them!  

Josh, thats the reason they have them on does days. To make it hard for us to show up, but easier for them to say that no one show up! dang those tree hugger >:(

  This may not be the kind of reply you want to hear but at least it's a reply. For 'ME PERSONALLY" unless I'm on vacation, attending a four hour meeting in the middle of the work week is next to impossible. For now I will continue to pay my annual fee for Croom and if that were to shut down I would make the haul to Big Scrub. If they both were shut down in the near future " which you have a better chance of hitting the lottery" then I would plan my vacations in Georgia or some other place that still allows legal riding. Are the  "hotspots" that your refering to legal riding spots or are they places you ride that no one has thrown you out of yet? " I don't mean you personally" If they are the latter than you should consider yourself lucky every time you have been able to ride there in the past. MOST of these so called hot spots are places people ride that are not authorized or specified for riding ATVs but rather places people ride because they haven't been chased off yet. 'MYSELF INCLUDED." Just because people continue to ride these places doesn't mean it's legal in most cases it's because it's private land and the police haven't been given the authority by the true land owners "whether it be private or commercial land owners" to remove them. In those particular cases "hotspots" these meetings would have no bearing should the land owners choose to excercise their rights. Please don't be confused by my reply.In no way am I criticizing your attempts to recruit more bodies in fact I applaud your commitment and efforts. I just wanted to state my opinion whether it be conscrewed as pessimistic or not it's my honest opinion like it or not. Look at it like this.Maybe it will get some responses and draw attention to your cause which is what you were looking for originally. I'm like the majority and love to ride but it's not my life. As long as there are still legal designated places to ride whether it be farther north or not I really don't have the time or desire to attend these meetings. I'm speaking for myself and am being honest instead of not saying anything at all or reading and not responding to your plea so don't bash me for being honest. Instead maybe you can educate me to something I'm missing.I'm never to old to learn. Like I said earlier this may not be the response you wanted to hear but that's why they call it OPEN FORUM." Good luck with your cause.    Keith.

if we all had some means to donate money to a fund of sorts we could hire lobbiest and lawyers to help us achieve our goals like the N.R.A. and the enviromentalists do.

Keith, Rick and Dennis fight to have the state open areas for us to ride. We need to support them so your kids have a place to ride other than Croom.

You see I'm getting educated already.I was not aware they fight to get new places open. I assumed the sole purpose of attending these meetings was to keep the government from closing down land that was currently being used by uninvited riders like myself. Thanks for enlightening me Ricky.

your welcome Keith

 I know it hard to go to all the meets, go to the meeting near your area. In Miami meeting we make the tree huggers pull out more chairs for us. Dang we have 5000+ members on this site, lets support Rick and Dennis. Its was also fun to see Rick blast SFWM  ;D I still remember them turning red and choking when Rick laid into them.

I basically ride illegaly here in dade cause we mostly we (my buddies and I) really only ride winters and at night but I rode this weekend with thrumud and the crew from atvmiaxtreme and it was great and really I like or prefer nights with a group so I know these meeting dont do anything for my riding preferance but I had much fun and look foward to another ride but I know even if it is not in my county I am now determined to do something even if it is just showing up to take a place in the room as an atvr' I think it suck all the money we or you spend on these toys of ours and we cant use them without risking ticketed or taking it away all together. Until just the other day I didnt know I had to register or tag our atvs' I have a 2002 articcat 400 4x4 and now bought a 2004 H450r and found out about this and it has been going on since 2003 so I have done more than illegal riding but would not have any paperwork on me to show for it. so thanks to this and atvmiaxtreme.com I am more informed.so

The folks at atvmiaxtreme are good people that truely care about the future of our and our kids riding areas.They came here to Collier county and demonstrated against SFWMD in an effort to open up the Picayune again.Thxs to all.....

That is great, but if you travel to ride in an area that is illegal, that is not setting a great example. I agree with CABLEGUY, the same people that are preaching to go the these meetings are the same people that are breaking the law and riding in illegal areas. Although there are few legal places to ride in Florida, they are there for us to enjoy... for now. All I have been reading has been, "Well I go to OHV meetings, therefore it is ok for me to drive and spoil other peoples riding areas. It is great that you are attending these meetings, but until something is done legally, why wreck it for the locals. This being said, this thread and others are going to make riders flock to these places like crazy. The damage has been done, and I hope everyone does respect these riding areas like they were there own.

Thanks for your opinion cableguy, I respect it and know now we don’t see eye to eye.

1. I don't make ATV riding my life, it's part of.
2. I don’t go around preaching Ohv meetings for my sake, it’s for the sake of the sport and it’s future.
3. Hot spots (places you ride that no one has thrown you out of yet) new term
4. I don’t know about you, but I have too much money invested to sit a watch my right to ride get taken away.
5. The OHV Advisory committee is on our side. We need them, they need us. If we don’t show they will not make the effort to find LEGAL riding areas in Florida .  Oh, one more thing – the state has our money that they collect when we purchase our OHVs , it’s sitting there. Consider the committee as our representative, when there is a potential site they request the grant money, do feasible studies etc, etc, etc.

Hope to ride with you one day.

Thanks for the luck.

You’re entitle to your opinion but I am entitle to educate you a bit.

In Dade County you are allowed to ride on unpaved roads “dirt roads”according to the new law. To your neighbor that ratted out your place, they thought the new law applied to your county.  We get there to find out that it doesn’t.  A three hour drive with more than 5 hotel rooms booked a week before almost headed back home. Instead, one of our crew asked around and we were told there was a place, so we decided to check it out - guess what – your county sheriff told us where to park and where to ride.  So, in reply to your ignorant comment ---"Well I go to OHV meetings, therefore it is ok for me to drive and spoil other peoples riding areas.” – why bother to argue with you.

Like I told another member that made a comment like yours,

This is America buddy not Iraq

PS – Hope to ride with you some day

Stewards of the Land 2 cents - It has been said time and time again the ATV's will probably never organize enough to be a problem. Many people have tried on this forum to do it, and no one wants to work together, and I don't think organizations that are associated with the USFS, and environmentalist are on our side. With that said, quit your complaining.

This is America everyone is entitled to one's opinion and freedom of the press, sometimes.

Going to the OHV meetings in an area that is close to you, is an education, if nothing else. Yes, it shows the committee that there is a truly invested interest in your cause, and numbers speak. Making a living is important to all of us.

Stewards of the land is not breaking the law when riding, and we agree with cableguy, you should be setting the example for everyone else. By breaking the law, that is another needle in the ATV's back, and if you keep it up no one will let you ride. ATV's have such a bad rep now, that every little thing you do, just deepens the wound. The government moves at a snails pace.

It is my understanding that the OHV committee at the last meeting alocated 75,000 dollars to dade county to find a suitable riding place?? Anyone know where that stands???

I look forward to meeting both Dennis and Rick at the OHV meeting in January. Stewards of the Land will be there. As far as the group ride, it is just a way to promote the trail system and the ONFA, besides that the last group ride I went on someone took me out, no more group rides.

If you ride the thread about the Florida Black Bear, thoses are the guys that are going to close down the ridiing areas and the riding in ONF.

Rally the troops yes, rally with one representative.

Raptor
Stewards of the Land
Off Road Rec Assoc.

how about you lobby or petition or request at 1 of these meetings to have a meeting on a saturday if they want to see a true showing. im all for supporting you and your help with this but i myself and im sure many others can not afford to not only take the day off from work but then spend the money to get to the meeting. most of us live check to check so to say that this site is not what it used to be or that we dont care is not fair. it looks that way, but its not fair! i think the effort that you have put forth is exceptional, keep it up!


i have more to type but i have to go to work. i will type the rest when i get off.

I have been to several of the OHV Meetings in the past before the recent membership change on the committee. Several people on here have brought up the reason I couldn't get more people to go with me then. The time and day of week of the meeting.  I myself used vacation days to get to these meetings. Alot of folks don't have the benefit of doing this. I have sent e-mails to John Waldron about this. The folks that are into atv riding have to work to fund their recreation.

I agree hold a meeting on a Saturday and lets see what the turnout is!!!!! ;D ;D ;D

But this is only part of the problem. I still believe the only way to turn this around is a state wide organization to represent all atv riders. We have folks involved in different parts of the state working hard on these issues. There are thousands upon thousands of riders in this state. If we had an organization for all that could provide the needed lobbying efforts in the capital, this would make a difference. I approached several members of the Florida Trail Riders board of directors about this, and an e-mail was sent to each member they have not indicated they are interested in this aspect.

I have mentioned this to Anoriginal on this site since he is in the law buisness and we haven't had time to work on this further.  Solara has also tried to do something along this line.

We all have jobs and families to care for and it is difficult to get away for meetings. A state wide organization would allow the thousands of riders to have a voice through that organization. I don't know what the answer is as far as getting this done, it might could piggy back off the web sites like ATVMiaXtreme, (These folks are very active and are passionate about this.) and this web site, and there could be others.

We need to keep are local efforts going but we also need a very loud united voice to get to Tallahassee.

The hardest thing for everyone on this site is the days they do it on. And they do it because they know the riders are the "working class" and either can't afford to take off from their jobs or can't afford the gas money to drive the far places they are. Someone take a Video Camera on the next group ride show them how we are when we are riding and get everyone to make comments and suggestions on the cam. They might watch it or they might throw it in the garbage in from of who hands it to them but we can atleast say we try. They have to understand that the economy isn't what it used to be and gas prices being around $2.20 are making it hard for people to take care of their families, and the only source of relaxation most of us get is from riding. Show them we do some good around here too.

The Polk county commission some months ago had a meeting concerning opening up a OHV park here. The meeting room wasn't crowded with people and there weren't people in the audience holding up signs or demanding a riding spot. What led to this was the fact that these commissioners realized Polk county was the 4th biggest market for purchasing ATV's in Florida, the numbers of on road accidents were up, the number of complaints about ATV's riding in illegal areas is up as well. Instead of the commissioners being negative and using those #'s against us they decided to do something about it. TO OPEN UP A DESIGNATED OHV PARK! They mentioned the financial gains it would bring to the county.

One thing that I've learned when it comes to politics is that you could crowd a room and voice your opinion as much as you want... but when it boils down to it if they're not for you, it's pretty difficult to win.

I try to stay out of these conversations for probably the same reason everyone else does. When one of us posts that we can't make it to a meeting the badgering begins: take a day off, or it must not be worth it to you, or whats more important. I too have over 10,000 invested in 4 wheelers. I also wish that I could go to a meeting. However reality is my 10,000 will sit in the garage as it does now and go out once a week to a "legal riding" area. Croom might not be the best area to go, but that is where we ride. It is close and for 50 bucks it is a lot more practical for me than what it costs us to go to Ocala. Will Croom get shut down, doubt it, sure Croom might not get half of what we all pay for out permits but I doubt they will ever shut down. If it does then I know my riding will be limited to maybe montly due to having to travel out of state. Maybe more people should fight to help get those guys the money they need to do some trail grooming out there.  ATV riding is a hobby not my life! Would any of you that are bitching about us not going to Miami or Ocala for an OHV meeting show up at a track that is closing to support the "racers" of the sport?

Will I ever go to Miami to ride NO, Do I go to Ocala to ride maybe 2x's a year if that. I apologize to those if this offends anyone, but I can barely get a day off to take my son to a Dr's appointment. I am not going to attempt to tell my boss I have to go to an ATV meeting 4 hrs away from me to rally for a riding area I will never go to. I have 1 week of  vacation that is 5 days. I have to use that time for what is most important to me MY CHILD during spring break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and every other day there is no school. My 5 days of vacation does not cover half the time he has no school!   

To add to the comments about how many members there are on this site, sure there are over 5000 or whatever the number is. Ask this question how many of them really have an active account? How many just joined to be able to see pics, or just to see whats for sale, or just to buy something?   
I joined just to purchase a quad! Also consider that a lot of people that post on here are into one kind of racing or another and those folks fight to keep the "tracks" open because that is what they are into. It cracks me up that some of you think you have the right to knock people down that don't go to these meetings.

Those of you who are bitching at us are "illegally riding" not a very good example. How can you tell us we HAVE to go or we don't care if we do not go? You are the ones illegally riding and openly admitting it on a public forum that all of you indicate the state watches. Umm go figure!! As far as people invading "secret spots" is it your land? Can you not share a spot that is not yours with another atv enthusiast? This is why everyone is loosing riding areas! The ATV community is AGAINST each other very few working together.

As Dreth stated - all of you that do go, and have such an active roll then why not print out this thread and show them how many people want to come but the days just aren't right! Guaranteed if it was a Saturday you would have more people show than they would know what to do with. If the OHV committee are really there for the "people", then why not have a meeting on a practical day when the "people" can go and be heard! Just because some of us do not go to these meeting does not mean we do nothing either!!!!!

Lovenit, you make a great point.We cannot expect people to show up at every, or every other meeting and so forth. People only have so many days of vacation that they can take off and they are usually for family vacations and so on, and I totally respect this. Here's where I raise an issue though. If someone post something like "Please send an e-mail to",or "please call or write", you might have 100 views and 7 replies. That's the part that I honestly dont understand. It's alot harder to take a day off, lose wages, pay for gas, then it is to send an e-mail, that only takes 5 minutes,the links are usually provided, it's free, and you help out the atv community as a whole, that in turn  helps you out. I have never been to ONF, but when I see an issue that will hurt the riders in the area, or any area state wide, I try to point it out and educate people about what is going to take place, if someone ask to please send an e-mail or call,write, I do. I have an honest desire for the next generation to be able to do the things that I did when I was growing up if they choose to. I know that being in the outdoors with my Grandfather kept me out of alot of trouble. We live in the "sunshine" state, however, the different government entity's would rather see our kids playing nintendo and possibly falling prey to sexual predators than have a day of fun with their parents. If you think i'm smoking something, do a search for Dr. Reed Noss, this is Governor Bush's latest political appointee to the ARC committee. This committee oversees "recreational activities" on state lands. He's one of the founders of the WILDLANDS PROJECT.My comments are not to meant to bash anyone, it's simply an observation that i have made through time....Good luck to us all....

Thank you for respecting what I said  ;)

I do understand 100% where you are coming from! I respect all that you do for "our" community. Just please keep in mind that even though there are 100 views to a thread and only 7 replies does not mean that some of those 100 people did not send an email. I have read probably every post you and thurmud have posted regarding riding areas, and even though I have not replied to the thread I have sent an email to every person listed when asked to do so.

I also think sometimes people do not email someone for simply lack of not knowing what to say. I have noticed on the forum that when someone posts a generic email (like one you can just copy and paste - I think you have posted one before) you get more responses. Maybe that is something we could focus on-a few sample emails for those who are not sure what they are supposed to say. I have no problem posting an email I have sent to one of many officals so that others may use it as well, if that would help getting more "voices" out there when we are not able to attend. Or even send our emails and cc them to someone that is going to the meeting to represnt a voice that can't be heard. You could show up with say 100 emails of people that were not able to go. We all know that voices are heard in numbers (emails count too). This is something I can commit to.  What do you think? I know it doesn't seem like that is something we should have to do, but unfortunately sometimes people need others to do the hard work to make it easier for them for whatever reason.  ;)

I think that's a great idea and a great start. Thank you for sending those e-mails on behalf of the "community"....Hopefully more will do the same.....

If we can't make the meeting we'll just make our own!

Instead of fighting within the system lets do what all the other minorities do..lets riot and protest!

we can have a atv pride day or the million quad ride and just head down the streets. We'll just pull a permit for assembly and go. Then we'll cry discrimination if anyone balks at us  8)

Everyone gets what they want, lets try whining too.

Actually all the local illegal spots to ride where closed down years ago. I don’t cry about it because I bought my ATV with the intention of riding it on privately owned land a few hours away. I knew this going into it and have no issues with it.


For me a miracle. Not because I don’t believe in the cause but simply because I put enough money into my hobby and get to enjoy it about once every 3-4 weeks. I have a very good career that I worked from the very bottom to where I am. I didn’t get there by taking days off to attend ATV meetings. Taking a vacation day every few months to attend these meetings isn’t going to happen as my time is already limited and I want to use to go riding the 12-14 times a year that I get to go. I know I’m not the only one with this view.

Fact of the matter is if more public places opened up I wouldn’t ride there anyways. Look at public jet ski riding areas (those that are still left) they are nightmares with nothing but wreckless riders everywhere and accidents weekly. Same thing happens in public ATV riding areas and I just wouldn’t want to deal with that. However I do feel that money collected by the state for ATV sales tax should go back into riding areas even if I wouldn’t use them. If someone put an organization together to lead that fight I would donate money towards that cause. I do write emails when the threads come up I just don’t always reply when I do.

As you said this is an open forum and personally it gets annoying to continually see these generalizations that the ATV community just sits around and cries about no riding areas but does nothing. Many of us don’t cry about it we found other legal places to ride and have jobs and families that we just can’t walk away from to attend a meeting.

Bill 

Understand Bill, thanks for your support.

me and banshee-nick are planning on going to the meeting and the ride the day before.I think they plan these in the middle of the week on purpose so the turn out is low.I bet if they had one on a saturday or even a friday they would be blown away by the number of riders  JMO

I will e-mail John Waldron and ask him if we can start having these meetings on weekends. 

thrumud, what about having our own gathering on a weekend that the press would be aware of so the word could get out. this would be a peaceful and organized non riding gathering!
my idea is as follows:


say we, OHV enthusiest, were to find a central meeting place (polk county area) that would be big enough to park atleast 1000 families and their rigs. everyone prepare to have a cookout and hangout for the day. invite the press for some coverage, take a bunch of pics and interviews on a video camera so when you go to the next meeting you can have all of this for a record to show that we do care ;) plan this about 2 months in advance and advertise it on all the web sites.

that is my idea and it could be refined to be more effective ;)

I think that's a great idea dreth

Dreth, this perhaps may be the most intelligent and brightest idea I have heard in a long time.

Why didn't I think of it  ???

Let me pass this on to a few strong supportive members and see how we can pull this off. 

Great idea bud !

Would love to show my support, but unfortunately I'm a small business owner and can not take off.
But I want you to know that I'm with you 100%. Thanks for all of your hard work.

thinking of it is one thing, YOU pulling it off will be BRILLIANT ;) i will help in any way i can.

i also thought of a raffle of some sort, maybe some dealerships might want to get on board and set up displays like at a trade show with merchandise, and they could donate an item for the raffle. the more dealer particpation the better and the more places that open up to ride the more their sales will increase! i can probably get my local dealerships to participate with the proper notice.

thats a good idea with the camcorder doin interviews.I was at croom yesterday11/11 and the plaace was packed.and I started thinkin about that if I would of had the camcorder i could of walked around and asked people a couple questions and got them on the cam .there were alot of people with young kids riding it would of been perfect.I will take the camcorder next time.

I think this is a great idea!!! I will do whatever I can to help out too! This could turn out to be a pretty big event. I like the idea of a Central Location (polk) works for me....Keep us posted on the status of this. If we want to do it big we will probably need some time to get this underway.

we need something like a fair ground or a sporting complex  to accomadate all the vehicles

Can anyone in Polk County help us find a location to accomadate a large crowd ? 

I'm all for it.I'm gonna let all my friends know to try and show up in Naples.Of course, a weekend would bring more riders.Maybe somone should make some flyers of our own and we could hand them out at Croom and other riding area's.

any progress

Should we start a poll to see what the best location is? Or are we all ok with Polk County?

Once we get the right county - we can start searching the location. It could be fun to try this for New Years (if we have enough time) and make it a weekend party.

Did someone say Party! Now we are talkin. I need the time off as well. I can't take off from work during the week. This new Idea is taking shape and I will be there as well.

I really think New Years weekend would work for a lot of people (just my opinion) since a lot of companies are closed. What do you guys think. As soon as everyone agrees to a County I will start looking for spots  :)

I think Polk County would be the best since it is in the middle of the state and they are talking about an OHV park. I can try to find some locations in Winter Haven, I live here and know people. I am thinking the fair grounds would be big enough if we can get plenty of people here. Just let me know and I will find out what we need to use that area. It is right on a main road through town just off of US 17. I think we will be better off to plan one every other month in different counties so they all can see that we are serious. 

I like that idea! That would give people who can't travel and opprotunity to show up as well. We need to give flyers to the local dealerships and shops as well. We need to involve the entire community, not just the members of this site... the more people the better and the easiest way to get the word out in my opinion would be through all the local shops and organizations, then the owners can even pass the word through thier clients :)

I am fine with polk but unfortunatly will be in GA. for the week from Christmas thru New Years and some other people might be on vacation as well?

I just had an Idea! south beach on spring break weekend . >:D

Creative !   Good answer  :Clap.gif

maybe pay people to come.  ??? there aint nothin else workin. any meetings in brevard? i dont really like travelling 3 hours to go to a boaring meeting. try brevard.

the boring meeting you are speaking of might make history in the state of florida to secure more riding spots. i could understand the negativity if it was a weekday but to be apart of this will require a better attitude.

i will pay you a batch of cookies to see what it will take for us to secure the fairground area for a saturday or sunday or the weekend ;) i think that new years is to soon and people will be broke from christmas so i would say around feb. or march

Maybe try to add something positive - have you noticed there are no OTHER negative comments! For a change several people are offering different suggestions and are really interested. This is not going to be a boring meeting - it is getting as many RIDERS together in one spot to fight for what we want more riding areas.

Good thing I didnt post this until now or I wouldnt have gotten my cookie offer. I am calling the guy today who is incharge of the fair grounds. I will find out when the fair is so we dont schedule the same weekend because we would be out of a venue. I would like the chocolate chip please ;D

bigscrub - just so I am on the right page...is this the fair grounds that the State Fair is at? Not sure what fair grounds you guys are talking about..

It is the Fair Grounds the Cirtus festival is held at. It is also next to and shares the parking lot with the Cleveland Indians spring training stadium.

I am new member to this forum but have been a long time reader. With that being said I know the pain of losing places to ride and race.  Anytime there is a meeting with any Gov. officials people that ride atv's of any kind need to show up in full force!!
Most politicians are not "out to get" the atv's. Gov. officials and politicians don't "act" on something they "react". By that I mean when someone b!tchs about atv's then they pass or make laws against atv's.
Here in Kentucky there are many places to ride but most are on private land, but one town in eastern Ky took maters into there own hands, took an old coal strip mine and turned it into a atv park. www.atvaonline.com/Ride/Evarts_KY.asp is a link to it. If you obey the laws you can ride on the streets in Evarts,Ky now how cool is that?
With a little work every one can be a winner.

Well, I am back!!!!

So weres all the guys that were whining about us going to their "SECRET SPOTS"? Why are you not complaining in person instead of a forum behind a computer? Why are you not asking elected officials to find atv riders a legal and safe are to take our kids to ride instead of us going to your "SECRET SPOT"? Why are you not telling your government your concerns?Point is DO SOMETHING AND STOP BITCHING!!!!

And for the negative people that are always saying we are not going to get anything, this I say to you...

THE TEACHER BITCHED AND PROTEST AND IT WASN"T EASY BUT THEY GOT WHAT THEY WANTED FROM THE SCHOOL BOARD....MORE MONEY"!!!!!!

ITS ALL ABOUT PERSISTENCE AND NOT GIVING UP!!!!!! :N [/b]

So is this spot good for everyone? I need to give the guy an idea of when it will be and if there are only the 6 or so people on here talking about it then I wont worry. It will probably cost money and at the very least time. WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED!!!! If we could get 200 people to show up on a saturday and got the media out there then we might get some point across. I know, like many of yall on here, that I cant get to any of these meetings because they are in the middle of the week. We need a big turn out to show them there are more people interested but we work and cant make it to the weekday meetings.

sounds good to me

Thanks to those that are trying to find a spot for a HUGE group meeting of ATVFLORIDA members. Great Job !  Please if you find a location in Polk county let me know the availability, we may try to do something after the Holidays. We will post a poll to see when everyone can show up.

Again thanks for your help

I have a message into the guy who runs the place. I will give him until monday afternoon to return my call if not I can try someone else who has rule over him. I will let you know when I hear something.

Im good any weekend with enough notice and I have a group of5-10 bikes that can show with a total of maybe 20 heads to account for the cause

Miamigirlrider makes some very good points. We need to unite as ONE, if we dont, we are divided and conquered by the powers to be. I have nothing but good things to say for the folks over at atvmiaxtreme and northportoffroad. They have taken the time, written the e-mails and called the people to force the issue of a riding area here in Collier county, this is not where they live, but they saw a friend in need and are friends INDEED. I do not ride in any county except where I live, but i try to post information in here everytime i come accross it to help my "friends" with issues that can potentially affect them. There are about 5,000 registered users, i do not know how many are active. If we were to collect $5.00 a month to establish a legal fund, thats $25,000 a month or 300,000 a year!!!! Unfortunately we cannot seem to come together as a "group" here,hopefully this will change and we will become a force for change.



"Within each of us is a hidden store of energy.   
Energy we can release to compete in the marathon 
of life  Within each of us is a hidden store of   
courage. Courage to give us the strength to face 
any challenge  Within each of us is a hidden store
of determination. Determination to keep us in the
race when all seems lost "

Roger Dawson                       

Ok Issue was resolved lets leave this Sebring in the past please.

Let just unite for the same cause... SAFE AND LEGAL RIDING AREAS ALL OVER FLORIDA!

Regardless if its by appearance, email, money, letters, flyers just become involved.

thanks you lswjth2 for all your hard work, I only wish I could do more.

Now lets ride and lets get some more legal places.

Have a great weekend eveyrone and stay safe.

 Miami, We have gone to the board of county commisioners in a large group several times asking what happend to all the registration money they collected that was to go for riding spots and we never get the same answer. I will gladly go to any large meeting to try and help, thank you for yoyr efforts.

Swamp

T.V. news stations are usually all over "investigative stories" like this to find out where our money goes to especially when there is suspition that fraud or misappropriation could be involved. Someone should let a few news stations know about this and get some mutch needed publicity for our cause as well.

so lets start a post and ask for some much needed help from the moderators! i am home sick today so i will do some begging to the big boss ;) keep your eyes open because if my idea will be put into effect it could be very effective ;)

home sick??? But well enough for a weekend of nice riding???? HA!!! someone is playing hookie. j/k
whats your idea?

got sick while riding ;)

lets keep this in sight till i get a response

Here is my number if anyone wants to carpool to the protest on the 29th.(727)204-0883 Chino.I don't know if were taking our quads or just picketting with signs.If anyone knows, let me know.I'm also trying to get some of my riding buddies to go.

are there any meetings in brevard? i cant drive to miami to attend a meeting. that is a 4 hour drive.

i was bein sarcastic bout the money thing, but there is nothing else workin obviously. if you want me to do something let me know and ill try but i dont know what to do.  ???

thank you Fox17. just keep an open mind  ;)