ATV Florida Forum

This a letter that my wife wrote voicing our opinion regarding the Cancellation of Four Wheeler Friday. Feel free to email them with your opinion.


Dear Frank and Sandy,
First I want to say that I am very sorry to hear that there will be no more Four wheeler Fridays and also  I would like to voice my opinion on a couple of issues. Two Fridays ago there was a great turn out including two families that came from Orlando apparently Bill was on the track riding and the son(14) was out there as well. When the kid hit a jump he landed in Bill's lane which everyone knows can happen, instead of being a experienced mature rider (which Bill states he is)  Bill let him have it which was totally uncalled for sent the kid off the track crying and Bill swearing and very angry which showed very poor sportsmanship. Bill made comments that if you don't know how to ride you shouldn't be on the track (RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK) and acted very immature. Needless to say the families packed up and they had no plans on returning to the track. Also you gave a letter out to all the riders that basically stated  Toby was in charge on Friday nights but actually no matter what the letter stated Bill still seemed to think he was the head honcho, you also stated that Dirt bikes were not allowed at four wheeler Friday which was understood but when the question was asked Sandy stated that we could talk to Toby and if all riders were ok with it our son could bring his dirt bike out at the end of the night and that he could also ride it around the perimeter of the track. Toby asked everyone and they were all ok with bringing the bike out which was done at the end of the night  9:30pm once everyone was done riding but come to find out once again Bill had a problem with a decision that Toby the man in charge had made. We came from Sarasota to ride on Fridays with our kids and we always brought somebody with us to ride as well and we feel that is very unfair that one person's opinion on how things go can end something that is so enjoyable to all of us riders, and one more thing as far as the medics go the first one you had out was great and was there to do his job which was watch the track and help those that were injured. The second Medic in my eyes was a complete waste of money he kept his back to the track talking to Bill and looking at his riding setup I seemed to be doing a better job then him watching the track. For every accident that happened there was I was the one to let him know that it had happened. The accidents(4) that took place happened because of poor track condition. I was told that the reason for closing the track is because you are not making enough money but from what I see that is the opposite for every person you are charging them $20.00 each and there are easily 10 or more people there each Friday night and the amount of people were growing each Friday, so based upon my feelings stated in this letter along with everybody else that rides on Fridays we feel we know the real reason why! In closing I guess the saying is true One Bad Apple (Non Paying Apple) Can ruin It for everyone.

nicely said

   [smiley=bow.gif] [smiley=bow.gif] [smiley=bow.gif]

you know i have heard that alot of people wrote letters to frank and sandy. maybee but highly dought it they might make the other decission. there are supposed to be alot of people out there this friday so we will see. we will not be there so matt will be in charge. the other reason they said they wanted to shut it down is due to frank not having a day off. so everyone that can operate the tractor said they would groom it i dont know what happend with that. and then she said we can rent the track for the night groomed and all for $150 for 2 hours thats not bad if you get 10 people and split it. so when we said that we would do that she all of the suddon said its $150 per hour  and that only 8 people can ride . so bassicly all that can be said THEY HATE QUADS they kicked them off before they will do it again. now all we can do is cross are fingers and hope.  

p.s. every one (even the bikes) are going to leave. now that bartow has lights everyone will be going there i know i will.  

I went to Bartow last Thursday, and that track is by far better then Sunshine, I know that for some of you it takes a little riding but it really worth the trip, bigger track, good lights, if the people of Sunshine don't want to open is their problem, I'm sure the people on Bartow will be more then happy to have us out there

yeah we will be there next sunday i dont know if im going to ride. but i will be there with my freinds. im deffintly going to start the season there.

Heres the response I got from Sandy  :-/



Kevin,

Frank and I did not made this decison based on one person.  Frank has a full time job also, he leaves home everyday before 7:30AM every night he goes directly to the track to prepare it for the next days event.  Monday he is there for MX class where the lostest number of riders is 30, (that is a bad night) theire are usually over 50 bikes there, you do the math.  He gets home after 10PM on Mondays. On Tuesdays he grades the track for Wednesday, he doesn't get home until after 9PM.  Wednesday night is practice, which you all can come to, he gets home after 10PM. Since we started 4-wheel Friday, Frank has been going on Thursday to grade the
track, not getting home until after 9PM.  Then Friday night we are their, we may not stay long but we cannot do anything, in case something happens and we have to go back. He leaves the house by 9AM on Saturday to get the track ready for races, he gets home after the last race.  Then on Sunday back again by 8AM.  That's a pretty long week.

The most we have had,  has been about 9 paid riders. You can do the math on that one.  We need a medic, he does not have to watch the track, he is their in case there is an accident.  I am sure our medic will hear someone call him to aid anyone in need. It is just important for us to have a medic at all events.  One night there were 3 accidents,  one left in a ambulance.  That is pretty high numbers for only having 7-9 riders.  How does that happen if everyone is riding carefully.

Here are a few of my cost to run 4-wheel Friday.  We pay someone $40. to help Frank on Thursday night, then $10 an hour on Friday to water that is about $70.  The medic is $50.  the lights cost us about $10 per hour.  To run an extra day for insurance the cost is about $500 dollars.  Frank time on Thursday and Friday. We have given it a little over a month to show some improvement, but even at best we are only getting 9 or so riders who pay.  Tobby doesn't pay, because he was running it after we leave..  Bill does not pay, because Bill is always helping us fix something at the track.  Bill has played no part in our decision.

The second point is this the bikes come on Monday for class and almost everyone of them come another time during the week, if not to practice to race.  I cannot say the same for the 4 wheelers.   Maybe 2 of them come out another time.  It is not cost effective.  This is a business,
we are there to make money.  The 4-wheelers have not shown enough interest to keep it going.

As far as the bike riding goes, I said that your son could ride on the outside of the track,  I never said he could ride on the track.  I found that out after the fact.  I have had many people call me about bringing bikes on Friday and the answer has been "no".  

When we started the school for bikes right from the beginning we had at least 20 riders, now it is up 50 or so each week.  Starting slow and having it grow is something we know very well. These people also come from Sarasota and even farther than that.

4-wheeler are able to come on Wednesday and Sunday practice.  Even if we just have one, we put them out by them selfs, we do not mix them in with the bikes.  4-wheeler can also come on race night.

To do it right, we need flagger, someone to call out each group (level of ability) and Frank and I need to stay the entire time, like we do on ever other event.  We thought that we would give this a try and in our eyes it did not work. We surely do not have enough riders to pay the extra people for that.

Again, you are more than welcome to come out at any other scheduled practice or race.  This friday is the last 4-wheel friday.

Sandy Valente

MB
you guys can read it how you want , BUT THE WAY I SEE IT  SHE HATES FOUR WHEELERS!!!!!!   [smiley=angry2.gif]

Bartow here I come!!!! ;D ;D ;D

same here im going to go race at bartow insteed of gay sunshine

bartow. ;D hey kevin you want to head up there sunday me, my dad,matt jr.,matt,randy,and jerry are going i dont know if im going to ride maybee i can just roll around. :P we sold are trailer to matt and i dont know if were going to get ours this week i'll let you know whats going on during the week.

First off let me start by saying I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BARTOW OR SUNSHINE. I did however happen to read this post and as a business owner of an off road facility I can say this.........  Until someone runs one of these and has to do all the payouts for the  event to take place they have NO IDEA what it takes. We get the same response from a few people who come our way. All they look at is the number of people that come in and the fee charged at gate. They dont look at all the people that you have to hire to even open the gate, all the behind the scene fee's that go out. County Fee's, State Fee's the list goes on and on. There is more to pay out than just what you see on the field, at least for us there is. Everytime we want to make a change, in hours, days ETC. we have to put money up at the County level just to get it on the agenda to see if they will approve it and if they say NO once it makes it to that board, to bad, the deposit is NON REFUNDABLE, and I'm not talking a small deposit. Here were we are it is WELL over $800.00 everytime you want to make an amendment to your permit. And trust me if you do it without making the amendmant and they catch you then you risk loosing your permit all together. OK,, I'm through now. just voicing my opinion from the other side.. :-)   . Our intention is to give everyone a safe and LEGAL place to ride with out worry of a ticket.

Well,if you run a track then you know that you do not get charged extra on your insurance bill when you decide to open another night-My wife is an insurance agent and i know you don't! And if this doesn't make you wonder about the rest of the e-mail then i do not know what to tell you.I am the non-paid employee that ran it-she only had a medic there 3 times at the point of the e-mail,she never had flaggers,they only groomed it half of the time,the lights were only on for an hour to 1 1/2 hours,they only watered it 3 times that i ever saw,and for the Final lie:the last 4 weeks there was at the least 12(paid)riders there-this is because of one person and he knows who he is!And to ADD to the situation this is not the first time she has done this to thewheelers-we do not want special treatment,just the same as the dirtbikes!

RAPTOR DAD

my turn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that track was to small from the begining and it was very rough! as far as all the other politics behind the scenes, well..............if its so unprofitable why are you still open! :o!

hard rock in ocala  is  open too quads  and is looking for more quads to go there they have 7 tracks and the main track has lights   ;D