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When a path doesn’t emerge, sometimes you have to carve one out yourself. That’s what Eric Claessens, president of the Sarasota County Off-Road Riders (SCORR) did 15 years ago. Claessens, an avid cyclist who moved to North Port in the late 1980s, was looking for a place to ride his mountain bike. After friends introduced him to the Carlton Reserve, a sprawling 24,565 acre preserve in South Sarasota County, he came up with a plan.

“There was no organized way of riding whatsoever—people were riding illegal trails or through private property,” says Claessens. “It was like the wild west. I created the club to try and make everything more legal.”

Claessens came into contact with the land managers at the Reserve and slowly, but surely, developed around 25 miles of singletrack mountain biking trails. Today, the largely interconnected network of trails spans throughout the Reserve and the bordering areas of Carlton Ranch and Myakka River State Park. “When we first started, we weren’t allowed to use anything other than hand tools to create trails. We’d agree with the land manager on where the trail would be and then try to follow the path of least resistance,” says Claessens. “Everything is very flat here, so we tended to make winding, twisty trails because we thought that would be a lot more fun than just riding in straight lines.”

There are three main access points to the trails: the parking lot at the Carlton Reserve, the Myakkahatchee Environmental Park in North Port and a trailhead off East River Road at the north end of the Myakka State Forest. The creation of the trails—and the continual upkeep—is no easy task. For Claessens and the rest of the dedicated volunteers, or “Trail Thugs”, however, their toil is well worth it. SCORR is not exclusive—simply ‘friending’ the page on Facebook essentially grants you membership—and hosts a bevy of trail rides throughout the season, which typically lasts from around September through June or July. SCORR also hosts larger events, such as Piggy’s Revenge, an endurance ride through Carlton Reserve in which riders can choose to ride the 10, 20 or 40 mile mountain bike route, a 60 mile trail or a 20 mile gravel bike loop that over 300 people annually attend. “When we started 15 years ago, there was nobody in the Carlton Reserve parking lot on the weekends. Nowadays, it’s slammed with visitors, which is awesome,” says Claessens. “You get to see part of the state you never typically get to see. There is more to Florida than just the beaches—there is so much wildlife out there.”

Sarasota County Off-Road Riders, Facebook@SCORR Riders, scorrider@gmail.com

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