About an hour south of Orlando, and two hours from the madness of Daytona Bike Week, the River Ranch GNCC promises first-class accommodations. The Ranch serves as a vacation, retreat and training spot for people year-round, but for GNCC racers, it will also serve as a rough-and-tumble 2010 GNCC season opener. The track is typical of Florida races, most closely resembling the Vero Beach, Florida, GNCC we ran back in 2007. The sandy conditions will whoop out, and with some palmetto roots thrown into the mix, this one will test who has and who hasn't been training during the off-season.

As always, be careful not to push too hard here, because the Georgia GNCC is only a few days away, and you don't want to have too many blisters (or sore muscles) for that one.

And off the track, this will be a race like no other. Here's info from the River Ranch website:

Westgate River Ranch Resort gives you the chance to experience Florida when it was home to cowboys and cattle ranchers. Indulge yourself in a wide range of activities that allow you to escape into nature's sanctuary at a dude horse ranch in Florida. Enjoy horseback riding, guided nature hikes, fishing, boating, trap and skeet, swimming, airboat or swamp buggy rides, hayrides and a petting zoo. Or go line dancing at the River Ranch Saloon. There's even a sanctioned rodeo every Saturday night in our very own rodeo stadium. Leave your "city worries" behind and enjoy a change in pace "western style."

For more information on River Ranch Resort activities, please visit the River Ranch Website

To fit into the Daytona Bike Week schedule, this race runs a much different schedule than the other rounds, with ATVs racing on Sunday and bikes on Tuesday. Also, this is the only GNCC on the tour offering practice. ATVs get a practice day on Saturday before racing on Sunday, and bikes get to practice on Monday before their race on Tuesday. Practice will take place on a separate practice track, and a separate fee applies. This is an opportunity to make sure you and your equipment are ready for the new season, not an opportunity to learn the track.