Written by: John Robson
Posted: Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Somehow, this saga of American ingenuity and showmanship brings to mind David and Terri Berger, the proprietors of Gone Riding – the premier mountain bike promoters of the Southeast. A stretch, you say? I beg to differ. 35 weekends a year, this intrepid duo and their 17-year-old son Austin pack up all the trappings of a fully professional mountain bike race, travel from their Ocala, Florida home to a distant park, and put on a show for several hundred eager cyclists.
The circus: 1,300 workers, 800 performing and working animals, 57 railroad cars and eight tents.
Gone Riding: three workers, one of whom is part-time, all the volunteers they can muster and one truck full of sponsor banners, snow fencing, a P.A. system, pylons, timing equipment, finish chute, entry forms, releases and, oh yeah, a couple of bikes. Can’t forget the bikes.
Depending on your own particular vision of life, the Bergers’ chosen lifestyle may seem like your childhood fantasy of running away to join the circus… or it may seem like the ninth ring of hell.
Rest assured, though, after 15 years and over 300 events, the Bergers still like what they’re doing.
“It’s like going to a family reunion every weekend – in a good way,” maintains David Berger. “I’ve been involved in a lot of sports, and mountain bikers are just the friendliest, best group of people I’ve ever been associated with.”
It’s remarkable that he keeps this positive attitude when you know the kind of nightmares that just have to happen when you spend your life on the road. For example: on the way to Fort Yargo, Georgia, to put on a mountain bike race and an Xterra off-road triathlon in the same weekend, the Gone Riding truck broke down. This required an en-route rental, the transfer of all the gear to a new truck, and the resultant issues of getting the old truck fixed and readying the whole setup to roll once again – none of which had been resolved at the time of our conversation.
Who does what, exactly?
Transport disasters notwithstanding, both Fort Yargo races came off without a hitch, the participation numbers were up and the Bergers were psyched to hit the next town and put on the next fat-tired circus. While you might assume the stress of putting on events week after week might be a real marriage-tester, Dave claims that he and Terri just naturally gravitated to their respective responsibilities.
“We never really sat down and divided things up,” he explains. “We just did the things that we felt natural doing.”
This division of labor gives Dave fun pre-race chores like handling the websites, the race flyers, scouting locations and handling all the paperwork and permitting. Once on-site, Dave, with a huge assist from Austin, dives into the intricacies of setting up and tearing down the course, race operations, scoring, results and points tabulations while Terri handles race registration and sponsor needs.
The one bonus in this is that Dave – as a responsible race director, you understand – has to test-ride every course before opening it to the competitors. “The one bad thing about this is that I don’t get to race any more, but I do still get to ride all these great courses.” His son Austin goes him one better.
“He’s been racing since he was three,” Berger says. I’d say he’s done well over 300 races in his career, pretty much every race we’ve ever done.”
Bringing in the sponsors
While Dave and Austin handle the grunt work, Terri’s number-one focus is the vital responsibility of finding – and keeping – sponsors. “Sponsorship is huge. That’s the most important thing. Fortunately, it’s not been a huge burden so far, getting sponsors,” Berger says with a certain amount of relief.
Still, in a shaky economy, getting support for four different race series is a never-ending process, somewhat akin to painting the Golden Gate Bridge. You never really finish; you just keep starting over again and again.
For the record, the Gone Riding portfolio includes the Georgia State Championship Series, the Florida State Championship Series, the Southeast Regional Championship Series (SERC) and the South Florida Coconut Cup… not to mention the occasional off-road triathlon.
Counting the House
Even with solid sponsors, there’s one thing about the business of putting on races that is no different than putting on concerts or making movies: if the people don’t show, you don’t make any dough. And in a softening economy with rising gas prices, that can make anyone nervous.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Berger says. “Mountain biking has been on an upward trend the last two years despite the economy. 60 to 70 percent of our races so far in 2008 have been up in numbers of participants. People are still driven to go out and race. What I have noticed,” he adds, “is that because of gas prices, people are carpooling more or trading in their big vehicles for smaller, more efficient cars.”
Besides the weather, the other key factor in race attendance is the cost of overnight stays. Berger says that up to 25-30 percent of his racers on any given weekend are the ‘points-chasers’, riders actively engaged in scoring points in their divisions with an eye toward winning series championships. These are the ones who travel the most and Berger says that they’re still staying in motels and not resorting to camping. This is the kind of ‘heads in beds’ that local tourism officials like to see, particularly in the more remote areas.
Conversely, the Coconut Cup in South Florida, where the venues are closer together, is more of a drive-to day of event series, and that’s okay, too. The massive tourism economy there would barely register a couple hundred bicycle racers on any given weekend, anyway.
Loving The Life
David Berger actually started racing mountain bikes back in 1989, after an easy transition from motorcycle racing. Along with Terri, he started volunteering at events, doing what they could to help the cause. Their involvement caused the then-owners of Ocala’s Hard Rock Park to suggest that they start putting on their own races. Thus their saga began in 1993, putting on their Spring Series of races and developing a mountain-biking program at Hard Rock.
Over the last 15 years, they managed Hard Rock and then in 2000 opened the legendary Razorback Park (which closed last year when the property owners decided to “pursue other interests for their property.”) They’ve put on hundreds of races and raised a child born to the road and trail.
And 15 years in, they still love it. “We haven’t got tired yet,” Dave Berger insists and immediately begins waxing enthusiastic about highlight spots to prove the point. “Fontana Village, North Carolina, that’s probably my favorite course to ride. To me, it encompasses everything you could possibly face on a mountain bike… it’s really tough to get all the way around without putting your foot down. Every time I do a loop there, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.”
As for races, he hesitates to pick a favorite, but does profess a special fondness for the 12-hour events. “Any of the 12-hours is the most fun to put on. It’s a laid-back atmosphere, like camping out with a couple hundred of your best friends. I guess I’d have to pick Santos Trails, right here in Ocala.”
And why not? Who doesn’t like to throw the occasional circus right in their own back yard? Berger sums it all up very nicely: “I don’t see the end yet. We’re still going with the flow.”
This summer the newest sport in the Olympics will see 25 of the world’s best swimmers racing 10K around the flat-water Beijing Olympic rowing course. 
