Critical Mass
Orlando Loch Haven Park, 900 E. Princeton St., facebook.com/orlandocriticalmass
Critical Mass is a monthly community bike ride meant to promote awareness of alternative means of transportation. Hundreds of people meet at 6 p.m. every last Friday of the month at Loch Haven Park, then fill the streets with cyclists, riding around Orlando en masse (get it?). The best thing about Critical Mass is that there are so many people riding together that it’s the safest way to enjoy a bike tour of the City Beautiful, which was recently designated as the worst place to be a pedestrian in the country. The pace is steady but leisurely, everyone is smiling – except that guy at the stop sign trying to get home – and it’s quite possibly one of the best cycling events we’ve ever taken part in.
Savage Race
Oct. 25-26, Little Everglades Ranch, 17951 Hamilton Road, Dade City, savagerace.com
Are you a savage? If so, check out this 7-mile obstacle course returning to Florida this fall. From ice baths to barbed wire, Savage Race is the big leagues of fun runs. Instead of getting showered with paint or glitter or some other cute but not terribly challenging gimmick, Savage Race presents you with insane obstacles and challenges. Lots of them. Think mud, fire, the aforementioned ice baths and barbed wire, and plenty more hellishness. Where some races promise that you’ll walk away from the event with glow sticks or a sweetly paint-splattered shirt, Savage Race promises you muddy underwear. A free beer and a medal commemorating your intense victory are also included in registration.
Diagon Alley and Gringotts at Universal Orlando
6000 Universal Blvd., 407-363-8000, universalorlando.com
While Escape From Gringotts, the signature E-Ticket attraction at Universal Studios Florida’s new Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley area, is far from the wildest ride in town, there’s no denying that this roller-coaster/simulator hybrid is Orlando’s most innovative thrill since Forbidden Journey opened next door at Islands of Adventure. The only thing more thrilling than riding rail carts through the goblin-run bank is exploring the immersive, interactive land surrounding it. Just watch out for that fire-breathing dragon.
Rose and Crown Pub and Dining Room
United Kingdom Pavilion, Epcot, Walt Disney World, 407-939-3463, disneyworld.disney.go.com
Drinking around the world is becoming a cultural phenomenon; people fly here from all over the globe to see how many countries they can drink through without passing out in the bushes by Canada. But the best place to grab a pint in this park is at the Rose and Crown. It’s air-conditioned, it’s staffed with fresh-faced kids from the U.K. who probably drink more than you do, and there’s a little piano in the corner where a British dame plays fancy tunes as you spill a Black-and-Tan on your neighbor’s Crocs. If you stay here long enough, you can catch the fireworks from the bar
without having to smell the hellishly sulfurous smoke that washes over the area afterward.
Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area
3365 Taylor Creek Road, Christmas, 407-568-5893, myfwc.com
Head east on Colonial Drive until the road forks, then steer right to take State Road 520 until you see the small brown sign beckoning you to turn left and discover Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area. It’s off the beaten path, but its many trails offer a rare solitude typically encountered exclusively in apocalyptic storybooks and doomsday movies. Once inside, enjoy hiking the rugged Florida landscapes – quaint ponds, open fields of wildflowers, canopies of hanging moss – populated in the early morning hours by wild turkeys, boar, deer and more birds than Audubon Park documents on its street signs. If you drive long enough, you end up deep in the wood at Lake Charlie, where eagles have been spied and sunbathing gators grunt, perhaps appreciating the varied terrain as much as (or more than) we do.
Tommy the Tar, Rollins College
1000 Holt Ave., Winter Park, 407-646-2000, rollins.edu
Somehow, despite the school’s landlocked locale, the Rollins College mascot is a burly sailor named Tommy the Tar. The school spins a tale about how the “tar” (slang for a super-tough and aggressive open-sea sailor) became the school mascot because Rollins, although not on the ocean, was used as a training ground for sailors back in World War I thanks to its location on the shores of Lake Virginia. Other people say it has something to do with a donkey named “Tar Baby,” donated by the college president, that used to live on campus and eat the nicely manicured grass all day. Either way, we find this odd Popeye-looking mascot totally endearing.
Orlando Bicycle Polo
1890 E. Church St., facebook.com/orlandobicyclepolo
We all know how to ride a bike (or if you don’t, you at least understand the concept). But have you ever tried to ride a bike with a mallet in one hand while someone else rides right at you and a ball rolls between your wheels? Bike polo is exactly what it sounds like: a sweaty, fun and potentially disastrous activity. It gets safer as you learn to brake left-handed, stop on a dime and switch the mallet between hands while weaving between other cyclists. It’s not a sport recommended for the uncoordinated, unless you’re willing to fall off your horse a couple of times. Orlando Bike Polo welcomes all skill levels with spare mallets, bikes and beer (because everyone falls) and meets every Sunday at 5 p.m. and Thursday at 6 p.m.
