I too am very bummed - especially now that I live in FL.
I understand that Chuck has other priorities in life - and thats fair. There's also speculation (and always has been) that he wants to sell the race off.
The time commitment for the race itself isn't huge. Its a week and a day usually if you're within driving distance of the start or the finish. The real time commitment for us was always the planning and preparation. Literally devoting every free moment of your time from October to May just to do a race was a bit taxing - and I have to admit that I'm enjoying the extra week of vacation that I now get (even though I can't use it)
The race will return, but I think it needs to start in Key West and end in Jax just to mix it up a bit
Or start Cocoa and end Wilmington, NC to give a little different flavor and make it a little more reachable for the northeast teams.