Afton Alps
Length of ride: 6+ Miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Description of Ride:
Afton Alps
This ride is in Minnesota, I was
there on business and took my bike. This is actually a golf
coarse in the summer, and a ski resort in the winter. They have
put in a trail for mountain bikes, and charge $8.00 for a ticket.
I assume the ticket is good for the day but I didn't get there
until after 6:00 so I only made one ride around the route. I
didn't have my odometer on so I didn't get any mileage, but if I
were to guess I would say I road about six to seven miles.
After getting a ticket bracelet, the man in the club house gave
me a map and told me to ride down past the green behind the club
house and the start and end of the trail were located at the edge
of the fairway.
The map indicated there were a lot of
loops coming off of a main route that ran around the
circumference of the ski resort. The trails were marked with
signs that indicated the level of difficulty. Ranging from easy
to expert. I road the full range, but did not rid every loop. I
found the expert loops were mainly steeper, usually lose rock and
some roots crossings. I only dismounted one time, when on one of
the expert loops. It dropped at a very steep angle for about six
feet. I would have ridden it, but at the bottom of the drop the
incline flattened out very quickly. I got off my bike and skidded
it down the incline while I tried to keep my footing as I slid
down.
There was one other place where I had to scooter along, using my
foot to maintain myself as I eased my self down through a rocky
incline.
I did see a deer on one of the
fair ways toward the middle of the ride, and a little later on
there was a turkey at the edge of some woods and brush. There was
one loop that was mostly up hill, an expert loop, that was fun.
It was very steep in a couple of places, and in one place they
had covered the hillside with some rubber matting so you could
get a purchase on the lose surface. There was also a bridge
crossing on this loop. In fact the name of the loop was bridge
crossing.
The only negative thing I have to
comment on is the trail markings were confusing. I had a very
hard time making out what trail I was on, and what the name of
the trail loops were. I kept seeing signs that read "Citizen",
and another that I cant remember, but never was able to determine
if that was the name of the trail I was on, or if the sign
indicated that the trail was up ahead. When I returned and asked
the attendant, he said he didn't know but thought that was the
name of a race they held at some frequency that he wasn't sure of
ether. He thought it was once a week.
All in all, the ride here is ether up hill or down, fairly
challenging, and definitely worth the eight bucks they charge for
the ticket. But then I enjoy the uphill challenge almost as much
as the downhill run.
