Editor's (Dana's) note: Looking back it's interesting to read my earlier reviews of Alafia and see the progression of my confidence and skill level. When you read my first reviews of Alafia, keep in mind that my skill level was around a "confident intermediate" and Alafia was not a state park yet (good signage wasn't in place yet). Alafia will hone your skills, thrill you and frustrate you all at the same time. My best piece of advice is "keep riding it". It gets better and better the more familiar you are with it. Only the very best riders with a keen sense of direction will get the most out of Alafia their first ride. For me, It's still a learning experience that I love every minute of. Also, recent trail signage has fixed much of my earlier navigational confusion.
Biking Log: Alafia State Park
by Dana Farnsworth
Logs are listed from most recent to oldest. There is a lot of useful information in the older logs (we made a lot of mistakes) so make sure to check those out as well.
02/27/04 Recent Trail Additions
A total of three new extensions/re-routes have been cut this winter at Alafia. Great job SWAMP! All of them are top notch riding. My favorite has to be the optional route at Moonscape, although the engineering of the extension of the short (unnammed) advanced level loop off of Rock Garden is worthy of notice.
The trails are in generally great shape. There was some standing water on portions of Rock Garden, but most trails remain relatively dry for the most part.
After busting my bike twice last weekend on Moonscape, I was a little less daring today. I would like to get a few rides in before I break anything else on my bike!
10/12/03 General Update and Reggie's Crashes
Just a note of general nature to say that Alafia has been open as a State Park since August. There is a new entrance (about a mile south of the north trailhead/parking area), a new trailhead which is very nice (bathrooms, playground, bike wash, picnic areas) and great new signage. Currently the summer rains have tailed off and the trails are in incredible shape. Today was my third ride here this week and I must say, I never tire of Alafia. Today I rode with my good friends Reggie and Larry. Reggie "ate shit" several times today including a spectacular tumble of about 30' over a ridge, taking out small trees and bouncing off of rocks along the way. He was relatively uninjured - unfortunately I didn't think to bring my camera to capture the carnage! Come riding at Alafia - it's a first class facility with first class trails.
Visitor's Log
6/28-29/03: Everything Dana said it would be and a bag of chips!
Moonscape, Rollercoaster, Rock Garden, Rabbit Ears trails
by Christopher Burk
Dana's Note: Christopher was visiting me from West Virginia when we did this ride
When you tell someone you're going to Florida to go mountain biking, it produces about the same reaction as telling them you're going scuba diving in West Virginia. It just doesn't seem natural. Yes, there are better places to go but if time is short, or your travel budget is empty, anything is possible. Besides, some of the best locations are in the most unlikely of places.
It's always good to get a second opinion. In this case, it will be a third opinion on mountain biking in Alafia State Park. Jeff rode it last December and now it was my turn. Alafia is Dana's favorite place to ride and in a land of sand, sun and swamps, I can see why.
Alafia is very different from what I am use to riding. There is a greater premium placed on riding ability and being able to shift your weight quickly than stamina. There are very few sustained climbs. It is mostly ridge trails, short drops and climbs. If you can carry your speed riding down, the climb back out is fairly easy.
I had a chance to ride two days at Alafia on two different bikes and enjoyed them both, the days and the bikes. We rode the area somewhat in reverse since we rode the advanced trails the first day and the more intermediate trails the second. Although I have to admit there isn't much difference between the two types of trails. The drops and climbs on the advanced trails are larger and there are more of them, but the intermediate trails have their share of tough technical sections. I think the biggest difference is the intermediate trails seem to give the rider the option of riding through or around the tough stuff. On the advanced trails it's "Do or Die," or as Chuck proved with a spectacular endo, it's "Do and almost die."
Overall I did well riding in Alafia and had a blast. Yes, I walked some sections but I also rode some that Dana didn't think I would. I had a couple of spectacular wipeouts along with one nasty one that tweaked my groin - but I survived. And although I constantly cursed the platform pedals I was riding with the first day, I have to admit it wasn't pedals as much as my inability to ride with the pedals, especially when I needed to blast through the terrain.
April - 03 Update of general nature
I've ridden Alafia three times this week, and it really is starting to be great! SWAMP club members along with State Park officials recently erected some great signage that will help navigate the trail system. Also SWAMP put up a new and revised map that I've got a link to above. It's the best map to date. It still doesn't have the North parking lot on it, but it's still a huge imrovement. Also, a new trail was cut recently that is a short loop attached to Moonscape. It's very nice! My friend and riding buddy Ernie Claxton help build it too! The trails currently are in great shape!
3/03 - Update: Riding the newest Trail "Gatorback"
The newest red (or advanced) trail "Gatorback" was intitially named "Dangerous". It is all that and a bag of chips! It's off of the intermediate trail "Bridges". I rode it with a new acquaintance named Reggie. On a day that rain had left the clay surfaces slick, a new trail was going to be interesting. I had already dished myself a couple of times earlier on Moonscape.
Gatorback is full of long, steep drops, I mean REALLY steep and long drops punctuated by equally steep rises on the other side - so steep that using your brakes more than half-way down most of the declines ensures a very difficult if not impossible climb back up. Several sections are incredibly technical and very difficult. I spent a lot of time walking and looking at sections to get a good look at the lines. At one point Reggie was telling me about an an alligator that was on the trail a couple of weeks prior. Low and behold, there he was again! A 6' alligator named Charlie was basking himself not 40' off of the side of the trail. So beware and try not to let this shock you! Later I wiped out after sliding down a slippery drop. It's hard to explain how it happened in words - but needless to say, I ended up sitting on my brake lever, bending the crap out of it and putting a nice bruise on my ass! Needless to say, I can't believe how difficult this trail is, it certainly is a challenge for this above average ability rider. If you are up for it, give it a go!
Visitor's Log
12/15/02 - Starting Out with a Bang, Frustration, and then Redemption!
Moonscape, Roller Coaster (expert) and portions of Rock Garden, a blue loop, Rock Garden, (intermediate)
by Jeff Cobb
Dana's Note: Jeff was visiting me from West Virginia when we did this ride
The second stop on my barnstorming tour of Florida's hottest mountain biking spots took us to Alafia. If the day before at Withlachoochee was the warmup, then Alafia was the beast that was going to kick my butt! I was on Dana's wife Kelli's Giant Warp DS3 today, a nice full suspension bike. It was perfect biking weather in Tampa, about 62 degrees and sunny. We rode out of the parking lot innocently enough on a single track access trail. This warmup was complete with large, LARGE puddles of water. Little did we know, this would be a precursor of things to come. I didn't feel very chipper during the warmup. Since I hadn't ridden much before the visit to Tampa, I wasn't in the best shape, and my butt was certainly not conditioned; let's just say that the padded shorts didn't help much. It was at this point that we dove into Moonscape, an expert rated trail. Torture! My skills were not well honed after my long layoff and I ended up pushing my bike up and down many hills. I was also very hesitant and timid about tackling some of the scarier portions of the trail. I was really getting mad at myself. Finally, I made it up a tough little hill and then Dana talked me into going down a fairly steep descent. After that, I went back and did the hill again and I was off and running. My confidence and skills started coming back to me. The rest of the ride was a blast. It had rained (a lot) in Tampa during the days before my arrival, so many of the lower trails were soupy and wet. One section was completely flooded so we ended up basically "surfing" across the backwater on a bridge that was off it's moorings and just floating in the water. When we got back to the cars, I was fired up. I had forgotten how much fun mountain biking could be! Alafia is a blast. Just remember that the first trail you will have an option to ride is the hardest trail at Alafia. Don't get frustrated and hang in there. You won't regret it.
12/05/02 - Many trails are closed due to recent heavy rains. Moonscape (red trail) is open and relatively dry. New signage that I assume is temporary, given that the signs are laminated paper stapled to a stick, has been poping up all over the trail system. Although I know the routine now, I can see how the signage could be very useful for the first-time-or-two rider. Kudos! Also, I've recently enjoyed the yellow (beginner) trail (Sand Pine) that is directly east of moonscape. I can report that it is a wonderful trail full of twist and turns with a couple of small rollers for good measure. It certainly is a trail that most moderately experienced riders can enjoy.
11/25/02 - A park ranger was in the parking lot this morning. By asking, I finally figured out how my map works. I was way off in my early assumptions. The map isn't perfect, but based on the people I met today, the overwhelming comment was "nice map"!
Other than that, it was a busy day at Alafia. Lots of riders on the trails, which actually made me push myself a little harder as I could see other riders lines and techniques for traversing some of the more difficult trail sections. The more I ride this park, the more I love it. Give it some time, practice and patience and don't get down on yourself for blowing a descent or a climb, almost everyone does. Repition is key at mastering Alafia. I can't recommend it more.
11/10/02 - I just wanted to do a quick update and say that the more I ride at Alafia, the better feel I'm getting for its navigation. The trails are still kicking my butt, but I enjoy it. Today I pushed my bike up and down stuff I wasn't ready to ride, ran into a tree, spun out, had to dismount many times, and generally misread a lot of sections of the trail. Alafia is certainly challenging and interesting. The Blue Trail that I found today, was twisty, tight and technical in parts. Canted turns with a descent, rising back up sharply between two trees tight on the sides of the trail and then canting back into a turn could easil describe most of the Blue section. There was a few sections that wound gently through forested, jungley areas that allowed me to catch my breath.
I eventually wandered back into Roller Coaster, the expert section (Red) again, and rode a few less-than-death daring sections. I completely bonked and had to take a quick rest. Although I didn't get lost today, I still have no clue how the map works in conjunction with the trail system. I even had a nice couple ask me for directions. It's nice to know, that your not alone in the confusion of this trail system. I'm sure I'll figure it out sooner or later. For now though, it's all about visual recall and repitition. If you get discouraged riding Alafia the first time, as I did, all I can say is, give it some time, and you'll probably grow to love the challenge as I have.
11/03/02 - I returned today to see if I could make sense of the trails and to actually ride some of the trails, in light of my first failed attempt. Today must have been an organized ride for the local bike club, SWAMP, because the parking lot was quickly filling up with bike riders. One thing I've noticed about Alafia, you don't see too many, if any department store bikes in the parking lot. I believe that this is a sign of some seriously good trails.
This time, I rode a little farther up the double track than on my first ride and entered a blue (intermediate) trail that I think was in the southeast side of the park (it was Rock Garden). The trail undulated up and down, climb and descent, some portions banking into turns at the top or bottom. I surprised myself by making a few descents that I probably would have questioned if I took the time to think about it.
Eventually the trail looped back around and I found myself back on the sandy double track road that runs through the center of the park. I rode a few other blue sections that were as equally as challenging and ended up at a junction I had previously been at. One of the riders I had seen in the parking lot was kind enough to show me where I was on my map. With my first good bearing, I headed off again, peddling through a wooded section of the southern end of the Moonscape loop. The trail was similar to the other blue trails, in that it was very challenging and demanding. Eventually I rode through a grassy clearing that lead me back into an ominous place; the area that I first wandered into during my first ride in Alafia, that scared the poop out of me. I thought to myself that I could ride this section - I was prepared with knowledge this time. This particular area is for advanced riders, but I found that there is enough crisscrossing sections to allow intermediate riders, like myself, alternate choices. I passed on the most aggressive routes, but still rode some pretty serious single track.
The descents here are steep, short, fast and rooted, with vertical ascents immediately following. At one point I was riding along and came upon a descent that I was surprised I went down. At the top of the next ascent, I stopped, looked back and felt elated. These trails are a rush, and I had just advanced my skill and intestinal fortitude a little bit.
On my way back to the sandy road, twisting and undulating down tight and curvey single track; I felt very good about my ride. I had, figured out a few trails, and advanced my skills and developed some "feel" to Alafia. I pedaled back to the car with a quicker than normal pace with giant grin on my face.
10/26/02: Round 1: Alafia off-road trail system 1, Outdoor Travels 0
My first ride at the legendary Alafia State Park was long anticipated. After all, it was to be the site of the Olympic Mountain Biking Competition, if Tampa was chosen as a future Olympic venue. It has to be great, right? Well, after my first experience, I would say the answer lies somewhere in between incredible and confusing.
Our first problem arose shortly after arriving at the grassy parking area for Alafia State Park. As of this writing, the facilities for the park are being built. However, for now, a grassy parking area off of State Route 39 is the facilities for the recreational area that Alafia currently is. This in itself is not a problem. The problem is that the trailhead that is there is NOT on any map I had seen. We pulled out of the lot, and went down the road to look for a dirt road that is on our map, that looked like it went to a trailhead that was on our map. Wrong. The road is impassible to anything but a truck. As we learned later, you're not supposed to be on it anyway. Back to the parking lot we went. This time I asked a couple of locals for advice. Their first words were "forget about that map, there isn't a good map of the area around now." They proceeded to pull out a laminated satellite photo of the park, with the trails highlighted on them. "We got this off of the web, and it's not very good either", they proclaimed. As I looked closer, the trails highlighted on their map coincided with my map. So I'm assuming the map is a good map; perhaps it just isn't as detailed as it should be.
Okay, now I needed to tackle problem number two. The ONLY trailhead at the ONLY entrance isn't on my map. The locals assured me that this trail connected with the others. One of the guys, drew a crude map in the dirt, while a new bystander agreed that it's all messed up. Fine and dandy, we were off on the mystery trail. This trail is a grassy flat trail that is about a mile long. It connects with a double track sandy road that runs through the park. Here is where I think the main trail head on my map was supposed to be. Here is the problem I realized about riding a trail that isn't on your map: even if it does connect with the main trail system that is on your map, you don't know exactly where it connects, and so you never have a good bearing to go by.
We crossed a sandy road, that I think is a section of the one we tried to drive down earlier, and headed across it to the first trail to our right that went towards the woods. In a very short period of time, we were going down some very fun short descents that immediately ascended back up. After the first two, my wife Kelli balked at a steeper one. After some deliberation, she decided that I should go on, and she would go back and ride the double track that runs through the middle of the park.
I continued on, and the trail got tougher. The turns became quick, the trail narrow, the dips very steep; the climb on the other side as equally as steep. Just as I thought it couldn't get harder it did! The drops got steeper and rooted. I bailed out. I just don't have the guts or skill at this time to descend a steep drop that is uneven and heavily rooted. I have no real problems with descending, but obstacles, big ones, do concern me. So, as I pushed my bike up and down a couple of those short and steep drops, I thought to myself that it was indeed a good idea that Kelli turned around. I was actually wishing I did too.
This area, which I can't tell you for sure which area it is, is a small crisscrossing loop bobbing wildly through the forest. I believe it is part of the expert trail "Moonscape". There are a couple of narrow short plank bridges that have clavicle snapping drops immediately off to one or the other side, making precise steering a must. When I finally found my way out, and reached the road again, I stopped to check my compass and map to attempt to find my bearing as well as an easier trail. No luck. I SERIOUSLY couldn't find anything on my map that resembled the short loop I had just had been spanked on.
I headed out on the double track searching for another trailhead. What I found was my wife. After telling her my story, she felt better. Apparently, us both failing is better than one of us! At any rate, we were determined to ride something at Alafia. I had driven around an hour, and looked so forward to this. We ended up asking another couple that had a vague idea of where "some trail" was. We headed that direction. We did indeed find a trail that ended up circling us right back to the road. Finally a happy looking couple came towards us. "Do you have any idea of where we are" I asked. "Well, yes I do" the guy replied. As I pulled my map out of my pack, his first words were' "Oh, forget that, it's no good". So, tell me what the hell am I doing trying to navigate from the only map I can find, that every local laughs at? At any rate, he was glad to offer us some choices. We chose to ride a blue marked trail that is intermediate, but changed our minds when we found a nearby beginner trail. I really wanted to ride SOMETHING today. So this seemed like a good choice, if not for me, but for both of us.
We headed back into the woods, on a narrow, twisty rooted piece of single track, (River Loop) not difficult to ride, just demanding. Soon, the trail became overgrown, with branches of plant with nasty burrs on them overlapping the trail. I lost Kelli and stopped to wait on her. She caught up and was game to continue. Well, she was, her bike on the other hand, said, screw it! PPPSSSSSSSSSSSSUSSSSSSP! I turned around to see what had happened. "Um, the tire just exploded" Kelli said, or something to that effect. I took a look at it. The rear valve stem had snapped off cleanly, causing a sudden and loud loss of all air from the tire. F@#$K! I thought to myself. This isn't turning out to be what I had hoped it would be, not even close.
So, we were to the best of my dead reckoning ability, about four miles from our car. I adjusted the seat on my bike, gave it to Kelli and began the long push back to the car. It's funny how much longer it takes to cover a seemingly short distance when you were on a bike. She stayed with me and we chatted under the now hot mid-day Florida sun.
When we arrived back at the car, I felt as though Alafia, had spanked my ass and kicked me out the door, all without seeing what it really is all about. What I learned is that I had first wandered onto a red trail, meaning an advance level. I still can't tell you why the trails didn't seem to match my map. They very well may, but it never seemed to be correct. We heard that when Alafia is officially a constructed State Park that the road that runs through the middle of the park will be accessible to the trailhead area that was on our map. As McArthur said, "I shall return"! I will, that's a promise. It seems to have some great, very challenging riding; you just need to figure it out with time. Until the park is fully developed, I would suggest riding with a local if at all possible on your first trip or two. Hopefully I will be able to report more about this exciting biking venue.
All was not lost! On our way home, Kelli spotted a little roadside shack that had a sign out front advertising tacos and other Mexican fare. I like finding interesting places to eat; this one had a lot of interesting potential. The little metal trailer with a plywood sign propped up in front that read Taqueria Chelita's was busy serving Mexican immigrant orange pickers who sat in little plastic chairs in the shade watching Spanish TV. We had a choice of tacos, gorditas or fajitas in pork, chicken or barbeque beef. We ordered up some very tasty beef barbeque tacos. If you crave truly authentic Mexican food, to help cleanse your wounds after riding Alafia, then you can't go wrong here. We were the only gringos there. For a short period of time I actually thought I was in Mexico. Taqueria Chelita's is easy to find. It's at the corner of SR 39 and SR 60, a couple of miles north of the park, behind a gas station on the northwest corner.
