Ray's Sport & Cycle Leads Ride For Wilderness Wheelers Ride

This weekend was a lot of fun. Mike, one of the mechanics at Rays Sport & Cycle, and I got to be part of Wilderness Wheelers weekend ride. Wilderness Wheelers is a ATV Club based in Bigfork, MN. They go on a different trail in the area every third Saturday of the summer months. This weekend they took the Pengilly to Albourn trail. Trail maintenance is provided by the Range Riders ATV Club.

I was told that the trail was unexciting considering it is completely straight, but I was surprised how nice and enjoyable it was. Along the trail you come across a lot of different landscapes and trails. Some parts are are rocky while other spots are sandy.

Along the trail I also the enjoyed diverse bridges you come across. From old style railroad brides to narrow wood bridges. Crossing the St. Louis and Whiteface Rivers are a beautiful and picturesque bonus to the trail system.  

You will also venture through an area in a bog, which we did see an increase in bugs. We saw swarms of dragon flies and even had a big bumble bee come in our SXS, which was a few seconds of yelling "bee", for it had landed on my sister who graciously came with me for the adventure. Luckily, it exited without any crying lol. I do have to remark that even though we did not go with a large group, the temp was around 85 degrees that day so it was rather warm and there was a lot of dust! That said we had our FOX goggles and Nek Soks from KLIM and 509. Which made a huge difference and made experience enjoyable, even with the dust cloud. 

This is what the MN DNR say about the trial and I thought was a good description of the trail:

This 39-mile trail follows an old abandoned railroad grade between the cities of Pengilly and Alborn in northeast Minnesota. Traveling through wooded bogs and upload forests, riders cross old railroad trestles that offer scenic views of the streams and rivers below. The flat grade and little terrain variation are ideal for beginners. Trail maintenance is provided by Itasca County and the Range Riders ATV Club.

We stopped at the Alborn Tavern for lunch and for somewhere I have never been, I was really impressed. Word has it, they are known for their Garlic Burger, which I did order. It was a grilled bun with a 1/2 inch think burger that was juicy and well done, but not over done, with a garlic butter sauce on top of the burger. And it was delicious! Everything every one got was well received and the waitress was one of the best I've had in quite a while. She was great! I also want to complement them on their very reasonable prices. I would definitely go back again! FYI if you go check out the tree in the girls bathroom, we go a good chuckle over it. :-)

Over all, it was a good day with good people. One lady even said it was a day where you smell the flowers without actually stopping which I thought really applied to this ride and there were a lot of different flowers to be seen. Thank you again Wilderness Wheelers for having us from Rays Sport & Cycle at your event!

DIRTY FUN! Had by all! 

ACE