Mindbender

Dogs Off-leash

E-Bikes Unknown

Bauxite now has two ways in and two ways out. The newly added (October 2016) Mindbender is steeper and more technical than the existing Forest Lane thus making it an obvious choice to take Forest Lane up, if parking at the cemetery, and Mindbender down.

Another obvious benefit is that when descending at over 25 MPH, it's best not to be on a two-way singletrack trail. The fork at the trailhead is a great way to separate that traffic and the natural terrain dictates that Forest Lane is the easier path up while Mindbender is the more entertaining way down.

Mindbender is a twisty trail with switchbacks, jumps, pumps and a small but intense jump at the bottom. There are short, straight sections where you can gain some appreciable speed in just a couple dozen feet. When ridden as intended, it's a challenging thrill ride that is one of the harder trails in a system that is at its hardest, easy-intermediate.

So you know, I have ridden Mindbender against the grain and it is a harder climb than Forest Lane and all of the trail features are meaningless as you grind up and over the jumps and pump areas and through the switchbacks.

Consistent with the Biology Trail, Friends of White Oak Mountain keep making their trails better and better at every opportunity.