Review of Avianto MTB trail Muldersdrift

Kindly note the following opinions are my own.  I am only reflecting what I personally like or dislike in a course.

I was last at Avianto in July 2014, so things may have changed.  When I go to it again I will update my ratings.

10 is good 1 is bad

Overall rating 6.6

The venue: 

Children: 6

Facilities: 8

Accessibility: 7

Cost: 8

The trail itself:

Security on trail: 7

Traffic Safety: 10

Fun: 3

Technicality: 6

Scenery:3

Obstructions 10

Maintenance: 9

Hill climbing: 6

Variation: 3

The venue: 

Children:  6

There is a children's play area and short route for children to cycle.  The reason I give it a 6 though is the children's route at the time of going there was very boring.  It was simply a shorter version of the Green and Blue routes.

Facilities: 8

Very clean and lovely showers.  There is a tap to wash bicycles.  I am unsure about whether food can be ordered or not.  

Accessibility: 7

Close to Johannesburg no rough roads all paved.  Slightly difficult to find the first time going as Avianto club is off a different road to the actual resort.

Cost: 8

Only R30 per person to cycle here.

The trail itself:

Security on trail:  7

I felt safe and did not feel threatened at any time.  I do however know that Muldersdrift has had serious problems so it is still better not to take this route alone.  

Traffic Safety: 10

At no time do you have to cross a busy road.  There are one or two roads which might have the occasional farm vehicle but you can spot them well in advance.  

Fun: 3  

I am sorry to say but I had the least fun at Avianto.  The start of the trail is incredibly boring.  You start out with a winding trail, going up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down.   Finally you go into farm lands and it is more interesting.  When you are very tired the trail becomes more interesting but too technical for a beginner.  I had to push most of the time because most of the end of the trail is filled with large loose rocks.  

Technicality: 6

I am sure that experienced mountain bikers will enjoy the trail much more than I did.   The blue route was too difficult for me in the last few kilo meters because the hills had a large amount of loose rocks and I pushed most of the time. This is probably be fun for the experienced mountain biker.  I have not tried the green route.  The reason I give technicality a 6 is because the technical difficulty in my opinion was all the same loose rocks.  There was little variation in the challenge.  

Scenery:3

This was the ugliest trail I have ever been on.  To be fair I have only been in mid winter.  The up and down winding at the beginning of the course is on a field with only grass.  You break off to the farm lands eventually which is more scenic but in no ways breath taking.  Finally you get to the rocky tough hills.  These are probably beautiful in summer but all I could see was rocks and more rocks.  The end bit is rather pretty and you go through a house ruin.  

Obstructions: 8

I did not encounter any obstructions.  The trail was very quiet when we cycled and I did not come across any other cyclists, pedestrians or vehicles.  There is the odd farm vehicle but we were not obstructed by any.

Maintenance: 9

The trail seems well maintained. 

Hill climbing:6

There is a lot of  difficult hill climbing at the end.  The hills would be easily manageable if it is was not for the loose rocks.  I give it a 6 as the hill climbing is all the same on the blue route.

Variation:  3

This is the most boring route that I have encountered.  Perhaps if I was an experienced mountain biker I would love the black route but this is an amateur opinion.  The winding up and down on the same hill at the beginning is boring to the extreme.  I don't remember any berms, bridges too cross or any other interesting obstacle besides the house foundation.