wales

clarkson

will be going to wales in july time. however, ive never been there before, and dont really know which would be the best place to go. i mostly ride trails, but am partial to the odd drop/jump and would like to perhaps have a go at a dh track. i was thinking about maybe cwmcarn as i believe theres a trail centre there. does anyone have any suggestions as to a better place to go?

fasterthanaspeedingbullet

Loads of places to go!

Try these for starters -

www.mbwales.com

www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-6RLFD3

www.coedllandegla.com

clarkson

cheers fella, am having a look now.

peteball

you could do a great trip by going to Afan and doing Skyline and Whites and then head on up the road to the Gorlech trail at Brechfa.

...although the best riding is probably out in the Brecons...

clarkson

yer, i was thinking the brecon beacons. i googled it the other day and it looks brilliant. my parents, who arent bikey people, will be going too so i ant mess em around too much. just so long as im fairly close to the trails.im used to doing a fair bit of road to get to my local ones anyway so that isnt a problem.

fenella

brecon beacons is great, but the trail centres are good if you're limited for time and/or cant read a map. re trail centres i'd go to either afan in the south or brenin in the north (depending which is easiest to get to for you). both have enough to keep you occupied for more than one day, plus you can also do the marin trail (near brenin), or cwm carn on the way back from afan. cwmcarn doesnt drain that well btw.
i prefer afan, but i'd personally avoid skyline, unless you enjoy putting in miles of fireroad - the descent is very good tho (lots of stuff to drop), so could use the whites climb to get to the start of that instead? whytes also has lots of roocks to drop off of, but the chicken runs are now so pronounced, that you'll have to watch out for them or you'll miss em. whites also has a bit of low wide northshore built into it (more southcoast than northshore...) and a black run jumpy bit (which shouldnt really be rated black). penhydd & the wall are also very good imo.

dave_hill

Llandegla and Penmachno in the North (no visitor centre at Penmachno)

Coed-Y-Brenin in Mid Wales

clas

coed y brenin is great there is more than 1 weeks riding there as long as you dont mind doing some bits more than twice try the dreamtime and pink heifer sections! . Cwmcarn is good but will be a dissapointment if you go a long way just to get there (it does have a DH track though) Afan is the best in SWales and as fenella says is about the same as Brenin (I dont think its quite as good though!) and skyline is not for bad weather as the fire road bashes get a bit dismal.

clarkson

thanks for all your imput fellas! ive mentioned the brecon beacons to the parents, but my dad is put off by the fact that in the south apparently the people from merthyr tydfil come and burn you cars. is this true or is it bollocks? i did suggest just going to the north bit instead then.

is afan near/in the beacons or not? sorry i dont really know anything at all about wales.

thanks for all your help so far though!

fenella

clarkson wrote:

my dad is put off by the fact that in the south apparently the people from merthyr tydfil come and burn you cars. is this true or is it bollocks?

LOL... er yes. thats bollocks. and probably quite offensive.

afan is close to port talbot, which is not a nice place to stay (although the streets dont seem to be lined with burnt out cars) - theres better places closer to the trails. like cymmer. brecon beacons is a protected national park & the whole area is beautiful.

look it up yourself, lazy... google is your friend.

clarkson

lol, thanks. i am loking it up myself, but also seeing what other people think. But thanks anyway.