First ride.. The Wall, Afan !!!!!

canada16

Well I got to say wow, what a climb, I cant even lift my beer.

It was amazing at the top and the ride down was great as well.

But I got to say toward the bottom if became a bit of DH riding, the boulders and tree stumps and roots made it real hazardous.

I can see why they call it the graveyard, one wrong move and you get a quick trip down the mountain. That is single track, so if someone better is behind its hard to stop to let them pass.

One of the sections was down as trees fell, so they put up a bridge and you had to go another way.

I would go again, but my legs and arms are killing me.

stumpyjon

Addictive isn't it. I did Cwm Carn Twrch trail one day, the wall and Penhydd the next, had a day off and did White's level on the fourth (and then slept........).

If you liked the Wall, give White's a go, even more climbing and descending and more technical.

canada16

I found the bottom section a bit too technical, it seems as though the bad weather we had has washed away all the dirt and left exposed stones and roots.

I full suss santa cruz bike went over in front of me, and you could tell he knew what he was doing,

Might do penryyd with my mate next week as he has never done trails before.

My fitness was just not up towards the end.

Will do whites after I get my fitness back up and have done the wall a few more times.

Its nice I only live 45 min away, going to cwmcarn again as another mate has only done afan.

It was an eye opener compaired to cwmcarn xc thats for sure, I think you need more ability to do the wall, compaired to cwmcarn

pjm-84

Down to go on the 14/15th March so glad of your report.

Legs also sore as well as I'm in training for Afan

guilliano

I loved Whites when I went over that way.... Pehydd was great for the variety of trail, but I never got to ride The Wall

Will be heading back first week of May for a slightly longer trip, so will be aiming to do Skyline and the Whites/Wall hybrid in that time. Just hope I can stay at the same B&B in Cymmer as both the hosts and the locals at the pub were fantastic!

stumpyjon

I think Cwm Carn is pretty techincal, particularly on the climb. I struggled a bit on the Energy section of White's (I'm not used to table tops), I did realise at the end of the section that I'd done it with my rear shock locked out and the travel wound down on my forks (forgot to reset the bike after the fireroad climb following the black loop).

canada16

I think I might have done whites then as well if you said they meet up.

As we kept following the red sign to the wall, but there was a black one below if as well.

It was rough but hey no war wounds.

Damn cafe was shut, 4:00pm on a sat, and so were the toilets outside.

P.s it said W2 in black and red square on top.

guilliano

Unless you rode a fair amount of fireroad between the climb and descent you were still on The Wall. The W2 trail is about 40km in total and spits you out by a couple of ponds and Skyline Cycles (if you start at The Wall)

punctureboy

so cwmcarn is the easiest technically out of that and the afan trails? i rode it for the first time yesterday, and found the uphill section tough technically.

i was fine with the rest of the trail apart from one part where i cant see how it can be rolled, without your front wheel getting caught between 2 roots and getting thrown off. i'm not quite up to jumping yet.

was thinking about trying afan next, but given what you lot are saying i might go back to cwmcarn a couple more times first.

mookiebaylock

Cwmcarn is a harder climb (technically) but the downhill section is nice and easy....fast and swoopy!
The climbing for The Wall is a bit boring really...fire roads are not fun! But the rest is awesome so well worth it (you gotta get to the top somehow)

stumpyjon

Personally I think Penhydd is the easiest technically. Canada16, the black bit I was talking about is an extra loop on Whites. The W2 trail actually combines White's and the Wall (hence W2) and is a monster of a ride. White's is quite a bit further up the valley.

canada16

It did say W2 in black.

There was one part towards the bottom, were it dropped down then up with big boulders and roots, then between trees, then back down again with rocks.

I thought I was on a DH course.

Dont really know, but for those who are thinking about doing it without much riding under your belt, get your leg muscles up and arms as well.

You need to do a lot of standing up and sitting down and it takes its toll.

Well got the wall and cwmcarn x2 under my belt now, Next im signing up for fort williams

stumpyjon

To be fair W2 is graded as a black route because of the distance (it combines two pretty technical red routes).

The extra black bit on White's is graded black because of the technical nature of the riding, huge berms and a fairly scary vertical (felt like anyway) rocky drop. I walked that bit

I'm back down to see the inlaws after Easter so I'll be bringing the bike and hitting Afan & Cwm Carn again, might pootle over to Brechfa if I get the chance (oooo I love my mother inlaw, or at least where she lives ).

P-Jay

Cwmcarn's can bite you if you're not carefull. It's also a tougher climb than anything at Afan (unless you cheat and go up the road :oops: ) thing with Cwmcarn is it's very easy to pile on a hell of a lot of speed if you like, which is nice, but means if you're new to it you can go slower.

Penhydd's a peach of a trail, it's a technical as you want to make it, by far the easiest of the Afan trails, but if you're on one it's got some nice little postman pat looking mini bridges you can get some good air off, a sweet little road drop with a very narrow landing, a very steep and rocky run that taken flat out takes some skill to ride out and it end with a 90o turn into a river crossing.

The wall as above is a boring climb, followed by a tough climb section, meaderes around the top for a bit, then flies down flat out. If you know the way you can skip a bit of the climb and the top bit and just do the final descent. Yeah it's got some slippery off camber bits, roots, loose rocks, muddy sections that never dry and if it's summer you come into the very last downhill bit completely blind because it's so dark and theirs little compressions you wont see till you cleared or crashed. That why I like it! Ha ha.

Rode White's today, as you might be able to tell I'm pretty local so I've done all of them countless times. I hate the climb, it's really nasty at the start, goes forever and the roots spin my tyres (ramped highrollers don't do slippery climbing) but the way down! every section bar the (IMHO) shit energy section is great, fast, grippy, rocky, berms and lots of pretty big rocks to jump off at the edges of the trail.

But if you want the best riding action off the M4, you've got to go the extra 3/4 of a hour down to Brecfa.

canada16

Been looking at some you tube footage.

I cant belive the guy I went with thought that was a normal xc course.

I would say cwmcarn was normal, but Trying to ride up boulders and roots that are like 2 feet and 3 feet high and then going down the same thing was a bit of an experiance,

The rocks were jumping your back end, and you had a 50-100ft drop beside you which was 3 inches away, it was harry at times.

But hey I would do it again

mbnut

Went to Afan for a couple of days with some guys from the forum...

Left kent at 03:00 and rode Penydd and the Wall first day and Whites and July the next before going back to Kent.

We had a great time and really ragged the trails... the final climb on the July trail was a ba****d but i loved the trip...

All the trails are great and the faster you ride them they change... Penydd Sidewinder is possibly the best when truely nailed... rolled its ok so it does depend....

Strongly worded email re the showers shop and toilets beig shut and hour earlier than stated will be sent though... bloody annoying

canada16

Yeh it was jamed their on saturday and so many people wanted food and they closed the toilets and cafe, and they were standing in the visitor centre having a giggle.

Just make sure you get food before you go, or get to cafe in plenty of time.

RhysD

canada16 wrote:

Might do penryyd with my mate next week as he has never done trails before.

you still planning on this? I was going to try Afan for the 1st time this weekend (done cwmcarn quite a few times) and my usual biking buddies can't make it. Would rather not visit a trail center on my jack jones, if I can help it really.

Setting off from Cardiff sunday morning.

canada16

pm'd ya.

Can only do sats

Gwaredd

Me & a few mates are off up there this Sunday. Planning to to the wall first, bit of lunch & then either Penydd or whites after.

If you see a big silver sign van rock up about 10.30, say hi & feel free to join us if you're on your Jack Jones.

norfolkguy

I got to spend a week at Afan last year and it was a really great place. Did The Wall as well as all the other rides and it is excellent. Only problem I had was on the nice steep desent at the end, my rear brake failed! I'll have to do it again with fresh pads next time!

stumpyjon

^^ fun isn't it, I had the same happen on Penhydd, the sidewinder section ate my rear pads. Finished the route with the caliper cable tied to my saddle, couldn't get the pistons apart far enough and couldn't get the new pads out either until I got home and they wouldn't fit over the rotor :oops: ).

Gwaredd

Well that was bloody fun! Did the Wall & then Penhydd after lunch yesterday & loved it. Like others, I found the climb on the wall a bit boring, but half way up it spits you off for a bit of downhill (& a breather) before climbing again. Nice touch that, & the view at the top is great.

The climb to the top of Penhydd was much tougher than the wall - so relentless, but worth it. Sidewinder bit is great. Fitness wise we all coped fine, but it was a lot more technical than we're used to here in Salisbury plain!

Will deffo go back soon & camp overnight. Want to do the W2 trail & Skyline next.

pjm-84

Up there on the 14th and going to ride all 4 trails.

http://www.wiggleblog.com/2009/02/24/ma ... in-one-go/

Something I've wanted to do for a while but overtrained and Flu the end of last year put paid to it.

If you're around look out for a big guy on a Trek Top Fuel 9.0