Welsh trail centres

shanta

Im new to mtb and am hoping to check out one of the Welsh trail centres this bank hol weekend. Thing is which one? I live in Worcestershire and would like to try somewhere not to far away (about 1.5hrs drive) as being as its my first welsh adventure. Could anyone please give me some advice as to where to go.

Thanks

stumpyjon

Any preference whether you go north or south?

I'm heading south to Cwmcarn and Afan. Cwmcarn is good but only has the one route (and downhill course). For more variety Afan should certainly fit the bill. The Penhydd route at Afan is a good introduction. Depending on exactly where you are in worcestershire I'd guess both will come in around the 1 to 1.5 hr mark down the M50 and along the M4.

I'm lucky as I'll be staying in Cardiff

shanta

Im in the B98 postcode. According to google maps it will take 2.5 hrs?

I take it by your name that you ride a Stumpy?

dave_hill

shanta wrote:

Im in the B98 postcode. According to google maps it will take 2.5 hrs?

You'll be lucky - I've just checked out Coed-y-Brenin which is (almost) due West of B98 and it's still 2.5 hours away at best. Probably the closest one to you in Wales in Coed Trallwm at Llanwrtyd Wells, but it's VERY small even then it's 2 hours away from you.

Have you considered Sherwood Pines or Cannock?

shanta wrote:

I take it by your name that you ride a Stumpy?

No, he's only 4 foot 11 and he's VERY sensitive about it...

shanta

Yeah, do cannock alot thats why im looking at going further afield. Whats Sherwood pines like then?

stumpyjon

dave_hill wrote:

No, he's only 4 foot 11 and he's VERY sensitive about it...

Yep, I don't like making other people feel small

07 Stumpjumper FSR Elite, amongst other things.

welshkev

the reason coed y brenin takes so long to get to is that it's all sh*it a roads, from worcestershire to afan should only take u about 2.5 hrs, i work in cardiff and work alot in birmingham and can drive that in 2 hrs quite easily.

why don't u go to afan for a day, then on the way back camp over at cwmcarn and do that the next day, as you're driving quite a way you may as well make a weekend of it.

BeardedDave

If you're new to MTB, I probably wouldn't recommend Cwn Carn. I know the first time I did it, I hated the first climb. It seemed to go on for ages and got pretty tricky in places.

Have you considered Llandegla? It's probably a bit closer to you than the others people have suggested. Not very technical either, just quite fast and flowey, so might be a good introduction to Welsh trail centres.

welshkev

i do agree with dave, that first climb is horrible..but worth it when you get to the top

philm

I think you can avoid a lot of that climb by going up the road, check the map out in the car park. Also after that 1st climb it's pretty much all downhill.

Phil

shanta

welshkev wrote:

the reason coed y brenin takes so long to get to is that it's all sh*it a roads, from worcestershire to afan should only take u about 2.5 hrs, i work in cardiff and work alot in birmingham and can drive that in 2 hrs quite easily.

why don't u go to afan for a day, then on the way back camp over at cwmcarn and do that the next day, as you're driving quite a way you may as well make a weekend of it.

That would have been great but unfortunately only got time for a one dayer. Whats Llandegla like ???? Is it worth the drive???


www.toniqueholistics.co.uk

dave_hill

shanta wrote:

That would have been great but unfortunately only got time for a one dayer. Whats Llandegla like ???? Is it worth the drive???

It's still over 2 hours drive away from B98 and it will be absolutely jammers this weekend .

welshkev

i don't know about llandegla, i've never been there. but like Dave_hill said, i bet everywhere will be packed this weekend if the weathers nice so just go and enjoy the vibe, meet some cool people and have a blast on the trails!!!

let me know how you got on, next time you're down we'll meet up for a blast around some local trails by me.

kev

shanta

cheers kev, judgung by the current weather forcast for the weekend it looks like it might be off anyway, fingers crossed. Will let you know what we do.



Just had a noisey at liandegla or what ever its called on youtube, looks pretty good. How the hell do you pronounce it anyway??

eddyesi

shanta wrote:

cheers kev, judgung by the current weather forcast for the weekend it looks like it might be off anyway, fingers crossed. Will let you know what we do.

Just had a noisey at liandegla or what ever its called on youtube, looks pretty good. How the hell do you pronounce it anyway??

said ch-land-eg - la

From south brum/north worsc its <2hrs with good trafic as it mainly dual carridgeway, no hope on a bank holiday though

Cwmcarn is great if you like technical climbing, hard but rewarding, and comming down is great, and its a little closer for you, we got back in 1.5hrs 8) ~85mls.

I found it more fun than LLandegla, which is a bit flat/smooth/booring for me and also has a long drawg at the start, and mainly booring fire road, most trail centres do though :? Gotta be fit enough to do 2 laps though, as its not much longer than the dog at cannock, so a bit of a waste just doing a <2hr ride Cafe does a good lunch to recover though

shanta

Thanks eddyesi,

looks like the weather has postponed thetrip for this week!

Your not mates with Mark Watton are you???

eddyesi

shanta wrote:

Thanks eddyesi,

looks like the weather has postponed thetrip for this week!

Your not mates with Mark Watton are you???

dont recognise the name :?