Skyline Afan

shanta

Im going to Afan for the first time this weekend and was wondering if the skyline trail is a bit much to do in one go, what can i expect at Afan??

Stumpy Ade

Consider w2 it takes in whites and the wall, a challenging ride but worthwhile. Although I haven't done skyline I have heard mixed reports. w2 is fun,fun fun with a bit of climb, climb, climb thrown in.

shanta

Really, im going with the missus and i reckon a black might be a bit technical for her.

GHill

Penhydd is the easiest trail and still a lot of fun.

The Wall is a bit longer and a bit more technical.

shin0r

The full Skyline is 46km with a 7km final descent, unless you're fit it will kill you.

deadliest

White's Level and or Penhydd . . . The wall in my opinion is the worst trail out of them all.

White's level has an awesome climb up through tree's on singletrack mostly and a fantastic section of descents, Penhydd has a long fireroad climb and again awesome descents.

ExeterSimon

The Wall in the morning, beans on toast in the cafe for lunch then Whites in the afternoon.

Penhydd is a boring fireroad climb but the descent is worth it. As someone said Whites is a nice climb through the trees but the downhill is disrupted by an annoying short climb.

I prefer the Wall's descent out of the lot...although the climb is interupted by some fireroad.

Skyline wasn't for me.

nferrar

Not tried Skyline yet (going to soon though), but fave combination so far is Whites then Penhydd. Also doing Whites climb then diverting onto Jetlag (last descent on Skyline) is a good option if running short on time (or don't want to move to the old trail centre)

llamafarmer

I've only done the Wall and Penhydd (you can ride both in a day from the old trail centre), but I really like them both and they're not so daunting and technical that they'd put off inexperienced riders. Penhydd is my personal favourite and probably the easier of the two, but they're both great fun.

Expect some hard climbing, but the great views and loooooong fast singletrack more than make up for it!

You can cut a big loop of fireroad off the start of the Wall from the old trail centre if you know where the shortcut is too

andrewjoseph

AS the others have said, skyline is not for the inexperienced or 'not so fit'. However, you don't have to do the black run, it is optional.

the final descent is quite technical too, especially if you are tired and concentration is off.

try penhydd first to see how you all cope, then you can progress to the other trails.

gpsBRM

Skyline was a huge disapointment when we tried it last year, not all it was hyped up to be. Yes it is long but thats about it. The new W2 trail is way better.

Stumpy Ade

shanta wrote:

Really, im going with the missus and i reckon a black might be a bit technical for her.

I could be in the minority but I think the most daunting part for a novice is the final descent (goodwood ? ) of white's. Quite a few smallish drop off's with no chicken runs. Other than that, it's all quite manageable.

Has anyone mentioned the climbs ?

Anonymous

I been to Afan once a few weeks back at the Glyncorrwg centre and did the 'skyline' route which I really enjoyed it and did it in 4.5 hours with a few breaks for food and enjoy the views, I wanted to try the 'White's level' before going home but my legs was dead!

On my next visit, I plan to try 'white's level' and the 'wall' they are 1.5 hour per loop according the website.

Can you correct me if I am right or wrong please:

GLYNCORRWG CENTRE
skyline- the big one with a mixture of everything
white's level- 1.5 loop with fast downhill and berms
black- very dificult and rocky
W2-?

OLD TRAIL CENTRE (closer to the M4)
wall- 1.5 hoop with some wooden platforms
penhydd- ?

shanta

Which is the "old centre" and which is best for a base?

M1llh0use

first trip to any trail centre last weekend as to afan and did W2 (1st part of the wall and 2nd part of whites. stopped for lunch at Glyncorrwg then first part of whites and 2nd part of the wall)

Darkside decent to glycorrwg is great

energy section of whites is amazing!

The 1st climb of whites almost killed me.

final decent of the wall was also f*ckin awesome!!

Best day out in years :twisted: can't wait to go back!!

Stumpy Ade

M1llh0use wrote:

first trip to any trail centre last weekend as to afan and did W2 (1st part of the wall and 2nd part of whites. stopped for lunch at Glyncorrwg then first part of whites and 2nd part of the wall)

Darkside decent to glycorrwg is great

energy section of whites is amazing!

The 1st climb of whites almost killed me.

final decent of the wall was also f*ckin awesome!!

Best day out in years :twisted: can't wait to go back!!

Amen to that brother

wordnumb

guybe wrote:

Can you correct me if I am right or wrong please:

GLYNCORRWG CENTRE
skyline- the big one with a mixture of everything
white's level- 1.5 loop with fast downhill and berms
black- very dificult and rocky
W2-?

OLD TRAIL CENTRE (closer to the M4)
wall- 1.5 hoop with some wooden platforms
penhydd- ?

Yep. Skyline has plenty of fire road linking the singletrack sections, I think it's a phenominal ride due to the variety of singletrack. I'd argue that you don't need to be superfit to ride this - so long as you allow enough time and take plenty to drink.

White's is a blast. Just wish the descent could go on forever. Contains traces of north shore.

Black is a short loop at the point where skyline splits from White's (these share the same climb). I wouldn't call it very difficult, bit steep in places, stone looks sharp enough to not want to try falling off. Black is fun and fast.

W2 is the same climb, bit of White's then divert before the Energy section across to do all the fun stuff on the Wall, ie none of the fire road climb. IMO this is the most bang for your buck at Afan, especially if you ride the Energy section and double back on the fire road to where it links to the Wall. The connecting fire road between the trails is reasonably flat. The ride from the bottom of the Wall to Glyncorrwg is a tarmac path that really saps your last remaining energy but this doesn't detract from the ride.

Wall - climb is a fire road, which annoys some people. The singletrack when it kicks in is fast and technical in places, the final descent is fast. I can't honestly remember whether there's much in the way of wooden platforms on the Wall, don't think there is.

stumpyjon

wordnumb wrote:

I can't honestly remember whether there's much in the way of wooden platforms on the Wall, don't think there is.

No I didn't think there were any either.

Black section of White's isn't too bad in the dry, I've cleaned it so it can't be that bad, nothing like the black at somewhere like Lee Quarry.

shanta

Went, as planned this weekend just gone. Did Penhydd and then the Wall at the end of the day i was absolutely f#####, great time and great trails though. Hoping to go back in a few weeks, when i have worked on my fitness a bit more, and have a bash at Whites. Weather was crackin and i thought both centres were very good although the Drop off cafe was the best place for e beer afterward in the sun.

Happy days....

Bmjboy

We're doing Skyline this Saturday as its the only one we havent done yet - going to do it all, regardless of reports (and yes Ive read most of them!)

Will be doing Penhydd on Sunday as thats just fun all the way down - (Sidewinder is excellent and super fast) going home Sunday night.

I wouldnt miss The Wall if I never did it again, I found it quite tedious and unrewarding in relation to the other trails.

stumpyjon

Bmjboy wrote:

I wouldnt miss The Wall if I never did it again, I found it quite tedious and unrewarding in relation to the other trails.

I think you may be saying that about bits of Skyline as well but I know where you're coming from. I did the whole thing on principle at Easter. Next time I might cherry pick bits but it has to done properly or you've not done it .

Bmjboy

stumpyjon wrote:

I think you may be saying that about bits of Skyline as well but I know where you're coming from. I did the whole thing on principle at Easter. Next time I might cherry pick bits but it has to done properly or you've not done it .

Skyline is the only one not conquered, so it HAS to be done regardless, as its "unfinished business"!

Once I have completed all 4 trails I can pick/choose as you say.

Going there and NOT completing the trail would be criminal IMHO.

Im prepared for an epic, so thats what Im expecting, Im seeing skyline as more of an endurance test than a skill test such as Whites.

Cant wait! - 2 more sleeps!

rhyko7

i rode it last summer with a one litre camelback on a 14" Saracen Xess jump bike and
was one of the most demanding enduring things i have ever done
this summer i will use a 2.5 litre camel back and a 16" Giant Trance and it should be a lot less painful, toruress, agonising, back breaking, sweat inducing and god damn hard!

i hope LoL

Bmjboy

Well Ive got the Trance X, so that should help any painful moments...

I carry a Camelbak Mayhem but the water on my back feels way too heavy and I cant get on with it - feel unbalanced.

I usually take bottles.

We're in no rush, and always stop for pics/vids anyway.

Will take 2litres of drink and plenty of grub, so that should see me through (just!)

Ive also got the ibuprofen and pain relief gel on standby!

Weather looks good for this weekend too! - hopefully not too hot (cant believe Im saying that!)

stumpyjon

Bmjboy wrote:

Im seeing skyline as more of an endurance test than a skill test such as Whites.

It's both, the final 6km descent is fairly rocky and technical, couple that with the fact you'll be mentally and physically knackered . Some of the other bits of singletrack are pretty fun too (just don't fall off the edge On The Edge).

paul.skibum

Isn't Whites Level the one with the raised wooden sections? I rode it witha mate of mine and it came as a bit of a shock (as it wasnt there first time I did it I'm sure) - no where to go but along it and a couple of narrow or tight turns I thought!

Bmjboy

Yes, whites has a fair bit (Goodwood?) section I believe and some on Energy level and some at the start of the Black Run.

Boardwalk isnt something to fear, its plenty wide enough...

Its the effing big rocks and narrow decents you want to be scared of!

oh... and evil Badgers.

b45her

Skyline is nothing to be that scared of, although the full loop does get a bit tedious due to the amount of fire road, the best comprmise in my opinion is the 3/4 loop which cuts off a few miles of fire road but still let's you enjoy the single track, I agree that the w2 loop is better (whites climb, the link road over to the wall then wall decent wall climb whites decent). Either way I'm sure you'll enjoy either .

P.s. have fun on the last fire road climb on skyline its a right barsteward after 40 km or so

Bmjboy

Well, we did the full Skyline route last weekend in the blistering heat - never again!

Im glad Ive done it now, although the mile upon mile of unecessary fireroad does indeed get incredibly tedious...

Every fireroad pointed skywards, truly "cream-crackered" by the end of it.

If you havent done it, you simply have to, just take plenty of fluid and some grub and expect a slog.

Our ride day was incredibly hot, and we got through about 3ltrs of water in no-time - if I ever do it again, it will be when its much cooler - those exposed fireroads at the top really do sap the energy, especially when the sun is beating down on you with no-where to hide.

Next time I would do the July trail and cut the cr*p bits out, and just get round to the great end sections.

There are some quite technical sections, although I blasted the rock-garden just fine, but had to stop/dab on 1 or 2 sections on the downhill - probably too tired to concentrate tbh!

Overall, its an epic long ride, just ensure you are prepared for a long journey and any eventuality as you will be miles from anywhere if anything should go wrong.

Thewaylander

My weeken rides.

Love the wall fastest decent ever!

Whites is fun, and pehidd is a great no brainer of a trail. gonna head up to Whites this sat to eye up all the mtb totty hanging round the kona mash up :P

rhyko7

i rode the skyline yesterday
i was prepared this time, did it on my giant trance
had 2 litres of fluid and some light snackes wich i stopped for twice for about 10 mins each
i paced myself steadily using my heart rate monitor (kept below 75 % HR) and it was quite an easy ride in the end
it took 3 hrs 31 including the stops, but i gotta say it was at least and hour and a half of boredom (there were a couple of diversions tho), fire roads bore the hell out of me, i may aswell have been on a cyclocross bike or on a road ride, thank god i had my heart rate monitor to distract me lol, as well its the accomplishment i guess.

the W2 is much more fun, its only the last couple descents on the skyline line that are any good and worth putting the seat down for some play time, i think the wall has the best descents