Cwmcarn Black Run?

Squarepants

Right, going to sound a bit silly here but... where is it?

I've done Cwm a good few times now and thought I knew my way around (can get from the bottom to the top and back down again) now I've just watched a Youtube vid of some chap doing the Black Run, it looks like fun but I didn't know it even existed. Yes I am a div...

I know general landmarks, lets say the car park at the top just before the 'start' of the singletrack. What route is that then? the Red I take it, it doesn't seem particularly challenging. Is the start of the Black anywhere around there?

I'm showing my inexperience here but if I don't ask I'll never know.

peace in the middle east

dandel36

hi mate
if you want to do the black run you could take the bike lift from the car park, or if you ride the red route till you get to a short, steep bit of concrete then instead of going straight on , bear to the right and follow the road up. not sure how far you have to go as i've never been up there but the start of the black run is up there.

dandel

Squarepants

Cheers Dandel, that makes sense, i know the place you mean. Do many 'trailists' ride it or is it reserved for the full face fraternity? I wouldnt want to be the only singletrack rider holding everyone up. It looked ridable for me in the video but ofcourse looking at it and actually doing it are nary the twain..

stumpyjon

dandel36, isn't that the start of the downhill course? I thought the black was the freeride section at the top that used to start with the 3 drops. Red goes off to the right and freeride heads off to the left.

dandel36

stumpyjon
you correct i'm wrong the two runs seperate at the top and rejoin at top car park . i call the down hill run the black run. :roll:

Squarepants

ok so the free ride (black) heads off to the left where?

welshkev

the freeride section rejoins the twrch xc trail down by the car park at the top, just before the singletrack starts. you may have seen the big wooden wallride section up on the left before it got taken away.

daniel36: i would class the black run as the downhill track aswell

Squarepants

Hi Kev,

i remember it vaguely but I'm still struggling to pinpoint where it is exactly. I know this is more my error than your explanations, I know where you are but put me in the top car park and i still wouldn't be sure where to go. Now i have followed the trail up to the top and this (after going over the crossing) took me 'left' away from the top car park. I ended up as I recall following a firebreak to a point where there were lots of chaps (and gals in sure) congregating. I wasnt really sure which way to go (I think the options were straight ahead or to the right) I took the go right option and went along a shortish narrow singletrack and popped out at the top car park. Is the point where I went right the start of the free ride?

Sorry to waffle but just trying to get my bearings and give as much info as possible. I'm going Sunday morning so looking to get the low down before then

Thanks all, appreciated

welshkev

it sounds like that's the place. basically, when you come to the top of the climb you go through that wooden gate thing and it starts to flatten off and you can see the wind sock.
you then have 2 choices, right is twrch xc trail and straight on/left i the start of the freeride section. there are wooden posts with small red and black indicators on them

hope this helps

rhyko7

ive decided to jump i here
the black run is on th DH track, however im not sure if the little free ride section is labelled black too(pretty sure its not but ppl may call it a black run)-if you put a link to the video i could tell you exactly where it is???
the free ride run is at the top where you do the very 1st decsent you have a chioce of the twisty single track or the free ride section which is basically berms and a few small jumps (table tops) and rollers which you can double.
the black run on the DH track is the run to left as you start at the top, tho for an xc rider they are all black, to get to the DH track, someone else descibed it best as at the bottom of a decsent 3/4ths of the way around you can climb a short steep concrete bit that most people walk up, from there follow the road up to a statue of a guy holding a bike and turn right up there, keep going to the top and you are at the start of all the DH tracks, i say all the DH tracks because there are a lot of lines down. as for wearing a full face helmet, i personally dont but i would never tell anyone they dont need one on those tracks because they are fairly knarly and if you let off the brakes it gets pretty damn fast fast.

Squarepants

OK thanks Kev I'm pretty sure I know where you mean. Rhyko thanks for your detailed answer, heres the link to the vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIzBzWuX ... re=related now did I go left at the beginning of this vid, I don't remember that fence being there... Ok if I had gone left, would that drop me to the top car park? If it does I definately know where I am. If not, I'm giving up and buying a chopper

I can imagine full face would inspire a bit more confidence, lets see if my face can survive the freeride skit with a normal lid, if I can find the damn run :?

welshkev

that's definately NOT the freeride section, is it the bit you were on about rhyko?

i've never ridden that bit personally :oops: sorry

Squarepants

Ahh confound it all to hell :x

Thats ok Kev no worries, I appreciate your patience guys if nothing else

rhyko7

Squarepants wrote:

OK thanks Kev I'm pretty sure I know where you mean. Rhyko thanks for your detailed answer, heres the link to the vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIzBzWuX ... re=related now did I go left at the beginning of this vid, I don't remember that fence being there... Ok if I had gone left, would that drop me to the top car park? If it does I definately know where I am. If not, I'm giving up and buying a chopper

I can imagine full face would inspire a bit more confidence, lets see if my face can survive the freeride skit with a normal lid, if I can find the damn run :?

yep thats the black DH run, its the one i described how to get to.
it looks so much smoother and easier on video tho, im not sure how good your riding is, so i wont advise you to or not ride it, what i will say is, if you have never ridden a DH track before be careful. if you do decide to go up there take the right at the top, not left like the guy on video, the right line is not quite as knarly
haha he made a right mess of that one corner-if you look at other cwmcarn DH videos, they should be much better quality and you should be able to get a better idea of what it looks like, Dan Stanbridge and Gee Atherton posted one up on there week or so ago, i was actually there that day too, but riding xc, i was trying to scab a brake cable off Gee atherton, cos i just snapped mine lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnBz8FKTXQ4

Squarepants

Ok dude thats good advice, I'd say im a pretty accomplished trail rider, but DH will be new to me, I can imagine its not as easy as the rider makes it look, at least the first few times. I'll ride it and see what the deal is. Anyone going up on Sunday?

EDIT: you guys dont hang around do you :shock: