Skyline today, awsome but very long indeed.

weeksy59

Oooooooh owwwww ouch.. LOL

Everything hurts today. Me,Crust and Ian went to Afan to take on Skyline, 47km of hills and epic views. (we actually did about 49km lol).

It's a mix of vast fireroad climbs and rocky descents and is a true test of strength, character and even abilty.

I was there on an old Carrera Fury with block brakes (the rear barely works), hardtail and sprung suspension. Bloody hell Afan is not designed for HT's. Climbs well but decends very badly and my arms and shoulders are knackered tonight. Had 3 big crashes, funnily enough all 3 over the bars on rocky terrain. I'm not hurt as such but a bit battered and bruised LOL.

My two training buddies really impressed me, Crust by being almost 51 years old and getting to the end and doing a superb job. Ian by transforming his fitness over the last 4 months and getting up hills and climbs i never thought i'd see possible.

We're still training for the Afan Monster for Macmillan cancer in Sept... which is 25-28km more than we did today... Oh dear... that's going to be a problem.. I'm not sure i had 5km left in me today, let alone 25 !!!!!

Cracking day out at my favourite place for a day out in the world

I'd like to try it again on the Super4 when i get it back and we'll probably use Skyline as our primary Afan training run this summer i rekon.

the_prophet

skylines pretty cool, but i dont particlualrly like fireroads so i've only done it a couple of times. views are what makes it for me. fair play for getting it done, bet it was stunning with the weatherv yesterday.

oh and afan's fine on a hardtail. i rode it on my 100mm flat barred xc bike and it was almost as much fun as the big bike. just had to pick your lines a bit more instead of nailing through everything.

ads4

Excelent job. I am still to find fitness levels to take on Skyline! I have been to Afan once and did Whites and then Penhydd and the fire road climb up Penhydd nearly killed me! Had three major crashes on the way down, all due to fatigue. I could hardly hold the bars by the time we reached the end, major arm pump!

weeksy59

the_prophet wrote:

bet it was stunning with the weatherv yesterday.

oh and afan's fine on a hardtail.

Weather and views were astounding


Nah mate, it's really not... it's rubbish on a HT lol. it's possible, it's viable... but in no way shape or form is it 'fine'

monkeypants

I was fine on a HT, spent a weekend there and was quite happy.

I have to say I wouldn't do the skyline again unless I was going for the views rather than the riding and the gates at the start and end of the singletrack are rather annoying (though I do understand their purpose).

JasonRwmb

I was up there at the weekend. I took my wife there for the first time and she really enjoyed it, in fact it was the first time she had ever been to a trail centre. The weather was fantastic on the Saturday we did Skyline (we took the 2nd shortcut as we had managed to leave all our energy food in the car...) followed by Whites Level, that was after a short stop for some great Welsh Rarebit! Then on Sunday we did The Wall then straight onto Penhydd. Excellent all round. Of the trails I think Whites is my favourite, all the singletrack is really nice and flowy, it is just the one section of uphill fireroad after the Black Run that is a bit of a drag.

I am not sure if we saw you? We started Skyline at about 10am and were back at Glyncorrwg around one o'clock.

The trails are definitely a bit easier on a full suss. I was on a 100mm travel hardtail at the weekend, and there were a couple of places where a bit of suspension at the back would have been nice, but overall it wasn't really a problem.

As for improving your fitness and the extra 25km, I can recommend working on your base fitness, lots of long steady rides. And during the event pace yourself, take it easy on the climbs from the start, and make sure you eat and drink regularly.

weeksy59

We started a little before you... i looked like this on Whites

SteveR_100Milers

How does skyline compare to Cwmcarn in terms of technical difficulty? Distance and climbing are no problem, more the lack of skill and a desire not to collide with the ground.

stumpyjon

There's a few techincal bits on it, noteably the final descent. Last time I rode it I was so mentally and physically knackered by the end I found it quite a challenge. if I'd been fresh a lot less so.

weeksy59

stumpyjon wrote:

There's a few techincal bits on it, noteably the final descent. Last time I rode it I was so mentally and physically knackered by the end I found it quite a challenge. if I'd been fresh a lot less so.

That's pretty much the gist of it yep. It's no tougher on descents than any of the other Afan trails... but you've been in the saddle quite a while by the time you get to the last 2 long downhill sections.

wordnumb

Are any of the singletrack sections of Skyline closed at the moment?

There is a little too much fire road, but the trail sections are awesome and the final decent is fab.

JasonRwmb

Handy Andy was shut last weekend, but the rest was open. I have never ridden that section before so no idea how long it is.

Weeksy, I don't remember seeing you. Once we got to the top of the White's Climb we didn't really see anyone else for the rest of the loop. Normally riding around the Swinley area I was amazed at how empty all the trails were.

davidwazz

Hi - as Jason said, the only bit that is closed is Handy Andy (but its only a short run so you don't miss much), so its pretty cool. The weather made it 10 x better.

I agree wordnumb, the singletrack sections are great fun.

captainian

My girlfriend and I did it last weekend as well. We both coped pretty well and she really enjoyed it. We did all 46k, followed by Cwmcarn on the Sunday which felt so short in comparison!

I would post pics but I don't know how!

She was on a Stumpy and I was on my 6" Lapierre Spicy - very capable on the final descents when I was tired

Skyline took us 4.5 hours overall with about 3h 50m in the saddle (girlfriend's computer)

spodomodo

Just got back from a great trip - Twrch at Cwmcarn on Wednesday - overnight camping at Glyncorrwg and then Skyline on Thursday.

A combination of the weather and the quality of two fantastic trails reminded me why I love this sport!

I'd not ridden Twrch before - had picked up on some of last weeks controversy about damage to the trails etc - I have to say I thought the trail was absolutely brilliant - yes it's rooty in places particularly on the initial climb but this adds to the interest - have to say though, I had to put a foot down a couple of times and had one slow motion SPD moment -no one else around so I think I got away with it! I rode both the Freeride section and the normal Twrch bit - the latter was great twisting singletrack and the former I rode in true old arse trail rider style i.e. both wheels on the ground if at all possible - sad I know but I'm too old for that stuff - loved the tunnel though! The final descent back to the carpark was super fast and is a fitting climax to a great trail. I'll definitely be back soon.

This was my 3rd time on Skyline - I'd forgotten about how much fireroad - there is a lot - but you need to think of this as an epic ride and not just a quick adrenaline hit. Having said that there are some fantastic singletrack sections - try not to be tempted by the 2nd shortcut because Excalibur and South Pit are a couple of the best bits. The final descent thru deadwood, joyrider, peregrine ridge, jetlag etc are utterly mindblowing.

A great couple of days!

S

davidwazz

One thing I am noticing though - and maybe its only me - is that the trails seem to be getting rockier. I think this could be down to the amount of rain/snow etc over the last 6 months and this has caused erosion! Maybe I am just getting a bit grumpy in my old age!

Although some of the sections flow nicely, others seem to be stacked with rocks which makes it very tough on the bike and wrists

Anyone else notice this?

spodomodo

I wasn't particularly aware of this - but I haven't ridden at Afan previously for about a year so it's hard to tell. It felt good to me though.

S

davidwazz

Maybe I am just getting old!!

Thewaylander

Yeh seems fine to me too...

You must getting old indeed

stumpyjon

I road most of Skyline today, bottled it and came home at the second shortcut. Weather was fantastic, I could see the view from 'On the Edge' this time, not just clouds.

I thought it was rocky actually and I've been riding there for the last three years, more loose sone and exposed lumps of rock, probably a result of the winter we've just had. Made it tougher but also made me wonder if we should try and make bits of Gisburn more like it. Mind you there have always been a couple of very loose and rocky sections on Skyline, the fireroad after Granada (or possibly Heartburn) and the scree slope towards the end of Joyrider.

Is it me or has the final descent on Jetlag been sanitised. I'm sure there were drop offs on that section last time that had me walking, cleared the whole lot this time no problems. Mind you I cleared the stairs on Deadwood too so maybe it was me.

davidwazz

Hey SJ - what a day for riding....we couldn't ask for more.

Its the exposed lumps of rock I am talking about - hectic on the wrists and bike imo.

They have sanitised jetlag - they smoothed out a couple of great sections, which is a shame but I assume there must have been some serious accidents at those sections - particularly because guys are tired and then all of a sudden......bang!

stumpyjon

I must admit last time I rode it the steppy sections on Jetlag were the straw that broke the camels back for me. Have to say I enjoyed the descent more this time, still I am an XC Jeyboy.

As for the exposed lumps of rock, probably the winter making them more exposed to.

weeksy59

Did it again today, 4 hours 10 mins. Was happier with that time.

I rekon on my own i could manage 3hr 30ish.