Getting to Cwm Carn - M4 usable?
I'm going to Cwm Carn for the day next week, after thewaylander told me to grow a pair 
Any locals know what the M4 is like after the Brynglas tunnel fire? I've been on Traffic Wales, but it's hard to know how that translates to the real world, as long as I'm not going through at rush hour?
So is it doable? A bit slower than normal? Or will I be sitting in traffic for an hour?
Ta!
Any locals know what the M4 is like after the Brynglas tunnel fire? I've been on Traffic Wales, but it's hard to know how that translates to the real world, as long as I'm not going through at rush hour?
So is it doable? A bit slower than normal? Or will I be sitting in traffic for an hour?
Ta!
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Should be able to get there without the M4 if coming from the Midlands!
M50 > A40 > A449 and that cut across around Usk.0 -
So still assuming you are coming from the Midlands, this is the route I'd take.
According to Google maps it makes no difference in time if you go M5>M4 or M5>M50>A40>A449>M4 or M50>A40 >A449 and then cut across around Usk.0 -
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Mind that incident on the M25 though, you might want to nip via La Harve to avoid it.0
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if it's quicker for you bails there's hardly any delays on the m4 now, it is down to 1 lane in the tunnels but it's probably only causing 10 mins at max delays 0
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hey, you go past my house coming the other way, stop by for a cuppa
i am off on wednesday but i've gotta go to a funeral so i won't be able to join you
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Bout to say M50 A 449 is the fastest route anyways
What day you down mate?0 -
Thewaylander wrote:Bout to say M50 A 449 is the fastest route anyways
What day you down mate?bails87 wrote:Wednesday, got annual leave to use up. Obviously if anyone else is free then it would be good to meet up.
I'll try to get round twice. If it's as good as you say then I'll be back again so we can sort out a ride when you're free too, assuming you're busy on Wednesday.0 -
Yeh misses birthday, best turn up at least for that lol. 0
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Thewaylander wrote:Yeh misses birthday, best turn up at least for that lol.
Are there any ditches at Cwm Carn.....0 -
A few, will ahve to work on that. She may leave me in a ditch 0
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Well....
It was....."alright"....sorry!
The climb was a challenge (which isn't a bad thing), I was all over the place on the first lap, not concentrating, but did much better on the second time, only dabbed 3 or 4 times all the way up.
Got to the top and the freeride section, Gwwlllyddgeyejr or something, was shut, so had to just roll past that on the fireroad. And then it felt like there wasn't much before I reappeared in the car park, just a couple of miles of vaguely undulating singletrack
It felt like the final sections could have been so much better, given the terrain, but it was fairly straight and 'featureless'. It was pointing downhill, obviously, and the ground had rocks in it, but it just seemed to want to get you back to the car park in the shortest time/distance possible. And then that final hairpin right at the bottom...why isn't that a berm?! :shock: Came flying down there at 20mph+, could see what looked like the start of a berm, got ready for it and then all of a sudden I realised it was just a flat, loose corner and almost ended up in the bushes..
I'm not saying it was bad....just that it's the second worst trail centre I've ridden at
Still fun though, and I'm glad I went. There's some right wierdos in Wales though... :shock: 0 -
bails87 wrote:.. :shock:
You should of jumped over the fance like the rest of us :roll:
I have only ridden "The Wall" besides cwm (I moslty do local trails, I am a local boy you see....)
And cwm is much so its the best trail center i have been to 8)
Got to remember its about 5 years old, and has had no work on it in that time, afaik.
so Newer ones will be more fun i guess0 -
Seee thats why I like Cwm it actually comes down a hill, All the others are slow n pedally and boring
but each to there own. Next time i will hopefully can free and actually see if you getting any pace lol
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Thewaylander wrote:Seee thats why I like Cwm it actually comes down a hill, All the others are slow n pedally and boring
but each to there own. Next time i will hopefully can free and actually see if you getting any pace lol
I blame you bigging it up all the time
It wasn't bad, it just had less going on than I'm used to, I'm used to seeing swoopy singletrack, berms, drops and jumps. And there wasn't much of that there, and nothing steep going down either, other than the climb there was nothing technical there. The descents in particular just seemed to be a straight line where you let go of the brakes and held on. The ground itself was lumpy, but that was it. Personally, I'd rather be doing 20mph over drops, jumps and rollers than be doing 25mph+ along what resembles a bumpy footpath.
I see what you mean about it being less 'smoothed' than other trail centres, and I see why a longer travel full sus would be useful there, because of the bumpy, rocky nature of the ground. But that's different from wanting/needing sus to absorb impacts from big hits caused by flying off jumps, which is what I was expecting.
BTW, One set of wierdos was a couple making out in the middle of one of the forest paths while their kids stood around waiting for them! :?
"Muuuum, I'm hungry"
*Mum can't reply as dad's playing tonsil hockey*
Actually, it might just have been a friendly forest ranger....0 -
Dude you were next to Newport i'm suprised they didn't ask you to join in a 4 way with the kid aswell
Fair enough, see I think the are a huge array of lips and all for jumping off if you know where, but they are ot he last decents, have to admit alot of us locals often use the Black DH aswell to get down
I honestly thing the last two sectiosn of down, one rock and one swoopy are some of the best rail center dcents i've ever hit with the rocks you get lots of lips and so on to boost out of, and the swoopy last one, i always struggle not to 2 wheel slide of the side hehe but each to there own.
Still next time you in the area i will make an effort cos we have some great discussions with out actually fighting 0 -
Thewaylander wrote:Dude you were next to Newport i'm suprised they didn't ask you to join in a 4 way with the kid aswell Ewww!
I know what you mean, and it felt quite 'natural' in that sense.Fair enough, see I think the are a huge array of lips and all for jumping off if you know where, but they are ot he last decents,Still next time you in the area i will make an effort cos we have some great discussions with out actually fighting Come here and say that! Oh, wait...
Yeah, I've got a mate who lives in Barry, so hopefully I'll be down at his one weekend soon and we can meet up for a ride.
What kind of time do you tend to get round in btw?0 -
Cwm about on an hour on my 36 pounder not that fast. 0
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bails, I don't blitz up hill, I'm more about dows, could do it under the hour on the specialized, but I'm all set to rock down not up now 0
