Afan - a first time visitor's perspective
So a small group of us headed over to South Wales on Sunday, despite the initial weather forecasts of 'Intermittent showers'. Here's my story:
Parked up at the Forest Park Visitor Centre and had a bacon sarnie and faffed about with bikes for a short while. There is at the moment only a couple options of trails to head to from this car park, so we chose The Wall and set to it. The climb initially goes through a couple miles of fire roads and really, it's boring. We didn't get to see much scenery due to the rain and low cloud, but even so, a large part of the trail was heavily tree lined and we were all a little bored by the time the single track section cut in. The trail darts in through a thick rocky forest path, and my initial thoughts were that the rocks would be slippy, with all the rain. But not really so - nobody from our group fell and everyone commented on how they thought the same to begin with. It has to be said, there are a LOT of rocks though. It's the kind of trail you should think about picking a line through to minimise interruptions to your momentum.
A couple of points during the climb you pop out from the trees and there would have been a very nice view down the side of the hill, were we not stuck in stifling cloud! The obstacles changed from rocks to cut off tree stumps but it didn't mean you needed to modify your technique, it seemed. The descents along Graveyard and Zig Zags was ok, I wouldn't say fast, but you probably could have gone a little nutty should that be your thing. All of the descent is massively off-camber, and you feel at times that you're going over the edge of a steep get-off, but that's part of the adrenaline buzz I guess.
Back to the centre (follow the diversion route, the main tramway bit has massive barricades up and they're not exactly easy to ride over or around...) and had some reasonably priced nosh. There are facilities to lock bikes up but they consist of really short pieces of chain and asda smart price padlocks. You're honestly better off not locking them.
Then we decided to take the road up to the next trail centre and have a go at Whites Level. The Glyncorrwg centre looks a little more modern and has a bike shop etc.
So, same story as before, follow the way marker posts. This trail is pretty much all singletrack - and the climb was actually much less painful for it! I enjoyed actually thinking about where my wheels were pointing and we were all in pretty high spirits despite the constant stair-rod rain. It seemed the climb wasn't as long as The Wall, and before we knew it we were at the section known as Windy Point. Wow! Sorted little playground, that. Really got the blood flowing again and cause lots of loud noises to scare the wildlife!
Then, the beauty that is Energy... The first section had a load of jumps and I found myself stoking up a bit of speed to take advantage. This is definitely one you want to set off at 30 second intervals though, don't let the guy in front dictate your pace. Through the trees there are loads of low berms and really close trees - no excuse for no kitting up, you wouldn't come off well against a tree at 25mph. There was also a board walk section, again though, not slippy as it was wire covered. Top tip - pay attention to the 30 sec rule! I caught a mate up and had to stop for him at the bottom of a short climb, where I put a foot down off the boards. Result, I fell off, and my foot was about 18" into deep cloying mud! Lesson learned there! There's a tricky little climb after the last board / bridge and everyone was a little unprepared for it but it caused quite a laugh anyhow.
The rest of the downhill was pretty sweet, Goodwood and Darkside being similar to the kind of trails we saw in The Wall. There are some pretty cool drop offs in the last bit, with large flat rocks supporting the edges - be careful on these, as some of the landings were eroded and off camber.
Short spin back to the car park and the day was over. We all felt knackered though, speaking for myself, I was mentally as well as physically tired. My bike definitely needs attention now - there is loads of sandy grit that gets everywhere. Where my shorts were rubbing the frame it's pretty much destroyed the lacquer on the top tube, the chain was making all kinds of nasty noises and I reckon I'll need to get some more brake pads too. Not a place for trailer queens! In summary, nice day out. And an excellent price
Parked up at the Forest Park Visitor Centre and had a bacon sarnie and faffed about with bikes for a short while. There is at the moment only a couple options of trails to head to from this car park, so we chose The Wall and set to it. The climb initially goes through a couple miles of fire roads and really, it's boring. We didn't get to see much scenery due to the rain and low cloud, but even so, a large part of the trail was heavily tree lined and we were all a little bored by the time the single track section cut in. The trail darts in through a thick rocky forest path, and my initial thoughts were that the rocks would be slippy, with all the rain. But not really so - nobody from our group fell and everyone commented on how they thought the same to begin with. It has to be said, there are a LOT of rocks though. It's the kind of trail you should think about picking a line through to minimise interruptions to your momentum.
A couple of points during the climb you pop out from the trees and there would have been a very nice view down the side of the hill, were we not stuck in stifling cloud! The obstacles changed from rocks to cut off tree stumps but it didn't mean you needed to modify your technique, it seemed. The descents along Graveyard and Zig Zags was ok, I wouldn't say fast, but you probably could have gone a little nutty should that be your thing. All of the descent is massively off-camber, and you feel at times that you're going over the edge of a steep get-off, but that's part of the adrenaline buzz I guess.
Back to the centre (follow the diversion route, the main tramway bit has massive barricades up and they're not exactly easy to ride over or around...) and had some reasonably priced nosh. There are facilities to lock bikes up but they consist of really short pieces of chain and asda smart price padlocks. You're honestly better off not locking them.
Then we decided to take the road up to the next trail centre and have a go at Whites Level. The Glyncorrwg centre looks a little more modern and has a bike shop etc.
So, same story as before, follow the way marker posts. This trail is pretty much all singletrack - and the climb was actually much less painful for it! I enjoyed actually thinking about where my wheels were pointing and we were all in pretty high spirits despite the constant stair-rod rain. It seemed the climb wasn't as long as The Wall, and before we knew it we were at the section known as Windy Point. Wow! Sorted little playground, that. Really got the blood flowing again and cause lots of loud noises to scare the wildlife!
Then, the beauty that is Energy... The first section had a load of jumps and I found myself stoking up a bit of speed to take advantage. This is definitely one you want to set off at 30 second intervals though, don't let the guy in front dictate your pace. Through the trees there are loads of low berms and really close trees - no excuse for no kitting up, you wouldn't come off well against a tree at 25mph. There was also a board walk section, again though, not slippy as it was wire covered. Top tip - pay attention to the 30 sec rule! I caught a mate up and had to stop for him at the bottom of a short climb, where I put a foot down off the boards. Result, I fell off, and my foot was about 18" into deep cloying mud! Lesson learned there! There's a tricky little climb after the last board / bridge and everyone was a little unprepared for it but it caused quite a laugh anyhow.
The rest of the downhill was pretty sweet, Goodwood and Darkside being similar to the kind of trails we saw in The Wall. There are some pretty cool drop offs in the last bit, with large flat rocks supporting the edges - be careful on these, as some of the landings were eroded and off camber.
Short spin back to the car park and the day was over. We all felt knackered though, speaking for myself, I was mentally as well as physically tired. My bike definitely needs attention now - there is loads of sandy grit that gets everywhere. Where my shorts were rubbing the frame it's pretty much destroyed the lacquer on the top tube, the chain was making all kinds of nasty noises and I reckon I'll need to get some more brake pads too. Not a place for trailer queens! In summary, nice day out. And an excellent price
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