Welsh trails

J273
J273 Posts: 382
edited September 2011 in Routes
Next month im planning on going to wales with a few mates .. it'll be our first time there....My main playground is cannock which i do pretty much weekly,

We plan on going in the week over 2-3 days.....As anyone got any experience with welsh trails?

Is it best to go to the trail centres or natural stuff??

Can anyone recommend a few trails to do over a 2 - 3 day period which are close together and have a varied type of riding over the few days?

Also any suggestions on where to stay or is it best to camp?


Thanks
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/JIM273/SIG.jpg

Comments

  • craker
    craker Posts: 1,739
    I'd suggest staying in Brecon which is close enough to Cwmcarn, Afan + other trail centres plus there's plenty of XC in the beacons right on your desktop.

    For example stay at the excellent campsite at Pencelli Castle http://www.pencelli-castle.com/ which is right on the Taff trail and walking distance to the top of Pen-y-Fan. There's a pub and bike wash. Need I say more?

    Lots of XC routes at http://mbwales.com/ a classic route is The Gap, a bridleway the takes you over the col between two big peaks.

    That should keep you sorted fpr a long weekend.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    There's some great trail centres, and some great natural trails in North Wales. Neither is necessarily "better".
    A few of the waymarked trails started out as natural trails anwyay.
  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    mr_si wrote:
    I'd suggest staying in Brecon which is close enough to Cwmcarn, Afan + other trail centres plus there's plenty of XC in the beacons right on your desktop.

    For example stay at the excellent campsite at Pencelli Castle http://www.pencelli-castle.com/ which is right on the Taff trail and walking distance to the top of Pen-y-Fan. There's a pub and bike wash. Need I say more?

    Lots of XC routes at http://mbwales.com/ a classic route is The Gap, a bridleway the takes you over the col between two big peaks.

    That should keep you sorted fpr a long weekend.

    see, i'd disagree with that. whilst i agree that there's a lot of good riding around the beacons, unless you know where you're going or are good with a map and compass it's pretty hard to follow a route. and also both afan and cwmcarn would be a good 30-40 min drive. but if natural riding is your prefered choice then yes, brecon is a good place to stay :D

    you could possibly consider, south: cwmcarn (camp there), afan ( camp at glyncorwg-it's virtually the same place) then onto brechfa?

    or north: coed y brenin - loads of riding there, then do penmachno and the marin trail near by.

    take a look at http://mbwales.com/
  • J273
    J273 Posts: 382
    One thing i forgot to mention...Is there any secure bike storage available at all?
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/JIM273/SIG.jpg
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    In the whole of Wales? Sure.
  • nonnac85
    nonnac85 Posts: 1,608
    Have just come back from staying at Cae Gwyn farm near Coed y Brenin. Enough trails there to keep you busy for a few days and the campsite is pretty good too :-)
    My Website - Trail Centre info for the UK: MTB Trail Time
  • Eyon
    Eyon Posts: 623
    Spent the weekend at afan and cwmcarn. Did breacon in may. Breacon is great, open, windswept, hard and testing. Cwmcarn is a difficult climb and really only enough for one day, try the downhill too. Great fun there.

    Afan is unbelievable! The wall was good but not a patch (IMO) on Whites Level, the best trail I have ever ridden, its worth the 500 mile round trip for me just to ride that!
  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    edited August 2011
    Eyon wrote:
    Spent the weekend at afan and cwmcarn. Did breacon in may. Breacon is great, open, windswept, hard and testing. Cwmcarn is a difficult climb and really only enough for one day, try the downhill too. Great fun there.

    Afan is unbelievable! The wall was good but not a patch (IMO) on Whites Level, the best trail I have ever ridden, its worth the 500 mile round trip for me just to ride that!

    balls!!!! i really don't like whites level....but the wall is one of my favourite rides anywhere, but horses for courses :lol:
  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    J273 wrote:
    One thing i forgot to mention...Is there any secure bike storage available at all?

    sure i'll happily load your bikes into the back of my van to 'look after' over night for you :wink::lol:
  • J273
    J273 Posts: 382
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    In the whole of Wales? Sure.

    Afan and cwmcarn keep cropping up so they are looking strong favourites at the min.
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/JIM273/SIG.jpg
  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    J273 wrote:
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    In the whole of Wales? Sure.

    Afan and cwmcarn keep cropping up so they are looking strong favourites at the min.

    like was said above (cwmcarn is my local trail) there's only enough marked riding for a day really at cwmcarn. afan 2 days max.

    but both are good and different types of trail centres :D
  • jimpy
    jimpy Posts: 31
    for me, there is not a bad welsh trail centre or trail. i ride cwmcarn weekly and three trails at afan each month (the wall, whites and the july short cut version of skyline). i also get down to brechfa every couple of months. each centre is different but all great. also get up to north wales every three or four months, just because i love penmachno so much.
    bike security is another matter. would feel fairly secure camping in brechfa, but there have been bike thefts from cwmcarn and glyncorrwg camp sites
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Get a tent big enough to fit the bike in as well, then there's a good chance you'll wake up if someone tries to nick it.
  • jimpy
    jimpy Posts: 31
    and get a knife big enough to scare the scumbags off when they try
  • d00m
    d00m Posts: 160
    If you like the idea of natural trails, take a look at this page; http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/route_guides.html

    Great loop around Rhyader, but beware; some of the trail center rides in there are very out of date.
  • Silversladey
    Silversladey Posts: 450
    Eyon wrote:

    Afan is unbelievable! The wall was good but not a patch (IMO) on Whites Level, the best trail I have ever ridden, its worth the 500 mile round trip for me just to ride that!

    Well Done that man :D
  • Thewaylander
    Thewaylander Posts: 8,594
    Silversladey wrote:
    Eyon wrote:

    Afan is unbelievable! The wall was good but not a patch (IMO) on Whites Level, the best trail I have ever ridden, its worth the 500 mile round trip for me just to ride that!

    Well Done that man :D


    /yawn.... snore...

    thats me while descending Whites hehe :p
  • TrailGuru
    TrailGuru Posts: 53
    Hi... I have just launched my new website www.trailguru.co.uk which covers all the popular spots to ride in Wales with accommodation, eating and drinking facilities etc.

    My personal favourite would be Nant-yr-Arian near Aberystwyth... bit of a trek but can feasibly be tied in with a North or South Wales trip. Such a good trail centre!

    Good luck and happy riding
    www.trailguru.co.uk - The ultimate guide to mountain biking in Wales
  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    TrailGuru wrote:
    Hi... I have just launched my new website www.trailguru.co.uk which covers all the popular spots to ride in Wales with accommodation, eating and drinking facilities etc.

    My personal favourite would be Nant-yr-Arian near Aberystwyth... bit of a trek but can feasibly be tied in with a North or South Wales trip. Such a good trail centre!

    Good luck and happy riding

    cool, i'll take a look :D

    as for nant yr arian..not sure if it's the best, but is very good and imo often overlooked :D
  • Royal Dragoon
    Royal Dragoon Posts: 270
    Don't know if any of the Welsh contingent may be interested in this competition which seems to be aimed at promoting MTB'ing in Wales. :?:

    http://www.mtbe.co.uk/mtbe-visit-wales- ... 16982.html
  • 1340jas
    1340jas Posts: 217
    Nice website mate... Did you build it yourself or the webbuilder do it for you? If so could you give me an idea how much was it...
  • TrailGuru
    TrailGuru Posts: 53
    1340jas wrote:
    Nice website mate... Did you build it yourself or the webbuilder do it for you? If so could you give me an idea how much was it...

    Hi, assuming you were asking me... yes I built it myself. Been in the web design business for 8 years and decided to set up my own mountain biking website. It would be difficult to put a price on that particular site as its been in development for months, nearly a year actually. Feel free to get in touch if you need a quote for something.

    Cheers
    Kev
    www.trailguru.co.uk - The ultimate guide to mountain biking in Wales

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