Afan - is it worth it?

steve17

Travelling from Basingstoke and have always wanted to try one of the famous welsh trail centres.

Used to riding at Swinley and Surrey hills and have also tryed Cwm Carn and FOD.

I have always wanted to try Afan but I hear that 2 parts of Whites are closed ,Goodwood and darkside.

Is it still worth the 300 mile round trip or shall I wait to the summer.

Any advice would be appreciated.

welshkev

ride the wall instead, much better IMO or even ride W2 which is whites and the wall combined..much more than 1 trail there, i wouldn't say whites alone is worth a 300 mile trip anyway

steve17

Thanks Welshkev

Looking back at some of the threads most people prefer Whites don't think my fitness is up to doing both yet. I have read that they are currently diverting you downthe skyline descent so wasn't sure whether to wait until summer when everything is open.

Appreciate it is a long drive but need a change is riding Swinley every week!

welshkev

steve17 wrote:

Thanks Welshkev

Looking back at some of the threads most people prefer Whites don't think my fitness is up to doing both yet. I have read that they are currently diverting you downthe skyline descent so wasn't sure whether to wait until summer when everything is open.

Appreciate it is a long drive but need a change is riding Swinley every week!

if they're diverting you down the skyline descent all the better, that's a great bit of trail 8)

Thewaylander

Most locals I know hate whites lol

Shortened skyline is the best normally called July trail. and the wall has a fantastic last decent no called zig zag, though i'm not a huge fan of the rest of it

steve17

Many thanks for all the replies.

Heard of the July trail but unsure if it is waymarked. Guess I will head there and go with the flow. Many thanks again for all the advice.

Just wish I had the stamina to do the Wall and Whites so I could compare.

Stevo_666

I've not tried The Wall myself but Whites was a bit of a disappointment for me. Maybe it had been a bit hyped up beforehand but the great final descent I was told about never materialised (and a few pints of cider the night before probably didn't help with the climbing bit at the start...)

The thing that hacked me off about Whites was the dozens of 'pinch points' they put in - presumably to stop kids on motocross bikes or something - so every few minutes it seemed we'd have to stop and upend the bikes to get through these narrow wooden barriers - it just ruined the flow of the trail for me. I'll go back there but to do another trail (though knowing my luck, they've probably all got them :roll: )

Thewaylander

steve17 wrote:

Many thanks for all the replies.

Heard of the July trail but unsure if it is waymarked. Guess I will head there and go with the flow. Many thanks again for all the advice.

Just wish I had the stamina to do the Wall and Whites so I could compare.

Follow skyline, and take shortcut 1.

tenfoot

Stevo 666 wrote:

II'll go back there but to do another trail (though knowing my luck, they've probably all got them :roll: )

Yep The Wall has them too.

Great trail though. I loved the descent.

Skyline descent is good too, although parts of the (whole) Skyline ride are a bit dull.

steve17

Thanks for all the comments.

Rode Whites and then after the Boardwalk on 'Energy' diverted miles on a fireroad and then backdown Skyline from 'Deadwood'. Those Rock steps on the skyline descent was a little too much for me.

Loved the Boardwalk on 'Energy' and think I might have missed some more Boardwalk on Goodwood.

Anyway for my next visit it will be 'The Wall' although the extra distance is a concern, need to shed a few more pounds by then.

Thanks for the advice guys.

FODCADEMON

It's always worth it. Get yourself up The Wall.

hsiaolc

BTW Goodwood is closed. Darkside is opened. They are chopping a lot of trees because of tree disease.

hsiaolc

Stevo 666 wrote:

I've not tried The Wall myself but Whites was a bit of a disappointment for me. Maybe it had been a bit hyped up beforehand but the great final descent I was told about never materialised (and a few pints of cider the night before probably didn't help with the climbing bit at the start...)

The thing that hacked me off about Whites was the dozens of 'pinch points' they put in - presumably to stop kids on motocross bikes or something - so every few minutes it seemed we'd have to stop and upend the bikes to get through these narrow wooden barriers - it just ruined the flow of the trail for me. I'll go back there but to do another trail (though knowing my luck, they've probably all got them :roll: )

Only a dozen? LOL they are everywhere. Some are so narrow even humans can't pass through without some difficulty. I think it is a little bit too much. What will make it really great if they did a short cut from the bottom of the lookout to the very top so we can just do the downhill part instead of going zig zag forever just to get to the top.

Thewaylander

steve17 wrote:

Thanks for all the comments.

Rode Whites and then after the Boardwalk on 'Energy' diverted miles on a fireroad and then backdown Skyline from 'Deadwood'. Those Rock steps on the skyline descent was a little too much for me.

Loved the Boardwalk on 'Energy' and think I might have missed some more Boardwalk on Goodwood.

Anyway for my next visit it will be 'The Wall' although the extra distance is a concern, need to shed a few more pounds by then.

Thanks for the advice guys.

Rock steps = goes fast hang on all will be fine

Briggo

FODCADEMON wrote:

It's always worth it. Get yourself up The Wall.

The Wall has to be one of the most boring routes I've done, a lot of boring singletrack either flatish or climbing for an ok descent at the end - Zig Zag.

rockmonkeysc

Afan is ok. Don't bother with Whites Level at weekends though, it just gets too busy. The Wall is better though I wouldn't bother making a 300 mile drive for a two hour (at most) ride.