Trail conditions - Cwmcarn, Yer Tiz, Hopton Woods

mountaingoatimnot

OK, that's a diverse selection but i have the next two days off with my 10 year old, so we want to do one day in S.E. Wales/Bristol area and another in East Mid Wales as this ties up with another appointment Wednesday.

We normally ride the FoD, needing a bit of a change and having stopped by there today it looked a bit muddy judging by the brown riders at the cafe !!

So tomorrow I'm thinking either go west a little to Cwmcarn Twrch (30 minutes drive) or east to Yer Tiz/Leigh Woods

Wednesday I'm hoping for the XC in Hopton Woods, unless someones says Eastridge drains better.


So if you rode any of these recently , please give me the lowdown on trail conditions :shock: :?

Thanks

The Northern Monkey

twrch drains well.. Pretty much zero puddles or mud on Sunday

mountaingoatimnot

Many thanks, looks like cwmcarn is a good bet then

welshkev

yeah, as ben said. they'll be a few puddles but there's hardly ever any gloopy mud there it rolls well all year round

mountaingoatimnot

Thanks guys

We dropped by this afternoon and did the Twrch

Trail conditions were as you said, quite a few 3-6" deep puddles dotted along the whole trial but the rest was pretty good, certainly no boggy sections like the Verderer's Trail at FoD. There are some deep ruts in several sections from wear n tear and rain torrents, which make some of the singletrack very narrow, but we managed to keep the pedals away from the sides

First time round Twrch, enjoyed it a lot although we under estimated the amount of climbing (even after reading the guide books warnings !), and after 6-8 weeks without a ride it was tough going (certainly harder than the red at FoD ). But once up at the top we had a hoot on the downhill sections, and it was nice to feel the bike moving around controllably underneath me (something i struggle to do at FoD in drier conditions). And just got back to the cafe for a well earned coffee before they closed up for the day.

The Northern Monkey

ha... climbing is tough for us locals that ride it most weekends

Actually, I haven't done the main climbs in ages, I tend to bypass them on the fire road!

welshkev

The Northern Monkey wrote:

ha... climbing is tough for us locals that ride it most weekends

Actually, I haven't done the main climbs in ages, I tend to bypass them on the fire road!

No we don't Ben we nail that climb every time... Ahem :oops:

mountaingoatimnot

There's a lot to be said for parking on one of the mid/upper car parks on the Forest drive...

> enjoy the downhill sections to the max
> have a coffee and bite to eat
> and then ride back up the tarmac road

welshkev

Or just ride over from my house

The Northern Monkey

Or get the bus up to the top of Airstream... not that I did that at the weekend at all