Cognation - Cwm Carn Twrch trail
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Ridden it a couple of times over the weekend,
And any section they have dozered is just slime now, anything they hadn't touched was dry and dusty. All the drainage has been utterly ruined. I'm chasing them for more feedback as the forrestry response so far has been little to nothing.0 -
Thewaylander wrote:Ridden it a couple of times over the weekend,
And any section they have dozered is just slime now, anything they hadn't touched was dry and dusty. All the drainage has been utterly ruined. I'm chasing them for more feedback as the forrestry response so far has been little to nothing.
have you contacted the forest ranger dude on facebook?0 -
Yarp,
Nothing yet. Spoke to the guys in PS cycles who do alot of trail maintenance and all and was advised prepare for slow response as the forrestry have real communication issues. He also did not look pleased about hte work they had done at all.
it's really taking a toll on there hire bikes with the nasty clay coming back on them.0 -
Hola party people,
Update. Forest ranger dude has been in contact and is going to try and arrange an open discussion for us to talk to him. he is planning thursday 18th at 6.30 in the evening(so after people have finished work).
Will get back to you all when its solid.0 -
Hola party people,
Update. Forest ranger dude has been in contact and is going to try and arrange an open discussion for us to talk to him. he is planning thursday 18th at 6.30 in the evening(so after people have finished work).
Will get back to you all when its solid.0 -
Wotcha,
4 friends and I are taking the trip from Kent to Cwmcarn tomorrow (monday 8th) and I've been following this thread with interest.
Are you suggesting the ride is not worth it at all, or that it's just not as good as it was.
We rode Glentress a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed the fast flowy blue graded stuff as well as the rooty red stuff, so I'm not opposed to smoother/jumpier trails at all. Can you be more specific about the recent changes.
Also you state it's a slime-fest now, ridable or just a mess and not fun at all.
If it truly is that tragic, and we are travelling for 3.5 hours for a bad trail, we may as well go the extra 45minutes to Afan (is that an accurate time from cwmcarn to afan?) and ride there instead.
Thanks in advance to you local fellas.Specialised Camber Comp 2011
Boardman Comp Road 20110 -
It's still a good trail the climb is the most technical you will find pretty much anywhere. and the last 2 descents are fantastic fast and rough.
Our concern is the new works doesn't fit in there are tons of bermy jumpy trails but few fairly natural feeling rocky rooty trails and its becoming less than it was. we are trying to save what's left but for me one of the roughest best sections is now under new construction which is bad.
So in my view its still better than anything at afan. but just not a patch on what it was.0 -
Thankyou for the quick response Waylander. Weather might even be favourable tomorrow too! Who'd ever have thought the sun might come out this year!!Specialised Camber Comp 2011
Boardman Comp Road 20110 -
And in wales too eh.0
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Well we loaded up the van this past Monday (8th April) and headed out from Kent to South Wales - all 5 of us Cwmcarn virgins - to see what we could see.
Drive was long, hit traffic, but we were pleasantly surprised by the visitor centre which seemed very clean, well presented, and excellently signposted. Parking was very reasonable considering we have to pay £8.50 a visit at our nearest Forestry Commission location.
The initial sections out past the 1st gate were a nice taster of what was to come, and after the 2nd gate we hit the climb that is mentioned above. Pretty tough. It's not so much the gradient, but the route is very line dependent - once you go off line you're done! :x
Eventually we exited the climb out near a car park and hit the final fire road section up to the top where the Air Stream sections are located. Deciding to session them for a while, we preferred the 'black' run, more exciting and faster too.
After a bit we started the descent back down the hill, hitting the next section running alongside the road. I'm assuming this section is one of the flattened parts mentioned here in this thread, it seemed different to the preceding sections, but only in parts. There were still nice gullies and rock steps in turns, making the section fast but challenging.
Riding out, slightly uphill before another descent with fast right-left flicks and bermed turns at the end before a diversion. Round the diversion and into a rocky flattish section before the final hill, then downhill for the final descents.
The actual last descent was excellent. Wish I had a speedometer, and the guy behind me had not suffered a puncture and stopped halfway down as he was filming me!! Still, it went some way towards paying back the effort involved in the climbs. Very fun.
In my opinion, the Airstream sections need to be sessioned extensively to really make the climbs worth it, there isn't enough flow to the trail to make simply riding it as a route rewarding enough, those top sections are really good though.
The 'ruined' parts of the trail, are not as bad as perhaps is made out in this thread. They are fast, perhaps smoother than they were, but not without fun as a result. The day we were there was a fine dry day, and there were no puddles, though in thick tree cover there were one or two spots which had given way to mud but thats to be expected.
The centre is still very much worth visiting, the climb is very challenging, and it is still a nice learning curve prior to hitting Coed Y Brenin Ms Notax, if you're still considering that. (I've ridden both, and I don't think anything will prepare novices for the handcramps they're due at Brenin) :twisted:Specialised Camber Comp 2011
Boardman Comp Road 20110 -
The thing is there never used to be any mud at all. A few puddles but that was it. The 'black' airstream section used to be great, until they took out the ladder drops, then the wall ride, then the corkscrew tunnel......
The bits you are on about I'm sure are great fun, they're just different to how it used to be - not as testing.
As for flow, it comes with practice
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Gonna say in terms of flow i rate cwm as one of the best trails untill the forresty pie eyed around with it.
Certainly better than Afan.0 -
Nothing new on the update front yet..
New sections have started to wash away to bed rock again bar the huge muddy berms. We are getting alot of news about the new sections at Afan, but nothing about Cwm which i must say is frustrating. feels like people only want to face the positive and not look at hte bad too.0 -
Any news on this?
We're planning a couple of weekend riding trips to Wales & Cwmcarn is not on the list for the first time in years
Looking at Cognations FB page, its not looking good for Afan either.0 -
they finished the one section they closed, It was moved apparently due to land slip or somethign close to the fence though the new section doesn't really seam any further in or supported and in fact is just a bit of smooth pap if i'm honest.
No further communications but the last 2 decents are still in place and rocking as always!0 -
I rode CC on 26th April and thought it was fun - the climb was good challenging ride and the descents all good - we just did the loop with no sessioning at Airstream but we rode the black on advice from a local and I thought it was pretty poor - badly maintained jumps and not the best shaped - the rest of it was great aside from the diversion that was in place which was a shame.
The flattened bit as described was ok for me and still better than the torture they are putting afan through!Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0 -
The last section over past the top bbq area is a mess... I'd love to meet the person that decided sand is a good trail building material.
There isnt even a line through it and most is off camber (or its washed away down the hill)0 -
Yeh the builders from that section deserve to be punished...
Ie never allowed to work ona bike trail again...0 -
Right, I was holding judgement until I could be bothered to ride it. It's terrible. The bit after the free ride has a huge rut in the middle and has been made wider, but IMO more dangerous. The next section was like a puddle a thon. I've ridden it in the middle of winter and seen less water on the trail. The bit descent is ok and those berms aren't as bad as I thought. But the descent just before the concrete ramp is terrible. That used to be my favourite bit. It feels like its not finished. I came down a steep little incline and into a left turn, there was what looked as if it was supposed to be a berm at the bottom but it was eroded/non existent. I went around it and the mud/clay completely gave way and my front wheel washed out and I went flying!!!
All in all not that impressed0 -
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I was about to post that!delaxm wrote:0 -
hmmmm, possibly.
IMO it's not so much what they've done. it's how they've done it. I mean using that type of mud to create the trail is useless. and on one section, they've cut a huge hole in the berm to let water drain off...I had to hop off the berm, if I was going quicker I would've gone straight into the gap!
be interesting to see who gets it. i'm guessing rowan and back on track are the trail designers they're talking about. I saw him mooching around there last Thursday evening.0 -
Oh god, I rode this today for the first time in ages and I just can't see the logic of what they've done. The new bit before concrete ramps is completely and utterly knackered. It's a boggy, mucky mess without any shape to it all - whoever built it clearly has no clue. The berm with a hole in it that Kev mentioned nearly took me out as well. Not impressed.0
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scottfitz wrote:
I was about to post that!delaxm wrote:
nope. that one is for 2 new trails (1 red, 1 downhill).
They're actually supposed to be finished by September so fark knows how they'll manage that.... I just hope that whoever is currently making the changes get a big size 10 in the arse.
Although, it sounds like the trail has already been designed.Approximately 10-15km of single track pre-designed red graded mountain bike trail, this will create an additional cross country trail and a second Downhill
Rowan is building the bike park in Gethin so not sure he'll take on another?0 -
I think it's already been designed Ben. I used to see rowan and his big sticks up there back last year.0
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Was up there yesterday in the rain, that new section is ruined completely looked like it washing down the side off the mountain.. Who ever built that should be sacked, hung, drawn and quartered then sent to the CC for berating.0
