Bikepark Wales you gona go or no??
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I went on Saturday and as you can guess the car parks were was rammed, however that didn't mean the runs were too crowded. We did the beast of burden climb which starts after a very steep initial gravel track. Its well planned and in the Winter will give some protection from the elements as its mainly in the forest. The final approach to the start is on top of the mountain and will be open to the wind and rain in the winter. I'm welsh I don't mind.
The first run down was Wibbly Wobbly and Rim Dinger. Wibbly Wobbly gets better as you hit the slopes with good berms and some well placed slab rocks so getting some air beneath your wheels is quite easy. you have to watch your speed on a few of the corners as you tend to build up speed quickly.
Rim Dinger again has some great berms and corners and some really well planned rock gardens. Hit them with some speed and a good line and you fly across them.
We did the fire road climb on the second run getting to the top a rock flipped up and took out my mech hanger and rear derailleur. I bent the mess straight and headed back down to the shop. The guys there tried to fix it but the hanger was US, so I headed home to buy some spares. Don't all shout at once but I now have a spare hanger.
we headed back on Monday to find the car parks already getting full at 9.15am.
We climbed the fire road each time to get to the top as it is quicker even if I did push a few times.
Run 1. Melted Welly, Blue Bell and Bush Whacker these are Blue runs but are really good fun, well planned and give a massive grin factor, especially the final section before and after the pipe under the road.
Run 2. Sixtapod and willy wobbler again a couple of Blue Runs but are again mostly fast running with good trail surfaces.
Run 3. Melted Welly then onto the Red Run, Vicious Valley It starts to get quite technical with bigger jumps and berms. Then onto Bonneyville, watch the rock drop off at the beginning of this section, it took me by surprise. great section with much more technical corners and much steeper gradients. This leads back onto blue bell and bush whacker.
Run 4. Sixtapod, locomotion then willy waver again.
Rub 5. Melted Welly Vicious Valley, Bonneyville then blue belle and finishing with Bush Whacker. This final section is great and I think Its here that the tunnel section is. The run into this has got some great berms and fast rolling surface.
The centre is well thought out and credit must go to the guys who built it, although I think there are still some surfaces towards the start that aren't quite finished yet. The staff are great and very helpful.
I think I have got it about right its hard to remember I'm still knackered. All told It was just over 23 miles and just over 4200 feet of climbing, if my sportstracker is correct.
I know I've rambled on a bit, but I had possibly the best days riding I can remember. Even if I did forget my sandwiches. All I can say is I'm going back armed with spare parts.0 -
Good to get info on the climbs back up if you are not using the uplift. Looking at the calendar the uplift is really booked up now, and if the park want to make money they need plenty of non-uplift riders too. Not much they can do to make it easy, as you've got to get to the top of the hill somehow! But good to know the options (road and single track)Blogging about junior road bikes http://junior-road-bikes.tumblr.com0
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Yes, I was really pleased to find that they'd invested the time and money to make a proper singletrack climb. prior to going I'd been a bit worried that anyone not using the uplift would be consigned to a boring fireroad climb, which would be really tedious.
Am really hoping that this approach shows they're going to be true to their word at the outset and make it a venue for XC riding as well, rather than just a downhill bikepark.0 -
No My folks live in the Brecon beacons and I can ride out of the back gate on to the hill, and the trails etc.
So i'm unlikely to drive to go there it would have to be spectacularly good and to be honest my tastes are for big hills etc than trail centers, if it was closer to where I live yes, but since my normal base in wales has such good riding....0 -
roger merriman wrote:No My folks live in the Brecon beacons and I can ride out of the back gate on to the hill, and the trails etc.
So i'm unlikely to drive to go there it would have to be spectacularly good and to be honest my tastes are for big hills etc than trail centers, if it was closer to where I live yes, but since my normal base in wales has such good riding....
but it's totally different riding, you can't compare the 2.
obviously though if you prefer just getting out there and riding I can understand why you wouldn't want to go
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The feedback that I've read so far has been almost completely positive and judging by the way the uplift is booked up (completely booked until 7 Oct and no weekend slots until 25th Oct), it's in demand.
Also interesting the Cwmdown have just announced they are going down to 1 bus on the weekend from next week until spring next year when the new DH trail opens."I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
Stevo 666 wrote:The feedback that I've read so far has been almost completely positive and judging by the way the uplift is booked up (completely booked until 7 Oct and no weekend slots until 25th Oct), it's in demand.
Also interesting the Cwmdown have just announced they are going down to 1 bus on the weekend from next week until spring next year when the new DH trail opens.
yeah, we were talking last night and the uplift is still 20 mins at BPW...quite long for a purpose built uplift rd :?
one of the drivers from CC is working at BPW apparently. so i'm not sure whether he's jumped ship to go there and that's why CC has gone to 1 bus or he had to go to BPW because they'd dropped to 1 bus :?0 -
Hi guys,
I went to BPW on the opening day. As some have said, yes the car park was incredibely busy but we still managed to get a space. I would think that it will calm down as time progresses.
The facilities are good, a nice cafe, shop and workshop cater to most of your needs. However i was suprised to find they stopped serving food at 3.....we turned up late and stopped for lunch at 4 so this was most disheartening!! Not a large selection either but enough.
There were other things going on that day, the stalls and Trek demo bikes. I took a remedy 9.8 up and then down some of the trails.
On to the trails, initially seeing the trail map i thought there wow, there are like 20 trails. However i would say there are pretty much 5 trails whcih go from top to bottom and you can swap over and do different sections of them on the way down. Enough variety for an uplift day but not a massive amount. We only ride trail bikes, mine's a Commencal Meta 55 and without the uplift available all day didnt fancy trying the black routes. Rode the reds and blues and the trails are really good fun. They are quite fabricated, in that i mean there is a lot of hardpack and gravel on the blues to make them fast and flowy. Fun but not technical. The reds got a bit more natural and technical but at the cost of some of the speed. The large loose rock gardens were brillant though and i would say there is a good variety of terrain.
We managed to get a2 uplifts by just waiting and hoping. uplift seems to take longer than i am used to and im under th impression you only get about 10 runs in a day? Compared to say 15 on FoD Flyup. But then i would say the trails are longer so its swings and rounabouts really.
I put a short 3 minute edit up on youtube of our trip there, it ust shows some of the facilities and some clips of the trails:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xcC7lEGgvo
I normally ride Forest of Dean. If i had to compare the two i would say that forest of dean is more natural and you probably get more runs in. BPW has a wider variety of terrain, feels more manufactured but a slower paced day.
I will definitely be going back to BPW for a full day on the uplift as soon as possible.
More trail centres can only ever be a good thing right? Its always nice to be able to go somewhere different.
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I'd be interested to see how they get 12 runs in a day at BPW bwtween 10 and 5 as claimed if it's 20 mins up and 10 or so down, plus loading and waiting time...welshkev wrote:Stevo 666 wrote:The feedback that I've read so far has been almost completely positive and judging by the way the uplift is booked up (completely booked until 7 Oct and no weekend slots until 25th Oct), it's in demand.
Also interesting the Cwmdown have just announced they are going down to 1 bus on the weekend from next week until spring next year when the new DH trail opens.
yeah, we were talking last night and the uplift is still 20 mins at BPW...quite long for a purpose built uplift rd :?
one of the drivers from CC is working at BPW apparently. so i'm not sure whether he's jumped ship to go there and that's why CC has gone to 1 bus or he had to go to BPW because they'd dropped to 1 bus :?
I reckon the CC driver probably got the boot because CC went to one driver - the one bus situation is staying till next spring: can't be that hard to find a new van driver? Also they'd be daft to say on their website that business is bad if it isn't."I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
We've done it twice and it is really good fun. We are hardtail riders so i don't do the black runs, the red and blue are enough for us.
We only managed 2 runs the first time and 3 the second time. I don't see that walking / pushing up is that much of an issue. I couldn't bring myself to part with £30 for the van ride up.
having mainly ridden trails, FOD, Llandegla, Brechfa and Gorlech, i am really pleased to have a well crafted set of tracks almost on my doorstep. The cafe is cheap, although drink selection could be more varied. The bike shop is pretty well stocked and not too expensive either.
It's new, it's clean and it's well worth a trip after all only you can make your mind up.I don't know enough to make smart r's remarks about peoples choice of parts 'n' things, yet!0 -
Hi all, definitely worth a trip and a fiver. Did the reds and blues still smiling . Looking to book an uplift day in Oct . Worth getting a route map just to mix up the trails and possibly do half runs and back to the top on the fireroad to miss the steeper lower sections. 2 full climbs and 2 top half climbs in a 5 hour day, enough for me . Get up there.
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went yesterday. bloody brilliant 8)
did blues, reds and blacks. I can imagine the xc climb will be brutal as it's STEEP around there.
we were on the uplift and it's a bit of a bizarre set up that the uplift doesn't pick you up from the bottom, you have to ride a nice flowy trail to a rd and then push/ride about 200m up to the pick up point, hard work on a DH bike weighing 40lbs
but the trails are superb, great fun. the blues are super flowy and fast, loads of air was got. the reds are 'proper' reds and not manicured really, big rocks, roots, drops etc. most have chicken lines around them though. the blacks were great fun too.
i'll definitely be going back, probably take the nomad and ride up to burn some fat the DH bike was a tad over kill for most of it. 0 -
How many runs did you manage to get in then?0
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Angry Bird wrote:How many runs did you manage to get in then?
only 6, but I did leave at 3.30. the queues for the bus are another thing! ask northern monkey
we did stop and have a look around between runs though so I probably could have fitted more in.0 -
Fair enough, how far is it to/how long would it take to ride back up do you reckon?
Quite tempted to take the EG over there at some point in the not too distant future.0 -
Angry Bird wrote:Fair enough, how far is it to/how long would it take to ride back up do you reckon?
Quite tempted to take the EG over there at some point in the not too distant future.
there was about 50 people that I knew there yesterday!! some of us on the uplift but most riding. some of the fitter ones did 6 full laps in about 4 hours!!
I reckon it'd take 30-40 mins to ride to the top for a 'normal' rider. I didn't see all the singletrack climb, but a lot of people were riding up the fireroad0 -
I'm only average fitness, but managed to do three full laps (the first two including the singletrack climb) in 2.5hrs. My last lap (which was the road climb to top and red/blue descents) took me exactly 40mins.Angry Bird wrote:Fair enough, how far is it to/how long would it take to ride back up do you reckon?0 -
I can imagine the xc climb will be brutal as it's STEEP around there.
Bahh its not steep, you're just lazy!
Really looking forward to some good XC loops there. Would be great to do a long ride and then finish on one of those downhills!0 -
Go on then, what happened to NM?welshkev wrote:Angry Bird wrote:How many runs did you manage to get in then?
only 6, but I did leave at 3.30. the queues for the bus are another thing! ask northern monkey
we did stop and have a look around between runs though so I probably could have fitted more in.
I heard they have 4 buses running: do you just get on the first one that comes along or do you get 'allocated' a bus for the day?"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
Stevo 666 wrote:
Go on then, what happened to NM?welshkev wrote:Angry Bird wrote:How many runs did you manage to get in then?
only 6, but I did leave at 3.30. the queues for the bus are another thing! ask northern monkey
we did stop and have a look around between runs though so I probably could have fitted more in.
I heard they have 4 buses running: do you just get on the first one that comes along or do you get 'allocated' a bus for the day?
you just get on the first one that turns up. there's no real queue system and people were always just walking up to chat to someone and then jumping on the bus before the people who'd been queuing there, it riled him a bit
they stagger their lunch breaks too, so they go down a bus. this is between 12:30 and 15:30 so it can be a bit of a PITA as the queue is pretty big during these times. but I suppose it means you don't have to stop for lunch if you don't want to.0 -
That kind of queuing and stuff is a real kick in the nuts if you've spent a summer riding DH in the alps, with all the lovely chairlifty goodness 0
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Yeah the queuing for the busses was a farce, the drivers weren't even checking people had paid for an uplift until another rider complained..
I dropped an email to Cognation and BPW because it pissed me off so much haha!0 -
That would really nark me. Nearly as much as someone nicking my drink - as I get really thirsty when I'm riding DH and usually leave a big bottle of something to drink near the van pickup point. Think I'll have to stick a name tag onto mine next week :PThe Northern Monkey wrote:Yeah the queuing for the busses was a farce, the drivers weren't even checking people had paid for an uplift until another rider complained..
I dropped an email to Cognation and BPW because it pissed me off so much haha!"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
I gather the uplifts are fully booked , but someone mentioned using the bus a couple of times, can you pay per ride too? Or did he just sneak on...? Thinking of going this Saturday to give my new Bronson a bit of a workout
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Notax wrote:I gather the uplifts are fully booked , but someone mentioned using the bus a couple of times, can you pay per ride too? Or did he just sneak on...? Thinking of going this Saturday to give my new Bronson a bit of a workout
it's so busy there that the uplifts are fully booked but people just queue there anyway hoping to get on. there was quite a few spaces especially as they run all day so when people stop for lunch, punctures, mechanicals etc that frees up a few spaces.
£4 a run though is a lot I reckon!0 -
Thanks, £4 sounds good value compared to £30 for the day pass - unless the day pass gives priority? Will probably ride up a few times and then catch the bus if there are spaces...0
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Just got back from 2 days uplifting here. Some good news and some bad news.
Initially we were dissappointed by the trails as everything seemed a bit man made. But this isn't the case at all - you just need to get onto the blacks. The dragon run is absolutly fantastic all the way down with a few options but really fun. However, it's the only trail that warrents taking your DH bike there - the majority of trails would be best on a short travel bike or even a hardtail. Next time I go i'll take the jump bike as well as the DH.
All in all though the trails are fun.
Some stuff isn't as good however. The uplift is crap. Firstly it doesn't pick you up near the car park so you end up taking camelbaks with you, the turn around time is awful and frequently we'd be waiting 20-30 minutes for a bus. As mentioned, no one queues properly and people without uplift passes were getting on in front of us even when we had passes. We ended up getting 7 runs in both days which is really poor compared to most other uplifts. You even get more at Inners and I thought that place was bad.
Hopefully these are teething problems and wil get sorted out. All in all it's a fun place to ride and i'll be going back.0 -
yeah definitely agree about the DH bikes. I made that mistake
northern monkey got a reply about the uplift queue and they're working on sorting that out apparently.
and yeah, why doesn't it pick you up from the bottom? I don't mind taking a camel back as it protects me a bit more as I fall off a lot, but I was knackered pushing up that hill each time 0
