Blade Trail Glyncorrwg

apple eater

Has anyone been here yet and what did you think of it? I'm thinking of going this weekend if it isn't too cold.

Big_Wheels

Hi, rode this yesterday. It's quite a tough ride and seems longer than the 24km estimate suggests. It also ends with some of the most technical sections of trail which makes things interesting on tired legs! It's a really nice route though with quite a bit of variety as well as options to shorten/lengthen the ride as you go.

The surface has taken quite a hammering with the recent weather and the intensity of use a new trail gets. So it's quite gloopy in places (lots of places actually). It will be best in a hard frost or when (if) the rain ever stops for long enough for it to dry out. That said, it's winter and no trail is ever at its best at this time of year.

apple eater

I got down here today and can honestly say I wish i hadn't bothered.

The initial climb is long but gradual and I thought that was OK. There was a half decent, albeit weather beaten, single track loop off to the left which was a little bit of fun.

The second half of the track left a lot to be desired and was definitely not worth the physical effort needed to get around. To many styles which meant the flow of the trail was massively restricted. Some of the style posts were to close together and forced you to lift the bike up and over the posts.

What should have been a fun downhill / singletrack section turned out to be very slow and too much uphill where it need not have been if more thought had gone into the route.

At one point I felt like giving up and walking down the steep slope back to the car park. I will not be returning to this trail as it is very long and not enough enjoyment for the effort. This is the second Afan Valley trail that i've done and both have been a complete let down. I have a friend who is itching to get down to the new penhydd trail. I'll give that a go but if that also fails to impress i will avoid Afan completely. I'm glad i rode the blade just to say i've done it. 30 - 40 minutes more driving and i could have been at the brilliant brechfa/gorlech trails.

benpinnick

Which other trail didn't you like (so I can Judge whether I'd agree with you )

mountainmorgan

Rode the blade today, and cant say i was impressed at all. It was wet after the downpours we had over the last couple of days, and was cut up as you would expect to a certain extent on a new track, but the short sections, lack of flow, badly placed entrance posts and technical uphills left me less than impressed. The last section seemed like the trail builders realised this and tried to cram everything into it. Uphill rock gardens, berms so tight and low they suck all your speed with drop offs straight after that you haven't the speed to fully commit too. Don't know who the contractor was, or how much NRW gave them of some of the 300k deal with the cyc wind farm to build this trail, but the fact is the best parts of it were already there! They just added signposts! That all said, if you want xc, afan forest park is where it is. If you want properly designed flowing downhills, pay your money and book yourself an uplift in BPW, if you do it now you'll be sorted for next year!

PuttyKnees

Seems a bit harsh, I really enjoyed Blade. The entrance/exit posts are a bit annoying, but better than having moto-x riders ripping it up. I dare say the better you are, the better it will flow.

dusk

I loved it, way better than W2 imo.

I can see how it would be less enjoyable if it were too wet, it was just about dry enough when I went.

I'd probably agree with the above, there are some pretty technical bits but if you have the ability to attack them then the flow is great. I could see how if you were a slower rider it wouldn't be so nice.

sofaboy73

i echo the above comments.

rode it at easter and wasn't blown away. there are some nice sections, but it's all a bit jekyl and hyde.

lots of it is quite easy going, then it will throw in a couple of uncharacteristically techy bits where you wouldn't expect them. for example on the last descent there are a couple of drops which are more awkward than anything else on the route, so why throw them in at the end when you're knackered an trying to pick up speed for the run home? . there's also a couple of up hill technical sections which i can never see the point of, it doesn't make the climb anymore interesting. parts of the trail are also wearing badly already (down through the tree's to the stream after turbine view or whatever it's called).

overall it just lacks flow