Went to Afan with a friend and some of our older children. I have been to lots of downhill venues but this was the first time I had ever been to a trail centre simply because at home I can ride out of the door. What had put me off a bit in the past was the driving of course but also the photos in magazines showing ribbons of gravel imported into woodland with some rocks thrown in and it all seemed a bit fake.
However I hold my hands up. I was wrong. It was great and we all had a really good (cheap) day. When I had read about brakeless swoopy descending in reviews it always sounded a bit challenge free, because like most i like some steep thrown in, but again I was wrong. They were huge fun and you could really start to carry some speed when you could see far enough ahead.
What really impressed was that whilst the trails were manufactured of course, they felt pretty natural (to me at least) and were almost completely devoid of stutter bumps which ruin well used trails if you are on a hard tail. The clue may be in the “brakeless swoopy descending” but how does such a well used track remain so sweet flowing?
We were there on Thursday during fantastic weather during a school holiday and I saw fewer people than there are normally when I am just out on the hills around my house. I thought Afan was quite famous and as such there would be loads of people there, surprisingly there were not.
We will be doing another trip to Wales to try some more.
