I haven’t been to a trail centre yet. Would like to sample a worthwhile one.

Criteria
– focus rather on fun flowy singletrack than gnarly rock garden
– suitable for OK skilled descender on a hardtail who can’t jump nor drop
– fun even in potential March weather conditions (not a muddy hole)
– (just) enough trails for 2 days
– nice scenery/landscape
– good infrastructure (don’t need lifts or spa but easy to find routes, a good shop and pub would be good)

I read about Coed Y Brenin recently and liked what I read. Would that work?

I’m located in Norfolk so North Wales is absolute max. distance, Peaks would work; Lakes and Scotland wouldn’t. Is there anything like a decent trail centre in the South? Or Midlands?

Cheers!

Afan.

Coed y Brenin was good last time I was there. There aren’t really any trailcentres in the Peaks, but there are LOTS of rocks. How far are you from Cannock? That’s good fun, lots of singletrack with optional tech bits and stuff to jump off if you fancy it.

Coed Llandegla

Lot’s of smooth high speed single track with jumps that can be rolled over as easily as jumped to a whip.

🙂

You’ll struggle with the “nice views” bit at most of them, on account of the trees, but still maybe an improvement on Norfolk 😉 . If you can ride one, you’ll be able to ride them all (outside of Scotland anyway), they tend to be fairly similar….

FOD and Cwmcarn are doable in a day.
Afan a bit further but offers a bit more choice.

Coed Llandegla sounds good! But high speed? Is that still narrow with nice sweeping lines weaving through the trees?!

Nant-y-arian, ride the conti loop one day and then look around online/os maps for second day.

Cannock would be my suggestion. had a great day there other than the snakbite flats I got (3 in total that day)

FOD – where or what is that?
Urban dictionary rings all the wrong bells… 🙂

nothing to see at Cannock

focus rather on fun flowy singletrack than gnarly rock garden FAIL
suitable for OK skilled descender on a hardtail who can’t jump nor drop PASS
fun even in potential March weather conditions (not a muddy hole) FAIL
(just) enough trails for 2 days FAIL
nice scenery/landscape FAIL
good infrastructure (don’t need lifts or spa but easy to find routes, a good shop and pub would be good) PASS

Enjoy 🙂

nothing to see at Cannock

THAT good?! 😯 😀

+1 on Nant-yr-arian. Although it is lacking local facilities – bit stuck out there, however the riding is excellent, nice and flowy singletrack + double track wilderness riding if you do the Syfidrin trail.

FoD- Forest of Dean, near Monmouth. Nice flowy blue graded trail called Verderers. Also selection of some mini downhill runs.

Afan probably best suits the riding you describe but CyB is great for a weekend away (good riding and a nice area). All the welsh centres are fine in all weathers IME, so don’t worry about that.

focus rather on fun flowy singletrack than gnarly rock garden FAIL

Cannock? Rock garden? I rode dog and monkey, did I ride the wrong trail?
It reminded me of Ashton court with a tiny bit more height.

Was thinking more in terms of it not being fun flowy singletrack, more Up/down/stop/start singletrack.

Athough we do have rocks as well

focus rather on fun flowy singletrack than gnarly rock garden FAIL

had a great day there other than the snakbite flats I got (3 in total that day)

QQLF?????

My mum road arround cannock on a shopper! There are no rocks (gravel in places, does that count?) to snakebite on and the term day should be used loosely, it’s a 2 hour lap at most!

[edited in light of crossed posts]

I’d rate 13/14/15 (chainbreaker onwards on FTD) as some of the flowiest bits of trail I know, narrowly beeten by the bermed switchbacks into the cafe at Dalby.

The short Black sections on the Monkey are pretty intimidating for trail centre riding IMO, certainly more so than Ashton Court (speaking as a Bristolian). Especially that tight left hander into the rocky staircase. I think the comment was about the general lack of “flowyness” at Cannock.

FoD (Forest of Dean) – I love it because it’s local (very local if you know what I mean…) but I wouldnt seriously recommend that someone drove from Norfolk to ride the Verderers. And would you really drive from East Anglia to Llandegla for 2 days of riding. What are you going to do on the afternoon of Day 1, let alone Day 2?

I know the post is about trail centres, but the Peaks has to be the best option

focus rather on fun flowy singletrack than gnarly rock garden – if you know where to look
suitable for OK skilled descender on a hardtail who can’t jump nor drop PASS
fun even in potential March weather conditions (not a muddy hole) PASS (but it will eat your drivechain and pads)#
enough trails for 2 days PASS
nice scenery/landscape PASS
good infrastructure (don’t need lifts or spa but easy to find routes, a good shop and pub would be good) – PLENTY OF SHOPS AND PUBS, EASY ROUTE FINDING WITH AN OS MAP

I dont know them well, but wouldnt the south downs fit the bill, other than the mud maybe (though March can be pretty dry)?

….sorry, bored at work and feeling iritable..

Ok, I missed the bit about enough for two days riding. Cannock IS more like two hours. There’s still some nice singletrack there though, I reckon.

How about combining the North Wales centres, so an afternoon at ‘Degla and a day at CyB?

Or the Peaks IS awesome.

I’d be heading to CyB. It fits pretty much all of your requirements. There are a couple of rocky sections, but nothing too major….

I was there mid-Jan and gave my new headcam a trial. Sorry, the vids aren’t great and please excuse the coughing, snorting soundtrack but I had a cold that refused to go….

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZjbL_HaKjA&context=C3cadb7aADOEgsToPDskLpI3s9FrcVlM4KJQ1vGJi1[/video]

If you click through to Youtube you can see the other videos that I took on the same weekend.

What’s that delicious rocky bit early on in the MBR trail? After the nice little rocky climb?
I likes CyB I do.

I’d do a weekend based in Machynlleth (good pubs, shops (Bike and beer!)) and then split the riding between NYA and Mach itself. Best mix of playground and natural type riding, I reckon.

Double post glitch

Triple post glitch

Where?

Keeps duplicating, or even triplicating, my posts!

Hock, i know its not a trail centre but if you want flowing singletrack close to home come to tunstall, suffolk.

I can show you round give me a message!

Since you’ve a couple of days and you live in Norfolk (everywhere is a drive), either Afan or Glentress would seem to be the two candidates.

CyB is good, but the drive there would be pretty crap for you.

wrecker – Member
What’s that delicious rocky bit early on in the MBR trail? After the nice little rocky climb?
I likes CyB I do.

Cain, I think….it’s the bit after the rocky climb, Brutus….

b r – Member
Since you’ve a couple of days and you live in Norfolk (everywhere is a drive), either Afan or Glentress would seem to be the two candidates.

Glentress is a monster drive from Norfolk……
I live near P’boro and CyB is about a 4hr drive for me, whereas Glentress is nearer 6.5 I think, although I can’t remember exactly as it’s been a couple of years since I was last there.

Everyone likes different places, just pick any 1, ride it ASAP and you’ll probably get hooked and want to visit them all

you’ll probably get hooked and want to visit them all

that’s exactly what I thought after reading through the posts – many thanks to all!

stumpy01 – I like your video(s) a lot, I am pretty sure they give a more relevant impression than any sugarcoated promotion video of a trail centre – thank you! And I do hope your cold was suitably impressed by your stamina and buggered off soon! 🙂

I like the Cannock idea. Hock in Cannock, not too long a drive… But I am a little bit confused by the contradictory comments here. Either it’s a huge area or it’s not clear where it is and where it ends. 😉
Anyway, the current What MTB? has a story on that area and I’ll try to make sense of that.

It will be a long drive to Wales in any case but I can be an early bird if there is a good reason and I don’t mind driving too much. Maybe I’ve got to stay 2 nights to make it worthwhile though.

@joemacca: thanks for your offer! Exploring some more of East Anglias fine tracks sounds very good to me! I just send you a mail.

Very pleased with STW forum today! 😉 🙂

hock – Member

– focus rather on fun flowy singletrack than gnarly rock garden
vs
I read about Coed Y Brenin recently and liked what I read.

I love CYB but it is largely made of enormous rocks. They’re not massively gnarly, and there’s still some fantastic singletrack, but if you don’t want rocks then you don’t want CYB IMO. Even though it’s fab.

Nant yr Arian is fab… Syfyfyfyfyfyfyfyfyryyddrydyn has loads of nice singletrack, some really lovely views, and doesn’t have the “fun park” feel that a lot of trail centres have. Also both the best climb I’ve ever done and one of the worst 😉 Did like.

Penmachno also worth a look- I wasn’t as impressed with it as some but it’s still a lovely ride.

Can you say that again please? 🙂 Syfyfyfyfyfyfyfyfyryyddrydyn? 😕 😉
Is that a part of Nant yr Arian or something else?

Syfydrin is a name of a trail at Nant yr Arian.

For an overview of trail centres in Wales have a look at http://mbwales.com/

Ah, OK, thanks! It sounded more like a medicine. Or an illness for that matter.

Coed Y Brenin and Nant yr Arian are now on the short-list with Cannock and Suffolk being an opportunity for shorter trips. 🙂

I’ll also have a closer look at mbwales.com.

Many thanks for the massive feedback!

Llandegla ticks all your boxes worth a trip and good cafe to eat afterwards.

more info on their website

Homepage

You could do somewhere in North Wales (CyB, Llandegla, NyA) with a stop off in Cannock on the way there / back to break it up maybe?

There’s not enough waymarked stuff at Cannock for a couple of days, unless you ride it more than once.

Nant yr arian,mach 1,2,3 then go back via cwm radar near llandovery n over the breacons ,will keep you going for couple of days .

Coed Y Brenin and Nant yr Arian are now on the short-list

For your first taste of trail center riding i would stick with those.

On your first day try the MBR (or the Beast of Brenin if you want a longer ride) and then the Tarw* after lunch at CyB. They are great trails with plenty of fun singletrack sections and the climbs to earn them.

On your second day try the Syfydrin trail at NyA which is one of the best waymarked routes in Wales. Well, in my humble opinion anyway. It gives you the best of both worlds with wide open moorland trails, rewarding climbs and finished off with some classic pine forest tree dodging. You will have a great time and fill both your days with enough riding to ensure you’re planning the next trip as you drive down the A44.

*Used to be called the Red Bull and was the first official purpose built MTB trail in Wales. Some on here will say it’s dull but while your there why not find out for yourself.