Next month im planning on going to wales with a few mates .. it’ll be our first time there….My main playground is cannock which i do pretty much weekly,

We plan on going in the week over 2-3 days…..As anyone got any experience with welsh trails?

Can anyone recommend a few trails to do over a 2 – 3 day period which are close together and have a varied type of riding over the few days?

Thanks

you are pretty much spoilt for choice. If you went south there are 3 good trails at Afan and I would definitely recommend booking an uplift day at cwmcarn.

Further north people speak well of nant y arian and macclyneth, I cant help you there as I’ve not ridden them but there is a cracking ride around at the elan valley

north of there is coed y brenin which I think it still great.

avoid bets y coed, tired and outdated.

Lllangdegla in north wales is good but there is only a couple of hours riding there.

first question do you mean trail centres or natural stuff??

then next question where in Wales are you thinking of? North/Mid/South??

have you sorted accommodation etc?

I’ll be able to help you then

head down to llanwrtyd wells and we will show you round for three days, different rides each day. guiding by two qualified guides. no charge.

i can suggest places to stay but would recommend the drovers rest (as recommended by Chips from the singletrack) in town, say neil recommended you.

neil
llanwrtyd wells cycling club

contact me via http://www.redkiteevents.co.uk

Thanks guys,

Nothing sorted as of yet as we,ve only just decided today 🙂

We was thinking Cwmcarn and afan??

I can’t recommend Brechfa forest highly enough!! The best trail Ive ever ridden in Wales, possibly.

Afan is good but feels terrible compared to Brechfa. Its more brakes off go for it type riding with no real quality berms or anything, which can get boring at times. It was my local riding spot for years though so i got a bit bored of it..

In Mid Wales, Machynlleth is a must go to stop, the Climach-X loop is unreal, the last descent makes it so worth while.

Come on. Wales is a big place and completely covered with trails.

If you’re asking about trail centres then that’s a different question.

Next week i’m going riding in Ingerland.
Can anyone recommend any trails?

🙄

We was thinking Cwmcarn and afan??

I’d say drive for an hour longer and do Cwmcarn with Brechfa.

The Wall trail at Afan felt pretty dull when i rode it the day after the Raven trail at Brechfa, which was only about a month ago. Maybe the other loops there are better at the moment though.

Conversely, I would say that Afan is a fair bit better than brechfa. The amount of fire road on brechfa red is excessive IMO and the raven is a very confused trail with little flow unless you know it well. Having said that, skyline is fire road heavy, w2 is the best ride there but that’s it since penhydd went. Brechfa is in a much nicer location too. A fan only needs a day. I’d say get to mid/north Wales and ride Machynlleth, coed y brenin, nant y Arian and maybe llandegla.

How can you say this lacks flow????????? 🙄 😕 😯

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0FVPlSwp_M&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

I’d definitely book an uplift day at Cwmcarn. Masses of fun but take elbow and knee pads and a full face helmet. You’ll have a blast for the day. I’ve never ridden Brechfa but I’d recommend Afan the next day and do W2. If you’ve never been to Wales you’ll enjoy it. Even the climbs are enjoyable and you’ll love the Energy Section.

“riding with no real quality berms or anything, which can get boring at times” 😯
Shirley not….

Lllangdegla in north wales is good but there is only a couple of hours riding there.

pmsl

Thank **** none of you lot take the time to ride anywhere other than the normal southerner traps.

I rode Brechfa for the first time two weeks ago. It was my first visit to a trail centre. I’m not particularly rad, but I really enjoyed the Gorlech trail. HUGE amount of climbing though, and it was very up, down, then back again and down again.

Rode Whites Level at Afan for the first time today, and enjoyed it much more. I don’t know why – Brechfa is beautiful and it was totally deserted when we were there, but Afan today was just up, up, up, then down, down, down. Felt much more rewarding – I thought Energy was bloomin’ great, brought a massive smile to my face.

Rorschach – Member
“riding with no real quality berms or anything, which can get boring at times”
Shirley not….

As in there doesn’t seem to be many sections where you can flow continuosly from berm to berm. It’s more like -blast in a straight line, break for sharp corner, brakes off and blast in a straight line again until next sharp corner-.

The Whites level trail is prob the best one there, i agree the final descent there has me grinning a lot, its a bit of an all up then all down trail though.

For natural – base in Cwmdu, buy the OS map and ride around here – including the ‘Gap’.

Otherwise just go to Afan.

I think you’re getting mountainbiking and scalextrics mixed up. 😥

scalextrics or trainsets.

When you learn how to turn without the ‘aid’ of berms or skidding to a stand still you’ll find most trails are much more fun.

The best riding in Wales for me is not in the trail centres. I save them for winter when time is limited and weather is unreliable.
Llangorse mtn, Black mountains, the Gap amongst many others are much better rides IMO.

If you go to the Brechfa area, do not, I repeat do not go without taking a visit to Cwm Rhaeadr. About 20miles away. Some of Rowam Sorrell’s finest work. Techy dh sections, small drops, tabletops, rollercoaster sections, huge smooth berms, tight singletrack, no braking bumps. The whole loop is probably 45minutes end to end, but I defy you to not come out with a huge smile.

Rorschach – Member
“riding with no real quality berms or anything, which can get boring at times”
Shirley not….

As in there doesn’t seem to be many sections where you can flow continuosly from berm to berm. It’s more like -blast in a straight line, break for sharp corner, brakes off and blast in a straight line again until next sharp corner-.

The Whites level trail is prob the best one there, i agree the final descent there has me grinning a lot, its a bit of an all up then all down trail though.

avoid bets y coed, tired and outdated

it may come as a shock to know that you can ride more than the marin trail from betws yknow.

When you learn how to turn without the ‘aid’ of berms or skidding to a stand still you’ll find most trails are much more fun.

I like lots of man-made stuff that doesn’t have any berms, and i try to avoid major skids. I wouldn’t be able to direct people to the good natural stuff, ridden loads of it but wouldn’t be able to find any of it myself.

W2 is great for a few hours fun. Fast descents. Someone above said it was ‘boring’ but theres nothing boring about getting down the rocky Afan descents at speed. I’ll certainly be enjoying myself in the morning.

Yes Brechfas good but a long way out for many city dwellers unless you’re a swansea jack. I’d second the earlier comment about Cwm Rheadr. It certainly did feel like i’d been on a rollercoaster by the end. Lovely scenery too. For more natural stuff in the area you have the Llyn Brianne reservoir circuit just up the road.

Abergorlech has a pretty cool trail.

If time was limited, I was coming up mid-week, and I were not keen on maps I would go for North Wales and look to stay somewhere near Coed-y-Brenin. This gives you Coed-y-Brenin, Climach-X/Mach 3 and Penmachno (not to mention Nant-y-Arian). This should keep you busy!

Other Welsh trails here 😀

Get a map and search out real trails, save the centres till the winters arrived.

I just spent a week’s hol. camping in North Wales with the family.
Rode the Pont Scethin loop, (which I’ve been meaning to do for yeeeears!) and the Beast at CYB for a bit of contrast. Both awesome in their own way.

There’s loads more I would have ridden if I wasn’t lumbered with the wife & child! 😉

To be fair michaelmcc, that bit of the raven is bloody good but it’s hardly representative of the whole trail and those guys in full facers looked like they knew the trail pretty well. As I said, it’s not very flowy if you’re not familiar with it.

To be fair michaelmcc, that bit of the raven is bloody good but it’s hardly representative of the whole trail

I think there was a few sections like that. One even better that i can’t find where it felt like you were carving up the side of a half-pipe with each turn. Iv’e only ridden it once, felt like a dream though. You just need to attack every section. I didn’t go big on those table tops though not knowing the landing etc.
I know theres a few places we could have easily taken a wrong turn, but still ace.

this would give you some pretty epic days riding…

Day 1 – book an up lift at the Forest of Dean (it’s on your way to Wales from Cannock) – there’s short DH runs and the great new Verderers trail ( which gives you your berm count without having to drive all the way to Brechfa)

Day 2- do the Black Mountains “Killer Loop” (if the weather’s okay) – three great descents and a good day’s riding in the hills. There’s a pub on the route north of Crickhowell that’s got B&B, camping and bunk beds.

Day 3 – drive to Afan and do all you can in the time you have, or just drop down to Cwm Carn and do a mix of XC and uplift stuff.

Looks great, but that would mean a ride of both “natural” trails and trail centres. Is this possible?

continuity – Member

If you go to the Brechfa area, do not, I repeat do not go without taking a visit to Cwm Rhaeadr. About 20miles away. Some of Rowam Sorrell’s finest work. Techy dh sections, small drops, tabletops, rollercoaster sections, huge smooth berms, tight singletrack, no braking bumps. The whole loop is probably 45minutes end to end, but I defy you to not come out with a huge smile.

Agree 100%. Dropped in on the way back from a ride at Doethie Valley-very entertaining

@lohis – Thanks feller…think ill do that ….Sounds like a perfect plan as we where on about doing the new verderers trail at FOD.

no worries.

this will get you in the mood for the Verderers trail…http://www.trailcrew.biz/movies/verderer_trail/verderer_trail.html While it’s good to uplift, its a great ride all round – some hot competition going on for the fastest lap times!

…and this is the pub I was thinking off on the Black Mountains route. http://www.thecastleinn.co.uk/ There’s some great riding south of Crickhowell too, between Pontypool, Blaenavon and Abertillery. I think there were some route guides in MBR from the area not so long ago. Staying here means you can miss out the long road bit from Crickhowell and you get the hardest climb out the way first!

enjoy!

MikeWW – Member

continuity – Member

If you go to the Brechfa area, do not, I repeat do not go without taking a visit to Cwm Rhaeadr. About 20miles away. Some of Rowam Sorrell’s finest work. Techy dh sections, small drops, tabletops, rollercoaster sections, huge smooth berms, tight singletrack, no braking bumps. The whole loop is probably 45minutes end to end, but I defy you to not come out with a huge smile.

Agree 100%. Dropped in on the way back from a ride at Doethie Valley-very entertaining

An excellent trail but taking 45 minutes? More like under 30minutes surely? It’s only 7km long and not a hugely steep climb up.