I’m back in South Wales this weekend but have heard Cwmcarn isn’t what it was, and White’s Level at Glyncorrwg has some diversions…not sure if either is still the case. Also saw Penhydd at Afan is open again.
Is it worth me taking the bike…done all before but not in a while.
Any recent visitors’ advice much appreciated 🙂

hi,cwmcarn is still as good if not quicker in places,and by the wkend the new xc loop will be open,which has a really good climb,if you like climbing ,down is good has well

is the new Blade Trail at Afan opening this w/e.

The new trail at Cwm Carn is due to open on the 19th according to the Cognation Facebook page.

The Twrch trail at CC is as good as ever, just the free ride area at the top has changed in the last few years, not necessarily for the worse, but the three jumps and the pipe have gone.

AFAN
New Blade trail starts from Glyncorrwg and is open this weekend. Don’t bother with the fairly recently opened Penhydd – loads of fire road climbing, the descents aren’t what they were. White’s fully open but has been deforested so feels very different. Y Wal is a lovely trail and has the added bonus of the bike park bit half way round.
CWMCARN
Twrch is unbelievably dry considering the monsoons we’ve had lately, the work done has settled down now and is riding well. Still love the flat out rollercoaster blast of the final downhill. The new trail is good, but tough – the same distance as the original twrch, but with 100m more vertical climbing. Had a chat with the boys building the trail who were happy for us to ride it as long as we kept off the very final descent they’d been working on that week. Very different feel to it to the original Twrch, more natural in feel with some nice features (bridges, waterfalls etc).

Or there’s always Bike Park Wales….

We tried out Blaen Garw on the weekend. Nice trails but not enough there to keep you busy for more than a couple of hours. Be great for a summer evening if you were in the area but probably not worth a special trip. Did W2 the other day, all good despite weather. The new drop back to Glencorreg is great and very fast. Not tried the new routes at Cwmcarn yet but will be straight down there when they are open.

Ah…I forgot there was now some sort of trail at Blaengarw.
Better for me as not ridden it and much nearer to Bridgend.
I’ll have 2-3 hours so sounds perfect. Anyone tried it out?

Bike Park Wales?

This is Blaen Garw in a nutshell…

http://app.strava.com/activities/112219788

Lower loop is the blue (very nicely made with fast surface and big berms) while the upper loop is the black (quite a tough climb and some fairly rocky sections in the middle on the way back down). There looked to have been a new black run in the making adding a more direct descent from the top of the black to the blue ascent track but we didn’t try that. Top is very exposed so not the place to be in bad weather

PS, despite all the rain there wasn’t single puddle on the track last weekend

The shortcut is worth doing as well, takes you onto the black just below the rock garden so you get the best bits in the trees.

Its a nice little trail, short, but can be fun for an hour or two.

Yeah, agree, best trail ive ever been on for draining on the weather, ive been up there in some horrific conditions.

‘Very different feel to it to the original Twrch, more natural in feel with some nice features (bridges, waterfalls etc).’

Music to my ears… I understand that trails need to be sustainable but the trend for crushed rock berm fests is a worrying one imho.

I shall make a point of getting to Cwmcarn soon.

Rode Whites last saturday in the driving sleet, and biblical proportions of rainfall. It’s nearly all exposed along the same, now deforested route as it used to be. I’d say much of the charm went with the trees, as did any shelter from the piercing prevailing wind.

One for the summer months maybe.

And there’s always Brechfa…

Quite a few trees down at Brechfa at the moment. Not impassable by any means but messes with the flow a bit.

Blaengarw is fun but short and quite a trek up the valley.

I was very pleasantly surprised by Blaengarw, short but sweet. If you want to extend it there is plenty of unofficial stuff in the woods in that valley. Might be trees down at the moment though.

I thought the new Penhydd red was nice enough for what it is, similar to the old but with a few bits cut out and a lot of trees down. The new Penhydd blue is cool if you like the modern berm style track.

how bad is Brechfa, we are supposed to be riding there Saturday
Cwm Rhaeadr any better?

Did Penhydd a few weeks back – hard to imagine it being affected much at all by wet weather. That was followed by The Wall which was fine except the odd wet bit – to be expected – but far, far better than the previous weeks ride in Dalby whose reason for being, fast singletrack, was compromised by slippery mud in places.

@Freeridenick – Brechfa was OK to ride on Monday but I don’t know what happened in yesterday’s storm, things were OK in the bits where I went today but I didn’t go down to the trails themselves. I’m sure it’ll still be fun!

As I was in the area this weekend I went and rode Blaengarw.
Very short blue and very short black. Done together they make a superb combined descent which left a big grin on my chops, so did both again.
Not worthy of a trip there in its own right but an unexpected bonus if you’re nearby.