I’m planning a first trip to the South of Wales tomorrow, going alone so marked trails appeal, hoping you lot can point me in the right direction.

I’ve done some riding on blues and reds in the Alps but I’m a little out of practice beyond riding Swinley so I’m not looking at super techy downhill. The other factor is due to a bit of a knee injury I try to avoid steep techy climbs.

I’m driving down the M4 from the South of England so BPW, Cwmcarn and Afan all look pretty reasonable to get to. Which would be recommended by those who know them well?

Thanks all.

Cwmcarn is the nearest to get to. BPW next. Afan a bit further. All can be done in a day if driving along the M4 from west of London, Surrey, Berks etc.

Cwmcarn has a choice of downhill and regular trails. Downhill is uplifted but you can climb also (not recommended for a day of downhilling though). The normal trails usually climbed, but you can use the uplift to get you part the way, at least on the old trail. The climb is a bit of a killer, though interesting. Fun descent. The old downhill isn’t super technical and can be rolled, but more fun done like a downhill (armour recommended if you hit it hard). Not sure about the new trails as haven’t done them.

BPW… is a bike park. Uplift pretty much recommended and it’s booked out solid months in advance so if you haven’t got a booking it may be best to skip it. You could try to find an uplift ticket last minute, or you can climb it (40mins apparently, but you’ll limit the number of runs you can get in). Not a DH place, but armour recommended if you’re going to hit it hard. There’s a mix of something for everyone there though and the black stuff does get serious. The blues are fast and flowing with nothing technical. Actually worth doing even if you’re into gnarly steeps. They’re not like a regular blue trail at a trail centre. You could even do the reds on a hard tail, though it’ll be very rough. Lots of loose rocks there.

Afan, wide variety of trails, regular kind of trail centre. Not like Swinley though – it has hills, and rocks 😉 . Great fun and maybe easier choice, though there is climbing and a little technical in places. A bit spread out between Afan and Glyncorwwg visitor centres, though you can link them up in a ride either via the W2 trail or along the valley via the disused railway track. There’s also a little bike park there near Y Wall to play on if you like.

To be honest, if you can do blues and reds in the Alps, all of these are no problem. If you liked bike parks in the Alps, then BPW is that sort of stuff. More regular trail kind of stuff, then Afan or the regular trails at Cwmcarn.

Cwmcarn is closest and two good xc trails and two DH runs.

Or the Forest of Dean?
I went today for the first time in ages, and both the Freeminer and the Verderer trails are good, especially the last flowy bit of the Verderers. Also there are 3 or 4 decent downhill runs with a 10 minute ride up to them. We also went off-piste in the afternoon and found some lovely singletrack trails around the western side of the forest 8) Very nice day out!

+1 Forest of Dean.

Ah yes FOD, I would also suggest that if not done before, closer & superb fun.