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Seems we are doing BPW uplift Saturday (in Feb), staying overnight in Crickhowell and picking Cwmcarn for some trail riding on the way home Sunday.
Is it worth a visit and how does it compare to, say Llandegla?
the xc route at cwmcarn is good fun, rides well in the wet (whicj may be good)
its surfaced, rocky a bit loose in places, last descent is fun
you can jump on the uplift if theres spaces for 7quid a pop i think
the DH run is reasonably long with a good gradient
Only one xc trail (new one is supposed to be open soon but not sure??) But is a decent red, bit of a lung buster.
I really enjoy it. Normally do 3 laps of the xc trail when I go. About an hour a loop is a reasonable time. Top boys blast it in 45....
As above, a really nice old school xc trail centre loop. Lovely, interesting climb, too.
Climb is pretty tech in places. Very fun descents. Went last weekend.
7 quid for one uplift!!! 😯
Why would you uplift ? The climb is the best bit !
XC trail is good, DH trail is fab. Do it.
DH runs are brilliant - very fast, some awesome sections. On a good day with the uplift you can get 11, sometimes (dependent on light and buses) 12 runs in. And probably the best uplift bus banter/abuse I have ever encountered too 🙂
Best trail centre ever, I reckon. Trail surface is eroded which makes it rocky and quite tricky in places, but not so much it's a problem. First bit is one big climb which is interesting and challenging; second bit is up and down very fast singletrack, and the last descent is a blast. Just make sure you time your air properly on the fades otherwise you'll definitely beat your mates back to the car park...
Oh yeah and the DH course is entirely doable for an XCer with just a smidge of caution. Nothing dangerous at all as long as you don't hit every jump flat out. And you can ride up the XC course climb, do a short road section and do the DH. OR you can ride all the way up the road, which is steady and not very steep.
Highly recommended by me. Rode it for the first time just after xmas. Had load of fun on the XC route, the climb is engaging and the decent is good fun too. Really good all-round fun trail.
There is also a red and black DH route too. Black was closed when I went but we gave the red a go which for me was really good fun, doable on a trail bike, you don't need a full on DH bike. I think uplift was £3 or £4 a single run.
I have a love/hate relationship with cwmcarn. The climb is brutal, but technical and it certainly feels longer than its 14k distance
i love cwmcarn, one of the better trail centre trails. Shame its so short
Wont be doing it on a DH bike, that's for sure - not doing BPW on a DH bike either - Enduro SL.
Will be sticking some High Roller II's on for BPW, full face and plenty of protection - will switch back to Eskars and trail lid/knee pads for Cwm.
Cheers for the replies - looking forward to it, just need to get some dirt under my wheels before I go now!
Did a couple laps on my hardtail during the summer and was surprised by how tough some of the technical climbs were, I expected that a trail centre loop would be sanitised and easy but bits were a right swine...which was great.
Based on all your raving reviews I should really ride it more as I live 10 mins away...
£3.50 an uplift, £25 for a full day
Absolutely love cwm carn, must book a day pass to get down there again.
I must be in the minority. The whole XC loop bored me to tears. And to add insult to injury, we did it 3 times, because it's so short.
All the way up, then back down again. The down definitely doesn't warrent the climb. Hopefully the new loop they put in will be better 🙂
...and on the subject of the second loop, any news!? I've been holding off booking a trip in since early December in the expectation it would be opening soon? LSt thing I heard was the black DH was closed and the red had been altered a bit, whilst the new XC loop had issues with MX bikes using it...
Anyone seen owt happening?
The climb seems longer that it really is, it's quite technical for about 1/3, very technical, rocky and rooty in some places, hard to keep momentum, and in general a bit of a drag.
I like the descent though, the first section (of the xc loop, not the black) is like a channel cut into the ground, quite fast & flowing, banked corners. There's a couple of short climbs after that but nothing bad, and I really enjoy it after that, although it is maybe over a bit fast after [i]that[/i] climb.
cwmcarn trail is nice & flowing. by far the most technical trails are the hidden natural & more recently built secret stuff in & around the cwmcarn are
new trail should be open fairly soon & is longer than current xc trail
That's why I love the climb. I prefer a climb to be engaging and make you use some skills to get over it rather than just use the Jeremy Clarkson approach of "MORE POWER!" (mainly because I have no power to give).
Also I didn't feel the need for big grippy tyres and full face when I went to BPW. I only did two trails a blue and red but there was plenty of grip, even in recent conditions and even with my normal Ignitors didn't feel I needed more grip from the tyres. The trails I did were just like trail centre descents. Just the obstacles where not spread apart and come at yo in short succession.
I must ride a different trail because i think it sucks.
Backwards in the dark is the way forward tho.
The whole XC loop bored me to tears
What? What do your favourite trails have? Dancing girls? Fireworks?
It might be boring if you trundle along with your brakes on but if you give it some welly it's definitely not boring.
Second loop is just having final touches to it and needs to be signed, so I'm told.
The oridinal DH track has had a few tweak and maintainance so take it easy on your first run down if you haven't been for a while 😉
Also I didn't feel the need for big grippy tyres and full face when I went to BPW. I only did two trails a blue and red but there was plenty of grip, even in recent conditions and even with my normal Ignitors didn't feel I needed more grip from the tyres. The trails I did were just like trail centre descents. Just the obstacles where not spread apart and come at yo in short succession.
Not meaning to be antagonistic, but how can you determine what is suitable if you did one red and a blue. We will be there all day and no doubt hitting some of the blacks at speeds beyond our skill level 😉
I didn't enjoy Cwmcarn at all when I rode it... I've not been back and am in no rush to do so.
Is the DH run now open again? It was shut when I went before Xmas.
Incidently I love Cwmcarn, it's a cracking blast for 'real men' only!, and it's on the way home from work from me 🙂
I'm with the minority here. I liked the climb in terms of technicality, but the descent(s) were rubbish. Not a patch on Afan in my opinion.
I won't be returning to ride there again, apart from to try the new loop when it opens.
It's nice and rough. Cannock fans won't like it.
It's nice and rough. Cannock fans won't like it.
😉
It's really not that rough. And there's that weird section after the 'jump park' with the narrow bit along the fence that spits you into a 90 degree turn up a big concrete slab.
If I lived down the road from it then I'd ride there loads(only been 2 or 3 times) but it always feels like it could be so much better, given the terrain available and it's not good enough to warrant a 2hr+ journey each way.
I've preferred every other Welsh TC that I've been to (Penmachno, Mach, Nant, CYB, Afan).
But, if you haven't been and you're in the area anyway then give it a go.
I've done the uplift loads which is great. I also think the XC ain't that great - only done it once and the best bit was the climb. Bit short and pretty much one up one down. Done the XC last descent more than once (cuz you can do it on the uplift) and it's a bit boring compared to the proper DH run.
The new loop will definatly make it worth the trip, long hard climb (harder than current one physically) and superb descent as well 😀 red and black graded stuff 😉
t's really not that rough
No it's not. But it may be a bit too much for the average cannocker 😉
No werewolves though, only a few mutant cannibal sheep
No it's not. But it may be a bit too much for the average [s]cannocker[/s] [b]Mancunian visiting Cannock Chase[/b]
I was there yesterday- it's held up well considering the wet. I was in the area for work and was going to ride the Forest of Dean, but their trail reports said it was "very wet".
I've been a few times now, I'm from Sheffield. It's OK- if you ride the climb in a oner it's good, and descents, unusually for Welsh trail centres, are proper descents. They're fast but not technical. The wind yesterday meant the jumps at the top were a bit of a no-go too. I can imagine if you were on a weekend warrior's weekend away stopping regularly up the climbs it would feel like a lot of up for not a lot of down, in which case maybe try Afan instead?
that spits you into a 90 degree turn up a big concrete slab.
that concrete section is rideable, although never managed it myself.
Cwmcarn (Twrch) used to be fairly rough which I liked but it's been smoothed out a lot now and although still ok in a different way not as good. I like my trails as rough as the local girls 😉
The concrete bit is pretty easy to ride, provided you know it's there. It caught me out yesterday as the rain had made the edges of the trail very greasy- I went wide to turn up it but the front wheel washed out and almost spat me onto the fence.
Just got back from there, the Twrch is running fine after all the bad rain. Always copes with bad weather well anyway!
Doubt the new trail will be open soon as the surface hadn't settled in enough to not be washed away on the bits by the toll gate, plus they've apparently had problems with MX bikes using some sections too.
Did get annoyed at two blokes who decided to ride the new bits despite signs saying not to and me telling them it's closed!! They didn't think it would do any damage, despite it being a bit of a quagmire 😕
Also in the minority as I don't rate it. I've done the XC loop a couple of times - like the technical climb, probably the best climb I've ridden at a trail center but the down was a massive anticlimax. Top section is fun, but the rest isn't very interesting, throws height away too quickly and it's over before you know it.
DH is ok, but for a day uplifting it's a bit limited riding the same trail over and over again (ok, with a few minor variations). FoD and others have much more variety and CwmCarn really shows its age imho!
I loved that place! (Even though I can't pronounce it.) Love the XC loop, a couple of nice techy climbs on it and a decent length too. Then in the afternoon we all got uplifts. It costs about 4 quid for an uplift. That was last October, so unless there's been some crazy inflation, you'll be grand. Definitely do at least one uplift, it's ridiculously good fun. BPW was alright too. 😉
Fantastic trail. Quite old Skool in many respects too, sure newer trails have more swoop and jump to them but its good at what it does and that's hop on the bike and pedal with the trail offering as much speed as you can manage.
Sad to here about people riding the new sections already, I'm a local and not seen that yet. Really sad that some people cannot seem to wait a few weeks. Quite pathetic actually.
What? What do your favourite trails have? Dancing girls? Fireworks?It might be boring if you trundle along with your brakes on but if you give it some welly it's definitely not boring
No, I just find trails with flow more interesting. Other than a few short technical bits on the climb, you can switch off for nearly all of it. The descent isn't very interesting, even flat out.
Says something - I peeled off the XC descent & rode the DH instead, just for something more interesting to ride, and that's saying something...
We all like different things though 🙂