I've heard some good stuff about Machen recently, it would make a good change to Cwmcarn as a short trip from Bristol. Anyone got any advice on planning a route there and where to find the good downhill stuff?
cheers
not particularly Machen from what I remember but that area as a whole is great. the woody singletrack on and around caerphilly common is great and the woods at castle coch were great. not really full suss territory though. this was 1995 mind you!
Best bet is to find someone who knows the area. The trails are all over the place and it would be hard to plan a route without knowing the area.
OK, thanks. Found some gpx routes on Garmin Connect which seem like decent starters. 300m descent off Machen mountain, looks good to me!
hi bud u need to start off from the mast on top of the common pretty much simple from there
The mast is obviously the start of alot of the trails there. There are two or three pretty obvious ones down. But the best trails however are hidden from outsiders...
Local knowledge is your best bet...
aw mooman ur such a spoil sport ai!! 😉
If you start at the bottom of Machen and go up the insanely hideous cow pat hill to the top, then right across to the mast. THere are some ace trails around there, you can even drop down the back into Cwmcarn and Sirhowy. Some cool stuff in Sirhowy, as already said though better probably to find someone local who knows the area and tag onto their ride. Castell Coch, Caerphilly still have some cool fun stuff, but full sus DEFINATELY not a requirement, just fun play trails.
munge-chick, cowshit lane is Bedwas (past church house pub?) .. takes you to the side of the slag tips. The Wyllie dh is best place to play about theres .. again, local knowledge to find the best bits.
Cubemeup, The main trails leading down from the mast to Machen are almost as busy as Cwmcarn nowadays. Luckily the outsiders only know those trails .. so we got the best ones all for ourselves 😆
hahah lol Wyllie is a bit boggy at the mo, wetscreams needed there also i would say u need to be pretty sound on the bike to ride the 2 DH tacks there Full Suser needed imo for wyllie
mooman we going out sunday if the weather is fine?
Sorry I meant Bedwas but cycle across top to Machen.
We out every Sunday. Give us a bell before weekend to arrange.
wetscreams?? been very tempted ..
At moment running 2.4 advantage on front and 2.35 s-tacky swampy on back. Superb grip on the muddy roots etc ..
im loving the fat alberts in the mud gotta same!!
i expect tinks will still be running his crossmarks!! the speed demo he is lol
Thanks Mooman, might do that.