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Hi all,
A few friends and I are planning on visiting Afan on Sunday to do W2, but having been there a couple of times before, is there some alternatives we should consider? Heading over from the home counties and back in a day so ideally wouldn't be much further than Afan, and a similar mix of XC with some fun descents would be ideal.
Cheers
Chris
As far as I know a few parts of whites and the wall are closed.
I thought they were opening up them diversions on weekends. In answer to the OP w2 is a fine trail, skyline might be worth a look but there's a lot of fire-trail. Brechfa double of gorlech and raven figure 8 is nice too but a bit further into Wales.
Breachfa, or this:
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Is Brechfa worth the extra journey time? Looked at the Afan site and all trails are open over the weekends apart from Penhydd which is closed all summer.
I've never done CwmCarn but is that just worth it on an uplift day?
+1 for Brechfa it's another hour or so into Wales but worth it. You could do the Gorlech and the Raven in one day no problem and still get back in time for tea!
Cwmcarn is worth it uplift or no. The best all-round trail I think, but the end of Brechfa Red is stunning. Both places better than Afan imo.
Margam park just round the corner from afan, loads of trails you'll just have to find them first.
+1 for Brechfa it's another hour or so into Wales but worth it. You could do the Gorlech and the Raven in one day no problem and still get back in time for tea!
1+1 = 2
i did whites level last night and there are still some sections closed towards the end, we went trhough the barrier anyway, however there were some logs on the track that needed negotiating, last week we did the wall and there was one section closed at the top of the second climb, again we went through, however it would be a different story if they were actually logging at the time, never done cwn carn but go to brechfa alot, the gorlech trail is easily as good as the afan ones, especially at the top with the stumps and some really good downhill sections, only downside is it isn't a 'centre' so no shop to get spare parts from no wash down etc, there is a v friendly pub in abergorlech though at the start of the gorlech trail, there used to be a cafe bus at the start of the raven/derwen trail, however last time i was there (mid march) it wasn't there, i live near brecfa but from the home counties originally takes me about 3 hours to get 'home' to buckingham
i would look at doing the gap ride from talybont on usk much nicer classic ride
Brechfa! i'll be heading there myself next week to ride the Gorlech and Raven trail! I prefer the Gorlech trail to Afan and Cwmcarn.
The Gap is ok, but it's a day out in the mountains rather than high speed thrills.
Sorry to Hijack, but i'm interested in this come June - got mates coming as far as the mountain biking mecca of Dutch Land. Friday afternoon was thinking of doing Cumn Carn then camping near Afan for a day there on the Sat. So the consensus is better to go to Brechfa.
If you've never been to Afan than it's worth doing for White's Level alone, as it's still one of the best. I just think the Brechfa trails have more to offer for a weekend of riding. You could easily stop at Afan on the way to Brechfa and do a quick lap of White's - you can get around it in an hour and a half.
Afan seems to be a bit of a mess at the moment, lots of skyline was diverted into a bog a while ago, prob best heading up and just doing the last descent which is great. Penhydd is closed still, plus i think theres at least some diversions on other trails.
I peiced together a ride from the various different trails when i was there.
Definitely look into doing some Brecon beacons/black mountains rides. Its been sunny so the ground will have dried out. Different type of riding, but no less fun IMO
Yes, lots of forest work going on at the moment in Afan, but The Wall was all open when I was there (12April). Whites had the last 2 descents closed (Goodwood+Darkside), until end of April. The diversion leads you to the top along the tedious fireroad climb passed the bottom of the black run. However, the last 2 descents from Skyline (which is where the diversion ends up) are awesome!
I did Brechfa on the 11th and found it very fireroadie. It does have some nice flowing trails though. I didnt think it was nearly as technical/rocky as Afan, but as such, a lot easier on the arms. 1st and last descent were best (Gorlech) by a long way IMO.