[Closed] The impact of BPW on our sport.

[quote=dragon ]I can't think of anything more annoying than meeting a tandem on at a trail centre, so I'm glad you are staying away.

What if it was an E-tandem ?

I'm surprised BPW is having a negative effect. Everyone we've booked tickets there we've built a weekend (or longer) round it. So I day at BPW as a minimum would mean two nights accommodation, two pub dinners and cake and snacks. We see BPW as a big reason to visit the area.

Any tandem. If I ride at a trail centre it is too go fast, and not to get held up by tandems, dogs, unicycles, runners or other nonsense.

Would you be as annoyed by meeting a slower rider on a solo bike?

dragon - Member
Any tandem. If I ride at a trail centre it is too go fast, and not to get held up by tandems, dogs, unicycles, runners or other nonsense

Thanks for that constructive criticism dragon. Big assumption that you'd be held up isn't it....

none of them are built for tandems".

Just to be clear - we weren't planning massive jumps, stupid drop offs - but we did want to explore the trails we thought we'd be capable of - fast long flowy descents are meat and drink to us. Tight technical stuff's a challenge - and that's part of the fun - the "can we do that" - together. But inclusivity stopped at us

I’d like to see somebody ride a tandem down Bonneville. 😆

Thanks for that constructive criticism dragon. Big assumption that you'd be held up isn't it....

idiot

To be fair to BPW I don't think they built it with tandems in mind!

Would you be as annoyed by meeting a slower rider on a solo bike?

Someone slower on a bike is just someone slower on a bike. Someone on a slower bike is a different matter. Riding a tandem is deliberately slowing yourself down (on a DH track anyway).

I'd not be bothered coming up behind a beginner on a hardtail. I'd start to get pissed off if I'd come for a days DH riding and got stuck behind tandems, unicycles, CX bikes and anyone else deliberately riding inappropriate bikes.

It's 5km and 250m all fire road. Doable, but you wouldn't get many runs in

It's not that tough - I've done as many pedal up's as I have uplifted (8 in total) there & i'm hardly an XC whippet.

Granted, I was hanging by the end, but it's really not that bad. The worst bit is the first section of fire road (if you chose not to ride the trail). The rest is an easy spin.

I doubt the BPW safety assessment and related insurance takes tandems into account. The speed a tandem could hit down those blues would be terrifying when paired with berms made for a much shorter wheelbase bike.

how did this get from a positive thread to crap cafe food and frikking TANDEMS clogging up a trail centre? a hardtail tandem no less... get in the sea. cant believe the tandem owner is miffed at being turned away. best debate in ages this.

good old STW lol

berms made for a much shorter wheelbase bike.

Even the longest Geometron is less than 1400mm wheelbase vs typical modern trail bike at about 1200mm. Tandems are more like 1800mm+.

I'm surprised at BPW having a negative effect - we seem to go to S.Wales that much more often now to ride BPW one day and other places the other day or two.

I doubt the BPW safety assessment and related insurance takes tandems into account. The speed a tandem could hit down those blues would be terrifying when paired with berms made for a much shorter wheelbase bike.

Exactly. They've no way to enforce the tandem riders just stick to certain tracks so I don't blame them for not taking the risk.

Those of you who visit BPW - what else do you do while in South Wales? (if anything)

I've only been once, but did Afan W2 & Penhydd the day before. Stayed near Afan rather than BPW.

Those of you who visit BPW - what else do you do while in South Wales? (if anything)

In a BPW context, nothing. I drive over there (2 hour 15m) do the day, eat lunch and drive straight home.

We've done the odd 'weekender' in Wales using Afan as the base, but generally that's very rare.

I spend more time in Wales at other times, but that's family stuff, so i'm guessing not part of the actual question.

Those of you who visit BPW - what else do you do while in South Wales? (if anything)

Depends. Had a few long weekends based round BPW. Afan is the obvious partner but we've also combined it with a road trip down to Brechfa.
We've also had a few week-long breaks in south Wales during which we always have a day at BPW. Then a day at Afan, a trip to Brechfa and possibly Cwm Rhaeadr. We've been to the Darren trails a couple of times and enjoyed BMCC.
We usually have a couple of natural rides and a non-bikes day. For instance one year we went to Big Pit. One year we did the waterfalls walk. Or maybe a day out in Cardiff.
To be honest there's loads to do in the area but I would be lying if I said BPW wasn't a major draw.
Should Wales open up access I suspect we will be there at every opportunity.

It's 5km and 250m all fire road. Doable, but you wouldn't get many runs in
It's not that tough - I've done as many pedal up's as I have uplifted (8 in total) there & i'm hardly an XC whippet.

I was talking about Sirhowy rather than BPW where there is no uplift.

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Those of you who visit BPW - what else do you do while in South Wales? (if anything)

Me personally, Afan, Cwmcarn or BMCC. Or FoD just over the border. Or gone north as well and done Antur and Llandegla. I've never been to BPW and not ridden somewhere else in Wales as well. Also never been without staying overnight, eating out and so on.

I'm particularly fond of Afan - I saw some moaning about it being too eroded and rocky since the felling. Bring on the rocks I say! Makes these expensive bouncy bikes worth having!

Those of you who visit BPW - what else do you do while in South Wales? (if anything)

Biking wise nothing as I always combine with a trip to the Forest of Dean as it's my 'uplift' weekend.

Money-wise, plenty; 2 nights accommodation, food, etc.

It wouldn't be hard to combine BPW with a natural ride say the Gap or the Black Mountains route.

Not yet been to BPW. Do most people do a day trip as opposed to a weekend? Like Afan but since the trees have gone it’s lost the atmosphere. Noticed in the last few visits that it’s been noticeably quieter.
Maybe give BPW next.

It wouldn't be hard to combine BPW with a natural ride say the Gap or the Black Mountains route.

Did The Gap first one trip - the big descent is a lot of fun!

Met a guy like dragon up there once at Afan.
Lolling about how we'd never be able to get our tandem round something as tech as Afan...
He didn't look very happy when we passed him on the first climb.
He mentioned something about selling his bike as we went past.
Mrs stu told him it was maybe for the best if he did. 😆

Seemed fine to us round there.
https://flic.kr/p/6S8cyK

Agreed though that some of the trails at BPW would be a bit much.

chakaping - Member

Those of you who visit BPW - what else do you do while in South Wales? (if anything)

For us it's evolved. Since we're coming from Scotland we want to make the most of it. First time down we did Flyup 417 and the Forest of Dean on the way in (it's Welsh by association for me) and BPW, and a bunch of trailcentres then stopped in the north on the way home.

But now, I'd add Black Mountain Cycle Centre and try and squeeze in Revo or something as well. it's not so much that I'm after an "uplift trip", it's just that BMCC is one of the best places I've ridden in the UK. And frankly a lot of the south wales trail centres are neglected

(every time someone complains that Glentress is worn out, or neglected, or needs new trails I just think we don't know how lucky we are up here, it's not perfect but it's nothing on poor old Afan)

Is BPW Wales really any better than Antur Stiniog ?

I can get to AS in half the time as BPW. Never been to BPW but my next trip to a DH centre will almost certainly be AS again.

Is BPW better than Stiniog?

Not better, just different, much more variation and the opportunity to actually have dirt under your wheels if you want to. Also BPW has plenty of trees, it is nice to ride open and rocky, but I love a bit of woodland too.

grannyjone - Member

Is BPW Wales really any better than Antur Stiniog ?

Like Bagstard says, it's not better or worse, just different. If they were all together in the same place you'd ride trails from both, put it that way.

grannyjone - Member
Is BPW Wales really any better than Antur Stiniog ?

Like Bagstard says, it's not better or worse, just different. If they were all together in the same place you'd ride trails from both, put it that way.

Agreed, I've been to AS once and BPW loads of times and like them both, you can split hairs about this or that if you want, but they're both great venues.

If I was going to try to give a real difference it would be that AS feels more like a DH venue and BPW is more of a Enduro Bike type place, but you can ride most things there and in the last couple of years BPW really has upped the tech levels on their trails, haven't had the chance to visit AS in a few years.

weeksy

Yea anytime dude.

The scene in Wales is weird. It's like an iceberg, there is way more below the surface. BPW and trail centres are tourist places really, there is a massive sub-culture. Afan isn't old or quiet, it has evolved but without a marketing campaign. Visit, talk to locals and discover.

The scene in Wales is weird. It's like an iceberg, there is way more below the surface. BPW and trail centres are tourist places really, there is a massive sub-culture.

This.

Having lived here 2 years I spent most of those first two years at AS, BPW, BMCC etc...but it was costing a small fortune.

So, I now tend to go for a drive with the MTB in the back, find a wooded hill/area and explore the off piste stuff, there is some genuinely hilarious stuff about, some of it unrideable (for me at the moment)....someone on here gave me grid details to an area where the Athertons built a training track, it's mental is all I can say....similarly other riders are building their own stuff too, saw some guys riding through town with DH bikes and full faces draped over their bars, stopped to ask them where they'd been?...turns out the hill/woods behind my house!

Explored the next day and got about halfway up a track in the 4x4 before the vegetation got too much, the bike trails were clearly visible and well used so there was nothing stopping me pushing up but....back the following day with a chainsaw in the back and now have a fully cut back access road to the top...yes, I am now that prick from a Surrey Hills thread a few years ago whose girlfriend was shuttling him to the top for DH runs

[quote=deviant]I am now that prick

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I've heard that Revolution bike park is better than BPW.

It is. It's so much better.

The uplift is efficient, the burgers are better, the atmosphere is better and the trails are just on another level.

BPW is at the bottom of the pile for me; I'd rather go to BMCC, Stiniog or Revo.

But I can appreciate that it's made uplift days more accessible (if you can actually book in) and is probably a lot less intimidating than places like Revo.

To be honest, I've seen loads old ladies riding at Revo and BMCC and kids at Stiniog which is ace. Generally there are a lot more ladies and kids riding all sorts of places which is rad, certainly more so than when I started riding.

I love BPW, it's probably my favourite place to ride in the UK (that I've tried). Since riding at Whistler everything else over here is lacklustre for the kind of riding I most enjoy - fast flowy and packed with jumps. BPW is the closest thing I've seen to that sort of thing here plus it has some techier rocky blacks etc for a bit of variety. If you don't like the uplift there's a ride up track. Personally I have to drive about 3 hours to get to BPW so I want an uplift so I have more energy for the fun bits to make the most of them. Not sure what there is to complain about really!

My main issue with BPW is the uplift which has always been really slow when I've been. Went again in April this year and it was a bit of a joke compared to Stiniog, BMCC and revo (the last two having pretty tough tracks to get to the top).

It does take the shine off the day a bit - it's not helped that some of the tracks (e.g. Fifty Shades) finish a long way from where the uplift starts.

I've been to AS midweek and weekend and much preferred it midweek as its much quieter. Got 3500m of descending on each day which is equal to 15 uplifts and could have got more if I was more organised. It had the quality and the quantity.

Blue/Reds were more about speed than tech while the Black/Double Black were challenging just to get down but nothing that is beyond riders who are moderate level & above. Except a couple of optional massive drop offs on the Double Black. Which can be avoided by an easy track.

I wouldn't go when its raining. It started to rain at the end of my day there once and I found it so slippy I thought it was dangerous to attempt anything harder than red

The riders who go there are (on average) better than most other places because on Strava I'm normally in the top 25% but at AS I was in the bottom 50% on nearly everything

My main issue with BPW is the uplift which has always been really slow when I've been. Went again in April this year and it was a bit of a joke compared to Stiniog

This! ^^^

What p***** me off is that they spout all this nonsense about the drivers staggering their lunch breaks at weekends to maximise riding time, so when it came to lunch time, we literally grabbed a burger, demolished it, then shot down the trail for the next uplift wasting no time, only to find that we were stood waiting for over half an hour at the bus pickup. We could see 2 buses parked up the hill, drivers obviously havin a break and a natter. Everything seems to grind to a halt at lunch break at weekends, despite the staggered lunch break claim.

My next annoyance at the BPW uplift is it feels like you’re waiting for ages from getting on the bus to actually setting off up the hill. Stiniog has the same uplift system with buses and trailers but seems way more efficient.

But...Trails are quality, I love it!

The last time we went (back in September) we hardly waited at all for the uplift and the van was off as soon as everyone got in the van.
Couldn't fault them at all.

Hope it's the same in December when we go again 🙂

Stiniog has the same uplift system with buses and trailers but seems way more efficient.

That'll be the advantage of having a tarmac road and far fewer riders!

That'll be the advantage of having a tarmac road and far fewer riders!

It does confuse me how people get so confused... BPW has a long fireroad bumpy climb.... I can't see any way without re-surfacing they could get people to the top any quicker.... When i've gone up in the bus the bus is going plenty quick... On 90% of the times i've waited less than a minute for the bus, sometimes it has been a maximum of 5 minutes... they can't get there at the exact same time as all the riders who are descending at different speeds/routes/exits etc...

Explored the next day and got about halfway up a track in the 4x4 before the vegetation got too much, the bike trails were clearly visible and well used so there was nothing stopping me pushing up but....back the following day with a chainsaw in the back and now have a fully cut back access road to the top...yes, I am now that prick from a Surrey Hills thread a few years ago whose girlfriend was shuttling him to the top for DH runs

I am intrigued, you went up with a chainsaw is this a public road ? public property? can you not get in trouble? or did you get permission from someone.?

Not accusing just a question.

It does confuse me how people get so confused... BPW has a long fireroad bumpy climb.... I can't see any way without re-surfacing they could get people to the top any quicker.... When i've gone up in the bus the bus is going plenty quick... On 90% of the times i've waited less than a minute for the bus, sometimes it has been a maximum of 5 minutes... they can't get there at the exact same time as all the riders who are descending at different speeds/routes/exits etc...

Revo has a pretty long uplift and it's bloody steep but they still manage to be efficient as do BMCC and they use tractors! I've been to BPW four times now and each time, the uplift has been a massive source of frustration compared to others. I'm in no rush to head back because Revo and BMCC are more fun.