Thinking of doing our once yearly trip tomorrow.

nope, but/because its been sanitised recently I hear 🙁

*ridden 😛

How sanitized can it be, you could ride it on a old school rigid bike easily enough anyway. It was never a tech fest.

What’s “The Gap”?
ignore….Google was my friend

Do it. I did it in June and thoroughly enjoyed it and been thinking about going back ever since (mind you, doing a ride in perfect blue sky conditions does that to me). The rocky bit down from the Gap (clockwise route) had been smoothed over a bit, but that made it better as far as I was concerned (rebel, or what?). Can fly down at speed now without mincing down and worrying about how your car is going to drive itself back when you fracture your ankle. Check out The Swan Inn in Llanfrynach. Great pub to stop for food/drink – plenty of tables outside and can see bikes through patio doors if eating inside. There were rumours that the old teabarn half way around at Torpantau was closing but they were open as usual when we did it. The “cheeky” bit (non bridleway lane) that went past an old farm before Llanfrynach has been slightly re-routed to avoid going through the farmyard (lovely renovation of the old farm) but the signs are clear.
If you want something more challenging, there’s always bike park Wales down the road.
Lovely ride. Have a great day.

Haven’t been up there recently, very sad to hear the descent has been ‘smoothed over’, it was the only techy bit on an otherwise pretty smooth-rolling route. Folks were doing it on cross bikes for last year’s Brecon Beast.

Check these out just down the road if you fancy something in the Black Mountains: http://www.wild-rides.co.uk

Also, Hay Bike Fest is on next April 25-27. Haycycling.org should have a programme up in the next few weeks.

As above, but the ‘cheeky’ bit is wholly legal. Not cheeky at all, just good fun. Unfortunately however the really challenging rocky climb up to Bryniau Gleision has been bulldozed smooth I’m reliably told by friends who rode it last weekend. It is now steep and smooth rather than the steep Rocky technical challenge it was before. Progress eh?:-(

How sanitized can it be, you could ride it on a old school rigid bike easily enough anyway. It was never a tech fest.

Always used to be an ‘interesting’ descent in the rain, on a rigid bike with rim brakes.

I preferred the first 100m down from the Gap before it had tons of gravel poured on it, but that’s hardly ruined the ride.

Same goes for the climb to Bryniau Gleision on the full route.

What’s not to enjoy about a legal ride in a National Park that climbs to 600m with views of 800m+ hills? Especially now that you wont get held up by 4x4s.

And, if anyone says the sanitised decent wasnt tricky, would you take your mum down it on her first ride?? Willys back in trousers now please, it was relatively techy for a UK ride, albeit only for a short distance. Certainly harder than anything at a Welsh train centre, and you dont see many rigid bikes at Afan.

…which reminds me. I heard that the Simonsbath singletrack alongside the Barle has received similar gravel treatment? If that’s true, that saddens me for all sorts of reasons.

If you enjoy being ‘out there’ and big views, do it. The track is re-graded every few years because vehicular access is maintained for the sheep grazers; it soon washes out again after a couple of winters 8)

Back now and there is no way you can call that smooth.
The first 300 metres of the descent is a boulderfest.
A great ride with some tough long climbs.
Our legs are feeling it but god knows how the guys n gals doing a 47 mile running event are feeling.
Fair play.