I didn’t say being fit doesn’t make you an altogether better rider, it’s just as a newbie one doesn’t have to be already fit to do uplifts. Thus it is more accessible. It’s not like Triathlon where one has to train hard just to get round, let alone do well.
As for the TransCambrian it’s been stated by those that have done it that the best bike to do it on is a Mountain Bike. A lot of the Gravel Bike vids have riders cutting out a lot of offroad from day two on; though they don’t often admit it.

So in fact you complaint is that that you’re bemoaning the lack of really dull events that prioritized aerobic fitness because nowadays everyone’s having more fun at the bike park?

it’s not a winning argument if I’m honest.

It depends what one likes. You certainly don’t get instant gratification from Endurance events. One has to work at it and that seems to be something that less folks are prepared or have the time to do, and why should they? To be honest this isn’t a recent trend. It’s been going that way for several decades. Less and less people work physically hard, and sitting at a desk doesn’t help. I found over time more and more were taking the short course route at my events. They were training hard but had little base fitness to build on.
Modern Mountain Bikes allow so many more options than road bikes and there are so many more locations to go to. When the welsh trail centres opened that’s all there was for folks that couldn’t map read and the bikes were still pretty basic. Every thing has it’s day.
Actually when one thinks about it the modern diversity and capability of Mountain Bikes has allowed far more people to find enjoyment. E Bikes have taken that several steps further. As long one has enough disposable income, so ever more a middle class hobby.

Dull long distance events have died off because most folks have realised that there’s not much fun to be had from riding up a big climb just to ride down a fireroad descent.*
Not really surprising TBH
If you just want physical torture just go to a gym or ride a road bike.
Mountain biking is primarily about fun for most folks.

* I think I did enough marathon events on a singlespeed back in the day to comment on this.

I live near Bridgend so I can get to Afan easily enough and love the trails there. They do seem to have loads of cars there every weekend including the over flow. Not done BPW yet because I’m just getting back into MTB after a 9 year Hiatus on the road. Did go up to Smilog woods on Wednesday which was loads of fun. Will be doing BPW when I can get used to my wheels being in the air. Even when I was on the MTB I wasn’t fussed about air. I’m not as young as I was and I’m not sure how well I bounce. But I’m sure I’ll get there.

As far as Afan is concerned I think it’s been in decline for a long time. The cafe at Glnycorrwg used to be great, but when the bike shop owners took it over it rapidly went to pot. The camping facilities aren’t as good/maintained as they once were. The Penhydd was nowhere near as good when they rebuilt it. When they had to clear cut a lot of the forest it changed the nature of the trails massively, washing away all the dirt and bringing the rocks to the surface, making the trails much harder to maintain momentum on ( I know this was due to disease and out of their control), I used to love the final descent on Whites, but I didn’t really enjoy it much the last time I rode it as it had changed so much.
I also think many riders are just looking for a different type of riding nowadays. Most riders I know are much more interested in the winch and plummet style of riding on steeper terrain than the old trail centre model. I ride at Cwmcarn a lot (there and Pontypool are my local spots), although I only really use the trail centre stuff for linking up the off piste trails.
Personally I’d much rather spend the day riding at Barry Sidings (or any of the myriad other local spots) than riding trail centre stuff. I’d also choose to do that than pay for a day uplifting at BPW (especially now it’s so expensive).
We can’t complain around here though, so much choice and there’s something for everyone.

You built trails you like riding but don’t any more as other people don’t like riding them?
So do you now build trails you don’t like to ride so others will ride them?
I is confused.

Kind of yes. I build still I like to ride but it’s jumpy flow stuff rather then tech stuff. If I invest weeks building a tech line then only I will ride it and it’ll get overgrown fast. Hence I build stuff more people will ride so the trails remain. There is more than enough to keep me going with maintenance at the local spot without a random line only I ride. I really like seeing people ride stuff I’ve made regardless of whether it’s gnar or not. Building, for me, is masive part of MTB.

Anyway I digress. The art of tech has been lost to the popularity of the sport. Locally we began to see the tech bits being lost when the wide bar trend started (as they didn’t physically fit!) Then more as bikes got longer ( as the don’t go around corners as easily). We used to razz the local on DJ bikes as they were short and fun and the trails were tight and tech. Now the trails are easier (faster and flowier) with 50% less corners. Turns are the best bit! – but they are hard. More people not as good in the sport need easier trails. The old Welsh trails centres were never easy blue runs even when new – So therefore you get less people riding them.

singlespeedstu
Full Member

Dull long distance events have died off because most folks have realised that there’s not much fun to be had from riding up a big climb just to ride down a fireroad descent.*

Doesn’t the crash in long distance and endurance events more or less coincide with the start of the UK enduro scene? Before that, if I wanted to do a race, I’d end up at a Ten or 12/24 or doing the Selkirk marathon or something. Basically that was the “I want to do an event but I’d feel like an absolute dobber doing a pointy end XC race or SDA so I’ll do something with cameraderie and chat and friends and lots of riding and not care if I’m 278th” option.

But from 2011 onwards, I’d do an enduro. Obviously not the same thing but they ticked the same box for me, something you could go and have fun and challenge yourself and ride new places without actually needing to be super fit or fast and where you’re not just there to pay for the elites, while being… well, better.

I was the absolute perfect target market for all those older events til then, and then I completely wasn’t.

Doesn’t the crash in long distance and endurance events more or less coincide with the start of the UK enduro scene?

I think for me the Enduro scene blossomed because it replicated how most folks rode with their mates week in week out, ie cruising along the flats and uphills and smashing the descents. Suddenly; events that were either another sport but with the addition of bikes – like orienteering or XC (two hours of near death around a grass field) just didn’t appeal. Mostly I think because your actual bike handling skills weren’t rewarded, but something else was – like navigation skill or your aerobic capacity and you didn’t need a mountain bike for either of those things, and the courses were often designed to use as easy terrain as possible will still nominally being “off road” to flatter those folks.

Enduro changed all that.

Doesn’t the crash in long distance and endurance events more or less coincide with the start of the UK enduro scene?

Indeed it does. Which again goes along with people realising that long distance events were getting very dull.
We went from doing all the big events to just doing the Dyfi and Selkirk events as they were all getting shorter and easier. In the end we even stopped doing those two events as it became easier to find all the hand built stuff in different areas. So would just go away for a weekend and ride that instead of feeling we had to go to “a race”
Then Enduro came along and really killed the big Endurance events.

The old Welsh trails centres were never easy blue runs even when new

They were never exactly technical either though were they.
Even on oldschool bikes with head down and arse up.
Good fun in the winter though when everything else was knee deep in shite.

Actually this sounds interesting. Used to ride afan a decade ago a few times a year, as that’s what MTB was to me back then.
These days it’s laps of bikeparks on the ebike.
The last time I tried afan there were too many still on motorless bikes making passing and maintaining uphill flow pretty tedious.
If there are less people there now I’ll give it another go when I fancy a chilled riding day.

XC (two hours of near death around a grass field)

For **** sake XC has never been this. Cyclo-cross is, but that’s not even 2 hours.

XC (two hours of near death around a grass field)

Always make me smile when I see this kind of comment.

XC is so far from this it’s hard to know where to begin..

It isn’t now I’ll give you that., but it certainly used to be when I took part. Last race i took part in ( at Swinley) had a series of bomb-holes that were removed from the course because only 1 in 10 riders could complete it, most were either at their limit aerobically or just didn’t have skill set.

Also, by “grass field” I mean not technical riding, not actual grass fields

Also, by “grass field” I mean not technical riding, not actual grass fields

So why did you say ‘grass field’ when you didn’t mean grass field and in fact meant something else entirely?

All the XC races I’ve done, since 1994, have had plenty of forest singletrack that has always been a challenge to ride flat out. Which is about right, IMO, you shouldn’t be made to commit to something properly hard in an XC race but you should be able to gain an advantage by being technically better.

For those who aren’t very good, these days they just make chicken runs on the obstacles which are longer. And of course they go slower on the regular singletrack too. I think this is also true for enduro races too no?

mrlebowski
Free Member

XC is so far from this it’s hard to know where to begin..

I mean, it’s exactly as true as uplifts meaning you don’t have to be fit.

The last time I tried afan there were too many still on motorless bikes making passing and maintaining uphill flow pretty tedious.

Oh man. Where to begin.

So why did you say ‘grass field’ when you didn’t mean grass field and in fact meant something else entirely?

Yes, it was comedic hyperbolic shorthand for the sorts of dull races that XC used to be. I promise to be more literal next time.

And less hilarious, obvs.

it was comedic

Sorry I didn’t notice. Perhaps you could make some sort of signal next time, so I know to laugh.

😉

Dyfi bike park is rammed every weekend at the moment.
Climachx/Dyfi forest opposite is just steady, but there seems to be plenty of off-piste action going on.

There does seem to be a draw on gnarly DH stuff, which is fine.
It may be the case that a lot of the good trails from the boom times in the 1990/2000’s are now worn out and are hard work unless you have 150mm travel, so you may as well ride the gnarly DH stuff.

Personally, I’d like to see more sustainable trail building of good/challenging long XC trails, but these are very costly to build and maintain.

It may be the case that a lot of the good trails from the boom times in the 1990/2000’s are now worn out and are hard work unless you have 150mm travel, so you may as well ride the gnarly DH stuff.

When I did the original Afan trail a while back, it was quite rough, but it seemed to have been designed with slower speeds and shorter bikes in mind. It was quite laborious on something longer – not that I was on a proper LLS bike anyway. The dimensions of the curves seemed to match the speed you’re expected to travel at, and the formula was a bit off for a faster bike.

Nant Yr Arian is less than an hour away. And I like a change of scenery so… It’s involving on a basic hardtail and very well thought out. Nothing technical or dangerous and it’s often full. As people get better they tend to forget those with less skill and there’s loads of us around. Actually we are the silent majority.

So… a mate has planned for us to have a couple of days at Afan in June. Do I tell him to come up with another plan or is it worth bothering?