- The story
- Photos
- Maps
- Resources
The ‘Mountain Bike Wales’ brochure describes the riding in Wales:
"The scenery of Wales varies from the beautiful beaches and rugged cliffs of its three coasts through to the mountainous heartlands of the Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia, with their towering peaks and racing rivers threading between. Tiny farmsteads and hidden villages form a landscape unchanged for centuries, the stunning remains of medieval and prehistoric castles look out over one of the most historically rich landscapes in the world." - mbwales.com
The reality of course is a little different.
The Afan Forest Park literature describes itself as 'little Switzerland', almost begging for a comparison;
Switzerland has an area of 41,000 square kilometres, it's highest peak is Monte Rosa at 4632m and the population is 7.4 million (source: CIA).
Wales is 20,000 square kilometres with Snowdon it's highest peak at 1085m - which has limited access for bikes, and has a population of 2.9 million (source: 2001 Census).
The coal and steel industries which kept Wales ticking have all but gone and tourism and public sector are the new employers. Wages are lower and unemployment higher than the rest of the UK.
Driving through Wales can be a mildly depressing experience, the mining has made a real mess of the countryside which the Forestry Commission are doing their best (?) to cover it up with coniferous woodlands. Not really ‘towering peaks’ and a ‘landscape unchanged for centuries’.
We are encouraged to thank the Forestry Commission for allowing us to ride in 'their' forests that consist of pitch black singletrack dominated by conifers so tightly planted you wonder how anything can grow beneath - hint it doesn't, and firetracks that melt through a wasteland of clear cut. It's often best to keep your eyes on the trail.
On occasion you do get a good view such as the coastline from the Penhydd trail at Afan. Of course you are ignoring the eye sore of Port Talbot. When you get some natural forest such as the alders and the old stone ruins on the Wall trail, you can at last believe in some of the hype.
Mountain biking is being seen as one of the saviors of Welsh tourism, which lets face it has a struggle. The advertising machine has gone into overdrive over the last couple of years and to be honest if you read the free mbwales.com booklet you would want to go to Wales. Hat’s off to them, they have done a great job.
For the most part the trails are almost entirely fire road climbs with man made singletrack in forest (where not clear cut) flats and descents. The trails are dotted with rocks for effect and to make them all weather. They do have the annoying habit of jumping off the firetrack onto singletrack only to go back on minutes later and often running alongside the same firetrack.
There are also some pointless extensions where you exit the firetrack for a short downhill and then take a long climb to get you back to the same firetrack about 100m up it. It's worse in some places where you can see that you are being taken on a climb just to give you a bit of downhill. Of course to continue you then have to climb back the way you came. These added loops are the problem with a lot of the original man made trails which lack the flowof a natural trail. The newer trails like White's Level are slightly shorter but much better in that the man made trails integrate with the natural for firetracks.
Gwydyr only has one trail which starts and ends well but for the most part is very dull firetrack. The short sections of built singletrack are good but if you joined them together would make for less than 30% of the trail.
The Cwmcarn loop is nearly all singletrack but is also mostly up and the downs are short and not technical. This is a shame as the setting is one of the better scenically. There is a downhill track at Cwmcarn which has had some teething problems. A day ticket is available for £12. Gulp.
The Penhydd trail at Afan is a little more interesting but again suffers from the up the firetrack down the singletrack syndrome, The Wall across the valley is a little better again with less diversions, some good down and more flow. Better though is White’s Level at Glyncorrwg. This trail is 90% singletrack including the 6km climb from the start. The following 9km is fast and flowing with more challenges and the option of a black section. It is a more progressive trail.
New centres are coming on all the time, Coed Y Trallwm and Coed Llandgela are all new and Coed y Brenin has been redeveloped. The cafe and shop have been moved to the opposite side of the road and the Red Bull trail has been changed, extended and renamed 'The Tarw Trail'. At Gwydyr Forest there is no forest centre and none the worse for it. Glyncorrwg Ponds up the road from Afan has a bike shop and cafe who's websites do themselves favors by not actually picturing the scruffy industrial estate they live on and the run down dead end village they are connected to.
This is Wales at it's worse and where the tourist trail breaks down. The car park is full of bored youths with hats that say 27 pence when they want to say 50 cent. Broken down cars, old sheds, big locks on things. You are never going to see Schley and Simmons parking their pickup in the car park here.
Wales has it’s problems, it has ruined much of it’s beauty and yet relies on it for tourism. Accommodation is not always that great and of course the competition keeps getting better. The 7stanes trails in Scotland are mostly better if a little more remote and Morzine is just a short flight away. New trails can keep progressing the riding but everything else needs to catch up.
- MB Wales - has all the info on the trail centres
- MTB Wales - big discussion area
- Forestry Commision Wales - find out where they are planting more conifers
- Coed Y Trallwm - trail centre
- Coed Llandgela - trail centre
- Drop Off Cafe - get a coffee while the locals start a bonfire
- Skyline Cycles - check out bikes and well protected windows