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This week myself and Tara decided to change it up and head to South Wales, near Swansea. Its around a 3 hour drive to the bike centre. Theres two to chose from in Afan both are pretty close but the trails can link up so its down to which you prefer. Alan Lodge is just up the road too, so if you fancy an overnighter its a great location to stay, the place has bikers in mind.
We stopped off at the first one, the facilities are great and not to mention the £1 parking. Got to be the cheapest of any bike centre, with a cafe, clean toilets and showers you’ve got all you’ll need for a full day on the bike. There really is something for everyone here, from green to black trails. Choose wisely though as the W2 (Black Trail) can take 6-7 hours.
Once we had got ourselves all set up we headed out on the red trail called Penhydd. The day couldn’t have started better, you could almost pass it off as a summers today.
As for most places we started our ride off with a rather long climb. Its pretty easy just long, though it can be rocky in places. The landscape is really open though so the views are great to admire on the climb, there is also some old farming ruins along the side of the trail which was cool to check out.
When we finally got to the top the fun started, thankfully the wind was low as it can be a little annoying at the top as its so open. The decent was fast and full of berms and drop offs and surprisingly very dry after all the snow and bad weather we’ve had.
The weather though didn’t last long at all, it soon turned into the dark dull days we have been used to this winter. Rather glad we had kitted up with full winter gear once the rain started to kick in.
After the first decent we headed out into the valleys around Afan, it felt very remote from the word go really as we didn’t bump into anyone through out the whole ride. So if your planning on a visit make sure you have everything you’ll need, even a first aid kit. You never know.
I always like to capture a little footage from each ride so after the next lot of climbing through the valleys, I set up my camera. Used the Ultimateaddons U-Bolt with the Action camera adapter to fit my GoPro HERO 6. For those wanting to use an U-Bolt your best off fitting this at home than trail side though some multi tools have a spanner built in.
This wasn’t on a very steep decent but any down was welcomed after the uphill slog. Following Tara down the last rocky decent was a nice way to finish off the day. A mixed bag through trees and open land with a few drops you couldn’t quite see the landing. That made for an interesting decent, especially for Tara screaming most of the way down haha!
If you’ve not been here i’d defiantly recommend it and its an absolute bargain for £1. Thanks for reading the post, if you do go be sure to let me know how you find it!
#Cycling #MTB #Afan #VisitWales
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