Trails!
Where would I be without Afan? The Southern Welsh gem of continuous trails, immense views and epic food are all within a reasonable drive away from London. It’s a long enough trip to feel you deserve it, yet close enough to be completely viable as a total immersive escape from the city.
Now donʼt yawn, I must recount at least some of my first experience at Afan. I am a reasonably fresh off the boat South African whoʼs idea of a great bike is a Giant XTC dripping with XTR (V-Brakes naturally, those discs will never catch on, too heavy) I have a whopping 60mm travel Carbon Manitou and my trusty 1.8″ Hutchinson Chameleons have handled everything from dusty hill climbs in Mpumalanga to damp single track in Pietermaritzburg, rocking, this is gonna be great!
What a nightmare, my friends, all roadies, dragged me out to Afan. Iʼm planning to prove I can beat them at something and have them marvel at my fast flowing, log hopping style that served me well down South…where it’s hot, and dry, and singletrack is like tarred road. Yeah so that went well, first climb up ʻWhites Levelʼ and first climb for anyone setting foot in the bike park was like being taught how to ride by a pack of laughing Hyhenaʼs.
Humiliation!
It’s rocky, it’s wet, it feels like the 38psi may have been a mistake as my ass gets beaten by a saddle that wont stay down and a surface that cant makes its mind up, ridge, fall, drop, ridge, drop, slip shitting hell!!! My flailing Hutchinsons scrambled and would occasionally step outside of itself with folded arms and disapproving raised eyebrow and an expression of ʻwhat are we doing here Spies?ʼ
This wouldnʼt have been so bad if the cackling of my ʻfriendsʼ wasnʼt so noticeable ʻhave you felt his forks WHAHAHAHAHAʼ ʻOh heʼs going down….oooooh ooooooh YAAAAAAAAAYʼ Iʼd be plucking myself out the bushes and doggedly attempting to regain face by simply going faster, arg, mistake.
Let’s get this straight – Afan is remarkable, it is truly a special place that I marvel at the work that has gone into building such a prime site and maintaining it for riders but man it can be hard work!
Essentially you do have a perfect blend of technical, challenging, straight forward or completely barking, new additions include Cognationʼs Bike Park the far side of the traditional XC trails, it is simply brilliant, but donʼt take my word for it watch their rather slick video, yep folks all filmed in Afan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM3bsubW01Y
Dirt jumps, balance logs, step downs, plus a sort of extended bermed track for simply having a bit of stress-free fast flowing fun, perfect for warming your novice mates up before you unleash the seven levels of nutcase that is the bone jarring single track of ʻY Walʼ on the way back to the B’n’B.
Bike park aside the full extent of Afan has to be appreciated with mates over a weekend. The surface in general is wet and rocky, climbing is rewarding far beyond just making it up an incline, the views are breathtaking. Admittedly the technicality of the ascending ledges is not alway a barrel of laughs for complete newbies, but once you get your first climb out the way and realise ʻhell I can actually ride rocky wet inclinesʼ the trails just keep on giving. As for the descents, well they are a snaking contouring web of seemingly endless goodness. Technical for the uninitiated but so bedded in you quickly learn the pedal strike coasting sections or the off-camber brake dabs, you might be on the ragged edge in some senses but the more you go the better you get. And there is something strangely satisfying taking on a run at pace that has a skull and cross bones multi-lingual warning on top of it and surviving!
Specifically I really canʼt choose a favourite trail at Afan, the climb of ʻWhites Levelʼ appeals to my need to be mean to friends, ʻSkylineʼ is great for solid miles and big views, ʻWindy Pointʼ never seems to end, W2 throws the kitchen sink at you and delivers you, or what is left, up to the gaping jaws of ʻY Walʼ, which by the time you get onto it your crumbling bone jarred fingertips will be begging for mercy and your over confidence will be kicked in the particulars. This little adrenaline pumping eyeball stretcher will have your heart in your mouth and your concentration locked on 11 as it swoops, bites, kicks and throws your ass down the mountain, pure, unadulterated, perfection.
Organising is easy, book a house out, drag a big group and take your wet weather clothes and a sense of humour. The riding is entirely worth the effort of planning and travelling and all possible facilities are available. Mixed ability groups means you need a bit of flexibility. We tend to take our full group out for breakfast at Skyline in the morning, hit as many trails as the speed of the group will allow up until lunch, split into a fast and mellow group and do it all again on different trails. On the Sunday I promise you if you have ridden Afan properly a little part of you will be glad its over ie your legs, fingers and muscles you forgot, but predominantly you will be planning your next visit. Afan breaks you and builds you, its fantastic!
Afan info on MTB Wales website:
Swansea Tourist Information Centre: Tel 01792 468321 Email: tourism@swansea.gov.uk
Getting there: the postcode for your sat nav is SA12 9SP
Post ride, keep your Garmin close, and your KOM’s closer.