Afan Argoed

15^th September 06, we made the pilgrimage to Afan Forest. Bouyed by the stories of others we set off from Brighton at 6 am and pulled into the Afan Argoed car park at 9-45, including a 20 minute refuel stop. It seemed that the gods were on our side providing safe and speedy passage of M23, M25 and M4. Would they continue to smile us???

We, bought the map, kitted up and headed for 'The White's Trail'. We got totally lost on the west side of the stream, a local rider then informed us that we were nowhere near 'The White's Trail', we were in fact off the bottom of the map! Using his encyclopedic knowledge of the area he gave us tips and directions to 'locals' singletrack and trails that would link to 'The Wall'. This was more like it, twisty singletrack climbs, rollers and descents with rocks and roots. Despite our perception that we were descending we finally emerged from the trees at the top of the hill(!) onto a fireroad to the southwest of the forestry scrub area where the 'Rhiwgregan' section of The Wall begins. The Rhiwegregan and Nant-y-Bar singletrack sections were blocked with diversion signs in place, we spoke to some forest workers who told us to climb over the barriers and continue with caution as they were felling trees in the area. Later in the car park we spoke to about 10 people who had obeyed the trail closed signs and without exception they were pi**ed off that there was no advance notice at the visitor centre.

'The Wall'. We joined the trail at the Rhiwegregan singletrack section which climbs along the edge of a steep wooded hillside via multiple switchbacks and a series of rollers with rocky corners and rooty obstacles. The height gain is significant but you don't realise it when on the trail (the tell-tale sign of a well designed route). You emerge from the trees onto a fireroad with some great views. The next section, 'Tramway', is an absolute blast it starts with gentle undulations but soon turns into a series of rocky drops that come thick and fast. Following this comes Nant-y-Bar, a gently curving singletrack through woodland, it is very deceptive and requires concentration at anything above walking speed or you will be off. A brief fireroad climb then the trail cuts along the edge of the hillside, way down below is the visitor centre, before dipping into a dense and dank tree lined section, the ‘Graveyard’. The final descent is fantastic it drops sharply along the edge of a steep wooded valley with rock drops, rollers, dips, rock step-ups etc. Cross a fireroad and continue down but now it is a squeeze between trees with lots of exposed roots and lose rocks. Overall, ‘The Wall’ is not particularly difficult but in many places riding without due care and attention will have you off. Great fun.

‘The Penhydd Trail’. The initial singletrack climb begins behind the visitor centre and is quite tricky with roots and tight corners; however it is brief and soon emerges onto fireroad for a long-long climb to the top of the hill. At the top on the right is the first singletrack descent named ‘Desolation’ which is a raised gravel bed running along the centre of an old access road, very tame. Desolation leads into a muddy descent along an old access road followed by a ‘Ridge too Far’, a stinker of a fireroad climb. Follow the fireroad to the top of the ridge where you will find the signs for ‘Hidden Valley’, now the fun starts. Hidden Valley is a long descent down a steep valley side via a series of drops and switchback turns. Some of the switchbacks are open and can be ridden without too much thought or effort but a couple of them are very tight and slow requiring excellent balance and nerves. Next up is ‘The Sidewinder’ a fantastic swoopy trail along and down a hillside, there are no trees and incredible views over the Bristol Channel. Sidewinder and the following ‘Dead Sheep Gully’ provide at least a couple of miles of continuous singletrack descent that is worth all the previous climbing. A section through a stream with an immediate steep climb is followed by ‘Bubble & Squeak’. These descents started out very rocky and then entered trees where rutted and rooty terrain takes over.

All in all a fantastic day out with some phenomenal riding, we much preferred the Penhydd trail due to the never ending descent that must have been 5 or 6 miles of continuous singletrack. Everyone we spoke to thought that the signposting on the first sections of The Wall was a joke, there should have been clear advanced notice of the trail closure and subsequent diversions at the visitor centre, in addition, the map needs to be much clearer about the two visitor centres and where exactly the trails begin.

Did the gods smile on us ??? Yes and no. Despite our initial experience of getting lost and the trail closures the riding was undoubtedly fantastic and worth the long drive. Next time (yes there will be a next time) we will go for the Penhydd Trail followed by a drive to the visitor centre at Glyncorrwg and do The Whites Trail. Finally, the gods must have tired of my riding style and introduced an unplanned level of difficulty. Disaster struck immediately after Hidden Valley when my right pedal fell off. The nut holding it on came lose and we couldn’t find it. This inevitably slowed my efforts but the challenge of riding with one pedal caused much laughter between us.

We will be back.