Trail centre recomendations, flow not Gnarly!

[Jayfish]

I'm Taking my son for a weeks camping and riding in August. The plan is to find a place to stay with several trail centres in striking distance, say an hours driving or so. Before anyone says wales, he's 12 and still building confidence so I'm looking at flow rather than gnarly . Think Swinley not BPW
Sherwood pines was favourably reviewed so is on the shortlist but looking for recommendations from first hand experience.

[andySC]

Sherwood Pines us quite local to me & I like the place. The red route is tame tbh & won't cause you or your lad any concern. It's pretty much pan flat albeit for slight elevation changes here & there. It's well maintained & drains well, it'll be a dust bowl at the moment. The cafe is spot on too...

[Jayfish]

Thanks, I'm currently looking at there and cannock, ideally I want 4 places to go so across 8 days we can do some good rides, have a fun non bike day here and there and then pick a trail or two to have a second crack at.

[Jayfish]

Having had a look at maps, peak district is close by dependant on where we camp, is there anything of note there?

[BadgerBenji]

Riding in the peak district is awesome, plenty of technical sections, which make trail centres seem tame. As for suitability for a 12 year old, not sure, dark peak probably not, white peak bit better.

[Silvs]

Camp in Cwmcarn. You have 2 lovely trails there. It's easy driving distance to Bike Park Wales (a little more down hilly), Afan Argoed and a whole host of decent forestry!

Regarding Gnarly, Cwmcarn is all fine apart from the proper black run. There are 8 blue runs in Bike Park Wales which have a great flow.

Edited by Silvs on Wednesday 23 July 09:10

[lufbramatt]

I really enjoyed Nant yr Arian, remember the trails being very fast and flowy, few little yumps to get air off if you're that way inclined. Did it the day after Coed y Brenin and enjoyed it much more despite being pretty tired. Plus it has the Kudos of him doing his first "proper" Welsh bike park

[richardxjr]

I think you're quite local in the SE but some local options

SDW in 3-4 days, or some of it, day at Friston forest (Me and my boys 10+14 can guide you), Day or 2 at Bedgbury (nearby campsite has limited weekend opening, we're booked for end of Aug)

[Jayfish]

Thanks all, might reconsider wales considering the above and the close travel times to various trails.
Richardxjr, yeah I'm pretty local, club member with son at Bedgebury and have ridden Friston pretty often but always up for discovering more of it as it's not way marked.

[Dunclane]

I can highly recommend the Verderers Trail at the Forest of Dean, it's a blue route but flows very well.

[Mr Gearchange]

Cannock doesn't flow. It's better these days after some recent works but it's not what I would describe as a flowy trail.
The blue's at BPW are very flowy IMO - well built and you can carry fantastic speed to the point where keeping the bike pinned to the ground is difficult.

[tuffer]

I would say Wales, lots of different venues to choose and you can travel around a bit. CYB has blue runs that are very easy as well as a skills area where he can learn some more progressive stuff in safety. My wife did several of the red runs without issue having never tackled a bike park before (she is 45 and very girlie).

[Rolls]

Afan, via cwncarn.. You'll love it!

[muckymotor]

andySC said:

Sherwood Pines us quite local to me & I like the place. The red route is tame tbh & won't cause you or your lad any concern. It's pretty much pan flat albeit for slight elevation changes here & there. It's well maintained & drains well, it'll be a dust bowl at the moment. The cafe is spot on too...

I'd agree with the tame description but it is a decent ride and as you say well maintained. I was there on Sunday and it was anything but dry, there were some huge pools of water after the downpour on Friday and Saturday. It does drain quickly so will probably be ok now.

[P-Jay]

Personally, given the brief I'd say Brechfa - it's got 4 trails - the Black is really tough and technical and the red can be steep in parts for smaller riders, but the Blue and Green are magnificent trails in their own right, I love riding them!

The Little known Cwm Rhaeadr red trail is about 20 mins from Brechfa, it's short and sweet the climb is 90% super easy fire road with a hellishly tight and steep final bit - there's no shame in walking that bit.

Afan would be about 45 mins from Brechfa I guess - Blue Scar is the new Blue trail, fast but flowy and smooth - my 8 year old rides it.

BPW and Cwmcarn would probably be just outside your 1hr deadline, but not much.

Not to mention that Brechfa is a stunningly beautiful place for a holiday.

http://www.mbwales.com/default.aspx

[timbo48]

PJ, happy I'm not the only one to walk that final climb, even with the seat at the bottom! At 66 I have an excuse though. Seriously OP, this is a brilliant bit of singletrack,to ride it once is not enough. Great views from the top plus there's a half decent pub in the nearby village. Brechfa is close as well and as has been said, green and blue are good, including the final descent above the car park.

[lufbramatt]

+1 on Brechfa and Cwm Rhaeadr. Although one of my mates wanted to walk the last bit, we shouted at him to ride and forced him back on the bike. He wasn't impressed, although riding was probably easier than the weeks of pisstaking that would have followed. It's short enough to do 2 or more laps but the trail down is loads of fun, I did it on my old Orange hardtail with no problems.

If you go to Brechfa stay here : http://tyrcae.co.uk/

Malcolm and Sandy are very welcoming and the place is bike friendly with a nice big barn to put them in, about 5 min road ride to the trailhead.

If you need a rest day you can drive over to Tenby or Cardigan Bay for the beaches or go on a speedboat/go dolphin watching etc.

Edited by lufbramatt on Thursday 24th July 13:18

[Fetchez la vache]

I can't commend the Brechfa green enough. My eldest (14 y/o girl) loves it and we have taken some of her friends there too who have since taken up mtb'ing on the back of it.
My little-un (8 y/o girl) is due her first Brechfa outing in a week or two, having only done the Rookie trail at Afan so far ( here she is on the fun playgroud section... )

The Brechfa green just flows so well...

Edited by Fetchez la vache on Wednesday 6th August 12:34

[anonymous-user]

Oddly enough, i think the Blue runs a BPW are the "Flowiest" trails i've ever ridden in the uk! (almost continuous downhill grade, big berms, smooth, with a well maintained/drained/packed hard grippy surface.........) Like Swinley, but with some elevation ;-)

[Jayfish]

Going to give wales a crack next time out, apparently the deal breaker was the trip to Alton Towers midweek, so it's Dalby Mon/Tue, Alton Towers Wed, Sherwood Thurs and Cannock Fri.
All your recommendations noted and the length of the BPW uplift queue (nothing until sept) taken into account for a half term trip in Oct.