Words and Photos by Vess - Back to main Digression
On Sunday March 11th, 5 digressors - Anthony, Mike, Matt, Pete and myself - made our way down to the cycle centre at Glyncorrwg in the Afan Forest Park near Neath. I was transported with Anthony in Mike's new Ford Transit flying machine so the trip was quite rapid and only took about 75 mins. Me and Anthony scoffed huge 'full english' breakfasts and Mike had a giant bacon butty while we waited for the Neales to arrive via the scenic route.
The plan was to ride the 46km Skyline route which started off with a mega zig-zag climb up the valley side. The 'full english' breakfast felt more like 'full english' ballast at this point - perhaps the 'welsh rarebit' would have been a better choice.
At the top of the climb there was an optional loop taking in part of the 'White's level' route. This was highly recommended by some other riders at the top, so off we went. The first bit was firetrack, followed by boarded walkways, followed by a very fast technical zig-zag descent, and was well worth the extra climb needed to get back to the skyline route.
Back on the Skyline, the route goes over the ridge to a wind farm, then roughly follows the ridge north east, overlooking the Vale of Neath, Resolven and the distant hills and mountains of Fforest Fawr. The riding is excellent with good single tracks followed by a couple of climbs on firetracks.
At a point about 2/3 the way round, Pete decided to bail out and take one of the shortcuts back to the start while the rest of us continued on the full route. Mike had a minor 'off' when one of his SPDs decided not to let go and he toppled over. A bit further on it got completely stuck which made negotiating the very tight gates interesting with the bike up on its back wheel and his right foot still attached up in the air. After a couple of these, a closer inspection revealed a missing bolt lodged in the pedal mechanism, so a minute with an allen key soon fixed the problem.
The pace was increasing now - always the case when Mike and Anthony are together - followed by Matt and myself. I dropped off the back of the group when chain came off on a singletrack just before the last big climb. And it was a real steep sting in the tail, climbing up to the top of the last singletrack section - 6km long it says in the book - which took us back down to Glyncorrwg. This last descent is superb - rocky and fast - and makes the climb worth all the effort.
Back at the cycle centre, we had jacket potatoes and beer, while we watched the rugby on the big screen!
It took us about 5 hours or so to do this route, and we were all a bit knackered at the end. Not surprising after 46kms and about 2000m of climbs!
A brilliant ride, and an excellent day out. I think we will definitely be going back again.
Details of the routes can be found at: www.neath-porttalbot.gov.uk/afanforestpark/mountainbiking.cfm