Glyncorrwg 'X to the C'

This place ruined me!! If you like long grueling climbs then this is the one. Somehow the trail never seems to level off and unlike Brechfa I didnt find the descents that rewarding. I love destroying corners, however the trail seemed to straighten out whenever the speed picked up. This is proper XC though and if you look at it from that perspective I bet it is awesome, the scenery is absolutely mint and with skinny tyres, clips and maybe a less burly build these trails would be a whole different game.

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Sunshine in Wales!!

Is summer here already? - bring on global warming!! What a weekend of quality riding, another early start today, well a little late after a very hungover Will had to be scraped out of bed! Me, Will and Jack headed out to the valleys, the van absolutely stacked full of bikes. First stop the BMX track and then on to find some DH. We ended up at Llantrisant which has some really nice tracks, the riding there makes a good change to what we have been riding recently with some real nice root sections and techy corners as well as a nice easy push. Back via Maccy Dee's for some proper DH grub, fully stocking up the fat and salt levels! Anyway here are some pics I found on the camera from up at Kilvey the other week.


Jacks shiny new Sam Hill lid, his new love!! ^

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Big News - Tredegar BMX track now run by an official club

Tredegar BMX track is now being run by an official club which is great news as it means there will be people up there and running gates every sunday. The atmosphere today was really good, the change is bringing new people to the track and should be great for the tracks future. The track itself is national level and an excellent training facility, great for building up the bike skills and fitness. There will also be a race next weekend (17th Feb) run by Dragon Downhill. I thoroughly recommend checking it out.

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Brechfa - Gorlech trail - one word, Mint!

I just had my first experience of a welsh trail centre and can honestly say it was the best days riding I have had in a longtime. If you haven't been to Brechfa it is a bit over half an hour west of Swansea but it feels deep in the heart of wales with its tiny rural villages, plenty of tractors parked up in driveways and deep green valleys, the feeling is far removed from the industrial character of the 'valleys,' where most of the riding happens.

The trail itself has some good climbs and despite being a religious 'non pedaler' I was starting to (well almost!) understand that satisfaction that comes from pedaling to the top of some proper singletrack. It gives it an edge as you have to respect the effort taken to get there and hit the downhills full on. The singletrack is definitely first class and as a downhiller even scary in places when hit it at pace. The last descent is awesome all the guys got to the bottom buzzing, loads of good hearted banter and a few cuts earnt on the way down, but so good that we pushed back up the fireroad to hit it again. Well it would have been rude not to. It was really good to get out in the sun and chill with mates. This kind of riding is so relaxed and built around fun, man-made tracks definitely have their place and are well worth the effort to go check out.

Being as organised as ever I managed to leave my camelback at home with the camera in it so no pics this time, best place to get more info about Brechfa is www.mbwales.com.

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Cotic shoot - Cwm Carn Wales

Photography by Niall Flinn and Kelvin Owers

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Swansea Uni Bike Club - Update

Half the term has flown by already! I thought it would be a good point to post an update on the uni club. I think we are really set to achieve a lot this year and so far have had an absolutely awesome start. The more "pedally orientated guys" went up for the Student Hillclimb Championships on the weekend and absolutely rocked, taking the team win for Swansea. Pete Greenwood won the individual despite being new to racing and riding a mountain bike! Some serious props being handed out to those guys, that is some real bravery/insanity racing up a hill, from what I have heard the celebrations after were equally impressive! The bar has been set though and definitely a challenge for the rest of us to keep Swansea high in the BUSA rankings.


The Downhillers were also out in force with the final round of the Dragon held up in Caerphilly. The welsh weather played its part as ever to provide interesting conditions for the weekend. Will Soffe and Jack Malone were representing for Swansea. Will ended up taking 5th in the senior, we should see him dominating the podiums next season!

We had a club ride up at Cwmcarn the weekend before last which was a great blast. The riding was dominated by hangovers thanks to Alex throwing one of the best house parties I have been to the night before. This definitely left me Jack and Sion farely well written off for the morning! Once the head had cleared though the riding was awesome. CwmCarn definitely has to be one of my favourite tracks in terms of sheer fun. All in all it has a perfect combination of flat out sections, switchbacks, that tight techy black run through the trees and then of course the jumps. I think I have finally got over my fear of jumping a full suss, mainly thanks to turning the rebound up to a sensible level! There was some good banter going on, I have to say Monet winding Jack up on the bus was absolutely classic, I am not sure I have ever seen a grown man that embarrassed! The uplift service up there is running really well they were fully booked up and yet the service was still slick and we still got loads of riding in, well recommended.

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Some Philosophical Rambling!

Went up to Tredegar today with Sion and Jack, the van was absolutely rammed full of bikes and we were all stoked for a quality days riding. We ended up ditching the DH idea and heading back via Caerphilly trails. Filly is riding mint at the moment, we had an awesome impromptu session. The bikes have been a bit neglected recently, getting out today reminded me just how good it is to be out having a laugh with your mates. I have just caught the surf bug again and have been out 3 or 4 times a week. A good session is immense, chilling out the back with mates and then all charging for the same waves, sun going down and that really calm feeling that comes from lying out on the sea. It still doesn't stand up to biking though, biking has so much buzz, one run down the hill and you have a stupid grin on your face, that doesn't depend on weather conditions! A hill will always be a hill. I think it is important to keep it mixed up and try other things, when you pick the bike back up it gives you so much appreciation for the sport. Nothing makes more sense than two wheels and a hill!

I have been back in Swansea for getting on a month now. The start of term is mental so much getting crammed in, partying mainly! It has been absolutely awesome fun and great to catch up with old mates as well as meeting some new ones. I am running the DH/DJ side of the bike club this year which is really exciting. I think we have more than 60 riders signed up which rocks. Took the DH lot up Clyne on Wednesday and theres definitely a few guys showing some serious talent which should give some of us old boys a bit of a kick to sort our act out! This year looks stacked already with a load of trips and races planned, should be off the hook!

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