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Hello STW,
I'm thinking about taking the kids biking for a couple of days in their summer hols.
They've both (12 and 9) ridden Flyup 417 a few times, are pretty fit on a bike (as in can ride quite a few miles before moaning/breaking down in tears), so was thinking about taking them on a bit of an adventure.
Was thinking BPW uplift, FOD uplift (Not been there for AGES) and then had been thinking Afan, but remembered how much climbing there was and thought they might not enjoy that too much.
Without going all the way to North Wales, can you think of any other good places to ride that would suit kids that can handle a hard blue well and can tackle a moderate red by challenging themselves a bit...
Appreciate it!
Cheers
John
If you're not going to Minortaur at Coed y Brenin then you'll want Brechfa. There's also a blue trail at Afan, which is good but not as good as those two.
FOD tracks are pretty darn rooty. my kids (11 n 14 girls ) love the flowy ones though. ebike uplift though - i dont think they get enough out of a paid days uplift there!
BPW always.
Dirt farm might be a gooer as its quite flowy fast. some lines have big jumps but there ma be enough to keep them interested.
In terms of XC loops the main centres are all pretty tough climbs especially after 2 days of uplifts!
Blue Scar at Afan supposedly has 177m of climbing. Which isn't too bad, I think. All the reds there involve a fair bit of winching though.
Personally, just go all-in on Nant y Arian. The smiles on their little faces when they round the corner for the first time and see the Legburner stretching in front of them... đŸ™‚
The uplifted DH trails are all pretty rooty apart from countdown / launchpad (and the blue xc descent which goes from the same place) at FOD. Would consider harder than most red trail centre loops. Although I guess from the uplift you could explore the other bits of red ish stuff that go off the middle fireroad.
However the main blue / Dowies off piste / countdown / launchpad are all good flowy things. Plus the jumps and drops area. Get a good day out of FOD without the uplift I reckon.
Most Welsh trail centres have some horrific climbs - I love Cwmcarn but both reds have some punchy climbing. I have discovered you can do big chunks of some of the climbs on fireroad though - plus there is a short blue there now.
Dare valley? My 6yo loved it.
BPW - loads of options covering a wide level of skills. I went there two weeks ago for the first time and it was amazing (unlike my riding skills, heh).
Llandegla might be a good shout if they don't mind the initial climb? Both the blue and the red are good fun - last part of the red is a bit tougher, but there's a blue option to avoid Julia's Trail, etc. Sounds like they might be fine with it though - as red's go it's fairly mild (I say as someone who mostly sticks to blues outside of Cannock Chase nowadays).
Sherwood Pine's red is good fun and EXTREMELY mild in terms of difficulty, and no arduous climbs as far as I can recall, but obviously doesn't have any major descents either, so might be a bit too easy for them (and also it's not Wales...)
A little bit north, but Nant-yr-arian has some flown easier trails idea for little adults. Â And you get to sit in the VC and watch the iconic Red Kites being fed
Another vote for Dare Valley, I think the uplift might have gone, but it’s free to ride (I think) and designed for kids so could be good.
Amazing, thanks all.
Think I will do BPW, Dare valley FOD and then Fly 417 on the way home!
If we all survive..!
Cheers
John