Epic Afan - all the trails at Afan, in less than 10 hours

Words by Scott Cornish
Photos by Wayne Carter www.wayne-DC.com

Living just an hour’s ride away, the Afan trail network is local riding for me and is great for keeping the trail skills up in the damp, winter months. I hadn't ridden all the trails yet and certainly not in a day, so I was up for the challenge! With the Skyline trail indefinitely cropped in half due to the wind farm construction, overall distance was to fall short of the predicted 95 miles, but Matt had set a steady target time of 10 hours to complete the ride and with around 85 miles still to chomp through it wasn't going to be lacking in distance.

With Mulebar supplying the fuel and Exposure their most excellent lights, all we needed now was some reasonable weather. And with the sun’s glow just about peering over the Welsh peaks we set off from an eerily empty Glyncorrwg in the early hours. It was way too early for the cafe to be open so we improvised with a MuleBar cafe cortado gel for a kick start. With the temperature just above freezing, the main climb out of the center warmed chilled limbs and the clear, blue skies ahead forecast a good day out.

“Self diagnosis revealed a broken rib, but a self assessment gave the ‘ok’ to carry on.”

An early mechanical slowed us down, but we managed to dispatch Skyline and Blade before dropping back into the car park for a proper repair and a refuel. Despite the diversion on Skyline, the ‘new’ sections add some great riding. Then it was onto the first part of W2 where we picked up the pace a little, bringing us to the Afan Forest visitor centre, but not before I had had a minor tumble (you know, the stupid slow speed kind of a tumble). Self diagnosis revealed a broken rib, but a self assessment gave the ‘ok’ to carry on. The rookie trails Penhydd and Blue Scarr offered up some steady mid ride before chowing down some MuleBars (the Eastern Express giving a little welcome ‘heat’ in the cold air) and heading out for the 2nd half of W2.

The glorious winter sunshine gave some much needed warmth in the afternoon, but it didn’t last long and the temperature quickly dropped in time with the sun dipping behind the hills. Diving back down into the forest trails we were suddenly in darkness just in time for the most technical sections of W2. No matter though, the lights went on and darkness soon turned to light. Having never ridden these trails in the dark, it was a total blast, adding something new to familiar trails.

Our final drop into the car park allowed for fresh bottles and warm layers ready for the final 22km along the flat family route which follows the old railway line along the valley. Our lights punched a hole in the pitch blackness allowing a good speed along the trail and we were glad of the extra layers. The temperature plummeted down into to low single figures and the added wind chill made sure we had the full Welsh winter experience all the way to the finish.

We had aimed for ten hours and crossed the line is just over nine and a half. The overall speed wasn't intended to be a fast one, more a steady winter ride with mates with an element of challenge to keep it interesting. Pit stop times weren't race fast, but were kept to a minimum. 85 miles, just under 10 hours, 11,000ft of climbing … It was a great day on the trails!

If you’d like to try Epic Afan, you can find the segment on Strava. Why not give it a go and see if you can get round faster than our time? 

Scott is supported by GoreBikeWear, Ergon, Mojo Suspension and Conti tyres.
Epic Afan was supported by Exposure Lights, Mulebar, Weldtite and @openwideagency.

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