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Afan with the family

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BY: Louise Robinson

Published: 10th April, 2015


Nine years ago, through a fog of sleepless nights and dirty nappies, it didn’t seem possible that I would be able to go riding in the Welsh trails with my little bundle of joy. But time passes, they learn to sleep, ride bikes and jump and then one day they grow climbing legs and that’s its, there is no stopping them.


When we stopped to look down at how far we had come up, Chloe nearly burst with pride! 

The trail Centre at Afan (pronounced Avan by the locals) will be familiar to most of you, but as a bike club away-day rather than a family holiday destination. At weekends the area is wall to wall with bike clubs and groups of (predominantly) men who come to thrash around (or down) the trails. But midweek it is quieter and so a big push has started to attract families to this amazing area.



Over the last few years, the essential forestry work needed to deal with the devastating tree disease sweeping through the area had given the park a bad reputation for closed trails and spoiled riding. Now, with much of the essential work completed and a new MTB ranger in post to ensure any further work is carried out in a way that allows the trails to be used as much as possible and any trail diversions are well communicated and signed, things are on the up.

The opening of the Rookie Trail and skills area means that absolute beginners and littlies now have an area to call their own. There is a 5.5km green trail with 2.5km blue extension trail plus a skills area with berms, steps, rocks and north shore to practice on.


Chloe gets in a bit of NorthShore practice on the Skills section

We stayed at the conveniently located Afan Lodge, in one of their family suites. This made a fabulous base for the 3-day trip, being only a few minutes ride from the Afan trail Centre. The room was huge, with a double bed for us and three singles for the kids in an adjoining room. Being on the top floor of the lodge, the view was breathtaking. However, the kids were much more taken with the pump track in the garden! They serve good "pub grub" and the beer tastes especially good in the sunshine on the terrace.


Afan Lodge - complete with bike lock up, bike wash and it's own pump track

On our first day, Isaac (9) managed two laps of Blue Scar, Chloe (6) managed two laps of the Rookie Green and Blue and Jason and I also managed a couple of sneaky solo laps of Blue Scar to check our Stava ratings. I am surprised the kids managed anything at all after lunch given the enormous kids portions the Afan Park café dishes out.


Isaac and I at "The Top" on Blue Scar

The second day, Isaac and Jason tackled Whites Level while Chloe and I rode the disused railway line up to Glyncorrwg for an Ice cream. The round trip to Glyncorrwg is only 9 miles – easy for an adult but the furthest Chloe’s little legs have ever gone. It also has 100m of climbing, which is a lot for a flat trail but it did make coming home so much easier. The kids were happy to settle for some time on the skills section and at the Afan Lodge pump track in the afternoon so again Jason and I took it in turns to escape onto the trails for a bit of solo action.


Isaac is so confident on this kind of thing - it is mummy that has kittens

By the third day, I really should have been out of be at 7am and off round the trails for some riding before breakfast, but quite frankly I had slipped nicely into the relaxed Welsh way of life and I really couldn’t drag myself out of bed. We spent the morning at Afan again, riding Blue Scar and the Rookie trail once more. The improvement in both kids riding was amazing. Isaac managed the Blue Scar climb to “The Top” without stopping and Chloe zoomed around the Rookie trail. Both Jason and I managed to get in a bit of our own riding (which could have been so much more if we had had the inclination) and everyone was really disappointed when it was time to go home.


The 24" Rocket Rons worked perfectly in the conditions 

This really is a fabulous family destination now. And for those of you with kids too young or inexperienced for the full on trails, but too big for the Rookie Trail, the team at Afan lodge will lead or plan you a route which takes in some of the fun sections of the main trails without the mega climbs or gnarly descents. We are already talking about next year!


Drinks with a view

A massive thanks to Louise and her team at Afan Lodge for superb hospitality and especially to Helen, who taught us to say "Bora Da" and ran up and down about 20 times to give us access to our bikes in the secure lockup.




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Louise
 

Louise Robinson

Mum, Pharmacist and XCracer Team Rider

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This blog post was written by a third party and their views do not necessarily reflect the views of XCRacer.com

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