We ride the reopened
Back to full operation after a forest ire and felling work, we pay a visit to one of our local favourites
and revamped Cafall trail at Cwmcarn in South Wales and find it’s better than ever
You know, I kind of hate e-bikes. Actually no, I don’t hate them, but I’m definitely not loving the smug look on JCW’s face as he whirs effortlessly past me on the climb – for the tenth time. Our esteemed editor is out on his new Merida eOne-Sixty and he looks irritatingly pleased with himself, in contrast to me, plugging away through the mud, wishing I’d eaten a bit less Christmas turkey, ridden a few more miles and not worn so many layers. Merino wool is hot, uphills are hard and this e-bike malarkey is making me envious.
Uphill struggle
I’m not the only one churning on the cranks – Jimmer and Chris are out on their regular bikes too, somewhere back down the trail – but there isn’t much consolation to be had from pedalling up beside Rob Williams, our local guide for the day. Rob’s a semi-pro enduro racer from just down the road and has probably put in more hours here than anyone else. While I’ve been gulping for air, he’s been telling me about his winter training programme which, in contrast to mine, has been focused on cramming in laps, rather than extra mince pies. “This place is the perfect Enduro World Series training ground,” Rob tells me, “with its 300m of elevation drop and six-minute runs. The only thing is, the dirt’s so good, you forget what it’s like to ride slippery trails!”
I see exactly what Rob means when we finally reach the top of the freshly-revamped Cafall trail. The sandy dirt, while soaked from the overnight rain, gives back an almost endless amount of traction and it spurs us all on to go faster and faster, as we pinball between the freshly-built berms. Rob leads the charge, equally quick when gravity’s on his side, and I tuck in behind, hoping to pick up on any sneaky local lines. The sounds of chain slap and yelps of excitement tell me that Jimmer isn’t far back either. The three of us chase each other through the arcs and undulations, hopping roots, gapping rocks and skimming over rollers. It’s an awesome sensation, leaning the bike in and feeling it go light, popping over the rise before the tyres connect again and then being whipped around the turn by the steep banking.
Phoenix from the ashes
The Cafall is the newer of the two red routes here at Cwmcarn. Its predecessor, the Twrch trail, was one of the UK’s first trail-centre loops, and although it’s showing its age, it’s still a great ride today. The Cafall sits on the other side of the valley – ‘The Golden Valley’ as the locals call it, and, touched by the delicate glow of winter sun, I can see why. Unfortunately, not everyone round here has such pride in the beautiful surroundings
FLOWING OVER ROLLER SAND THROUGH TURNS, THE REBUILT DESCENT FLOWS WAY BETTER THAN IT EVER USED TO, AND IT URGES US ALL TO LET OFF THE
and, in 2018, a forest fire caused by an arson attack, combined with efforts to stop the spread of larch disease, led to large sections of the trails being closed for felling. The Cafall reopened in full just a few weeks ago and it feels very different to how it used to. I remember turning my lights out on a night ride a few years ago and the dense trees being so dark that I couldn’t make out my hand in front of my face. Today, the trees around nearly the whole loop have been clear-felled. It’s more exposed, but means the dirt dries faster and on the twisting singletrack ascents, the panoramic views down the valley are a nice distraction from the leg burn. Bathed in pale winter light, the landscape today is truly stunning. Down in the valley, blankets of mist swirl through the woodland, and high up on the hill, the tangled silhouettes of trees stand bold against the skyline.
The trail builders have done a stellar job of resurrecting a line through the jumble of felled logs and stumps. They haven’t just reinstated the trail, they’ve made it better – steepening up the berms and swooping it over crests and down drops. From the high point at the top of the last descent, it’s a near-continuous downhill all the way to the car park. With such steep sides to the valley though, you’ve got to earn your turns to get here. This is, of course, the reason why Cwmcarn has such a history in gravity riding. Downhill races have been held here since the late Nineties and the main Y Mynydd track – built by Rowan Sorrell in 2004 and revamped in 2018 – is an all-round test of bike handling, with a high-speed top section, technical middle woods and a run of big ol’ booters to the finish line. Book yourself on to the Cwmdown uplift service and you can hammer out runs of this to your heart’s content. Enduro bikes have sparked a new kind of revolution in these hills too. One of homegrown, self-built trails. The open, felled hillsides have been a blank canvas for the local builders, and with perfect terrain everywhere
DOWN IN THE VALLEY, BLANKETS OF MIST SWIRL THROUGH THE WOODLAND AND HIGH UP ON THE HILL. THE TANGLED SILHOUETTES OF TREE STAND BOLD AGAINST THE SKYLINE
you look, you don’t have to ride far to discover a handcut gem snaking steeply downwards.
Valley of the rolls
The fresh dirt waves of the Cafall are what we’re focused on today. Having been smoked by James on the climb, I’m determined the same won’t happen on the way down. Flowing over rollers and through turns, the rebuilt descent flows way better than it ever used to, and it urges us all to let off the brakes, pumping and gapping to keep pace. On one rise, Rob pulls to a stop and shows me a gap he tried the other week, signalling to a vague and distant downslope. “I cased it super-hard,” he laughs, “and I nearly went over the bars down there.” He points down a steep banking full of jagged snapped branches. ‘Not somewhere you’d want to crash’, I think, as Jimmer flies past, launches off the roller we’re standing on, goes way off to the right and lands on the very edge of the dirt. I cringe, thinking we’re about to witness a disaster, but somehow he tips it in and whips around the berm. Catching up with Jimmer at the next fireroad, JCW shakes his head. “I thought you were dead there!” “Nah!” retorts Jimmer, already disappearing into the next section. “That’s how I meant to do it!”
We hit the pedals to chase after him, hurried on by the fading light. With so many trails here to ride, a short winter day isn’t nearly long enough. But if we’re fast, we may just have time for a lap of the other side. Rob and Jimmer have definitely got the energy, JCW has got his motor, it’s just a case of whether Chris and I have got the legs…