For some reason, write-ups of mountain bike trails tend to be done by mountain bikers.
I know, it’s strange.
I am not a mountain biker. The last time I did anything that could be described as mountain biking was probably about ten years ago, and even that was not exactly intense. Now, I do very little exercise at all.
So, the prospect of hiring a bike and riding The Wall - a red level purpose built route in the Afan valley - was somewhat daunting.
The bike hire place were pleasantly helpful, and sorted me out with a hardtail mountain bike. I wobbled timidly around the car park for a few minutes, complained about the light rain, and then we set out.
After crossing the road and the river, the trail climbs the side of the valley in a mix of fire road and singletrack. To those of us who are out of shape, this climb presents the biggest challenge of the day. I found I stopped for a rest every couple of hundred yards to gasp for breath and whine about my burning, aching, trembling legs. Just to be clear, it is not a hard climb. It’s not steep, or difficult at all, but it does seem to go on for a good long while and presented me with more strenuous exercise than I have done in a long time. The sections of singletrack on the way up provide in some ways a welcome break from the tracks, and a tantalising taste of things to come, but in other ways I found myself thinking that I would rather get the climbs over with.
Soon enough, we came to the top of the trail. At roughly this point, I was starting to doubt whether my legs would take any more. There didn’t seem to be any strength in them, I didn’t seem to be able to push the bike uphill at all. Would I enjoy the ride back down?
I would.
The singletrack routes down range from sweeping tracks across open moorland, through bright orange slurry, to dark paths winding through forestry, from forgiving tracks where any line will do, to merciless drops, where the path is sandwiched between a crag and a steep drop through the trees. I quickly forgot my burning legs, and remembered the sheer joy of riding. The trails are nicely balanced, providing challenging riding without ever seeming impossible. I took it at a speed that seemed right, pushing faster and harder through some sections and backing off for others. This, it seems to me, is part of the joy of it. I rode it at a speed I liked and had a blast. If I were better, I would have ridden it faster, and to judge by the the mud-soaked grins of the riders who passed me, that would have been awesome as well. For me to ride much faster would have been suicide, but nevertheless there is something hugely satisfying about passing the skull-and-cross-bones posts that mark the start of the challenging sections and throwing myself and the bike into the trail. The balance of control and risk was hugely exhilarating.
Last rode a bike years ago? Try riding the Wall. Went mountain biking last week? Try riding the Wall. I’d recommend it to anyone.
T
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