13 RCC MTB'ers arrived in the Afan Valley two weekends ago, looking forward to the delights of the Afan and Glyncorrwg trail centres.

A short stop-off at Cwmcarn trail centre on the way over Friday had sharpened up people's singletrack skills, and on Saturday morning we were all ready for challange of the W2 trail.

We set out to ride the short low-level cycleway from the B&B to the Glencorrwg trail centre. This route used to be a railway line and so we were looking forward to a gentle warm-up before the real action started at the trail centre. Having double-checked my trail map before setting out, I led the group out eastwards.

However, it wasn't long before people started wondering how the trains used to get up this hill as it started going up steeper and steeper, to the point of having to get of the bikes and push! And whilst I was hoping to keep it all quiet and lead us to the trail centre without anyone realising the mistake, the termination of the trail we were following at a mini-sized lake on the top of a big hill confirmed everyone's worst fears!

Don't worry, I tried to reassure the group, its all downhill from here! And it was, but Lee's comment of "freeforming it to a whole new level" seemed appropriate as we picked our way down the side of the hill. Note to self - next time check that North on the trail map really is North! It'll be some time before I'm allowed to forget this "bonus loop", which has since become un-affectionately known as Le Coq Sportif.

Once we'd actually made it to the trail centre the real fun started, with the W2 trail zig-zagging up the side of the Afan Valley, one of the steepest valleys around. This had us temporarily longing for the little mole-hills of Surrey again, but all was forgotten once we'd made it to the top. The fast Wall descent took us down to Afan Forest trail centre for lunch, where a few of us felt able to indulge in a Chicken Tika after all the exertions in getting there.

The climb back up to the top after lunch seemed much shorter (or maybe I've just wisely erased the memory!), and we were soon onto the high-level trail taking us back towards White's Level. John T was testing out a hired 29'er hardtail, although I was glad to be on a full-susser as the Whites Level descent back to Glencorrwg trail centre was very rocky. Lee did a good job on his single-chainringed hardtail, next thing & he'll be out singlespeeding!

Saturday evening was spent at the Refreshment Rooms, the only pub in the village! However the lack of competition hadn't done anything to degrade the food which was excellent, and at a very good price. Inflation doesn't seem to have made it over to Afan yet.

Sunday's ride saw us ride the first half of the Skyline trail, which takes you up even higher than Whites Level and across the open hills, which can seem very exposed in poor weather. Fortunately poor weather wasn't something we had to contend with, but we were all still happy to see the start of the final descent. The ride back down made it all worthwhile, and was my favourite of the weekend, seeming to flow much better than the other trails.

Then 13 satisfied souls headed back home to Surrey with tales of the big descents and the Coq Sportif.

For more photographs of the weekend, including the Downhilling that Lee and I did at Cwmcarn, see here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garethashton/sets/72157627860177547/

The next weekend away will be to North Wales on 20 - 22 April 2012 where both on-road and off-road rides will be on offer. Look out for details on how to book in an upcoming weekly update from Adrian.