Mountain Biking in Wales

pledgeX

First off, sorry if this is in the wrong section. Wasn't sure if this was for cycling in general or aimed only at commuting. Mods; feel free to move if necessary.

My brother is at Swansea Uni so will be heading down to see him at some point and was thinking of making a long weekend out of it with me and a few mates taking our bikes down.

Are there any good place to ride within reach of Swansea? I imagine the place to go is around the Brecon Beacons but have no idea. We all prefer more cross country riding than downhill, so we'd rather have long open trails through the forest and up the hills, rather than big downhill sections with jumps and technical sections.

Another issue we've got is where to stay. There's 2 options really; stay in Swansea and drive to the hills each day, or stay in the hills in a biking specific establishment.

The problem with staying in the hills is that getting into Swansea for a night out will be a mission and expensive, but at least we should be ok for facilities and somewhere to keep the bikes safe. If we stay in Swansea we don't have to worry about getting into town, but I'm not sure where we'll be able to keep our bikes safely. I don't think travelodge would look kindly on taking a muddy bike up to our rooms!!

Any thoughts/advice? Thanks.

MX5huggy

Some quite highly rated trails

http://www.walesdirectory.co.uk/Mountain_Bike_Holidays/Mountain_Bike_Holiday_in_Neath_Port_Talbot.htm

pledgeX

Thanks for the reply MX5Huggy.

Afan has come up in my searches before. After looking at those trails though I think they will be too technical for us. I'm looking for something a bit more sedate. I'm thinking more of a long track up and down the hills. Rather than single lane trails full of technical sections.

We don't have a problem with going up and coming down big hills, but we do if it involves tree roots, rocks, narrow paths, and sharp corners! Especially when hungover!!

Thanks again.