OVERVIEW

South Wales is one of the best Mountain Biking areas, not just in the UK, but anywhere in the world.

The reason for this is that the region consists of numerous valleys, which are divided by ridges between 1,000 and 2,000 feet.

All the ridges have public access onto them, and once you are on the ridges, you can follow them on farm tracks, forest roads, bridleways or sheep trails for their entire lengths- up to 15 miles.

They provide spectacular scenery, with views over the Welsh mining valleys, and parallel ridges that disappear into the distance.

The valleys in between have the greatest network of cycle trails anywhere in the UK, thanks to the old railway lines serving the once ubiquitous coal mines.

This allows for circular routes which are almost entirely off road - out along the ridges and back along the bike trails in the valleys.

Our team has been exploring and pioneering these trails for the past 30 years, and we feel they are a secret worth sharing with future generations.

This site is therefore free to use and will hopefully encourage many more mountain biking enthusiasts to follow in our tread marks and enjoy this remarkable part of the world.

Most of the routes are not technically difficult (unless otherwise stated) , and all are manageable by anyone of average fitness. All that is required is a bit of grit and determination, and of course a bike! If a section looks too steep or too rugged, then you can always get off and walk!

Most are entirely off road, so be prepared for lots of mud and puddles, mixed with bundles of fun! The advent of Ebikes has made them even more accessible, even to pensioners like us!

Please note that at the time of writing none of these routes seem to have any access problems, but please do your own research to ensure you are not trespassing! As a rule, if you cross a gate or a stile onto private land or farm land, you should walk with your bike.

We are currently building the site, so we are adding new routes each week. Completed pages show a Strava screen shot of the route, along with a description which when used with OS maps will allow you to plot our route on your map. We hope shortly to be able to provide interactive links for each route for you to download .

Following our routes

The route descriptions we have used should allow you to plot a route by using Ordnance Survey maps. (which is how we plan them in the first place). The names of hills and farms that we have used will be found on OS maps. This will help you to know the general directions we have taken.

There are often several trails which head in the same direction. It doesn't usually matter which track you take if it ends up in the same place eventually. Often there is a choice of a forest or mountain track, or a sheeptrack - it is up to you which you chose.

For those of you who would like to follow the exact routes we have chosen, you can download Strava on your phone and chose to follow us on that by linking to "Mark Samuel" and selecting the route you fancy.