Afan V Innerleithen

[KiyoTatsu]

Does anyone know how the Innerleithen trails compare to those in Afan?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm not yet a very technical rider. I've been to Afan and ridden Penhydd, The Wall and the downhill section of the Whites level with no problems. However I'm going to Innerleithen later in the year and would like to know what to expect and what I might need to prepare for and/or avoid, especially as I will be riding a hardtail

 

[Losidan]

Hi,

my best guess having been to neither is innerleithen will be more tech but that is based purely on the fact they have had some pretty high profile racing there....

I reckon someone on southern downhill will know for sure

Dan

 

[freshcharlie]

Innerleithen

Never been to Afan but I have been to Innerleithen.
There's a BLACK side to Innerleithen which is serious downhill - a full face helmet and body armour job.
Then there's the RED cross country. It starts with a long, long uphill with some fierce gradients and technical features. Apart from a short swoopy respite through an old quarry it is punishing.
First part of the descent is modern narrow open, single track, fast, twisty with small jumps and berms.
Next bit is slower and rougher.
Then there's another uphill ! And a a forest road to the start of Caddon Bank.
This forms part of the Black network and there's much to see on YouTube and others. I'd just say - stick to the chicken runs round the dropoffs near the start, that's where most people go and you do not want to be going over them without having had a chance to see them first anyway. Save that for your afternoon run if you have the energy. The rest is a bit of a white knuckle ride but relatively harmless. You will have seen similar hard stuff in 'Reds' elsewhere. What qualifies it for 'Black' in my mind is there is a lot of it and it's relentless.
Overall I would class it as physically and technically challenging for most enthusiastic mountainbikers. Good to have done but not something you want to do every weekend.
Just look at the number and types of cars in the car park compared to Glentress just along the road.

 

[KiyoTatsu]

Awesome. Thanks muchly for that. It's so helpful to have the trails explained. I've watched a couple of videos on youtube but it's difficult sometimes to get a sense of depth on jumps and stuff.

The trails at Afan were all red and I didn't have much difficulty with those. There were a few small drops but I didn't know they were coming and went over them before I had a chance to think about it so it was fine I suppose I am just worried there might be some really meaty drops in Innerleithen that I can't fly by the seat of my pants over. Apart from a few little scrapes and bruises I haven't managed to damage myself as yet and am just trying to keep it that way lol I won't be touching the real hardcore downhill stuff

I bought a cheap singlespeed to try to get a bit stronger and less intimidated by the uphill this time