Afon Argoed Bike centre

Paul and I had discussed a day out and cycling was to be it.  Paul suggested the Afon Argoed centre which lies above Port Talbot.

This is well known for its mountain bike trails, but we were headed for the 14 mile Rheilffordd Route which does not involve too much sweat and hopefully little chance of falling off!  This venue has been on my tick list for some time and we were not disappointed.

Route

There were a number of plusses even before we mounted the bikes; car parking only £1.00 all day and coffee at £1.50.

A trail map was purchased - 20p and  we set off.  Paul's choice of shorts was better than mine of lycra tights as the weather warmed up nicely.

View of Afon Afan

Another view of Afon Afan

Interesting carving

As we headed for Pontrhydyfen I noticed my bike computer was not recording speed and mileage. I soon realised I had put the front wheel on the wrong way around! Error sorted and off we went again stopping on the viaduct overlooking the above village. We decided not to look for the blue plague to show where Mr Burton was born or that of  Mr Emmanuel, him of Zulu fame but instead turned uphill and headed for Cymmer. The trail is tarmac and climbs at a steady incline.

Looking down into Pontrhydyfen

 At Cymmer we turned left and headed for Glyncorrwg and had lunch at the Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike Centre. There is a small camp site here with the centre supplying your biking needs and a large restaurant with reasonable priced food and amenities.

The old Cymmer station

Glyncorrwg

One of the interesting information panels

A hill too far

The next hill won't beat me.

Fine figure of a man

Following lunch our route was across the valley and downhill all the way back to the starting point where there is some atefacts of the lost mining activity.

Old rail viaduct

Wooden water pipe

A strong dad must pull this lot

If in future marketing shots of Neath and Port Talbot and the surrounding area you see photos of two rugged bikers, then they will be of Paul and me as the local authority photographer was clearly hard pushed to photograph two old fellows riding bikes.

We both agreed this was a good venue for biking and walking with views now opening up owing to large scale tree felling.