Reviews for Raven Trail - Brechfa

Summary:
Testing climb but worth it

Review:
I can only describe this as hell and heaven. It had been heavily raining and the climb was muddy, long and as I am heavy at 14.5 stone, very tough. I enjoyed the technical aspect of some of the flatter sections along the valley, but my legs had blown and I could not get the speed up to really get the best out of my riding. However when the trail pointed down it was fantastic, fast, technical, steep in places, some large berms and the tabletops were brilliant. Suddenly all the pain seemed insignificant and I wanted to do another loop. I only hope that my next trip back is after a good dry spell!

The car park only has a portaloo so take everything that you need for the day. One of our group took a lighter, race oriented hard tail and it took a battering and ripped out his side wall, another forgot his knee pads, came off and was unable to ride the rest of the trip due to the knee injury, so go appropriately equipped! I would rate the trail higher if the climb was surfaced a bit, less muddy and more intersting.

Summary:
Very good - but needs courage!

Review:
I must be honest (for a change), I found some of the sections too much. Although I'm 56 and quite fit, I just didn't have the nerve to dive down some of the slopes. That said, the trail seems very well thought out - in particular, the surface seems very firm and free of muddy sections. A lonely spot - I didn't see anyone in 2 hours.

Summary:
Not As Good As The 1st Time

Review:
This trail really makes the long trip to Brechfa worth it. Ridden the Gorlech trail a few times now. If you like Gorlech try this one. First time on this one 25/07/08, then again in March 09 and May 09.

The trail starts from a car park approx 2 miles from the Gorlech one in the direction of Brechfa. Some of the route is common to Blue & Green trails, there are a few points where the trails separate off, which can sometimes be when you are going very fast downhill! There is a left turn back uphill on a downhill section towards the end of the trail which is on a bermed corner!

You start with a climb, then a short taster section of what is to come, a brief rock garden & a couple of jumps (this is easy to miss & accidentally stay on the green/blue trail). If you don't like this section, then stick to the Green/Blue trails.

From here you go up the biggest climb of the day. From then on in you have a mixture of forest riding, some of which gets very boggy even in summer (not well surfaced like most trail centres). Because of this this trail is best left for when it has been dry for a long time.

The highlight though are the volume & size of berms & tabletops (of which there are many). The size has to be seen to be believed. There's a sweet section of tabletops (see youtube videos), which you can hit at speed & really fly over. It must have taken a long time to build these - respect to the trailbuilders.

The trail links with the Red Gorlech trail part way round so if you're feeling enegergetic you can do both as a figure of eight loop.

The best way to do this trail is do the Gorlech climb, then just before the final descent cut through to the Raven. This avoids the most boggy sections of the Raven & includes the best sections of it, I guess the total distance for this comes in around 25 - 28km.

Summary:
Some good sections

Review:
After getting there and seeing the ambulance we thought we were in for a good day ,but what i didn't see was the massive climb at the start.

After the initial climb i was expecting big things but apart from a few nice burns it didn't come and towards the end couldn't wait to get back to the car.

Going to give the Gorlech trail a go next weeekend heard good things.Going to give the trail 7/10 cause the table tops are some of the best i've ridden

Summary:
One of the best.

Review:
This trail has it all, log rails, big burms, great table top sections, rocky drops and a killer climb.
But the downhill sections are well worth the hard climb on the start.