BikePark Wales

Uplift. *Way* too long waiting for the uplift. Though it was a weekday and they're only running one bus. There were four other buses sat in the car park unused. If you run one of the quicker reds fast you can however get to the uplift before it's got back down. About 10 to 15 mins you need to be. Any longer and you have to wait for it to go up and back down again. You can end up doing one run per hour! Uplift pickup is at the end of some of the trails, but some will drop you out at the visitor centre and there's a bit of a ride to get to the pickup. It's also not that obvious when you get there first time how to get to the pickup. Cafe isn't speedy. Food okay though they'd run out of the specials quickly, and weren't taking credit cards despite having a card machine. I suspect it will be very busy at weekends. The uplift is booked out for months, but a lot of people just turn up for the £5 day pass and do the climb (though heard many say they'll do the uplift next time as looks like a killer climb). I've heard hundreds are there at weekends. Not that bad a thing if it's popular. Just will have to see how the facilities cope over time. It's early days yet. Only one shower in the mens toilets. Though it may not be a very muddy venue. There are some muddy spots on some trails but others dry well.

One car at a time on paying the entry fee was real bad. Had to que for 15mins! Car parking was terrible. People taking up far too much room, and the car park is far to small for the number of visitors in busy days. The overflow carpark some 2miles away was unacceptable and a joke. Poor marking of uphill section for first timers. Maybe marker gates would be a better guide with a green board with info of distance left to summit. Again the tracks should be more colour coded on downhill. Maybe blue red and black signs for the track names. Found alot of first timers asking questions about which track is blue red etc... One last thing. The area at the top where the downhill starts. 2 wheelbarrows with bog roll is not ideal for a lady busting for a wee. The area which has been logged should be replanted ASAP to provide much needed shelter. The start gathering point will be very exposed to wind and rain in the winter months.