Dirt Farm, Black Mountains

Marcus:

Well worth a day out

great for all level of skilled rider

paul:

100% good fun, staff are friendly, MTB people are so down to earth, loads to learn here

Good lines for all DH riders, Test of your skills. As others have said its a hidden gem. Uplifts book online, can sometimes get them the day before. Tracktor lifts. By the time you get to the top, ride down you meet the uplift and up you go. If you have the energy you can go all day, and they dont stop for lunch.

Luke Turner:

Well worth a visit !

Has some real nice trails and some big gap jumps and a nice wooden bridge addition maybe in the future more wooden bridges /transitions ?

stumpy_dan:

I visited the Black Mountain Cycle Centre and this place is a total hidden gem. Saying that I don't think that will be the case for long. Just as a heads up. The sat nav wants to take you to the farm next door so look out for the subtle signs. Once you turn up its a field with a car park and that's it. So do come prepared with nourishment. To be honest this is all you need as the important stuff like endorphin rush, grinning from ear to ear and a desire to get backs ASAP they supply in bucket loads. These tracks have been professionally designed and the atmosphere is friendly, welcoming and full of passion for the runs. The blue is progressive and confidence inspiring and really fast. It has fun berms and some decent jumps along the way. The red is a bit more steeper and gnarly but also fast. You will find steeper rootier sections, steep corners and a neat bridge that is built to avoid conflict with walkers and has a steep run out that adds a bit of fun. The final red section is a super fast set of kickers and berms with some fun wooden planks thrown in to fly off. The blacks I hardly touched today but from talking to the uplift group leave folk a bit spellbound as they are rocky, natural feeling, full of jumps and fast. It's all great really. They are also designed so you can mix and match. So start on the blue and then add a bit of red or black and so on. It's run by a really friendly farmer and the uplift is efficient. It's close ish to Bike Park Wales and although the tracks are shorter they are no less fun and you get less arm pump and more rides in. This also makes it easier to session sections you want to nail better as you can ride it more often. Also I felt like I had ridden more by the end of the day at BMCC than at BPW. They are though very different and awesome beasts. It's well worth combining the two over a couple of days as I am. I can't wait to get back again and was half inclined to not post a review so I can keep it to myself. Thinking of doing a "Best Newcomer of the Year" award as feel this is a top contender. Get in there before everyone finds out!

- progressive tracks with 100% grin factor - easily get ten plus uplifts in a day.

Ollie:

Visited the BMCC on an overcast Welsh Saturday and was immediately impressed with how grass roots the set-up was, this isn't an EU funded, bring your family along for overpriced coffees and cakes whilst you ponce about on your Orange 5 trail centre. This is a DH venue - There's a field to park your car in, a portaloo, and a couple of tractors. And that's it. What it also is, is one of the best trails I've ridden. Whilst not as long as some of its neighbours, its provides a decent workout for both bike and rider, and this coupled with the tractor ride back up (and the best banter from riders) proves to be a memorable days riding. The trail (with its various lines which link back into a central spine) is a floaty, berm ridden beast. There's a HUGE pro jump line if you feel good enough, or take the other lines back into the woods with various drops to keep you on your toes. One of my favourite corners was a flat left hander coming out of the woods that just begged to be taken moto style, letting the bike drift out towards the trees. It could have better signage on the trails (I swear I took a line 2nd run that I never found again), but given the target riders it doesn't really need it. I rode it on a short wheelbase 5.5 EVP (almost mini DH build) and it was fine. More travel would have been quicker in places, but don't underestimate the speed in a short travel DH set-up around the berms. I wouldn't want to push up (even though you can) and there is no ride up option - More to the point why would you want to ride up when there's a tractor! All in highly recommended. Its not BPW / Afan / Cwmcarn and doesn't try to be, its one of a kind and that makes it utterly unique in the S.Wales uplift scene