Meet the people who work tirelessly to keep the beloved Afan Forest mountain bike trails clear and safe: the Afan Trail Volunteers. In their own words, here is why Scott and Ally are passionate about maintaining these trails. First up, here’s Scott:
“I live locally, and the Afan Forest and its mountain bike trails and centres are a huge part of my life. I love being a volunteer and it gives me a huge sense of ‘giving back’ as someone who uses these trails frequently myself. I’ve ridden these trails more times than I can count, so having the opportunity to help keep them in good working order for visitors to use when coming to the area is really important”
Next, we spoke to Ally Campbell from Campbell Coaching, who talked us through the dig session and what exactly that entails:
“As we’re in Wales, we do inevitably see a lot of water that starts to pond on the trails. What we do as part of the trail management is a process called de-watering, where we carefully create small trench-like pathways off the side of the trails to help drain this excess water. This is crucial as if excess water is left on the trails for an extended period of time, it can scour away the surface and create permanent damage to these trails that we all know and love.
“We also look after vegetation management, which is a really key part of the maintenance process. There’s nothing more satisfying than trimming back a branch that’s been whipping you as you’ve ridden past!
“Afan Forest is littered with incredible mountain bike trails, so whatever kind of ride you’re after, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Aside from mountain biking, there’s also an amazing surf beach just five miles from here, which makes Afan one of the only trail centres in the UK which is right next to a surf beach.
“I’ve lived all over the place and I’ve travelled a lot too, but Afan has kept me for the longest time.”