Off-Season Adventures With Manon Carpenter and Blake Samson
 |
''Twisty, rooty, rocky and in places wildly exposed, the singletrack in Afan Forest Park is the enthusiast's dream. The trails here have been carved out of hillsides once surrounded by coal mining, but now the valley has been transformed into a biker's heaven.''
After reading words like this at the Afan's website, we instantly knew that this must be the next place where we put our tires on...
With only two days there we only skimmed the tip of the iceberg with what the Afan Forest has prepared for mountain bikers, but on another hand, it made us even more eager to go back there again, as soon as it's possible...
Without any further ado, scroll down and see what Blake Samson and his special guest rider, Manon Carpenter herself, were up to...
 |
 |
 After a weekend of horrendous rain, the weather cleared up for us and the autumnal colours revealed their beauty. |
 |
| Afan Bike Park has a number of 'beginner level' obstacles to practice your balance and jumping skills. Do you find the ground level North Shore hard? Then man up and show your buddies who's boss, conquer the lines and claim it! |
 |
| In the Afan Bike Park skills area there are a number of tabletop jumps to test your air skills and practice your jumping abilities. |
 |
 |
 |
| The park has a number of berms to shred and why not get a bit moto on one or two on the way down the trail? |
 |
 |
| I love the bike park at Afan, so when Blake and Simon invited me up I couldn't resist, because the jumps and trails there are so flowy and fun. |
 |
| After a weekend of torrential rain the weather cleared up for us and the autumn colours were lovely with all the freshly fallen leaves on the ground. |
 |
| I really enjoy riding Afan Bike Park, the jumps are the best part, but it's also got fast singletrack to mix things up a bit. |
 |
 |
| Manon showing off her downhill racing background. |
 |
| 'I've only recently started trying these... Learning from the best, obviously,' says Manon. |
 |
| Local rider and Saracen team-mate, Manon Carpenter, was giving me a tour of most of the trails that Afan has to offer. |
 |
 |
 |
| The park boasts of their four big tables. And they're right, you can push and race through the set or bust some good shapes on them. |
 |
| Riding with Blake was awesome, he had loads of tips and advice to give and got me to have my first go at tables. More encouragement from Blake resulted in many more attempts with this particular trick... They were a lot more successful than I thought they might be, now just need more practise! |
 |
| Scrub whipping the last of the tables, which can be hit straight or used as a hip. I prefer it as a hip myself, makes it feel bigger and more fun. |
 |
| Can I whip yet? Pretty much spent the whole of October trying to learn! |
 |
 |
| The jumps at Afan are so much fun, could have sessioned them forever if winter wasn't calling and getting dark. |
 |
 |
 |
| End of a line... But there is so much more to ride... |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 'I love the Welsh country side,' says Blake 'It's so Celtic'. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Later that evening, when we had a moment to sit down and sip a cold beverage made in the local brewery, we talked a bit about the season which was slowly fading away into history...
Here's what Manon has to say about her racing, achievements and plans for future.
*Many thanks to Laurence Crossman-Emms for additional photos.
 |
A: My biggest high, I would say, was the Andorra World Cup. I absolutely love that track and I felt like I was riding really strong there. Even though I missed out on the win by just over a second, it was the most ragged I've got in a race run for a while and I was buzzing for a long time after! My low would be World Champs in South Africa. That's another track that I really enjoy and I was excited to see how I could do there, but as downhill goes a slightly misplaced wheel put me on the floor and out of contention before I even knew what was happening. Coming back with a vengeance for 2014...
 |
A: Yeah for sure. I had SO many seconds this year and after a while they don't feel so good... So winning is the goal for 2014. Got my eye on a few tracks in particular!
Q: Off-season means a little bit less strict routine in your daily life... What are your most favourite things to do in that time?
A: Mainly just riding more bikes! I put my downhill bike away and get the rest out; moto, skatepark, dirt jumps and xc. I love it all and when I'm not training, it is the most fun time to ride bikes as my body isn't as tired. This off season my main goal has been learning to whip. Haha, I'm getting there slowly! And then getting a fair few nights out in and learning how to be a girl again in a dress and heels.
 |
A: Until this year I'd never really thought of trying to look 'stylish' on a bike, just to go fast in a straight line. But since seeing girls like Casey Brown, Katy Curd and Tahnee Seagrave being awesome and looking good I've started playing around more on my bike as well and I love it. I am definitely going to be trying to perfect some tables this winter. But obviously going fast will always come first.
DAY 2
 |
 |
 |
| Welcome to Wales... When you wake up, put the kettle on to make yourself a cup of tea. Stand by the window and take in all that the Welsh country side has to offer. |
 |
| A 'Full English' fry up was definitely needed for the second day, because when waking up to rain, we needed something to keep us warm! |
 |
 |
 |
| Blake's Saracen Ariel 152. |
 |
| 'I've recently got my hands on the Saracen Kili Flyer 122 to ride and I love it so much,' says Manon. 'It's my favourite bike for playing around on at the moment!' |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The initial climb definitely gets you warmed up for the loop ahead with plenty of breathtaking views to keep you motivated. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Heading up the climb the next day I asked Blake if we had any spare tubes as the Black Run has a bad reputation for punctures. We did have tubes.... But they were in the van back at the Bike Centre. Fingers crossed then! |
 |
| One of many rewards to claim after making that hard and long climb up on top of the hill. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The black run will give you a run for your money... There are rocks everywhere. |
 |
 |
 |
| It got me... As you can see the rock garden at the bottom of the Black Run is brutal on tubes. Luck wasn't on my side and I really wasn't looking forward to the ride back down to the van and back up again. |
 |
| We felt sorry for Manon, but couldn't resist urge to explore more of that amazing area... |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Windy Point was my favourite trail. There is something magical about riding past a beautiful waterfall and shredding the trail ahead. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The Energy trail was super fun, as well. If you want to see more of it, you better go there yourself... You won't be disappointed. |
 |
 |
| Manon's back... Two properly inflated tires put a big smile on her face! |
 |
 |
| We finished the loop just as it was getting dark and the new final descent was so much fun, grinning all the way down. Definitely looking forward to going back next time. |
www.saracen.co.uk
www.animal.co.uk
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
[UPDATED] Final Elite XC Results & Overall Standings from the Mairiporã XC World Cup 2024
42296 views
42296 views
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
but very good, i like a good pun
I have to admit though, all those tubes make me angry! What's the point? They're not nice to look at, they don't inspire any excitement or fear about the trail (oh noes a puncture), they're worse than tear-offs and look a mess.
shredding hard enough that you need to run fairly high pressure to keep tires on your rim anyway? running soft tires and changing them out regularly because sponsored? I dunno, I'm certainly far from having either of those issues but that's what I've heard mentioned. Not convinced that the benefit of avoiding a flat or two a year is worth the hassle?
Pro or not always bring extra "rubber"
not often trails look to be a better ride in the wet than in the dry
10/10 for catalogue-style "appear to be awkward, body stiff, and look into the distance" sponsored-rider poseur photos
1/10 for creativity "I love the Welsh country side,' says Blake 'It's so Celtic'." poor. no mention of Dylan Thomas or Owain Glyndŵr
░░░░░░░░░░░█░░█░░░░░░░░
░░░░░░░░░░░█░░█░░░░░░░░
░░░░░░░░░░█░░░█░░░░░░░░
░░░░░░░░░█░░░░█░░░░░░░░
███████▄▄█░░░░░██████▄░░
▓▓▓▓▓▓█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█░
▓▓▓▓▓▓█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█░
▓▓▓▓▓▓█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█░
▓▓▓▓▓▓█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█░
▓▓▓▓▓▓█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█░
▓▓▓▓▓▓█████░░░░░░░░░█░░
██████▀░░░░▀▀██████▀░░░░