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Cwmcarn: Riders climbing on singletrack

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White's Level
The next trail on my list is a couple of miles down the valley at the separate Glyncorrwg Ponds mountain bike centre - which combines parking and camping with a great cafe and a friendly and helpful bike shop.

White's Level is the shortest of the routes in the area, at just 15km, but it packs even more fun into that distance than the longer loops we had already tried.

Although this is also graded red, the skill level has been taken up a notch here and its not the right place for beginners – though improving riders could find it a very satisfying challenge.

For a start, the initial climb is much more interesting - enjoyable even - because it is on natural rocky singletrack rather than a dull, wide access road.

The uphill gradient slackens as the altitude increases and by the time I reach the Two Tombstones section I'm almost sprinting uphill, enjoying the undulations in the track and trying to gain momentum by riding smoothly.

Unfortunately there are forestry operations being carried out during my visit and the highest Windy Point (named for the nearby wind farm) section was closed.

A quick detour on an access track brought me to the next singletrack section however, which soon cheered me up again.

The main feature of Goodwood is a twisting timber walkway (known as "north shore" by bikers after the north shore at Vancouver where the idea was originated.

With the weather dry, I'm able to give it my all - and ride as fast as I can over the woodwork until the combination of high winds and a small ramp combine to throw me sideways off the trail and into a big hummock of grass.

Fast and fun: One of the flatter sections on the Cwmcarn climb

Once I've stopped giggling I get back on and enjoy riding the rest of the section, which flows straight into the long final descent, ominously named Darkside – and which is wicked enough to distract any young Jedi from the straight and narrow.

The path snakes down between the trees, with small rocks placed every so often to create a little drop-off. The rhythm of the trail is perfectly judged and the combination of swooping downhill and mini jumps makes an average rider like me start to feel like the kind of radical downhill nutter that you see on extreme sports videos. Almost.

It seems no time at all that I emerge back at the Glyncorrwg centre, having not seen another rider all the way round and having had the best ride of my weekend so far.

A new section called Energy has opened on White's Level since our visit - which could provide the perfect excuse to go back.

And if that doesn't swing it, there's also the lure of the 46km epic Skyline trail - which we didn't have time to attempt.

Cwmcarn
Even though we bid goodbye to our B&B the next morning, we're not finished with our mountain biking for the weekend - and we only drive an hour or so east before we stop at the small village of Cwmcarn, in another former industrial area close to the English border.

This is another red-graded purpose-built trail – which runs for 15km and effectively climbs one side of a great big hill before descending the other.

Going back: We'll be returning to Wales after our terrific rides

As at White's Level, the climb here is on singletrack, but unlike White's it's also fiendlishly technical in places – making it both challenging and frustrating in turn, and perhaps not for beginners.

It seems like the climb will go on forever, with the narrow track turning into a wider access road, but then a sign on the left points onto an exposed section of land that has been felled and we start descending at last.

The trail twists and darts between tree stumps before coming to a T-junction, where riders can continue on the red route or turn onto the black-graded "freeride" area – which consists of dirt jumps, wooden ramps and a timber wall for brave souls to ride sideways on.

Leaving the freeride section for the airborne 15-year-olds, we got started on the descent proper, which started off almost almost horizontally as it wove its way through a forest section and just got faster and faster.

Any slight feelings of inadequacy from wussing out of the freeride antics soon evaporated as I got faster and faster - smiling to myself as I caught and passed a group of riders on downhill-style full suspension bikes.

The payoff for the long climb was more than adequate, as the descent just seemed to keep coming and coming.

I had been warned there was a section with a massive drop to one side and that it needed a head for heights - but I was so focused on the trail in front of me, riding at my personal limit, that I completely failed to notice it.

Just when it seemed like the downhill fun was never going to end, I emerged back at the car park - just in time to shovel down a panini before the long drive back to the big smoke.

These Welsh trail centres might only be a few hours from southern England - but they are a world away in terms of the quality of riding they offer. We're already planning our next trip.

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