MOUNTAIN VIEW BIKE PARK
TRAVEL GUIDE
Welcome to mountain VIEW
In the shadows of other bike parks in Wales lies a few little gems. One of those happens to be within striking distance of Bike Park Wales and offers a fun and friendly place for riders of all abilities. Get a good day here and you’ll not be short of a good session with mates.
We headed to MV Bike Park to check out the newly opened Evil Twin line and the other trails that fill the small and modest riding spot. There’s no uplifts here but with a bike shop, an excellent cafe, ample parking, pump track, dirt jumps and a mix of trails from blues to full send jump lines you’re in for a treat.
We sessioned until our energy began to dip and the pub called. A day well spent away from the steeps of the valleys.
Jump to:
Essential info
-
Ideally you’ll bring three bikes to MV Bike Park. Firstly a hardtail for the pump track and dirt jumps, a short travel or hardtail trailbike for the greens, blues and red XC style tracks and then a longer travel trail/enduro or even downhill bike for the big sends! Whatever bike you have though there’s something to ride here so what’s stopping you? Grab the bike(s), chuck them in the car and head along to South Wales’ small but mighty bike park.
-
Overall the facilities on site are excellent. The cafe will keep you well fueled and we were impressed by their coffee. We even struck luck and with temperatures on our side an icecream was devoured.
With sunset cycles located on site they stoke all you would need during the day and have a large stock of bikes should you be needing a refresh.
The bike park offers trail coaching as well for all ages and have a stacked schedule throughout the year.
-
There’s no accommodation on site but there’s certainly plenty around the area and given the number of riding spots then you’d be daft not to make a weekend of it if you’re coming from out with the area
-
Located 30 minutes from the centre of Cardiff and just off the M4 it’s easy to access the bike park.
If approaching along the M4 you can find MV Bike Park 10 minutes off of the Junction 32 and only 7 mins South of Cearphilly.
Address: Heol Pen-Y-Bryn, Caerphilly Mountain, Rhondda Cynon Taf, CF83 1NG
-
The Trails
When you first roll up to MV Bike Park you’re treated to a large tarmaced pumptrack and line of dirt jumps. Kids rail the berms and find joy in the rollers as proud parents watch on. A blue and red loop gives progression for riders with the options to tackle a number of red and black jump lines further down the hill which have been strategically placed in the lee of the hill.
PUMP TRACK AND JUMPS
PUMP TRACK AND FLIGHT DECK
Like any good trail centre a pump track is essential to give a safe place to progress and play. The pump track was filled with families and adults figuring out how to time the flow over ajoining rollers. A feeling you can’t beat!
Adjacent to the pump track a run of jumps makes for a good warm up for the other trails or again for a place to practice within close proximity to the cafe (an important factor in any bike riding day).
For those with jump bikes Flight Deck continually gets worked on providing a set of trails for the aspiring Emil Johannes.
Green Trails
PIECE OF CAKE
Nothing beats having a guide and we kindly had Xavier join us for the day to show us around. As any good guide we started slow and kicked off our day on Piece of Cake, a green trail loop that has a few nice features and a lovely beginner trail. What MV Bike Park does well is provide a place for riders to improve and increase their technical ability in a controlled way.
Blue and RED Trails
8 Ball, Twister and Switchblade
These blues step things up nicely from Piece of Cake and are easily looped to ensure you can try sections again. We bashed out a quick loop here before getting draw into the jump lines.
Carry on Camping
A longer red which winds down the valley splitting off from the blue trails. Perfect for a short travel cross country bike or hardtail and anyone looking to fire in the loops. Some of this has been used in local cross country races over the years.
Jamming
This is where things get exciting and the flow of MV Bike Park begins. Probably one of the best trails to ride we found some unique gaps and cruised this to build up our confidence to ride the bigger line created during Lockdown
Red and BLACK jump Trails
Straight out of lockdown
A black trail by all accounts but what we’d classify as an orange jump line. Straight out of lockdown starts mellow and builds up towards the bottom. The final few jumps are intimidating at first but the speed carries you well and there’s always room for a couple of b*tch cranks to boost you over the final jump. The styles and skills of riders begin to show as the jumps get bigger but there’s more to come further down the hill.
Seventh Heave Trail Video Coming Soon……
Seventh Heaven and Evil Twin
By all accounts these are a work of art and are largely down to the hard work of Huw. Others of course involved but Huw was super welcoming on the day and is a bit of a local legend in the Valleys of South Wales.. There’s a high chance that if you come and ride these Huw will be shaping, sweeping and taking care of these two lines. Evil Twin is the newest addition, smaller and more technical but in ways slightly easier. Both take some serious commitment and while speed is your friend on Seventh Heaven a more delicate approach is needed for Evil Twin. Once you get through this line which runs well from the start it’s difficult not to want to lap and repeat.
SUPPORT CONTOUR COLLECTIVE
Is it worth the trip?
Whether you’re into riding pump tracks, XC or hitting jumps there’s a great mix of trails in this 80 acre playground. There’s a friendly and welcoming vibe and for a small cost you can come and ride the trails. We loved sessioning the different jump lines and filled up a full day while breaking things up with a lunch at the cafe and a noisy in the bike shop. If you’re a beginner we couldn’t think of a better place to come. You’ll soon progress through the trails and before you know it hitting the 30 foot table tops found on Seventh Heaven.
What the locals say
Mv bike park offers total progression for jumping to have such a cool place on my doorstep is unreal
— Huw, local rider