TRAILCREW HAFOD TRAILS

We discover the delights of Wales's newest bike park, located deep in beautiful Carmarthenshire

- Rachel Bennet

The lush forested valleys and friendly villages of Carmarthenshire have long been on the MTB map, thanks to the well-established trail centre at Brechfa Forest and the hidden gem that is the Cwm Rhaeadr descent. We headed over to this unspoiled corner of the UK to check out Wales's newest bike park - Hafod Trails.

A family business

Hafod is the product of Alex and his sister Charlie, along with Charlie's husband Tom - a dynamic trio driving the vision for this bike park. You'll often find Tom and Alex crafting trails, when the latter isn't busy conjuring up ingenious ideas for their uplift trailer. Meanwhile, Charlie ensures seamless operations behind the scenes, juggling the myriad tasks that come with birthing and nurturing a venue like this. And, as Charlie confides, there's no shortage of "stuff" to contend with.

While currently only open at weekends and on bank holidays, the Hafod team have kindly unbolted the gates today so we can check out the park, and have invited 15 or so riders to share this little slice of bike heaven with us. The compact layout of the trails means we don't need to worry about keeping everyone together to get the shots we need. This is fortunate, because the riders quickly disperse once the uplift is up and running. Keeping to the family theme, Alex and Charlie's dad Mike is our helpful uplift driver. After cruising along a fun connecting trail from the car park, we roll down to the pick-up point, where we're treated to the first of Alex's crazy inventions.

Grand designs

The uplift system is like nothing we've encountered before. Bikes are rolled effortlessly onto a flat trailer, where the rear wheel is secured in a bracket and the tyres are clamped in place using a simple bar and lever. This design offers numerous advantages even small kids' bikes can be transported safely.