A long time favourite for many mountain bikers, The Whites Level trail is an all-round grin-tastic joy ride! Classic Welsh trail centre goodness.

The great thing about this route is that it can be ridden by any mountain biker with basic skills and experience but it will encourage you to push your riding to the limit. There is an initial climb which is a bit of a grind but as you’re sweating it out up the final few sections of singletrack you get the distinct feeling that you’re in for a real treat. You pop out of the forest at the top and are immediately rewarded with fantastic views across the Afan valley. Then the action starts. There is an optional black graded section which starts just to the left of where you exit the forest. This is fast and rocky with some swooping berms and punchy little jumps. A steep forest road climb takes you back to the top where you can repeat the black section or indulge in the first of many singletrack descents that the Whites Level is famous for.

There are a couple of noteworthy features along the route such as the Energy section and the Goodwood boardwalks. The Energy section consists of a series of berms and table tops but needs to be ridden at a serious speed to make the most of the features. The boardwalks are raised wooden platforms about 30cm off the ground with small steps and banked corners. This feature may test the nerve of the inexperienced mountain biker but with a reasonable level of balance is easily achievable.

The icing on the cake is the final descent, called “Darkside”. This is fast, rocky and exposed. It is recommended to ride this section with caution the first time around because if you launch off the rock steps at the wrong trajectory you are likely to partake in some impromptu tree hugging.

If you weren’t hooked on mountain biking before then you will be by the time you reach the end of this roller coaster ride.