A Winter Afan Valley and the Richard Burton Trail Cycle Ride

[@richardterry9788]

I love this one best so far x

[@MadisonTen]

Thanks! 🚴‍♀️☺️

[@richardbarrass2024]

I am a bikepacker on Vancouver Island in Canada. My Dad was born and raised in Port Talbot. You've inspired me to visit and ride my bike. Thank you!

[@MadisonTen]

So good to hear from Vancouver Island! Hope you make it to Wales!

[@whichypoohs]

Yayyyy great to see you back 😊😊😊

[@MadisonTen]

Thanks! 😄

[@clivekush]

4:14 my favourite saying 😂 another great video 👍

[@MadisonTen]

‘alf! 😄. Thanks. 🚴🏻‍♀️

[@davidharris4062]

Will be good when the tunnel connecting the Afan and Rhondda Valleys open

[@MadisonTen]

Yes, I really hope they get the funding and go ahead. I think they’re a few years off yet but it would be such a nice trail and so long. 🚴🏻‍♀️

[@davidharris4062]

@@MadisonTen I think they are still waiting for Highways England to transfer it to he Welsh Government. I can ride from my house to Aberafan or Swansea, did Aberafan once from going up the Rhigos and taking a wrong turn on the forestry road towards Neath, tiering ride back up the Afan Valley and over the Bwlch

[@MadisonTen]

@@davidharris4062 Yes I think that was the last thing I saw. I check the news page on the Rhonda Tunnel Society website now and then but progress is obviously quite slow, lots of red tape. My feeling is possibly another five years but you never know, it might just suddenly happen quickly once the legal stuff is done. Well done, that sounds like an epic ride! Aberavon is a nice place to end up on a summers day.

[@fatbiker5159]

Another fine video. Great winter scenery. I just hoping for another installment the other day. Perfectly timed. 👍

[@MadisonTen]

I’m so pleased. Glad you liked it and timed just right ☺️

[@nmbc-video-rides-show]

Love it great stuff.

[@MadisonTen]

Thanks, Brendan. 🚴🏻‍♀️☺️

[@Gladysthenarrowboat]

That looked a very early start! So much to see on this ride - and some great photography. I love aqueducts, viaducts, bridges etc., so really enjoyed this one 👍. Your piano music and playing were once again very good. You are a MUCH better bike handler than me! Also impressed by the cooking - very efficient... by comparison, I would probably have stopped off at the nearest Greggs... 😊.

[@MadisonTen]

Thanks! I only tend to cook on the more remote rides. Food always tastes nice out in the wild. Looking forward to when you get your Brompton out 🚴🏻‍♀️

[@Gladysthenarrowboat]

@@MadisonTen Well... actually, I have been out on it today for a very short spin, to check all is ok. (Had to finish my Holzhausen first!). - Just a chance (no promises mind you!), that I'll go out on Monday with it to do next week's video 🤞

[@MadisonTen]

Yay! Well the time does have to be right. No point in going if it doesn’t make you happy.

[@Gladysthenarrowboat]

Quite right! But we'll see - depends on the weather forecast (and where I decide to go too). I've never enjoyed riding in cold weather - even way back, when I was a 'serious' club cyclist!

[@Gladysthenarrowboat]

Sorry to say I was totally hoodwinked by the BBC's forecast... as you'll see on this Saturday's video of my visit to Brecon. But you'll see the Brompton again soon, have no fear!

[@richardterry9788]

I must try this one day x

[@MadisonTen]

Definitely worth it. I can imagine it being a different ride in the summer

[@richardterry9788]

@@MadisonTen I should be fit enough by then, definitely on bucket list. My father - in - law though he passed and wife left me 4 years ago. From Tony Pandie and loved the Rhonda his home. x

[@MadisonTen]

@@richardterry9788So sorry to hear that. I hope you get up there then. It’s not too taxing compared to other Welsh trails. Let us know how you get on if you managed to get there.

[@whichypoohs]

Just sat with my Chinese take away love your content and it’s nice to get peaks of you lol

[@MadisonTen]

Aw, you could have shared! 🍕🍟🥗☺️

[@whichypoohs]

Still amazed how you get up at ungodly hours and find your way 😊

[@MadisonTen]

If you’d asked me in my 20s if I’d get up at 5am to go cycling I would have said “noooo way!” 🤭 in all seriousness it’s partly to help with getting on the train with my bike as it’s so quiet and also because it’s winter it gives me longer riding time in day light. There is method in the madness.

[@whichypoohs]

@@MadisonTenrock on as I love your content. Thanks Maddison 10 😊

[@joedannunzio9416]

I assume you must be feeling better now, which is good news. Still looks too cold and damp for me. C U in the spring. ❤

[@MadisonTen]

Thanks, getting there. Yes, it was very cold at the start and towards the end on the way back. I’d wait for spring 😀

[@r.davies2702]

Can't believe the gravel trail at Rhyslyn is still closed 😞. Still, its a nice ride out 👍

[@MadisonTen]

Oh my god, how long has it been closed for?

[@r.davies2702]

​@@MadisonTen Must be close to a year now. It makes a nice circular route, save riding down the same way.

[@MadisonTen]

😱

[@jeremyrogers5103]

Love your videos - thank you! (although we never see your face!)

[@MadisonTen]

Thanks, Jeremy! Yeah, you don’t want to see that 😄

[@chriswalch-biketouringamat3566]

Would love see a map of your rides at the beginning of our videos.

[@MadisonTen]

Thanks, I’ll give it some thought. If you want to see the routes for now you can look them up on Strava or Ride With GPS. There is a link in the channel description. Cheers!

[@julianhawker7672]

Nice ride 👍 , you seem to be getting more "off-roadie". I love the trails and use them as much as I can and only go on the road if I have no other choice. You might have unwittingly (or not) filmed a bit of social history with the steelworks, as I hear that 2500 jobs are to go there! 👎 How do you plan routes in areas you don't know? I use Komoot but it seems a bit hit and miss..............

[@MadisonTen]

I try to remain traffic free routes as much as possible as well but some places just don’t have it all connected up. Yes, it’s terrible that the steelworks and it’s workers are going through a tough time with all the change coming. Especially when Port Talbot relies on the industry so much. I tend to use Google Maps with cycling switched on in Map Details settings. This gives green lines where there are cycle trails and dashed lines on cycle routes that’s aren’t necessarily traffic free. That combined with information from the Sustrans website and sometimes also using old maps from the 1800s and early 1900s to discover places that might be less obvious on a modern map.

[@julianhawker7672]

@@MadisonTen Thanks, never thought of Google maps, will give it a look.👍 Very sad about PT and a outrage IMHO that the government are giving Tata so much money! I fear for the town and the folks there, as they rely on the steelworks.

[@whichypoohs]

Can you park at the Bike Park

[@MadisonTen]

Yes, just before you get to the signs with the trail maps there is a sizeable carpark. There were people off loading bikes. maps.app.goo.gl/FUCmZaUhSwGLoVeW9?g_st=ic Be aware some of the bike park is currently closed, some kind of maintenance or possibly forestry work. I didn’t read the signs.