Round Three in the British Gravel Series brings us to Wales and after two races on rolling or flat courses, we are in the hills for this lumpy race in the beautiful Welsh Valleys.
You will race 4 laps of a 14km course with a total of 1,400m of climbing including 2 long climbs of around 3km to really spread out the field. There are three separate races throughout the day:
Women’s race – 9.00am start
Open 50 plus – 12pm start
Open 19 to 49 – 3pm start
Set in the Welsh Valleys, the course takes in a mix of wide forest trails & some slightly rougher surfaces. The trails drain well here so should be in good condition for a season ending race.
Camping is available on Friday & Saturday night on site. Stay on the Sunday for the Afan Forest Gravel Epic on different trails in this stunning corner of South Wales.
There are three races on the day, a womens race at 9am, open over 50 starting at 12pm and open aged 19 to 49 race at 3pm. The race village opens at 8am and closes after podiums at 5.45pm
There will be a mechanic stand at the start and then on each lap you will pass a feed & mechanic stop. Leave a bottle or have a helper in the official feed zone.
20th May: Rider lists published and final route details sent out.
23rd May – 08.00: Race village opens. Registration is open 1hr before each race, the course opens for 45 mins before each race to ride a recon lap.
23rd May – 8.45: Pens open for Women’s race, start at 9am
23rd May – 11.45pm: Pens open for Open race aged 50+, start at 12pm.
23rd May – 2.45pm: Pens open for Open aged 19 to 49, start at 3pm.
23rd May – 5.45pm: Final podiums and race village close.
Please note this route is subject to some small changes. We will send out the final route to all participants one week before the race.
Please note, this race is on private property so we cannot share the exact GPX / route files until two weeks before the race.
Set in Walters Arena, the course is the toughest of the season with a lot of climbing on each lap. After a relatively flat 2km on smooth, wide fire roads we hit the first of two climbs which will be decisive, particularly on the last couple of laps. Climb one is 2km averaging about 5% before a fast 6km descent.
The final 4km of the lap is uphill with some steep gradients. If you are in a group at this stage on the last lap, it should be a tasty finish!
Our race is based at Walters Arena close to Afan Forest.
If you are staying over for the weekend, there is camping on site on Friday & Saturday night and a great sportive in Afan Forest on the Sunday.
Alternatively, there is some great mountain biking nearby or try the massive zipline nearby.
Got any questions on this race, our race series or want to partner with us? Send us a message on the form and we will get back to you within 1 business day.
We will send out information closer to the race based on trail conditions. The terrain here is a mix of smooth fire roads and some slightly rougher forest trails so you will want some wider tyres.
This is a very punchy course with 1,400m of climbing crammed into 56km. It’s mostly smooth gravel so an all-rounder would work.
You can leave a bottle or bag at the official feed zone which you go past at each lap. Late May in South Wales should be nice, you can leave a layer / jacket at the start line so you don’t get cold in the pens.
We have a mechanics station by the feed zone but bring spares to be self sufficient for other parts of the route.
Riders may use any type of bike (road bike, mountain bike, city bike, hybrid bike, cross bike, etc.) with the exception of tandems, E-bikes, recumbents and time trial bikes
All riders will finish on the same lap as the leader of their gender in their race, any lapped riders finish position will be based on the number of laps completed and then on order over the finish line. For example, in a four lap race, if you are lapped by the leaders whilst you are still on lap three your race will finish when you cross the finish line at the end of your third lap. You will still appear in the race results with your finish position calculated based on number of laps completed and order across the finish line at the end of your last lap.
All riders should bring their own tools and spare tire or tubular to the race. Tools are available in the feed zones to give riders the opportunity to fix other problems. Riders can change wheels during the event, but have to use the same bike frame throughout the event.
There is a feed zone & tech zone at the finish of each lap. Riders can leave a bottle in the feed zone or have a supporter handing out bottles / gels etc within the official feed zone.
You will race against people in age categories for both the Women’s and Open races:
19 – 39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70+
Each category will be identified by specific coloured race & body numbers. Where applicable, we will start riders within their category. There will be podiums for each age category.
All our races are aimed at everyone from elite racers to riders wanted something tough to train for.
Out of all our races, this one has the most elevation so is suited for climbers / people that love long uphills.
Registration is open one hour before each race (8am to 9am, 11am to 12pm, 2pm to 3pm). You can collect your race number at any of these times.
You will also have some time to ride the course before pens open for the race.
The race starts at Walters Arena. We will send full details for getting to the ride village 2 weeks before the race.
There will be a spectator area within the race village where you can see riders go past each lap.