It was a chance meeting that brought together like-minded 20-year-olds Martin Astley and Rowan Sorrell. Keen mountain bikers, the pair became friends when they both signed on to a trail-building project at Cwmcarn Forest Drive in 2004.
They didn’t know it at the time but in the decades that followed they would be heading a multi-million-pound business together, which is the only of its kind in the UK. “It was a chance meeting,” Martin said. “We were both on this project together and found that we agreed on a lot and are both ambitious people. When we decided to join forces [in our mid-20s] we both independently had the same idea.
“I remember driving along the M4 one day after riding and thinking: ‘What I want to ride is a ride that doesn’t exist. I need to make this happen’. Rowan had a really good skillset to help and when I mentioned it to him he said: ‘I’ve been thinking exactly the same thing’ and told me he had just started writing up a business plan. We decided to team up and make it happen.”
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And that’s exactly what the pair did as together they founded Bike Park Wales in 2009. “The concept is simple,” the website reads. “Picture a ski resort, remove the snow and replace the pistes with an array of sweeping flowy bike trails meandering to the bottom of the mountain and you are close. Add a bunch of adrenaline and a big sprinkle of fun and you are pretty much there.”
With almost 2,000 five-star reviews on Google left by people from all over the globe it’s clear that the venture has been a hit. It’s hardly surprising now that it turns over millions each year – but it didn’t start off that way.
“In the grand scheme of things it started off with hardly anything,” Martin, who is originally from Forest of Dean, said. “I was a normal 26-year-old and I don’t come from a family of money. I saved a typical amount of money that was supposed to go on a house deposit and I put it all into the business. We both saved all our lives to that point and put it all in but we’re not talking large amounts of money – although it was a huge amount of money to us at the time.”
From that point onwards Martin said the pair were fortunate because everyone they approached to invest in the business said yes. He said he couldn’t tell if they just got lucky or if they genuinely had a really good idea. What likely shone through, though, was their passion and determination to bring their dream to life.
Martin said: “We felt like there was a gaping hole in the market for someone to develop a site for mountain biking in this style. It’s a whole mountain and is basically like a mini ski resort for biking. It hadn’t been done like this anywhere else in the world at that time
“Normally you have a ski resort which in the summer converts its operation into mountain biking for six months. We decided in Wales, because of the weather, there was an opportunity to do it all year around. We were really young but decided to take the leap to make it happen.”
Once the business plan was down Martin said the pair approached the Forestry Commission about the land in Gethin, Merthyr Tydfil, which it owned. They were elated when the commission saw potential in the concept but it wasn’t all plain sailing from there.
Martin said: “It was good news for us because it meant it really could happen. Then things got really complicated. It became clear that European grant money was available to make it happen but they had to do a public tender. We had to go through a two-year process of tendering for what we felt was our idea. It was a really painful process that took a long time and cost a lot of money. It was pretty scary because we thought someone could easily win and run with it.”
Fortunately they did win it and found out the news on Christmas Eve 2012 which made for an “amazing Christmas”. Throughout 2013 they found themselves in a race against time to complete the park before the funding deadline expired.
Martin stressed that the pair couldn’t have done it without their wives Anna and Liz whom they welcomed onto the project before it officially launched that year. He said: “At some point during that five-year process between 2009 and 2013 Rowan and I realised we needed some help. Luckily my wife Anna is a chartered accountant and Rowan’s wife Liz was a quantity surveyor. We very quickly realised we needed those guys and brought them on board.”
On the grand opening day in 2013 Martin said none of the four anticipated quite how busy it was going to be. Although they were thrilled and relieved that their idea was in demand he said it was almost overwhelming for the eight employees at the time.
He said: “I really hyped up the marketing to get interest but we didn’t really know how popular it was going to be until the day we opened the doors. It was insane. We had three minibuses at that point and we pre-sold them all. But people could also pedal up on their own steam without pre-booking so we didn’t know how many would turn up.
“We were standing at the front checking cars in as they came in and at 7.30am there was a queue from the park all the way down to the A470. It was amazing but we all thought: ‘Aaargh’. The police turned up to help with the traffic and we had to call our parents and friends to help us, who really rallied around. We had about 1,000 people on site that day which is still one of our busiest days to date.”
The park now has a total of 85 employees including the two couples who head the company full-time. But Martin – who was previously a marketing manager – said it took a long time for them to have this luxury.
“At the beginning we were running this £2m project while each working 40 hours a week in our other jobs,” he said. “For the first five years of the park opening I had another job and now I get paid to work here and it’s my only job. The company is turning over millions now which I never could have imagined when we first started.”
Martin said the park now has the UK’s biggest and broadest range of mountain bike trails spread over the 750-acre site. It includes 46 descending trails as well as vehicle uplift minibuses. There is also a café, a visitor centre, and a bike shop. You don't even need your own mountain bike thanks to the on-site bike rental centre.
While there are plenty of free places to ride your bike in Wales, with many sites owned by Natural Resources Wales, Martin said there’s a reason why people pay for the Bike Park Wales experience. “We have a crew of 11 people who work full-time to maintain our trails,” he said. “It means the condition of our trails is significantly better. We’ve also got a much much broader network of trails here. Often they are one loop whereas we’ve got a hill that’s been intensively developed with trails everywhere. We have jump trails, we have flow trails, and we have technical trails.”
That's probably why Bike Park Wales has attracted the rich and famous who want to experience the world-class facility. That includes American off-road truck racer, and boyfriend of popstar P!nk, Carey Hart. Formula One racing driver Lance Stroll also visited the park via helicopter while Sex Education's Gillian Anderson was spotted hanging out with her dog while her sons rode the trails, Martin said.
But there's no getting past the fact the park is located in local authority where there is a history of economic deprivation in parts. With this in mind Martin said the team make an effort to employ people from the area. He said they also work alongside some local charities and have recently helped to raise nearly £9,000 with mental health charity Big Moose with the money set to be spent exclusively in Merthyr Tydfil.
It may seem like Martin and his peers have fulfilled their dream and are due to lie back and put their feet up but instead he Martin said they are busy working on ways they can improve the park over the next 10 years. “It’s a site that we don't think will ever be finished and we don’t have a goal or end point in mind where we think it will be done,” he said. “The really exciting next step this year is that we will be building accommodation here. We were granted planning about a month ago to build wooden lodges. We’ll also be expanding the trail network and then who knows? Bikes are evolving all the time – who knows what the next innovation will be that we will have to react to?”
When we visited the park on a normal drizzly Monday morning it was a surprise to see how many people were already there and eager to ride. Even after the coronavirus pandemic looking at it now it’s hard to believe that the company has ever faced significant financial challenges. But Martin said there were points during the pandemic when he feared the business wouldn’t survive at all – and they’re still recovering from its impact.
He said: “Covid was horrendous for us because we are classed as a tourist attraction rather than a sports facility. When gyms and football pitches were open we were closed. We were in the same category as cinemas which was crazy. While we were sitting here thinking: 'We should be open' – we weren't allowed to. We were closed for a total of 10 months which was absolutely devastating for us and we are still feeling the scars now.
“It was a really hard time because we still had to maintain the site and we still had to have 24-hour security on site. We survived but there were a few times when we really weren't sure that we would.”
Luckily Martin said 2022 brought with it a lot of excited mountain bikers who had eagerly awaited its re-opening throughout the pandemic. He said this was enough to save the business and he now feels positive again about the future.
Something he hopes will benefit Bike Park Wales further is the potential for a £300m ski resort to be built nearby in Merthyr. Plans for the “world-class leisure resort” called Rhydycar West were submitted to the council in March.
Martin said: “It would be easy to look at it from our perspective as a threat but I don't think it will be at all. It will bring in lots of people who are into adventure more generally who are interested in trying mountain biking. Over the last few years we have developed a unique beginner trial.
“We have been in touch with the [developers for Rhydycar West] over the years and I hope it happens – I think it will be amazing. We’ve helped to put Merthyr on the map as an adventure and tourism destination but if we had that as well it would be a real joy.
“A lot of credit has to go to the local authority. Literally from the moment we approached them they were immediately supportive even though none of them rode bikes. We’re lucky to have them and if they take the same approach with the concept of Rhydycar West then it could happen. It would also bring hundreds more jobs into Merthyr.”
But for now – in between all the chaos that comes along with running what is possibly the UK’s best-loved mountain bike range – Martin, Rowan, Anna, and Liz are enjoying their journey that all started with a simple dream. Martin said: “Something we always say is that we probably don’t stop and look back enough at what we’ve created. You are so in the weeds trying to run the place that you probably don’t step back as much as you should. But occasionally I might find myself in the summer eating an ice cream and taking a look at all the people who have travelled from all over the country to ride here and it feels amazing.”
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