The Dyfi Bike Park has opened its brand new mountain bike track, the Lovey Dyfi. The track is a new take for the park, as it attempts to become more accessible to riders who are new to mountain biking, writes Alex Bowen.

The Lovey Dyfi is the park’s 10th track, and similar to the others, offers views peering over the Esgair Forest, and the entire Dyfi Valley.

Both of the Atherton brothers were there for the track’s opening.

Gee Atherton, despite his injuries said: “I can’t wait to grab the bike and go for some nice chilled laps. I’m super stoked for its opening, it’s amazing to see it ready to go. It’s been incredible to watch this park transform over the years from a small place with a couple of tracks to the beast it is today.”

Gill Harris, the park’s head of communications, said: “We’re really excited to see it open, it’s just under four and a half kilometres, making it the longest track we’ve built here - the others are about a kilometre shorter.

“I have to say, the dig crew really are amazing, they know every inch of this terrain, and know how to work with it. Dan is an absolute visionary.

“The track took a year to build, and involved hard work on all sides. Dan Atherton worked for months digging the track into the mountain. But he had a team behind him ready to get stuck into their job.”

Dan Atherton, the ‘visionary’ behind the track said: “It took ages! The bottom of the valley was really wet and we were building through clear fell forest, so we had to flip stumps over for the 13 tonner to build off - creating the clean trail behind us.

“As ever the dig crew were awesome, they know the terrain here so well. I was really keen that this track should feel different to Super Swooper which is fairly narrow in places and can feel like you’re building up a lot of speed through the tight trees. If Super Swooper is ‘red tech’ then this new track is more ‘red flow’.

“I think the top section of this track might be my favourite section of the park yet – it flows so well, we just built it how we wanted it to ride and all the features linked up really naturally. There’s a section about halfway down ‘Cedar Rapids’ we call it where the track cuts through these massive 80,90 year old cedars–it doesn’t feel like you’re in the UK.

“This is the more mellow red track that riders have been asking us for, it’s a bit more chilled so people won’t have to think too much. Hopefully they can just let off the brakes and have some fun.”

Archie and Snoop were two members of Dan’s build team,. They said “it usually takes about six months to a year to get a track like this built. There’s a lot you need to do to it, both by digger and by hand afterwards. It’s countless hours with a jackhammer taking out rocks, trees, roots, anything that might make the track bumpy.

“We’ve also dug under the track and put in hundreds of metres of drain pipes so that the track doesn’t flood. The thing with the piping though, is you need to wait until it rains so you know where the areas at risk of flooding are, and then you put the pipes in based on what you learn – so we only did it a few weeks ago.

“After the track is built we need to ride it to get a feel for how it is, I think we spent about eight weeks riding it, and then rebuilt parts of it after that.

“A track like this is never really finished, you’re always going to be adding new jumps and lines to the track, as well as secondary tracks which make it more accessible in steeper and more technical parts.”

The two have been building tracks since they were 14.

Snoop said: “Back in France we’d go out into the woods and just build whatever we could and try to ride it. To be able to do it and get paid for it, it’s a dream come true.”

One of the track’s first riders, Sari Marner, said: “The track is really good, it’s a lot less technical than the other tracks like the super swooper. There is more pedalling though, but you can do that easily on this track so it’s not a bad thing. It’s a wide track, and it’s good to practise your berms on. Someone new to downhill riding could do it.”

Adam Kendrick, and Will Davies heard about the new track the day before its opening, and made sure to get themselves over and experience the track while it was still ‘brand new’.

They said: “We’re so excited to give it a go, it makes the park so much more value for money, not that it isn’t already. We’re delighted to be here today for its opening.

“It’s a mellow red, the other tracks can be pretty hairy. So it’s good to have the option to do this, it’ll definitely be our warm up track we can just take it easy and enjoy a bit more.”

Clare Rogers and Susan Mcdonald are members of the girls biking group ‘Chicks and Tracks’.

They won a competition within the group offering the chance to come to the park.

They said: “We are anxious but we’re excited at the same time. We’ve done downhill biking before, in places like Morzine, but never anything as extreme as the Dyfi Park.”

Will Greenfield, a mountain biking Youtuber – who’s channel goes by the same name – was invited to the park as part of the new track’s promotion.

He said: “It’s my first time here, I’ve come from the south east, so it’s definitely going to be a full day. It’s great to be here, it is well worth the trip. I’m so glad the weather’s as good as it is too, it’d be a shame to have travelled all the way over here, but today, nothing has let me down.”

Mr Greenfield wasn’t the only Youtuber there, another, Charlotte Leafy Thompson, said: “I’m so excited for it. The Dyfi Bike Park is known for its tracks, it’s really exciting to be here today for the new track.”

Jim Buchanon and his son Todd came to the park from Shrewsbury, and come to the park often.

Todd has been riding since he was 10, after his dad got him into it.

Jim used to race competitively, both in national competitions and competitions in Europe.

They said: “The track’s amazing, it’s fast, flowy, and you can get some good and long jumps out of it.

“But it’s a very accessible track, definitely the most accessible here. We had a proper adventure riding it.”

Miles and Mikala moved to the area around the park from Scotland, and said the park was a part of their reason behind the move.

They said: “We try to come at least once a week. It’s such a good day for it too, we were worried that we might struggle to get a lift up, or that the track may have even been snowed over, but it’s perfect.”