Llandegla - extension

What can I say - the new stuff at Llandegla is awesome!   Whilst previously the route seemed to fizzle out - suddenly you were back at the car park without the "final descent" which typifies most trail centres.   Now there's loads of extra - in fact make sure you save enough energy - there's a killer climb nesar the end!   More rollers/berms/jumps than anything tight and technical.   The map on the wesbite seems out of date so I'm not going to link to it.

Coed y Brenin

Some changes afoot at Coed y Brenin. Already open is a new section called Adam and Eve which is smooth and jumpy and fits between Cain and Slated. I've just learnt to jump so I'm more enthusiatic about these sections now. It looks like Dreamtime has been given the same treatment but it isn't open yet.

There's also a new Blue trail called Minotaur. It's very wide and smooth (designed for all-ability bikes) but has one section of incredible berms and also handily marks all tiny drop offs with a danger sign so you now exactly when to jump!

Snowdon

Biking down Snowdon feels like a rite of passage for a mountian biker. This was certainly the impression we got from chatting to other people doing it the same day as us - a huge variety from full on downhillers to cross country riders who decided that diluted Bells was the ideal isotonic drink (much to Rich's surprise when he was offered some...)

The way everyone seems to say to do it (and that we would certinaly recommend) is up the Llanberis path, down the Ranger Path and Telegraph Alley. Note that there is a voluntary ban on riding on Snowdon from 1 May to 30 Sept between 9am and 5pm. We chose the middle weekend in April, which happened to be the weekend before Easter. The weather was unseasonably good so it was probably a good choice (not too cold on the top), though I was shocked by how busy it was. The other option would be to do it before 9pm or after 5pm, though this would leave less room for mechanicals and tiredness!

The Llanberis Path is actually surprisingly rideable for the first two thirds. Then it becomes a soul destroying push. There was plenty of banter from other riders and walkers to keep us entertained. It took 3.5 hours (and despite clear skies all the way up, there was cloud just at the top, grrr). The first part of the descent along the ridge to where the Ranger Path leaves is nice and technical. Howeever it was far too busy to ride to we ended up riding along the railway (very frustrating, especially as people thought we were wussing out cos it was too hard, not cos it was too busy). Strating to descend the Ranger Path was heaven again after the crowds on the summit. It starts not too steep, though a little loose - just enough to keep you on your toes. then the switchbacks start - they are much more technical. I think I walked about 6 sections of about 5m each, but rode the rest. If you aren't a technical rider I probably wouldn't recommend it as it is long and remote, and it's nice to enjoy the descent after the long push! Once it flattens out you need to look for a bridleway heading right at 553573. Just when you thought the pushing was all over, there's about 100m more ascent to the top of Telegraph Valley, which you descend into Llanberis. It is singletrack, but smooth and with drainage channels to jump (or at least not wipe out on....)

The following day we climbed onto Snowdon's shoulder from Rhyd Ddu (569528) to where the bridleway ends at 605522, so you have to turn around and come back again. It starts off as trivial doubletrack which gets progressivley harder with height, including a terrrifying slate pile which I walked (but Rich rode ok). There is a variation near the bottom to Pitt's Head (576515) but we wouldn't recommend it in ascent or descent - it's just grassy and a bit boggy. There is a nice tea room in Rhyd Ddu, to sustain you before your push into the Beddgelert Forest (climb to 557514). From here, our guidebook recommended following some forest singletrack back to the car park, and though we think we found it ok, none of it was particularly thrilling after the challenges of Snowdon!

Llandegla red

Did the Llandegla Red recently. It was a great girly day out, especially when you do the toil up from the car park at a sensible pace. But really I think Llandegla is all about the Black!

Wales weekends

Over two days we rode all the sections at Coed y Brenin on the East side of the road (the Tarw trail is still a huge disappointment, according to riders we chatted to). There are loads of different ways to link together all the sections, so I'm going to try and classify them all to help plan future routes. The Beast rides almost all the sections, except Dream Time.

Rock slabs - no net height gain/loss but still quite tricky: Badger, Cain (first part)
Steep, technical descent: Cain (second part), Abel, Lurch, Uncle Fester, Beginning of the End
Flowy, undulating - not net height gain): Pink Heifer (start), Dream Time
Tricky climbing: Pinderosa
Natural trail climbing: Brutus, far NE corner (though this is apparently very scenic....)
Less remarkable descents: Slated, Morticia, Pugsley, Pink Heifer, Big Dug, Beefy, Hermon, Gomez, Glide
Berms: Bottom of Morticia, bottom of Hermon, bottom of Dream Time, some more I can't remember
Tight corners: Seven Sisters

There are cafes (both recommended) before Pink Heifer and after Hermon.

We found a pleasant natural ride starting up the road from Bontddu (657202). Pleasant, flattish singletrack leads to (637201). From here push over the shoulder of Craig y Grut (627 201). the first part of the descent from hre is steep and tehcnical, but then it just becomes fast and grassy down to Pont Fadog (608215). The first part of the descent from here into Tal y Bont is technicla and rooty, but sadly it becomes dull after that. To return to the start, there is a steady doubletrack climb form Cors Y Gedol (602231) followed by a descent to Pont Scethin (634235). the next bit is all rock slabs, which could be fun to ride if your legs hold out, followed by a long push bakc over Criag y Grut. The descent form the top (637 224) back to the start starts off as a long traverse, before becoming fast and grassy and finally haveign soem technicla bits about 200m from the car. All told, this route is scenic and quiet, but doesn't havw a lot of technicla trial to justify all the pushing.

Further North Wales exploration, about 1.5 hours closer to home than Snowdonia lead us to the Berwyns. We downloaded this route, although it's claim to be 25km is somewhat misleading - it's probably double that. We realised this after we set off, so the first bit is a bit rubbish:

From Pen y Bont (188343) we climbed on steep doubletrack and road to Pensarn (184328) to Llidiart cae hir, via some very rutted double track.

The real meat of the ride starts at Buarth yr e (098322) and climbs first on doubletrack, then as a push to near the summit of Tomle (082336). From here, the route goes up and down on singletrack, although this part of the world doesn't see much human erosion. As a consequence, the water ruts are huge and the route never flows in a satisfactory way as you're always jumping in and out of ruts (or hittign your pedals on them). Finally the descent proper, down to Moel is y Goedwig (052375) starts, but it is mostly grassy. From here is the "Wayfarer" crossing that any guidebook to the res talks about. A steady doubletrack climb goes all the way to the summit (092366) where there is a cairn and a book to sign. From here the doubletrack to Pentre (130355) is never steep, a bit loose and with some occasional bits of railway sleeper (the widest northshore you'll ever ride), but really it's unremarkable. In all, very quiet and scenic, but the riding isn't all the great. The guidebooks suggest further exploration might find some better descents.

The final Welsh day was at Coed Llandegla. This is a forest-based trail centre not owned by the FC! It's basically a red route with some black options, bringing it up to 21km, about 6km of black. It starts with a long, steady climb shared with the blue route. The next section is quite jumpy. But, not very smooth - on a hardtail at Alison speed it was a bit of a tooth rattler - would definitley take a full suss next time. This is followed by some better black bits - smoother, bermed descents, though with killer climbs to regain the height. Once you're back on the red route there's one bit to watch out for - a short loop of black, descends and suddenly goes up a massive bit of northshore. Not very narrow, but steep and and down, and must be 6m off the ground at the top. This bit really annoyed me as they're put brashings all over the chicken route, so as I hate these pointless "objective danger" features, I wheeled up and down this, but this was definitley not ideal as I nearly got caught up by the next rider. If I did this route again I'd just avoid this loop as it rejoins the red quite quickly, but unfortunatley there are no distinguishing features to help you identify it at the start! The route continues in classic red route style. There's a section of rustic board walk which is also avoidable (stick on the leat) but not as high, and a steep roll in that's also avoidable. The finish is a bit of a disappointment - it just rejoins the green and wends its way back to the car park - no awesome final descent. So, as you can guess, this isn't my favourite trail centre - nothing technical, just big feaures that need riding fast and confidentally. Rich has a much higher opinion! And apparently it's the most popular trail centre for girls...?

Another Welsh weekend

A return to North Wales allowed us to complete our tour of the most northern Welsh trail centres. The Marin Trail was a big disappointment. Firstly, the doubletrack just seems to go on and on - it doesn't just take you to the top of fun descents, it undulates along for miles and miles. Secondly, while many of the corners are nicely bermed, lots of them aren't, and if approached at speed will throw you off. (As you can guess, they did, and a week later my knee still hurts to walk). There were very few bits that really left us grinning. The exceptions are the Dragon's Tail section which is nice (though quite loose for a trail centre) and the final descent, which is quite varied and has some cool jumps that even I got air on. As the trail crosses itself fairly early on, it should be possible to do a short loop, includign the finals descent if you only had a short time to fill.

The inadequacies of the Marin Trail were highlighted by a return to Coed y Brenin. This is a really classy trail centre, matched in thre UK only by Kirroughtree and Dalbeattie (IMHO!). The only thing that spoilt the day were the sparsely worded signs explainign which bits of trail were closed, which left us really confused. We ended up on the Dragon's Back Trail, which is basically the Beast minus the supposedly hardest bits, but I think the black here is really not much harder than the red. It's all really great fun though - a real mix of trail styles - some slabs of rock, some big berms, some flowing bits, some rocky bits, some bits that undulate just the right amount so you never have to use your brakes. My only warning is that the bridge over the river (and cross over point of the route) is much lower than you think - so from here you've got a long climb back to the top and a shorter than expected descent to the car park.

North Wales

Home to one of the country’s most famous trail centres, Coed y Brenin. The trails here have all been recently regarded, but from what we could work out, there’s one particular section of hard trail and if a route included this its graded black, although it’s certainly not as challenging as blacks elsewhere. Basically there is the 40km Beast, and everything else is just a subset of this (e.g. the MBR trail which we did). Nevertheless, excellent fun and certainly deserving of its repuatation. Which sadly cannot be said for its companion over the road, the Tarw trail. Apparently the original trail centre, it now seems quite outdated and dull, except for the short bits that have been improved. Once the full upgrade is finished it will probably be worthwhile but for the meantime there are better trails in the vicinity! Nice café.

Penmachno is another trail centre. Built without FC assistance, and still without the full approval of the local population, the builders have certainly achieved a lot. It has two loops, with the second loop coming off the first one part way round. The second loop adds little climbing, but actually this means you have to pedal all the way round which is quite tiring! Good quality trail though.

This part of the country seems to have relatively little in the way of natural trail.