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I'm planning a short road / gravel tour in the summer and on one of the days I'm intending on getting from Conwy / Llandudno Junction to an overnight near to Coed y Brenin on the A470.
One option would appear to be to stay on the Sustrans R5 heading west to Bangor, then turn inland to Bethesda on R82, down the Nantffrancon Pass and join the A5 at the western edge of Llyn Ogwen.
My concern then is (short of hopping over the Glyders!) that I'm stuck to taking the A5 to Capel Curig and then joining another A road to get from there down the Nantgwynant Pass to Beddgelert. There's then more A road going south before I can pick up R82 again at Llanfrothen.
The alternative seems to be to get onto R8 out of Bangor, and skirt the mountains, heading to Caernarfon, Criccieth, Porthamadog and pick up R82 somewhere around there.
My preference would be to go through the mountains, but it's a few years since I've been over that way and can't really recall what the A roads are like. I've no aversion to riding in traffic - it's just that I'd prefer the quieter routes. Can anyone give me an idea of what the roads through Snowdonia are like to cycle on please?
One thing I can't quite suss is that the R82 bit that goes from Bangor to Bethesda and on to Llyn Ogwen just stops there. Is it just a random spur or should it link up somehow?
I'll be on the Tripster so, gravel / tracks are fine - should there be anything that I'm missing from looking at OS maps, Sustrans and Google cycling. Thanks in advance!
Ygm...
Cheers ianfitz! Thanks in advance (it's not landed yet...)
Just been looking at Sustrans again and it says R82 'will run from Bangor to Fishguard' so I'm guessing it's still under construction. It'd be very interesting to know what their plans are though...
Thanks again for any input.
Just found the Wikiprojects page that maps NCN R82 and describes it as Bangor, Llyn Ogwen, (gap), Porthmadog, Coed y Brenin, etc... It says 'all open sections mapped' so whether there are additional plans to join it up, I don't know?
Apologies for the bump, but I'm still poring over maps and stuff. What I think I could really do with knowing is what the A5 from Llyn Ogwen to Capel Curig is like to ride and then what the A4086 to Pen y Gwryd hotel is like. The last of the A roads would then be the Nantgwynant Pass from there to Beddgelert. I could escape onto R82 just before Porthmadog. Cheers if you're a local or have some knowledge of the area - much appreciated.
Are you doing it on a mountainbike or roadbike or cyclocross?
Dyls - I'll be on a lightly loaded Tripster - so cyclocross I guess, probably running semi slicks so am fine for a bit of gravel, but maybe not the trip over Tryfan! I'm planning on taking the route past the quarries south from Bethesda but then joining the A5 at the lake - it's that bit from there I'm not sure about yet.
If its by roadbike, all the roads are fine, plenty of people cycle along them. Come down the b5106 from llandudno way, a bit quiter than the a470. From betws y coed take the a470 over the crimea pass and follow the a470 to cyb.
Just seen your post, cycling along the a5 from llyn ogwen to betws y coed is fine. Mostly downhill from capel curig.
I would myself go to betws y coed and over the crimea pass, although it is quite steep if you have a lot of gear.
Even if you go from capel curig to beddgelert to porthmadog and then cyb you will encounter climbs from maentwrog up to trawsfynydd and it is a longer route.
The road from Ogwen to Capel is fine but a quieter/more interesting alternative would be to take the old coaching road that runs parallel to it from the end of Llyn Ogwen. I've only done it on a MTB in winter, which was a bit muddy, but it's been improved recently so in summer I reckon it would be good fun on a CX bike - the first few yards are stone slabs but after that it's more of a "green lane" all the way down to Capel.
Cheers dyls - really helpful stuff. I'm not too worried about the hills - that day's intended to be one of the hillier ones of the trip - it was more sussing out the levels of traffic on the A roads, so thanks for the info. The B road south from Llandudno looks good and it's a more direct route than via Bethesda, but I quite fancied being in the mountains more so I might detour off at Betws and take in a bit more of snowdonia! Really appreciate your help, thanks!
Wilder - fantastic! Just seen the dot / dash line on the OS map - great stuff 🙂 Messes up the plan to take the B road from Llandudno now though 😉
Llandudno to Betws is a lot more direct but Bangor to Capel gives you a decent amount of gravel, no traffic and a better feeling of being in the mountains. I guess time and weather would be major factors.
Out of interest what's your plan from Porthmadog to CYB?
That's exactly my thoughts, wilder - it [b]should[/b] be nice in July, but if it's not... 🙂
Just north east of Porthmadog, I've spotted R82 reappearing, so I'll head east on it from Garreg, round the shore of Llyn Trawsfynydd where I'm pretty much back on the A470 and at CyB.
I've also spotted there's what looks like the old road that I can take at the start of the Nantgwynant Pass, which'll cut out a bit of A road there too.
Starting to come together thanks - very much appreciate the advice and local knowledge thanks!