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Bearing in mind I was brought up in Cardiff so Afan and Cwmcarn are second nature to me, which other trail cwntres are great? Recently done Penmachno (disappointing) and The Beast at Coed y. We have 3 daysand 2 nights away and not sure what to do. What would be your preferred road trip and where would you stay? Llandegla, marin trail, coed y then nant y arian????
Thanks for the decision making help in advance!
Penmachno!
Brechfa. Raven and Gorlech join together for a nice day out.
Quite liked Llandegla, take the climb easy and use it to chat with people, then go like the clappers on every section and take the black sections for some properly (to me at least!) brown trouser moments, its all roll-able but its really good fun to push it just a tiny bit as its a really well designed trail. Its about 11kms long so you can easily do back to back laps before visiting the excellent cafe!
3 days, 2 nights?
Stay in Mach. Ride CYB, then Mach then NYA. In any order.
CYB could be worth two days, though.
Penmachno.
Oops, double post.
Still Penmachno btw.
If you didn't like penmachno then llandegla and Afan maybe?
Double p
Why was Penmachno a disappointment?
I love Penmachno. However I've met many folk have been disappointed - and this has always been because they have done the second loop, with its endless fire roads.
Brechfa/Abergorlech for a day, Cwm Rhaeadr and the Doethie valley, Black Mountains (any route). If the weather is crap, avoid the Black Mountains and Doethie, do Cwm Rhaeadr as a night/evening ride after Brechfa then head up to Nant yr Arian or Machynlleth/Coed y Brenin.
I hear Wrexham is a nice place to stop and ideal for people that like to get dressed up in body armour and bimble around smooth paths.
Penmachno!
This
And I absolutely love loop 2, nice and flowy, not that much fire road really.
It doesn't flow it feels un natural and it is always pi**ing wet they don't appear to understand irrigation despite it being a trail centre! Last time we went in had been blinding hot and dry for about 3 weeks but itw as still axel deep in water.
So take Penmachno, Cwmcarn and Afan OUT of the equation. The plan is leaving early Tuesday morning so get to WAles late morning, spend rest of day riding, all WEdnesday to ride, Thursday to ride then drive back after we've finished on Thursday. SO more suggestions?
bristolPablo and Neilc1881 what accommodation would you suggest for your loops then?
AS Neil says- Brechfa and Cwm Rhaeadr. Are you into natural stuff at all? Mynydd Mallaen, above Cilycwm and Cwm Rhaeadr is a fantastic loop in the dry, a proper slog in the wet. Lots of grass, amazing views, stunning descent, joining onto the final Cwm rhaeadr descent just above the two steppy bits.
Doethie in the damp- horrid!
Loads of places to stay- Perhaps the Royal Oak in Rhandirmwyn. Or The bunkhouse in Brechfa.
3 days?
Coed y Brennan, Betws y coed, penmachno, twice.
CyB, the MBR is probably my favourite trail centre trail. Then maybe a day at Antur Stiniog. If you and your bikes are still in one piece maybe a gentle day at Llandegla to finish off.
The drainage at Penmachno is remarkable, we went 2 days after rain, the drains were all bone dry and the trails were absolutely flooded in places. A work of art. Still, excellent riding and it gave us something to talk about.
I don't think I'll ever ride in north wales without visiting CYB, the Beast is just one of those rides. Also loved the Marin- it's inexplicably long and seems to have about 50% more climbing than descending but it has some absolutely bloody marvellous riding in it which makes it worthwhile. Lovely views too, and not many trails go through a museum.
My other must-do is now Antur Stiniog... Not for everyone but the blue and red are fine for anyone who can do a trailcentre black (er, an actual black anyway) and the 2 blacks are fab for the more discerning customer. You don't need a downhill bike, I used my Hemlock, though a fullface is mandatory for the blacks. Can't wait to get back. Blaenau Ffestiniog even looks alright from high enough and far enough away.
why all the love for penmachno???
its 19 miles of boredom for about 1 mile of fun.
Brechfa and Cwm Rhaeadr.
Just good fun. Try the Black Lion for accommodation.
b45her I completely agree and people clearly can't read! And that comment about good draingage is complete drivel!!!!
Is Cwm Rheadr a trail centre? Or am I going to have to self navigate? I was thinking trail centre as I want ease of following signs!!
Where is Cwm Rheadear I can't find any info about it on www.mbwales.com
Thanks keep the advice coming this is great!
[url= http://www.mbwales.com/media/viewfile.aspx?filepath=1_20080513142700_e_@@_Cwm_Rhaeadr_MtBk_guide_low_res.pdf&filetype=4 ]Cwm Rhaeadr[/url]
Do a lap or two as a warm up for Brechfa red & black.
I loved Nant yr Arian. Annoyed that we didn't do the full 35km loop, but the middle one was fun as well. Mark of Zorro is so good.
I'm guessing you're avoiding natural so to save navigation hassle? Snowdon couldn't be simpler though (big up/down/one signposted turn) and Llyn Colwyd is pretty simple to navigate. Both are easily reachable from Betws, although Bethesda sits in-between the two (not as middle-class as Betws but it's my home!).
Accommodation- I'd suggest the old school bunkhouse in Corris for it's singular ambience, great local pub in the Slaters Arms for the first night. Then the pub in Cil y Cwm (forgotten the name sorry) for b+b though they did once let us kip in the car park after a few too many to drive back to Brecon!
Hello, North Whalian here so if you fancy doing something near Llandegla then try the Clywydians.
Penmachno is good, but as above, not everyone agrees. Llandegla can be done in an afternoon but head out towards the masts and extend the ride a bit.(directions available from the cafe)
CYB would be my choice for trail centers just for variety of trails.
Steve
I'd do two days at cyb and one at antor stiniog. Staying at the log cabins if it is low season.
CYB is the best trail centre ive been to, it somehow doesnt really feel like one IMO
and its worth the drive, its quite a testing route, both fitness wise and rewards
its a 2hr drive ish for me but i do reckon its worth it!
still not done penmachno but i reckon from what mates have said (who also love CYB) it would be pretty sccchweeet
Cli-machx is worth a quick visit if you're near CyB, mainly for the final descent.
Guess I'm the odd one out in that I didn't really like CyB at all, not sure why really it was just a bit boring apart drom a few sections. Then again we didnt manage to do the full beast loop as my mates crank arm fell off and we didn't have the right size allen key for it!
CYB is the best trail centre ive been to, it somehow doesnt really feel like one IMO
I've been every year since 97 so it must be alright. But... doesn't feel like a trail centre? How? It's completely man-made and armoured with boulders. Short of putting a roof over it it's hard to imagine how it could feel any less natural.
Nant Yr Arian - probably middle loop (the long route is pleasant but loads of easy tracks and tarmac), then one of the Mach routes in the afternoon/evening, stay in Mach. Then CYB the next day.
love loop 2, nice and flowy,
Flowy in that it's like a stream.
Then there's a lumpy flat bit with loads of puddles.
I still love the place though, I just wear waterproof shorts.
'Machno.
And +1 for Antur Stiniog. It's like nothing else in the UK and you'll love it.
Munqe-chick - Member
b45her I completely agree and people clearly can't read! And that comment about good draingage is complete drivel!!!!
If you're talking about Northwind's comment then you prob need to re-read it 😆 He's saying the same as you - it's a work of art as they manage to keep the drains dry and the trails wet...
No cli-machs? Final descent is good.
Brechfa.
Nant yr Arian.- Mark of Zorro section in particular.
Day 1: Brechfa & Cwm Rhaeadr
Day 2: Nant yr Arian (plus maybe Climachx if you have time)
Day 3: Coed y Brenin
Prefer the Marin trail to Penmachno.
1) Climach-x at Machynlleth - the last descent is a work of art (though not quite as good since the felling) - only short but you can easily loop the last bit
2) Llandegla - lots of people slate it but it's brilliant fun IMO. They have ended up with a fair bit of slightly harsh climbing right at the end now which doesn't make for the best finish
3) Antur Stiniog - bloody fantastic if you don't mind paying for uplift
Nant-y-Arian is great fun too.
I would have said the Beast but you've already done it
(Mr Munqe Chick posting).
The builders of penmachno should get jobs as irrigation engineers in Egypt, we've ridden there after 3 dry weeks and loads of the second loop (sections 2.3, 2.5 and 2.6 IIRC) had standing water when the surrounding ground was bone dry. No flow to the trail, not a single section that is memorable for any positive reason other than the views on the second section.
Love the Beast etc and enjoyed Marin. Only specifying trail centres to guarantee ride quality when we are time-poor, I have a Garmin and would happily ride naturally if we had a gpx of a nice route, but back in my student OS-exploring days we had about a 50% strike rate for good rides vs yomping through knee deep heather...When we go back to S.Wales we dont even bother with the trail centres as there is terrific natural riding from the doorstep.
Heard lots of good things about Nanty but dont know many that have done Brechfa, Llandegla, Climach-X etc.
Okay so how about drive down Tuesday morning afternoon at Llandegla, spend night in Betws, Wednesday morning head to Coed y and do Beast or similar shorter trails, stay somewhere .. who knows where! Then Thursday ride Nant y Arian. Does that sound sensible or silly? as not sure on distances between Coed y and Nant y...google is your friend?! Anyone recommend somewhere near Nant y to stay? with either food on site or walking distance to good food and beer/wine? Don't mind if it's a B&B. cheers
Brecfa then Antor stinoghthhghllamgogogoch ( that is what's its called, right?) then CyB and then Marin
Every welsh road trip must finish with the Marin last descent. It's the Law ( in a Dredd stylee)
Landegla should fill about 90 minutes of your time. We linked the Marin and penmancho last week which we really enjoyed some good natural stuff in between the 2
Could do Llandegla and marin trail in an afternoon then? How far is it between them?
About an hour as a rough guess
Oh further than I thought then mmmm
about 40 miles ish.
Decision Nanty yr Arian, Brechfa then Afan! Having said no to Afan I realised it is donkeys since we went there, then I found afan Lodge which looks lovely! so it's now all booked, just got to hope for some nice weather next week Tuesday-Thursday! as long as it's dry I don't really care. Excited now.
For some extra smiles on those places i'd throw in 2 amazing 4 mile routes, Cwm Rhaedr when doing Brechfa and Blaengarw when doing Afan.
cool I've heard of Cwm Rhaedr but what about Blaengarw..is that the new skills park?
Its about 15 mins from Bridgend M4 junction, consists of a black run running into a blue for the final descent, making 4 miles. You can do loops of the blue or black, or shortcut to the bottom half of the black and so on. Great fun.
Park here and its superbly signposted.
https://maps.google.com/?ll=51.625904,-3.591548&spn=0.000517,0.000877&t=h&z=20
Do a youtube search of bleangarw trails or mtb. Nice little rock garden in the middle of the descent.
Probably my favourite trail in south wales, and im local. lol.
With flashheart on this. Nya,cyb and mach. Do the syfydrin (sp?) At nya.
thanks to all those who replied. My review of our trip (still unpacking) cross-posted from our club website (hence some odd formatting, apologies). Continues some genuine info in amongst opinion!
Nant-y-Arian
We rode the longest trail, the 35km Syfydrin. This combines all the trail
centre singletrack of the 16km Summit trail with a massive natural
doubletrack loop out into the back of beyond. Terrific views and a real
old-school XC explore feel, very exposed so would be horrendous in poor
weather. The singletrack is typical of trail centres ie. good quality, all
weather surface. If you werent expecting the non-challenging backcountry
feel I can imagine it being disappointing or frustating but we loved it.
Excellent facilities on-site (good cafe), its popular with bird watchers
and walkers not just MTB so has had a lot of investment. Best views of any
centre in Wales.
Brechfa.
Rode the longest trail, the red Gorlech in the morning, and the slightly
shorter black Raven in the afternoon. They run out of different car parks a
few miles apart, with no facilities bar (very clean and well maintained)
chemical toilets. You can join them together for one big loop but it suited
us to move sites as part of the trip. The Gorlech trailhead map claims to
have 1070m of climbing which is laughable- I can only imagine Rowan Sorrell
confused feet with metres (otherwise we need to give Dave Brailsford a call
about our climbing prowess). Lots of swoopy hardpack singletrack, pretty
much all in forest so good riding even in poor weather, no big climbs, and
a few bermy/bumpy/jumpy sections courtesy of Mr Sorrell. The final descent
with its multiple lines, berms and tabletops is something you'd want to
session again and again.
The Raven left us both a bit "meh". You go from noodling up a steep
singletrack climb (seems to have far more and steeper climbs than Gorlech),
turn a corner and youre dropping into a Swiss national DH-style precipitous
rocky bermfest. I dont know what Rowan Sorrell's brief was, but the
hardpack "bike park" sections are brilliant play riding but completely
incongruous and jar with the rest of the trail. There's a lot of natural
dirt as well as hardpack singletrack and if you took all the "gnarl"
sections out it'd be a cracking trail centre XC route. Both bits are good
fun riding but the mix just seems odd.
Afan Argoed
After chatting to the FC Ranger we chose to ride Y Wall, which we haven't ridden for over a year, when diversions were in place. Penhydd will re-open in September and be pretty much new, the logging operations have
moved from Afan valley to Glyncorrwg valley so Whites Level/Skyline suffer
heavy detours. They are also building a brand new 30+km trail, Blade, that
will join Wall and Whites Level (rather than the fireroad slog it is to
join them to make W2 now).
Y Wall has always been a fave trail of mine, and theyve managed to improve
it with half a dozen new sections of singletrack. The ride down the side of
the river and back up the fireroad on the other side has been replaced with
singletrack sections out of (Alpha) and into (Omega) the centre, over a new
purpose-built bridge. Some of the climb is covered in a new "Elevator"
section, which has that magical quality of sucking you along and uphill
without you realising. There are other new sections of singletrack too. At
the top of the trail, before the final "zigzags" descent you keep riding
uphill, in order to ride a bike skills trail (its near a second smaller
trail centre building) which has perfectly flowing swoopy pumpy berms. Had
it not been p1ssing with rain we would have done multiple runs of this- I
cant remember another set of berms that flows so well (at trail centres
subsequent berms often tighten up to force you to lose speed rather than
let you keep it up).
Penmachno.
Is further north, and we didnt go there, because it is crap.
Nanty. Beats CYB, Degla, Carn, Afan, Brechfa, Penmach, Marin and Mach. IMO
Want to visit Blaengawr and Cwmrheadr next winter. The new bike park near Methyr should be interesting too.
Feel so lucky being 10 miles from nant yr Arian glad you enjoyed the views still gets me every time
The Raven left us both a bit "meh". You go from noodling up a steep singletrack climb (seems to have far more and steeper climbs than Gorlech), turn a corner and youre dropping into a Swiss national DH-style precipitous rocky bermfest. I dont know what Rowan Sorrell's brief was, but the hardpack "bike park" sections are brilliant play riding but completely incongruous and jar with the rest of the trail. There's a lot of natural dirt as well as hardpack singletrack and if you took all the "gnarl" sections out it'd be a cracking trail centre XC route. Both bits are good fun riding but the mix just seems odd.
people obviously have different perceptions of what's hard & what's not, but comparing the first real descent with the big berms just before the fire road to DH (even tame DH like the Swiss Nat) is something i've never heard before.
Personally, i'd like the whole trail to be more like that. The end is a nice, fun way to finish, but I want harder trails, not removal of the more technical features.
That's the point though HobNob if whole trail like rhat it would be begger, know what to expect, get uour head in, it is the extremes of riding which isn't great and doesn't allow it to flow.
Afan and coed y brenin still my favourite trail centres by far. Y Wall had be whooping and hollering like a small child.
1880 feet/573 metres according to my gpx of the route.The Gorlech trailhead map claims to have 1070m of climbing which is laughable
Rusty90 that definitely sounds more like it! They're trailhead map is lying then.......
Hob Nob you missed my point. Feel free to mis-interpret it to suit your ego but where in my post did I say the sections were "hard"? I said those sorts of features were
andbrilliant play riding
good fun riding
just that they didn't fit in with the rest of the trail. I'd happily have a whole trail like that, along with a separate naturalistic XC trail. The mix of the two styles seemed a bit clumsy, especially as the Raven has more natural feeling (dirt/loam rather than hardpack) singletrack than many.
And they're berms, and they go downhill, not sure how comparing them to a downhill run is such a stretch! I havent been to PdeS for a few years but I seem to remember the runs towards the Swiss side were rockier than those closer to Morzine and I was trying to paint a picture people could relate to (most of my club buddies have done the Passeport). Thanks to an impending house move this summer will be the first in over 15 years I've not ridden overseas which is why we're having long weekends away to make up for it, and a trail centre that covered both singletrack and harder trails would fill the void.
Rusty, thanks I was kicking myself for leaving my Garmin at home. Gorlech certainly felt like it had less climbing than most trail centre routes (theres normally at least one "memorable" climb in every route but I dont remember any there).
Feel so lucky being 10 miles from nant yr Arian glad you enjoyed the views still gets me every time
I actually stopped in one of the right hand berms on the first section of singletrack as the view opened out in front of me to appreciate it. Not often that happens!