Which trails at Coed y Brenin

daver79

Hi,

Me and my girlfriend are going to Coed y Brenin this week and we were wondering what trails to attempt.

We normally ride the blue trail at Llandegla and also Follow the Dog at Cannock Chase.

The Yr Afon trail looks like it will be fine as a warm up but we were wondering how severe the other trails are?

We were looking at the Temtiwr trail and think this also could be attempted.

What about the trails such as Tawr and MBR? I've seen different grading levels for both of these. One leaflet I've read grades them both as red but then the forestry commission website grades Tawr as black and MBR as red.

Has anyone got any experience of these trails? Just looking for some pointers.

dave_hill

Personally I'd rate them both as red. There are some tricky sections on "Big Dug" but not so many that it would be off putting.

I'd say if you aren't over-confident, the bits to avoid would possibly be "Gomez" and "Morticia" on the Dragon's Back/Beast.

The beauty of Coed-y-Brenin is that you can easily mix-and-match sections to make your own adventure!

dodgyknees

Compared to the free flowing Blue Trail at Llandegla most of the trails at CYB are more technically challenging, apart from the family friendly Yr Afon.

The Temtiwr is short (5.5 miles) but packs a lot in with a tricky & very rocky first section, and then the technically demanding 'Beginning of the end' section at the end of the ride. There's also a fair old climb in the middle section a bit like the climb at Llandegla.

The MBR is a longer ride (11 miles) & has a number of climbs. It also shares the same beginning & end sections as the Temtiwr.

If the blue trail at Llandegla is your normal ride level I'd stick to the Temtiwr, MBR or possibly Tarw trails at CYB on your first visit.

loddrik

Tawr is not too difficult, although if you are not used to more technical trails then 'snap' 'crackle' and 'pop' and the 'beginning of the end' may be a bit of a challenge.

Stu 74

The Afon trail will be fine but compared to the blue at Llandegla you may find the other trails a bit tricky and very rocky!

After the Afon I would maybe try the Temptiwr trail as this, in my opinion, is the easiest of the other trails. It does feature a few tricky rocky sections but nothing too steep and intimidating.

You will get a taste of what is to come within 30 seconds of starting the Temptiwr trail, if you think its a bit too tricky you can always complete the 'Dream Time' section (which is nice, flowing and easy) and then ride back to the centre via the forest road thus skipping the rest of the trail.

Its really depends how confident and experienced you are. Personally after regularly riding the 'Black' at Llandegla I had a bit of a shock when I first went to Coed Y Brenin but I still got around without coming off or having any serious near misses!

Good luck!

Stu

Anonymous

Coed y Brenin is way more hardcore, skills wise, than Llandegla.
two years running, I've started off by riding Llandegla a load, then going to Coed y Brenin, and two years running I've nearly come off bad!
You get so used to riding everything flat out in Llandegla, that you foret just how incredibly rough Coedy is, and that you actually have to control your speed a bit!

Thewaylander

Yup, and i personally found MBR a way more tiring ride than the tawr trail which is ok but loses to much hight to fire track which is a shame..

Chaka Ping

The MBR is my favourite route at CyB and is a fantastic, flowing route with some quite technical and rocky sections - which get more challenging/exciting the faster you go.

I expect you'd find it manageable and quite rewarding. The Tawr is no more difficult, and almost as enjoyable.

Do you have knee/elbow pads you could wear? If not, maybe think about getting some as they'll help you ride the rocky bits with more confidence and might save you a trip to A&E.

Anonymous

Oh, it's "Tarw" by the way. It's welsh for "Bull".
It's a nod to the old RedBull course.

kenone

Didnt rate the the tarw trail, massive fireroad climb and then fireroad descent-wtf. Mbr is an awesome trail, sadly didnt get to do the dragons back that time. Definately get some pads though, i came off and would have had some nasty wounds without shin/knee protection.

Anonymous

I've heard a load of people moan about fire road descents on the Tarw, but I don't get it.
There's only one fireroad descent that I know of - about halfway round the old course, after "Al's loop" there's a sweet piece of downhill trail, then at the bottom of the descent, the trail turns left, and up a stupid climb. at the top of that trail, there's a fireroad that descends into the next tech section.
Admittedly, I almost always turn right instead, and take the rough ancient farm track thing to the next section, and miss out on the climb.

But anyhoo. It's still a fun descent if you go fast enough, and you can even drift the rear end round, clunker style, if you try it at full tilt.

People must get lost.

Santibes

second what stu74 said. Did the Afon last year with the girlfriend & is just fireroad up & back down the valley. The guys in the shop were telling another couple to do the same but include "Dream time" which can be reached by turning back up a fire road. this section is pretty smooth singletrack & quite straight forward.

If you spend 10 mins having a quick look from the car park you can get an idea of what's instore on some of the other trails - rocky steps etc. Which I think is a step up from even the black at llandegla.

bluechair84

Although Coed - y - brenin is well rated, I'm not the biggest fan. I would recommend Penmachno which is 16miles (at a guess) north of Coed. It has some truly fabulous descents and is unmissable. It is my personal favourite of the big three in my area (Marin, Penmachno and Coed). Have an awesome time which ever you choose

the_mong_like_goose

Second what Santibes said, if you can do the section next to the car park (before visitor centre) you can do pretty much all of it. There's no real black stuff, just need a damn good set of forks or you will be in for a shake !