Coed Llandegla
Comments
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I have been to this centre many a time. The red route is pretty decent and there is a 3 mile climb to start with, the last time I went was a few weeks ago and much of the route had been rolled/resurfaced. This spoiled the fun somewhat but did mean it only took 1hr30
You will enjoy it, there is a nice cafe, bikeshop and toilets which is a bonus0 -
Yes it's worth the trip. I go over often it's 1 1/2hrs for me.
Red is good but the reason I go is the Black run it's a loop of the Red and IMHO more fun. I think it's only graded black becuase of the tough little climbs at the end of each section as the downhill stuff is mostly smooth and fast. You can do the black loops as many times as you like. My record is 4 runs but I was broken.
Llandegla is always busy to go early.
Ride on.0 -
If you like climbs do the black lot of lovely single track that you miss out if you do the red. Wont be busy if you go in the week. I'm toying with the idea of doing the same work depending. The cafe is shut on Mondays I seem to remember. My wife and I did the red three times in 8 days such was the fun we had and she'll try the black next time. Only thing I don't like in northshore but I suppose it's one of the necessary evils.
Check You-Tube for vieos of Llandegla though you'll be hard pressed finding a vid of the red run only.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YGbi21Q ... re=related
Download you PDF map here.
http://www.coedllandegla.com/trails.htm0 -
Apologies for the potential daft question, but....
Me & the missus have just picked up our first "proper" MTBs - a GT Avalance 3 Disc for me, and a Specialized Myke HT Sport Disc for the boss.
We're both brand new to all this, and so far have pootled about on a disused railway and done a couple of minor off-road routes - including some pretty punishing hills.
We're thinking of going over to Llandegla in the next couple of weeks to give it ago - will our bikes be good enough for this? We won't be doing anything stupid - more likely to take it easy if anything and getting used to trail centres and the bikes.
The first plan would be to tackle the blue run (to practice) - although I've heard the red run is do-able for beginners if you take it easy - is this right?
Ta0 -
The bike will certainly be up to it, Llandegla is a very smooth track to ride. Only one part of the red route will phase a beginner and that is the log section. Not that hard to do, just can be a bit daunting if only just starting out.
Probably one of the better places to go as a beginner really. (IMO!)0 -
Hi daverey, your bikes will be fine for Llandegla. I've got a GT Agressor XC3 (essentially same bike as your Avalanche 3.0) and I've done the blue, red, & black trails at Llandegla without any problems.
If your new to mountain biking I'd suggest starting with the blue trail. Shares the same 3 mile initial climb as all the routes but is then a glorious downhill ride all the way back to the visitor centre that will have you smiling for hours.
The red isn't that bad but does involve a good deal of additional climbing and the descent back to the visitor centre is on narrower trails.0 -
Cool - cheers for the reply. Might head over there at the weekend - I've got Monday off work and presumably Sat/Sun get really busy?0
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Been there on a Sunday and although it can get quite busy in the car park etc you don't come across hoards of people on the trails. Personally I think the atmosphere is better on Sundays when there are other enthusiasts around.
As far as I know the cafe is shut on Mondays so you you may want to double check that.0 -
Cheers again - potentially got a mate who wants to come on with us on Monday who doesn't have his own bike - do you know if the bike hire facility is open on Mondays (their website says the "centre" is closed on Monday, but I can't tell whether the bike hire is or not)0
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everything is shut on monday so take spare kit (inner tubes etc), drink and food.
Enjoy0 -
by the way the you tube vid I posted above (not my own vid) is actually part of the red run. In the second part you see them split off to the black. That is pretty much all the decent down hill bits from then on it's shorter bits of down, some climbs and some north shore which you can just walk allong if you dont like it.0
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Cheers Nik
Pardon my ignorance, but is "North Shore" those wooden path bits raised up high off the ground?
Don't fancy my chance on those just yet - are they on the black run or the red run part?
Ta0 -
they are on the red0
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daverey wrote:Cheers Nik
Pardon my ignorance, but is "North Shore" those wooden path bits raised up high off the ground?
Don't fancy my chance on those just yet - are they on the black run or the red run part?
Ta
Not very high on the red run at all but seriously you can just walk them. It's not like your 10 feet of the ground or anything. The ones on the red are maybe 2 feet maximum drop on the sides but they are also pretty wide. I've walked them when I didn't have the speed or traction to get up the first bits. Personally I don't like northshore at all so i don't feel like I am cheating, rather just getting past it so I can ride on the good stuff.
The very first bit on that vid is actually the blue run, after a minute he cuts left and up to a gate. That is the beginning of the red run. By not cutting left and just going straight on you get to the blue although I've never actually ridden the blue
there is one high northshore on the black but there is a trail by the side of it so you can just ride past it. The main differences between the 3 runs seem to be the amount of climbing involved. The blue is more or less down all the way after the initial climb, the red has some climbing and the black has more. Don't see the black being much more technical than parts of the red.
In short it's probably down to fittness more than anything, take your time and just enjoy it. My wife after resuming riding for only 2 weeks did Llandegla red run 3 times in 8 days at the age of 40 so it's not that bad.0 -
Sounds good - I'll see how the wife feels about it and may well be popping down on Monday....
There's a few of us at work planning to go one evening over the next few weeks too, so either way I'll get to have a go.
Seeing as I've never been near - leta lone on - a trail centre yet, I might give the Blue a go to ease myself into it. You never know, I could always do it twice!0 -
Probably a good idea. The beauty of the blue run is after the initial climb it is apparently all down hill from there
Just be prepared for a fairly long but doable climb up. I think it's about 1.8 miles of climb but as others have said probably one of the easier ones.
Bet you're adicted after doing it
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A quick update - me and the missus went yesterday and had a great time. The weather was awful - pee'd it down all day and was pretty cold, but loved it non-the-less.
Seeing as it's the first time we'd both been to a centre (and the missus is still very unsure on the bike) we tackled the green family run first, which was a nice introduction to the surfaces etc. We then had our butties and back round for the blue run. You're right, the climb is a bit of a killer (especially as every time you get to a bend, all you can see is the path climbing yet further ahead, but once at the top it's really good fun coming down the track. We even took a small diversion onto the last leg of the red run right near the end, but to be honest this was a little too much for us novices as there were some very steep - but short - rocky sections that were a bit tricky in the wet.
All in all we loved it, and are well up for more now.....0 -
Glad you enjoyed it. Was there last night & it was VERY wet!0
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matthew h wrote:Glad you enjoyed it. Was there last night & it was VERY wet!
It was very wet indeed, but also great fun.
This might be a daft question, but yesterday was my first time at a trail centre and I was wondering something. When coming downhill over the often bumpy trails, the bike obviously takes a bit of a hammering as it bumps along - I take it half-decent bikes (like my GT Avalanche) are built to put up with this treatment, and I won't be doing any damage to it or the forks or anthing?0 -
Daverey Your GT should be perfectly fine for the riding your doing at the moment. Its a pretty sturdy bike not particulary light but a good starter bike.
If you get hooked and want to extend yourself and start to ride tougher more technical trails at speed the main thing that might be a problem is the fork. Forks at the lower end of the bike range are often not very good. The problem is they very rarely have what is called rebound damping. Rebound damping is what stops the fork bouncing back too fast when you hit a bump. If you hit a series of bumps at speed on an undamped fork you can end up doing an impression of a rodeo rider as the fork boings up and down.
If you go into a bike shop and press the brake and push down on the forks of a more expensive bike (I mean six or seven hundred pounds and up) you will hear a hissing or squelching noise this is the damping working. The more expensive forks should go down and return smoothly without any hint that the front wheel wants to bounce off the ground.
Anyway sorry to get technical you have a decent bike and sound like you had fun thats the main thing
By the way your not a real Mountain biker till you have crashed and sacrificed some skin and blood to the gods. Then your a man my son
Fig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap0 -
Cheers for this - much appreciated.
I must admit I loved the blue run at Llandegla and its nice to know that what I thought of as giving the bike a hard time is OK and won't do any damage to my bike. When I cleaned it up last night there were no signs of any damage (aside from the odd chip and scratch to the paintwork), but as I'm such a novice I thought it worth asking.
I see what you mean about the forks, but to be honest for the time being I think I'll just enjoy what I have - I loved my previous £80 Apollo "full-suspension" effort before it packed in, and my GT is amazing compared to that, so it might be some time before I'm trading up to a new model.
As for falling off - I'm sure it'll happen sooner rather than later - I currently have zero technique coupled with a bit of a reckless fearless streak - but I'm not going looking for it to happen - I'm well into the wrong side of 30 now and I don't think I bounce like I used to when I was younger.....0 -
Daverey - us old uns bounce still 0
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Good to hear you enjoyed it. Nice time I'm up in Cheshire visiting my folks I fancy going there.
MTBs are designed for that so should be fine & the GT Avalanche is a well respected bike. Start worrying about the frame/forks when you drop offs!Winter commuter: Planet X London Road
Winter road bike/commuter: Specialized Langster
Best road bike: Planet X RTD90
MTBs: Giant XTC 650B / On-One C456 singlespeed
TT bike: Planet X Stealth0 -
Im pretty much in the same situation as deverey in that me and the missus have not long started up. We are fairley regular at Cannock, which we love, and Wyre but fancy something in Wales this weekend such llandegla. After reading the previous posts i take it would be worth the 1.5/2 hr drive?0
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Shanta - I reckon it would be well worht the drive. It's over an hour from where we live (nr Macclesfield) and even in the terrible weather we had a great time. I've not been to any other trail centres to compare it to, but I'll definitely be going again as soon as I get the chance.0
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Been a few times and definitely worth the trip. Was out last weekend and noticed alot of new trails had been built, has anyone any idea when these will be open and how many miles there are, they looked in pretty good condition and not far off being ready but there doesn't seem to be anything on the website.0
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Having read the responses, I'm going to go down and see for myself, not been to this mtb centre before...0
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I'm going up there tonight to abuse both my respiratory system and my bike :twisted:
Great trail for beginners and when you just want to gor for a blast, luckily I live 15 mins from there, so I'm up there alot.0
