Marin Trail! :)

lesz42

hello all!



Did the the Marin Trail on saturday with 2 buddies, one ( HT)who is much more skilled and fitter of the group and one, who like me is a bit of a noob (FS)

me i have a hardtail (HT), anyway all i have ever done , trail wise has been the Blue at Llandegla, and Marin was a bit of a shock! :shock:



sort of loved it and terrified at the same time! the fireroad climbs were murder! loved the singletrack stuff, but very rough in places, and had to walk parts a fair bit :oops: (i did feel a bit shamed at that)


one question i have is, as it had be raining the wet rocks and slate stuff was very sketchy and slippy, i did not like this! but i guess if it was dry ( not much hope!) it would of been one less thing to worry about?


i hope to go again, but in the dry, and recommend the place to anyone, and after seeing parts of the red of Llandegla, compared to Marin, Llandegla looks and seems easy!


but in all loved every bit of it, even if it took 4 hours! lol



Les

tlw1

my cousin was there yesterday - green with envy as I would have loved to do it but ended up at friends with the kids for the night.

sounds like you had a giggle

DanEvs

Glad you enjoyed it Les, certainly my favorite trail and it's actually a far more technical route than the Black at Llandegla.

Have you looked here- http://northwalesmtb.proboards.com/index.cgi?

lesz42

am a member! might do the red then black next at deggie, not up for the jumps tho!


again i want to goto marin, but when its dry, but if its wet , so be it, guess i have not much experience on wet rocks and such like

once i reduced the psi in my tires (kenda nevegal dtc 2.1) i had more grip then confidence!


main worry some coming off onto the rocks :oops:

sniper68

The Marin very fast when dry(when )Just as much fun in the wet though,grippier tyres maybe?
Try Penmachno,tougher than the Marin on the legs not quite as technical IMO

lovelybones

I used to be a regular at Degla unitl a few months ago when I ventured to Brenin and the Marnin. I have to say I loved both.

I agree with ibbo68 - Marin is fast when its dry but serious fun though

Dirtydog11

I often wonder whether those that rave about Llandegla have actually rode anywhere else. I find it boring!

Both the Marin and Coed y Brenin are far better, I havent done Penmachno yet but the general consensus is that thats better as well.

Boring, boring Llandegla. Its a good way too keep in shape for the proper trails but thats about it.

lesz42

Dirtydog11 wrote:

I often wonder whether those that rave about Llandegla have actually rode anywhere else. I find it boring!

Both the Marin and Coed y Brenin are far better, I havent done Penmachno yet but the general consensus is that thats better as well.

Boring, boring Llandegla. Its a good way too keep in shape for the proper trails but thats about it.

"Boring, boring Llandegla. Its a good way too keep in shape for the proper trails but thats about it"

i have not done the red or black, but after Marin ( and i did walk a fair bit of it) i can see why some people see it as boring ( llandegla) now!?


sadly i look back at the stuff that i walked and i think why!? guess i need to go back, and keep doing it


bike was fine, tires gripped ( fairly well) brain was scared! ( falling off)

sniper68

We all fall off matey(regularly )it takes a while to get the brain re-trained I've been riding seriously for about 8/9 years and every year i get a bit older and less bolder I'm 41 and wish i had the balls i had when i was 21 I still go for it..............but with a bit more caution 8)

Dirtydog11

sadly i look back at the stuff that i walked and i think why!? guess i need to go back, and keep doing it

Glad you enjoyed it. 90% of it is confidence, If in doubt chicken out and live to ride another day!

Its the best policy.

I did the Marin on Wednesday . We started in Capel Curig and took the Bridleway opposite Pinnacle stores. There's a Col at the top of the Bidleway that drops into Llyn Crafant which is the reason we took that route (its littered with TV/Football size boulders and its a challenge to get down without having a dab). We then followed the fireroad climb at the end of the lake and joined the Marin at the Dragons Tail. We then followed the Marin up to Llanwrst and then took the B road back to Capel Curig all in all 38km 1300meters of climbing/desending. A great ride!

ratty2k

Glad the OP enjoyed the Marin, it is a fun trail, one thing you might try is to lower the saddle a wee bit. Especially for the singletrack parts, this will allow you to get over the back of the bike a little easier and doing so will give you more confidence. You wont feel like you'll be going over the bars as easily.
Tyre pressure makes a big difference to grip as you have found, but again, once you gain more confidence then you'll be quicker through the bends.
I often get a bit giddy on the penultimate section and often bin it just before you pop out onto the road before going back into the woods for the last section- there's a big boulder on the right and I far too often clip my pedal on it.... Too fast with a stupid big grin!
Its been a wee while since I was last there, might just have a go this week......

lesz42

going back in june, aim is to do it under 3 and half hours, and walk a lot less

cant wait!

REMF

marin was a good trail, but more fun for the fitter bikers, i prefer Coed and Nant for the long downhill singletrack sections with forrestry road for uphill.

ratty2k

Dunno, I'm not what youd call fit at 18st... I can do the Marin in 2 hrs 30min...
Coed Y Brenin I take it? While good, I find too far to drive for a trail centre- I can drive 60 miles and be in the Peak district which is far better and nearer!

REMF

i just find coed-y-brenin and nant-y-arian easier to enjoy because it tends to be easy roads uphill with all the good single-track sections going down-hill.

i'm not fit enough to extract much fun from single-track thats uphill, or even flat if its far enough in to the trail for me to be tired.

i appreciate i'm lucky to live close to those too TC's which you are not, but i mountain bike for the thrills, not to get fit, so the response of "get fitter then" isn't of much use to me.