Recommend me a place to visit

Anonymous

ive got some hard earned leave meaning a week off and want to get away for some riding.

im not very good but fancy trying something nice and technical and am thinking of dalby or coed y brenin.

as a novice rider will i be able to do much at brenin or is it all a bit advanced? i was also thinking south wales too so where would be good for a rubbish bike rider

i am planning to visit midweek in order to avoid the rush so if anyone has any experience fo these places when is the best time to go? i dont want to be holding up dozens of proper bike riders.

cheers.

bomberesque

not been to coed y brenin for about 10 years. When I went the trails were ridable by all so long as you have had a bit of time in the saddle. Not sure how it's changed since though

Afan has something for all but the real sunday picnickers though and a really good range of trails.

have fun!

Anonymous

i worked out from where i live in essex i can get to dalby, brenin and afan in around the same time (about 4-4.5hours) so i want to have a couple of nights in a tent at any of the above.

im planning a visit to thetford, chicksands, and epping too, all of which are onyl an hour away.

should be a good week. im swaying towards brenin as it is famous and i like the idea of finally having been there.

Thewaylander

Go there its great. not far from Llandeglla and a few otheers either,

If your gonna stay there stop at Cae Gwyn Farm very quiet bikers camp site with no children always go there

And have no feaar of what you can't do everything on the trails is rollable at low speed if needed just go try and enjoy!

Anonymous

Thewaylander wrote:

Go there its great. not far from Llandeglla and a few otheers either,

If your gonna stay there stop at Cae Gwyn Farm very quiet bikers camp site with no children always go there

And have no feaar of what you can't do everything on the trails is rollable at low speed if needed just go try and enjoy!

haha, i like your style, so much so i have just booked 2 nights at that very campsite on tues and wednesday next week, im proper excited, i spose this thread was a bit premature really but i just wanted confirmation that i would be able to ride it as a bit of a novice, i always assumed welsh trails were all super rad gnarly hardcore like what i am.

hopefully i will get there tuesday for a ride, then a full ay on wednesday and then go to the visitors centre on thurs for a final blast round too.

which trails are the best for me to ride when i get there?

Fully

I think you'll enjoy all of them. The trails at Coed y Brenin throw you straight in at the deep end, so you'll know what to expect from the off. Personally, i think that the trails in the South flow better and aren't as rocky. However, if you are set on Coed y Brenin, then i would recommend taking a day out to ride Penmachno aswell, it's awesome and has a real wilderness feel to it with some great views across Snowdonia.

EDIT: Just seen your last post. MBR and Dragons Back are my faves at Coedy, i don't rate the Tarw too highly, but some others love it.

Anonymous

so how about tues afternoon and all day wednesday at brenin then on the thursday, drive the 25 miles up to penmachno.

sound like a reasonable way to fill a few days?

am i gonna find dragons back a bit too difficult as a bit of a rubbish rider?

Fully

Sounds like a good plan sheepsteeth. If you ride the MBR on Tuesday afternoon, it should get your confidence up for anything that is on the Dragons Back. The climbs are a bit of a griz, but nothing that a Sapper can't handle (Actually, the last time i went to Coedy with the ACU all of us had to walk up the last bit of the climb to False Teeth :oops: ).

Honestly, you'll be fine. I can't remember anything that can't be rolled at Coedy. 'The Beginning of the End' looks worse than it is, and by then you should be demon anyway.

Which bike are you taking by the way? Your Stumpy and Enduro will both eat those trails, but it might be an idea to take the Enduro if you think that the downs might be a bit much for you.

sparrowlegs78

I did the Cyflym Coch trail at Coed Y Brenin last saturday, it's a good introduction to the stuff on the MBR,Beast and Dragons back trails as it has bits of all those trails in it, Uncle Fester, Pinderosa, Dream Time and Pink Heifer.....it's a good trail as it's only 10.8 km long so if you scare yourself a bit you haven't far to ride to get back.......I find Coed Y Brenin scary but i managed Cyfylm Coch ok
Caz xxxx

Anonymous

Fully wrote:

Which bike are you taking by the way? Your Stumpy and Enduro will both eat those trails, but it might be an idea to take the Enduro if you think that the downs might be a bit much for you.

cheers for the vote of confidence, im very much looking forward to it all. my next question was going to be "what bike do i need" im going to take both and use the enduro first then see what its like on the stumpy too. (if ive got the legs for it of course!!)

Anonymous

sparrowlegs78 wrote:

I did the Cyflym Coch trail at Coed Y Brenin last saturday, it's a good introduction to the stuff on the MBR,Beast and Dragons back trails as it has bits of all those trails in it, Uncle Fester, Pinderosa, Dream Time and Pink Heifer.....it's a good trail as it's only 10.8 km long so if you scare yourself a bit you haven't far to ride to get back.......I find Coed Y Brenin scary but i managed Cyfylm Coch ok
Caz xxxx

that looks like good advice, should be a good way to have a bit of a taster.

im determined to get outside of my comfort zone to be honest as i normally ride very simple stuff and am trying to re-ignite my mtb flame. im doing a lot of road riding these days so want to get some top notch riding done just to stop me from turning to the drkside if nothing else!!

this should be an ace riding week, coed y brenin, betsw y coed, thetford, epping and chicksands.

delcol

i was going to sugest the stains, then seen you live in essex,

north wales is awesome,,

my advice would be skip llandegla but if you want to go while your ooooooooop north then do it first as you will be dissapointed if you ride coedy then go there..

c,y,b is awesome penmac is not to far with in 30 miles penmac is a good little trail.
marin trail is only up the road from pen, (i never rode that yet so can't comment)
and the climachx trail at Machynlleth to ( longest decent in wales. and some say the best) i never rode this yet..
http://www.dyfimountainbiking.org.uk/

this is a excellent link for welsh mtb trail centres.
http://www.mbwales.com/Default.aspx

enjoy your trip to wales, the there's some amzing riding out there.

oh i almost forgot snowdon,,,

Anonymous

ive done llandegla a few times, i really like it, i know its a bit rollercoaster-y but i like it all the same.

i found it to be well within my limits so am looking forward to trying something a bit more difficult and challenging.

my current line of work makes getting away to the far flung reaches of wales and especially scotland are too far away for me to be able to get to when im on a call-out duty. so im chuffed to have the time for the first tim ein about a year :shock:

Dobbs

Sheeps, I didn't know you are a sapper!
Essex? No RE units there is there?

Anonymous

Dobbs wrote:

Sheeps, I didn't know you are a sapper!
Essex? No RE units there is there?

i am a sapper, have been for 12 years. this is my current unit, in wimbish, north essex

im off to chatham for 2 years in october though!!

Dobbs

I was in for 7 years

this was my unit;
http://www.army.mod.uk/royalengineers/units/835.aspx
It was called 59 at the time though. and was smaller. and didn't have gurkhas. but was good on this piss and not adverse to getting naked as you may have seen in the news.

Anonymous

yeah thats a relatively new unit, i dont know much about it to be honest but everyone still knows who 59 are/were. i know a few folk who have been there and they are a good mob.

Dobbs

If you've been in 12 years, we would have joined at the same time.

Anonymous

i joined in march 97, went through bassingbourn then first post was 51 at ripon back when they were still airmobile.

KnightofCydonia

Fuerteventura. Beautiful beaches, and guided tours around some of the volcanic interior. Wish I was riding when I last went, I'm so going next time I visit.

Dobbs

joined jan 97, did basic at gib (not apprentice).
Went to chatham and then straight onto commando course. ouch.
You must be a stripey now then?

Anonymous

no, still a full screw, had 3 looks at the board and its starting to get annoying now, i was a full screw at 7 yrs and have stood sill since!!

Stu 74

Hi Sheepsteeth

Some good advice has already been given but here is my twopence worth

Personally I wouldn't start with the MBR at CYB. You may well be able to take it in your stride but there are a few tricky sections that could rattle you if you are not used to that sort of riding.

As sparrowlegs has suggested I would recommend starting with the 'Cyflym Coch' at CYB the day you get there. This is a fast flowing trail that should get you in the mood

I agree that you should visit Penmachno as it is a great trail (although it does divide opinion in these parts). Its a little overgrown at the moment but is still a cracking ride. There are 2 loops, loop 1 and loop 2 which is an optional add on to loop 1.

If you have the legs for it you could do Penmachno (maybe just loop 1) and the Marin (which is about 5 miles away) on your second day.

Then with your new found confidence and riding skills you should go back to CYB on your last day and tackle the Beast :shock:

Stu

pdid

Had the weekend in North Wales a few weeks back.

At CYB I wouldn`t bother with the Beast, there are a couple of extra singletrack sections on them but the majority of the extra km`s are made up on fire road. if you`re there for a few days i`d do Cyflym Coch, MBR and Tarw. These 3 trails take in the majority of what CYB has to offer. Most of the trails are rehashes of each other.

As mentioned already Penmachno is definately worth a visit. It is very overgrown at the moment though so wear a long sleeve top or you`ll come back with cuts from the brambles. The last descent at Penmachno is awesome.

Wouldn`t bother with the Marin either, seemed to be a load of fireroad intertwined with the odd bit of singletrack.

Either of your bikes will be fine.

Anonymous

Well thanks for all of the advice, I started today with the brief but superb Cyflym Coch, as I've admitted before, I'm pretty rubbish so I felt a little out of my depth at first.

This was down to the wet, my lack of confidence\ability and the fact that this is the Enduro's 1st proper trip as I'd built it at about the same time as I stopped riding off road so it feels very different to the way it did with old suspension and wheels.

That said, I can't believe I tried to sell it t'other week as its bloomin' amazing. I very quickly gained some confidence and picked up a fair but more speed than I had intended but the bike just let me crash through everything! I think I have set the sus up perfectly but this is more by luck than judgement! It even climbs well still, unlike me

I can't wait to get back out tomorrow, I'm gonna do as pdid suggested and ride MBR and Tar.

I didn't find today too taxing at all once I conquered my fears so should I do ok on the trails I'm talking about tomorrow?

Stu 74

How did you get on today with the MBR and TARW sheepsteeth?

Stu

Anonymous

i decided to do penmachno first then did mbr and i think thats enouh for one week!!

penmach was ace in the end but i found it annoying and difficult at first. annoying because the place is almost impossible to find unless you know where you are going as there are no signposts.
the first climb was hard work but i figured it would be worth it, i was wrong. after an eternal climb, there was a short but sweet bit of singletrack then a massive downhill on a forest road, i couldnt believe it!. i had put all that effort into climbing a forest road only to find myself losing what felt like an equal amountof height on another one! the thing about forest road descents is that they are surrounded by forest, why wasnt a trail put in there?

there was loads more mix of forest road and nice single track (even the singletrack climbing was almost fun) but then there were 4 amazing bits of descent which made it all worth while, (i wish i had known at the start that this would be the case as i spent alot of the ride feeling very pi55ed off after the fireroad descent debacle!)

as mentioned above, the final bit was outstanding but i thought the last 2 were proper good. i did end up over the bars on the last bit but thanks to knee and elbow pads, all is well which definately wouldnt have ben the case if i hadnt worn them, i took a right old spill right onto some very pointy rocks!

im glad i didnt start the trip with mbr, you really are thrown straight in!! the rocks were like nothing i had ever ridden and if i hadnt prepared with penmach i would have been straight back to my car! i managed almost all of it but i found the rooty bit near the end a bit dificult and walked down it. i could have lived without the massive forest road climb near the beginning though!!

im home now as i decided i would knock it on the head after having enjoyed the riding i did (plus me arm and leg are a bit stff now!) i was properly at the extent of my ability with the riding i did and i didnt wnt to end up fed up if i had a hard time of tawr tomorrow. from the description i figured it might be a bit outside of my ability.

either way, i enjoyed it loads and feel like i have come on leaps and bounds, i cant wait to go back, i might need to get a bit fitter before those forest climbs though!

Stu 74

Sounds like you did both loops at Penmachno? The singletrack on loop2 will be much better to ride in the Autumn as it really overgrown at the moment and this makes the trail a lot slower as you can't see what's ahead. :?

Glad you liked it in the end though, the last descents are pretty good It is quite normal to have a crash at Penmachno, it's not the hardest trail in North Wales but it seems to claim more victims than most.

Yes the MBR is quite intimidating the first time you do it but it will be much easier next time as you will know what to expect.

Good effort doing both trails in the same day, I don't think I would have the legs for the MBR after doing Penmachno 1 and 2 :oops:

Anyway glad you had a fun time!

Stu

Anonymous

i only did loop one, i was proper knackered and still ticked off about the forest road descent, i cant tell you how much that affected the ride!! so i couldnt bring myself to do the extra incase it was more of the same. in hindsight, when i go again i will definately do both loops.

mbr was a very slow affair, i was dead on my a55, and really feeling the effects when it came to my skills, although i thought the descending in penmach was more demanding.

things i need to learn/do before my return:

get fitter!!!
practice steps
deal with my mental issues towards climbing!

im insanely jealous of anyone who has riding like that in their vicinity, it was a long old drive home!!!

lesz42

CyB is an hour away for me, tried the MBR, hated it, well thats a bit strong, my skills, were not good enuff for it


did about 300 meters and turned back :oops:


Llandelga in a 15-ish min drive, and visit at least twice a week, gets slated, but people who say its boring, dont ride it fast enuff? ( not that i do!)


Did the marin and loved it, want to go back again very soon, harder then degla, bit easier then CyB

pdid

Sounds like you had a good time

I must agree that the forest roads are a nightmare, it`s not so much the climbing on them, which I see as a necessary evil, it`s when you`ve climbed and then descend on forest roads they become very tedious.

Just be thankful you didn`t do the Marin trail. I lost the will to live by the end due to the high ratio of forest road to singleterack. The Beast at CYB was the same, had a monsterous section of forrest road about half way around, fortunately the singletrack more than made up for it, which is why I suggested MBR rather than the full black.