Coed y Brenin Virgin

gbianchi9

Hi

I'm of to Coed y Brenin tomorrow for the weekend, taking my stumpy there for a good work out. Six of us are going from the flat lands of Suffolk. If you see six redfaced blokes looking lost it will be us.

Any last minute advise regarding the best routes etc? Also, and good pubs in the area for a few shandy's?

matty_boy76

I did the Beast there 2 weeks ago which was good but there's probably too much fireroad climbing if you just like singletrack. Great views at the top though.

Otherwise, do MBR and/or Dragons Back, which are practically the same as the Beast, except over 2 courses rather than one.

Best pubs in Dolgellau, (try the pub in Queen Square for food - big portions) free parking after 6pm.

I lost my crank bros tool somewhere on pugsley/lurch so it's yours if you find it!

clint29

Ride the Beast first. I went there in May for two days,on the first day we did the MBR trail and then the orange route(can't remember the name).The second day we were greeted with typhoon like conditions so came home and regretted not riding the black route(the Beast)

gbianchi9

We are going to try the MBR first and then go from there, the hardest thing i've done so far is the Beast in Thetford so i'm preparing for good workout

chrisga

Its all good. You'll love it. Lookout for badgers, the first section if you do MBR, the beast or a couple of others. If you think you'll be eased in gently think again!!!

gbianchi9

i'll have to keep you posted and let you know how we get on, lets hope that the rain holds off for a few days.

clint29

chrisga wrote:

Its all good. You'll love it. Lookout for badgers, the first section if you do MBR, the beast or a couple of others. If you think you'll be eased in gently think again!!!

Ha ha good advice

grumsta

If you do the Beast you can miss out a lot of the fire-road on the second half - just carry on up the road instead of turning off onto fire-road. It's fairly obvious on the map.

Fully

gbianchi9 wrote:

We are going to try the MBR first and then go from there, the hardest thing i've done so far is the Beast in Thetford so i'm preparing for good workout

You'll definitely have a good workout . The climb that leads up to False Teeth is a particularly good one . Once you get past the part where your eyes start to bleed you'll be okay though.

landerson61

chrisga wrote:

Its all good. You'll love it. Lookout for badgers, the first section if you do MBR, the beast or a couple of others. If you think you'll be eased in gently think again!!!

HA i agree with this totally!! Came off my bike on the beast and broke my collar bone.....so do not under estimate this trail.

injury aside, ive been here three times now. first was at a demo day last year testing out a few bikes on the MBR route. then went back and did the dragons back and MBR together, which i would recommend. Some awesome single track, but as stated before, there are a lot of fire road climbs which can let it down a little in my opinion....but overall you'll have some good fun giving you and your bike a workout here

Anonymous

how did it go?
I saw a large crowd of about 6 or so riders taking photos just before "rocky horror show" on the Tarw trail, never thought it could have been yo uguys though!

Funny that it's still called the "rocky horror show", cause it's been smoothed out a hell of a lot over the years.

miss notax

Bloody hell, i'm off to Coed y Brenin for the Bank Holiday weekend and i'm feeling a little like this :shock: now!

How technical are the red routes? I'm probably a good intermediate rider but I don't think i'll be attempting the black route :oops:

Yes. I am officially a scaredy-cat.

Thewaylander

Meh there easy enough, just rocky like all of Wales have no fear!

SDK2007

The first section on the MBR, Dragons Back, Beast is the most technical on the route. If you manage that they you'll dot he rest fine.

miss notax

SDK2007 wrote:

The first section on the MBR, Dragons Back, Beast is the most technical on the route. If you manage that they you'll dot he rest fine.

Technical uphill or downhill? Might give the Beast a go - my other half will do it and I don't like missing out

SDK2007

Technical in the sense that parts are over stepped rocks.

Thewaylander

SDK2007 wrote:

The first section on the MBR, Dragons Back, Beast is the most technical on the route. If you manage that they you'll dot he rest fine.

I'd disagre, Snap crackle and pop are far more technical on the old red bull, mostly down to the fact you hit them at speed, and very rocky, Rock gardens like the start of MBR is slightly across, slightly up/down at points and isnt very long. just go in 4th 5th for alot and power.

Anonymous

miss notax wrote:

Bloody hell, i'm off to Coed y Brenin for the Bank Holiday weekend and i'm feeling a little like this :shock: now!

How technical are the red routes? I'm probably a good intermediate rider but I don't think i'll be attempting the black route :oops:

Yes. I am officially a scaredy-cat.

The black route in Coedy - Beast - is black because of it's length.
All the main routes, MBR, Dragon's Back, Tarw and even Temptiwr are of a similar grade, but varying lengths.
The Beast is basically ALL of the Dragon's back, coombined with ALL of the MBR, as near as damn it.

If I had to pick one route that was more technical than the others, I'd say Tarw was the toughest.
Speed and momentum is the key for most of Coedy riding, as it carries you over the worst of it. I see too many people really struggling because they're going too slow, and end up having to power the bike over each and every rock whilst getting pummelled this way and that.

Also, be prepared for some uphill climbs that are actually technically dificult, as well as bloody steep! :shock:

Anonymous

Thewaylander wrote:

SDK2007 wrote:

The first section on the MBR, Dragons Back, Beast is the most technical on the route. If you manage that they you'll dot he rest fine.

I'd disagre, Snap crackle and pop are far more technical on the old red bull, mostly down to the fact you hit them at speed, and very rocky, Rock gardens like the start of MBR is slightly across, slightly up/down at points and isnt very long. just go in 4th 5th for alot and power.

I think he means that the first section of trail is the hardest on the MBR, Dragon's Back, and Beast trails.
Tarw doesn't share the same trailhead.

I love Snap crackle and pop, always have, but I swear they've lost some roughness over the years. It looks as though some loose gravel and dirt has slowly started filling in the gaps between the rocks.
I also find it fascinating that the "line" on most of the singletrack sections on the Tarw overshoot the corners. I think people started missing corners too often, then because they left an apparent trail, more and more people followed their line, and it's now really confusing, and easy to get caught unawares!

There's an S-bend on "Rocky horror show" that nearly gets me every single time. I always get to the point where I'm going at a fair old pace, then reach the same corner and nearly nearly miss it! :oops:
Every time i go back to the red bull route, I remember why I used to love it.

Thewaylander

Thats cos most people jump over the edge of the corners mate,

And yeh but i still wouldn't say that was the most technical section of mbr either its just the most laborious cos its pedal heavy

Anonymous

Meh, I've treid jumping the s-bends on Rocky horror show, and it just wasn't as satisfying as carving around them.

Thewaylander

Depends on the mood of the day, carvy or floaty.


cutting the corners is the way faster line if you were racing on it its the way you'd go. but Carving is fun and we all know it

Stu T

yeehaamcgee wrote:

miss notax wrote:

Bloody hell, i'm off to Coed y Brenin for the Bank Holiday weekend and i'm feeling a little like this :shock: now!

How technical are the red routes? I'm probably a good intermediate rider but I don't think i'll be attempting the black route :oops:

Yes. I am officially a scaredy-cat.

The black route in Coedy - Beast - is black because of it's length.
All the main routes, MBR, Dragon's Back, Tarw and even Temptiwr are of a similar grade, but varying lengths.
The Beast is basically ALL of the Dragon's back, coombined with ALL of the MBR, as near as damn it.

If I had to pick one route that was more technical than the others, I'd say Tarw was the toughest.
Speed and momentum is the key for most of Coedy riding, as it carries you over the worst of it. I see too many people really struggling because they're going too slow, and end up having to power the bike over each and every rock whilst getting pummelled this way and that.

Also, be prepared for some uphill climbs that are actually technically dificult, as well as bloody steep! :shock:

don't know if it's been mentioned already but there's a regrading going on at the moment


http://www.mbwales.com/en/content/cms/n ... ed_tr.aspx

Anonymous

^^Oh yeah.
I'd heard about the re-grade, but hadn't looked into it much. Never been too fussed with trail grades.

Stu T

I like it because me and a mate did MBR last year and he fell off 2 meters from the end and bust his wrist now he can brag it was a black and I became a better rider by looking at the internet!!!!!

gbianchi9

What a fantastic weekend, i have never been to a trail centre like that before. I would recommened it to anyone.
We hit the MBR trail at 8am on the far side of the route, which my brother thought that he would have another look what he had for breakfast, to many climbs after breakfast.
As we were from Suffolk the climbs took us by suprise, you guys were kidding about those, i have to admit that we did a fair share of walking, didn't want to burn out to soon.
But the downhill single track sections are well worth the climbs. In the afternoon we thought that we would take it a little easier, so we done the Cyflym Coch. The climb at the start and then the single track on the way down was magic, i love the fast flowing sections. But late in the afternoon the pink heiffer finished of my legs, i didn't think that that was going to end.
But i have to say that the 500 mile round trip was well worth it, we are planning another trip soon, this time we are thinking of going to Afan. How do the two compare?

Stu T

I might be biased cos I live a few miles from it but Afan is far better, feels more natural and has a better flow.

Basically think Pink Heifer but all like that

Anonymous

Stu T wrote:

I might be biased cos I live a few miles from it but Afan is far better, feels more natural and has a better flow.

Basically think Pink Heifer but all like that

I won't disagree with that. Coedy started off nice and natural, but the recent additions, whilst fun to ride, have a definitely man-made feel.

It may well be a necessary evil due to the insanely large volume of traffic though.

VWsurfbum

Stu T wrote:

I might be biased cos I live a few miles from it but Afan is far better, feels more natural and has a better flow.

Basically think Pink Heifer but all like that

from what it sounds like your level (and mine) you'll enjoy afan more, we used to ride Coed y brenin every couple of months now we have switched to afan.
makes thetford a bit boring now doesnt it?

Anonymous

Hmm, I like Coedy's "flow" though. As unnatural as some of the new sections are, if you know how to ride them, they flow really well.

Stu T

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Hmm, I like Coedy's "flow" though. As unnatural as some of the new sections are, if you know how to ride them, they flow really well.

that'd be my problem then!!LOL