Horsehoe pass - which way?

thistle_

I was going to go out for a ride over the Horseshoe Pass near Llangollen this morning as it's not that far from me and the weather was good when I woke up.

It's now pissing it down so I'll stay in for a while and hope it stops.

But which is the best way to ride it?

Going north to south I think the climb is longer and less steep, but there are the tight bends on the downhill which I'll have to slow down for (I'm not that confident at high speed cornering, especially in the wet)

Going south to north I think the climb is steeper and I'd be doing the tight bends slowly, but the uphill road is narrower (more difficult for cars to pass) and is the downhill on the other side worth it if it is not as steep?

redddraggon

Llandegla -> Llangollen is rather easy and short. You already pretty high up at the Llandegla side, whereas Llangollen is (I guess) not far off sea level.

thistle_

I would be doing a loop from Wrexham so I'd have to ride up to Llandegla (village) anyway

The other advantage of doing it south-north is the descent back into Wrexham isn't too shabby as long as you don't hit a traffic jam.

SDF64

Without a doubt the best way is coming from the Llangollen side. As redddraggon says the climb from the Llandegla side is too short.

We quite often cut through Minera and up over Worlds End which brings you out in Llangollen although I wouldn't recommend it at the moment with all the rain we've had. The ford will probably be a bit on the fast side at the moment. Got caught out by it last winter and nearly went for a dip.

lfcquin

SDF64 wrote:

Without a doubt the best way is coming from the Llangollen side. As redddraggon says the climb from the Llandegla side is too short.

We quite often cut through Minera and up over Worlds End which brings you out in Llangollen although I wouldn't recommend it at the moment with all the rain we've had. The ford will probably be a bit on the fast side at the moment. Got caught out by it last winter and nearly went for a dip.

I don't get to do it very often but Worlds End, Llangollen, Landegla & Sunspot is most definately in my top 3 favourite rides - and riding either way is amazing.

So don't worry which way you are riding, just tell yourself while you are riding it that you are a very very lucky boy or girl.

redddraggon

lfcquin wrote:

SDF64 wrote:

Without a doubt the best way is coming from the Llangollen side. As redddraggon says the climb from the Llandegla side is too short.

We quite often cut through Minera and up over Worlds End which brings you out in Llangollen although I wouldn't recommend it at the moment with all the rain we've had. The ford will probably be a bit on the fast side at the moment. Got caught out by it last winter and nearly went for a dip.

I don't get to do it very often but Worlds End, Llangollen, Landegla & Sunspot is most definately in my top 3 favourite rides - and riding either way is amazing.

So don't worry which way you are riding, just tell yourself while you are riding it that you are a very very lucky boy or girl.

It well beats riding in England.

thistle_

I went out in between the rain and went up the Llangollen side.

The main climb around the horseshoe wasn't that bad, the bit from Llan to the Abbey was worse (seemed steeper and loads of holes in the road). Hardly any traffic out - was nice

Was a bit disappointed with the downhill on the other side. It was alright, 30+ mph all the way, but the bends were tighter than I thought so had to use the brakes :roll: and it wasn't that long.

I might try it the other way around soon and see what I think. The descent back to Llangollen after the horseshoe should be good 8)

iain_j

If I had to ride it in one direction it would be south to north, I love that climb, the descent off the other side is OK but too short, and the climb at the end up to the roundabout always creases me!

What I've done once or twice is climb it from Llangollen then descend the same way, best of both worlds, then go off somewhere else. It took a bit of practice, but beyond the first hairpins I've descended it brake-less a few times. Awesome piece of road.

thistle_

Well, I went and did it the other way around today (North-South) and got even wetter than last time :?

Having experienced it both ways I think I actually prefer North to South: The downhill on the Llangollen side was much better (50 mph in the rain 8) ), the uphill to Llandegla wasn't too bad and neither was the up and down bit from Llangollen back to Wrexham.

I didn't realise just how long the descent is on the Llangollen side until I drove it earlier in the week. That climb is definitely one to remember as a training route!