Two off, two on!

zedhead

Two days off work, and two days on the bike!
First day over to Betws-y-coed and the Marin trail - bit of a trial by fire as people had said that it's a bit of a grueler, and I'm not especially fit... Found it okay, and after inital tiny bit of fun single track, straight into very tedious forestry road that I had to push up! Was thinking that I was wasting my time as this road went on for ages! But once into the bits of single track I did really enjoy it, and the views! Wow! Got very frustrtaed by trudging uphill only to come down again on forestry road though - I don't mind pushing uphill if the prize is glorious downhill singletrack, but if the downhill is forestry road then that's annoying! But I guess that it's still in development? And the very final downhill stretch is mental! A couple of close moments, and chronic cramp in my thighs when I rolled into the car park!
Second day, and after the good reports I'd heard of Lee Quarry, that's where I headed. What a pig to find! Again, a very tedious trudge up bank, but great fun once up amongst the twisty trails. The weather was hot, and I got sunburnt, but it must be very exposed up there when the weather is grim - needs lots of trees planted in my view, but obvious that development is continuing and it can only get better! It'll be a mega venue in the future, that's for sure! But that black run is scary - I thought I'd give it a whirl after completing the small segments of black amongst the red, but ended up pushing ALL the way down! How embarrassing!
And then another couple of 'moments' on the run back to the entrance... nearly collided with a sheep too...
Two good days, but will I return? Not when Llandegla is closer and, for me, has more to offer in one venue.
Oh, and I'd heard that the Marin was funded by car park payments, something that I'm more than happy to contribute to, but the car park I parked in didn't have any pay points! I was actually disappointed in that as I'd like to pay towards the upkeep / development of the trail...

sniper68

The 1st car park you come to at the Marin(the one on 2 levels has a pay point.I've been going there a couple of times a year since 2004 and it has never worked :roll: For variety try CYB,a bit further thn the Marin but more trails.

zedhead

The car park I used was a two level one, in Llanrwst, but couldn't see any pay machine at all! Actually, I forgot to look when I got there, and realised halfway round! So spent second half wondering whether I'd be ticketed or clamped...

I have a spare weekend next month, and was actually considering Coed Y Brenin - it's worth a visit then? Enough for a full day of riding? (ie 6 hours or so)

sniper68

If it's the CP in the woods the (small) pay machine used to be between the levels,maybe it's been removed.
RE CYB
Definitely worth a look theres 5 or 6 trails,enough for a weekend never mind 6 hours.The beast and the Dragons back are tougher than the Marin.
Info Here:
http://www.mbwales.com/en/content/cms/C ... renin.aspx
There's also Penmachno,about 5 miles from the Marin,bugger to find though and a lot tougher than the Marin.
http://www.mbwales.com/en/content/cms/B ... _Coed.aspx

zedhead

Looks like CYB will be the next trip out then! Hoping to do a full weekend over there - any campsites / car parks where I can leave my van overnight?
If Penmachno is tougher tha the Marin then that's off the radr for me, at least until I get a bit fitter... I found myself pushing up most of Marin's climbs, but then I quite like walking and the scenery is nice... (ahem)

sniper68

We generally camp in Betws-Y-Coed but I believe there are campsites in Dollgellau which is closer to CYB.IIRC the car park closes and a barrier is put down and overnight parking isn't allowed at the trailhead.
As for Penmachno it's a lot more "pedally" than the Marin with only one real descent at the end.I'm not the fittest and it can be a slog but I love it.The views are just as spectacular and the first climb from the parking area is steeper than any at the Marin IMO.

Anonymous

Marin trail is very old now, and something of a retro XC trail by modern standards. I'm not a big fan of it, but I do it every now and again just for a change.
It really annoys me how little payback there is for the epic climbs. And that one bit which I'm sure is unrideable unless you're a trials rider.

sniper68

yeehaamcgee wrote:

And that one bit which I'm sure is unrideable unless you're a trials rider.

Which bit is that?It's all 100% ridable unless somethings changed since we were last there.

Anonymous

erm, the bit towards the south-west of the trail, where you ride up a farmtrack for a bit, then turn across some singletrack. There's 2-foot high, 1-foot(ish) long rock-steps there. Lots of them, uphill and round tight bends too so you can't get any speed onto them either.

sniper68

yeehaamcgee wrote:

erm, the bit towards the south-west of the trail, where you ride up a farmtrack for a bit, then turn across some singletrack. There's 2-foot high, 1-foot(ish) long rock-steps there. Lots of them, uphill and round tight bends too so you can't get any speed onto them either.

Oh yeah i forgot about them.....so 100% ridable apart from the steps

Anonymous

yeah, the rest of it is very tame, and those steps seems to suggest we're all riding round it the wrong way!

sniper68

We've always thought it strange to include them.

zedhead

yeehaamcgee wrote:

yeah, the rest of it is very tame, and those steps seems to suggest we're all riding round it the wrong way!

Yeah, I thought I'd gone the wrong way there, 'specially as there's no waymarkers around that bit...

UI'm with Yeehaa with regards to little payback for all the climbing, and the downhill it of forestry trail was very frustrating... but the last singletrack downhill at the very end, that was great!