Marin Trail videos

Crayfish

Was up at Betws-y-Coed at the weekend. Did Penmachno in the drizzle on Saturday, and Marin on Sunday (reasonably dry). What an awesome pair of trails - a credit to North Wales and the Forestry Commission - thanks guys you rock. Wish I lived nearby...

Made a couple of videos of the Marin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ACt_XKkXsw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_cFu7n9J10&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=508OnOhkSzk

Enjoy! :P

phoebian

Excellent trails and excellent riding

Crayfish

Thanks phoebian. I'd highly recommend it!

phoebian

First trail I ever did

It's what got me into mountain biking!

welshkev

i did it about 3 weeks ago and thought it was a bit poo :oops:

oh well horses for courses glad you enjoyed it though, any day on the trails still beats a day in the office

oh, but good vids btw

Crayfish

welshkev wrote:

i did it about 3 weeks ago and thought it was a bit poo :oops:

oh well horses for courses glad you enjoyed it though, any day on the trails still beats a day in the office

oh, but good vids btw

Thanks. Any day in Wales beats a day in London too. Trust me, the Marin is excellent compared to 99% of our local trails. Why did you think that - are you a downhiller?

welshkev

Crayfish wrote:

welshkev wrote:

i did it about 3 weeks ago and thought it was a bit poo :oops:

oh well horses for courses glad you enjoyed it though, any day on the trails still beats a day in the office

oh, but good vids btw

Thanks. Any day in Wales beats a day in London too. Trust me, the Marin is excellent compared to 99% of our local trails. Why did you think that - are you a downhiller?

i do prefer the downs to the ups definately (i'm a little on the chubby side ) but i just thought that there was too much climbing for not enough reward. the singletrack sections and final decsent were really good, i just didn't think there was enough for the effort that i put in and also when i thought i'd climbed as high as i could i'd come around a bend and hit another dull fire road or even worse road climb!

i mean don't get me wrong, the scenery was awsome and i had a nice evening, i think i rode it in 2hrs 15 mins ish. but i prefer other trails

darren555

I've done the Marin a few times now and really enjoy a good climb but I agree that there is no payback with the Marin for the effort. Yes the scenery is great and there are a few good runs on it but I would rather drive to Coed y Brenin now which is WAY better. I would like to do the Penmachno sometime though.

Crayfish

Darren555 wrote:

I've done the Marin a few times now and really enjoy a good climb but I agree that there is no payback with the Marin for the effort. Yes the scenery is great and there are a few good runs on it but I would rather drive to Coed y Brenin now which is WAY better. I would like to do the Penmachno sometime though.

There is one section of Marin where you lose a lot of height on fireroad and tar. I don't mind climbing on fireroad, but on a really good trail you will always descend on singletrack. If only they could link up some singletrack instead of the fireroad descent near Pont Banog, Marin would go from Good to Great. Still love the scenery though...

We did Penmachno the day before we did Marin (last Saturday). Here's some video from the previous time we did it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md77JwpjH5Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCagc8t3tuQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kizBk0nbds&feature=related

What I love about Penmachno is the feeling that you are in the wilderness - quite remote - and how loop 2 is so different from loop 1.

ddraver

I'm local to Marin so ride it alot! I think the main trouble with it vs other trail centres (twrch trail excepted cos that really is a joke!) is that so much of the climbing is fireroad so it feels so much longer - those first two climbs are so long and dull - a few biots of climbing sinlge track would make it seem less bad I reckon

It's a great trail for wet friday nights though!

Penmachno Loop 1 is starting to wear badly now though, and the overgrowth last time we did it was absurd!!

Duggan13

Really enjoyed watching those vids, never been to a trail centre but the trails look ace to me, must get along when I get the chance

welshkev

ddraver wrote:

I'm local to Marin so ride it alot! I think the main trouble with it vs other trail centres (twrch trail excepted cos that really is a joke!) is that so much of the climbing is fireroad so it feels so much longer - those first two climbs are so long and dull - a few biots of climbing sinlge track would make it seem less bad I reckon

It's a great trail for wet friday nights though!

Penmachno Loop 1 is starting to wear badly now though, and the overgrowth last time we did it was absurd!!

i was working up in llandudno when i rode the marin. i work up there quite a lot so i'll give you a shout next time i'm there. the hill with the ski slope on looks like it might be good?

Crayfish

Duggan13 wrote:

Really enjoyed watching those vids, never been to a trail centre but the trails look ace to me, must get along when I get the chance

OK, these trails are not really associated with any trail centre. Penmachno starts at a layby about a mile outside the village. Marin starts at a car park near Llanrwst. There are no facilities other than car parking. No loos, cafe, shop etc. I think the nearest trail centre must be Coed-y-Brenin - did The Beast there once - Epic 8)

Bitemebryn

ddraver wrote:

It's a great trail for wet friday nights though!

Penmachno Loop 1 is starting to wear badly now though, and the overgrowth last time we did it was absurd!!

I did both this week just gone. For me the Marin only got interesting on the final third. Penmachno though, on a wet Friday evening with the mist on the top of the mountain closing in and racing the dwindling daylight was an experience to say the least!

Would do both again at the drop of a hat though.

Anonymous

Ditto what some of the others have said, these aren't "trail centres" at all. In fact, I don't think they even see any maintenance, they're about as natural as you can get.

welshkev

yep no trail centre at the marin...i was dying for a dump aswell