Looking at a short break in wales

Ska1975
Ska1975 Posts: 48
edited October 2012 in Holidays
Basically I want too spend 4 days touring Wales ticking of some red run classics and wanted some advice of where to go. I basically am going to go over the Severn bridge and will end up on the Marin trail 4 or 5 days later (with some driving in between :wink: ) as a rough guide I'd rather views over massive technical climbs!

Also has anyone got any views on the plas y brenin courses? I did a white water one and thought there were better on offer (albeit for more money) elsewhere but I could do with some drop of training before I lose my teeth and wondered what the biking Ones were like?

Cheers

Ian

Comments

  • calsh
    calsh Posts: 16
    i live in south wales, so i regularly go to afan and glyncorrwg. best trails are the wall, whites level, w2, skyline(amazing descent). cwmcarn is a must. gorlech trail in brechfa. cwm rheaerdr has a good descent, but the whole trail is only approx 7km.
  • YeehaaMcgee
    YeehaaMcgee Posts: 5,740
    Didn't even know Plas y Brenin did MTB courses!

    There's a fantastic choice of riding in the area, from natural rides like the fantastic Llyn Cowlyd loop in Capel Curig, the Snowdon loops, or nearer the Marin trail yu have the Penmachno trail, which is probably the best waymarked trail in the country.
    Then further West you have Coed y Brenin, Nant yr Arian, Machynlleth. Those alone should be more than enough for a 4 day tour.
    My photos
  • Ska1975
    Ska1975 Posts: 48
    Cheers guys- can I have a grid referance for the start of Penmachno please?

    Ian
  • YeehaaMcgee
    YeehaaMcgee Posts: 5,740
    Ska1975 wrote:
    Cheers guys- can I have a grid referance for the start of Penmachno please?

    Ian
    (I think) I can do better than that.
    here...

    http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=53.0323255~-3.811092399999998&lvl=15&dir=0&sty=s&cid=9AA2597E1E757585!996&eo=0

    You can also switch it to OS maps view if you want.
    My photos
  • dno64
    dno64 Posts: 18
    Me and a mate did Penmachno and Coed y Brenin (MBR Trail) over 2 days, a few weeks ago. Absolutely awesome.....going back again soon. LLandegla worth a visit also but may be a bit out of the way...Enjoy :D
  • YeehaaMcgee
    YeehaaMcgee Posts: 5,740
    Llandegla's fun, but I don't think it warrants a road trip just to ride it alone. If you're already near the area though, then it's certainly worth checking out.
    My photos
  • mintedox
    mintedox Posts: 273
    What's the parking like at penmachno? Been to the village before when i lived out that way but it was before i had a bike. Hopefully spending a few days in Ruthin next week so may as well make the most of it.
    Papa? Nicole
  • YeehaaMcgee
    YeehaaMcgee Posts: 5,740
    mintedox wrote:
    What's the parking like at penmachno? Been to the village before when i lived out that way but it was before i had a bike. Hopefully spending a few days in Ruthin next week so may as well make the most of it.
    There's a large layby to park in, right at the trailhead.
    It's not in the village, it's about a mile or so beyond it, on the right hand side of the road.
    It's not huge, but it's more than big enough to handle the amount of visitors the place gets.
    My photos
  • ilovedirt
    ilovedirt Posts: 5,798
    I much prefer Coed y Brenin to Penmachno, they're both fun though. As Yeehaa said, Snowdon is always worth doing, really good fun!
    Production Privee Shan

    B'Twin Triban 5
  • Ska1975
    Ska1975 Posts: 48
    Well I was thinking of snowdon but I was going to wait until I got there and see how I felt!
  • ilovedirt
    ilovedirt Posts: 5,798
    Fair enough. When are you going? There's probably still a fair amount of snow up there at the moment, and the ban comes in at the end of the month.
    Production Privee Shan

    B'Twin Triban 5
  • Ska1975
    Ska1975 Posts: 48
    how the cheese on toast can you ban mountain bikes from a mountain?
  • YeehaaMcgee
    YeehaaMcgee Posts: 5,740
    Ska1975 wrote:
    how the cheese on toast can you ban mountain bikes from a mountain?
    there's a voluntary ban on mountain bikes during the summer months. You're only allowed on after 5pm, and before 9am during the summer months. Or something like that. During the summer it's so busy that riding it is no fun anyway.
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  • slowslowslow
    slowslowslow Posts: 488
    If you are hitting Penmachno-(which I would thoroughly recomend over Marin) just make sure you stock up before, no facilities there at all so get stuff from Betsy first. Its also a voluntary donation car park.

    Regarding a course, do you want to spend holiday time doing one? If you only have four/five days do you want to give one up? I have done just about all the trails mentioned, (and am a pretty average rider) and apart from a few bits at Arfan there is nothing mental on the red runs. I'd just enjoy the riding with caution where caution is needed.

    If you want a stop in mid Wales to break the journey up the camping pods at Church Stretton are meant to be pretty good, there is some good riding round there at Eastridge and on the Mynd as well. Views are stunning up there on a good day.

    This is my standard source of info for Wales:
    http://mbwales.com/

    Enjoy
  • White Ninja
    White Ninja Posts: 39
    If you are after some stunning views and excellent riding then I'd highly recommend Nant Yr Arian.
    The trails are great, riding is varied and the visitors centre and cafe do great grub :-)

    Ninja
  • kathg
    kathg Posts: 142
    Hi there,

    Have heard really good things about the MTB courses at PYB. Instructors are a mix of locally based coaches as well as their own qualified guides. They have an excellent new skills area and pump track designed and built by Rowan Sorrell and his team. Also, they have been recently sponsored by Scott Bikes and are now involved with British Cycling to deliver the new MTB Leader quals. So, you'd be in good hands with them!

    Have fun!
  • YeehaaMcgee
    YeehaaMcgee Posts: 5,740
    I've never heard of those trails or courses at Plas y Brenin before.
    Are you sure you're not getting at least partially confused with Coed y Brenin? They're two totally different places.
    My photos
  • gezebo
    gezebo Posts: 364
    YeehaaMcgee wrote:
    I've never heard of those trails or courses at Plas y Brenin before.
    Are you sure you're not getting at least partially confused with Coed y Brenin? They're two totally different places.

    Nope plas y brenin are running their own mtb and road holidays as well as mtb quals. They have been for some time (years).
  • kathg
    kathg Posts: 142
    How the eck do you think anyone posting on this, er 'MTB' forum from N. wales could confuse PYB with Coed Y Brenin :lol:
  • lotus777
    lotus777 Posts: 1
    edited August 2015
    hey ska1975 would love to hear how you get on with your wales tour .
  • Ska1975
    Ska1975 Posts: 48
    thanks for all the advice.

    It looks like my trip is going to be postponed until September but I have a pretty good idea of what I want to ride.

    The only slight issue I have now is that I have been told that I will destroy myself and my bike taking in the red trails on a hard tail?! I just thought id open that can of worms.

    Ian
  • Ska1975
    Ska1975 Posts: 48
    I finally got round too it! I rode for three days in the wettest foggiest conditions possible:-)

    I rode the Marin trail, which I liked but i was completely blown away by pen machno, which was better but less scary than the Climax trail or whatever it's called but none were anywhere near as good as the single track on the summit trail at nant y Arian (which was so good I forgave it the uphill slog involved.

    I'm not that fit but managed them all and only really felt isolated (I rode the first two alone) because of the weather.

    Another trip is planned!

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