Coed-Y-Brenin and Betwys
Last weekend I headed up to North Wales with Gav, Matt and also Jonty from the office. We drove up on the Friday night and were treated to a cracking sky over the M1 as we headed North. We even managed to get to Dolgellau for a couple of pints in the pub before closing time.
Sat morning we headed over to Coed-Y-Brenin to do the Dragon’s Back trail. It’s been a while since I’d been but fortunately nothing had really changed. I had however forgotten how rocky that first bit is and Jonty looked pretty worried that the whole trail would be like this. He’s ridden lots on road but not off road before. Fortunately we managed go borrow a decent bike for him to have all weekend otherwise it would have been even harder.
Having prepared for cold weather, even Matt was wearing tights, we all soon found ourselves far too warm in the wintery sun. Having expected cold and grey weather it was such a pleasure to be riding in clear sunshine with the surrounding mountains still covered in snow and in t-shirts.
After stopping at the tea shop on the way round we headed back onto the trail and forgot to take the shortcut we normally do which avoids a lot of very boring fire road. One good reason for doing the extra bit was the chance of a great team photo with some snowy peaks in the background.
As usual Matt found room for an impromptu track stand, this time on top of a burnt out car.
But we did actually manage some riding too which was tip top. The trails were great and once you’ve hit the top of the climb the series of trails back to the centre are just incredible. I love following Matt down the trails, trying to follow his line and equally like it when someone is sitting on my tail making you go faster through the trail. The adrenaline is such a buzz.
Once we’d tidied up and packed the van I remembered that I’d been to a superb riverside pub adjacent to a rickety old toll bridge many years back which is a real sun trap. After some asking around we found it went to bask in the sun for a bit. Whilst I was in the car park we discovered that our planned ride at Llandegla was going to have to be re-arranged as it was under ten foot of snow.
So next morning after a night on the town in Dolgellau we gave the Marin trail at Betwys a go. None of us had ever ridden there before but were pleasantly surprised by its quality. A little too much fire road climbing for me but the trails were rocky, flowy and felt very natural rather than the manicured ones that have been cropping up so much recently.
There was one section where we rode along a rocky ridge with Snowdon in the background. The balance between looking at the trail or the scenery is always hard, especially with this section of trail. I wish I’d gone back for a picture of someone riding it really.
The final section of trail was the fastest of the weekend with some really nice jumps and steps in the trail to pop off. Know that I know the trail I’d love to go back and have a go at riding it a bit faster, again with someone on my tail to give me a bit more speed.
So after that it was back into the van for the long trip back to London. We managed a round trip of 600 miles and a full tank of diesel. Haven’t had such a good riding trip in a long time. Worth the extra drive for sure!
