They say a trip to Wales never fails.

For ages I have put off a trip to Wales. There was always some other destination bumping the Wales trip to a later date. Better weather, higher mountains or easier to reach, the excuses were many but the desire to visit Wales never faded. Inevitably we did manage to free up 4,5 days in our schedule to squeeze in some class riding. 

As our time was limited both in preparation as well as our trip, I decided to give my friend Rinse a call. He has been to Wales many times and was sure to be able to point me in the right direction to some good trails and spots. A long phone call and warm left ear later I was confident that this was going to be ace. We ended up with a list of a trail centre, a bike park, some ace natural trails and the address of the Wave Pool for some class surfing! 

We planned to take the plane to Liverpool and rent a Transporter van. Easy to fit in our bikes and kit for our drive to the Trawsfynydd Holidays Village where we booked a cottage for the trip. Strategically placed we were 15 minutes away to two different Trail Centres, 50 minutes from Mount Snowdon and an hour away from the wave pool. 

Crazy early I was waiting at the airport for Ydwer and Michiel, two friends that would join me on the trip. It would also come in handy that they’re both professional photographers. As a bouncy border collie I was already at the gate as the two more seasoned aeroplane travellers arrived. Their years of flying across the globe made them a lot more chilled out when it came to checking in bags and boarding times. 

Easy going

The flight was smooth and before I could finish my hot coffee we were already starting the descent to Liverpool. The rental van was a great choice too. Three people in the front and all our bikes and gear in the back worked a treat. Two hours later we were already checked in and in the process of liberating our bikes from the bike bags. As we took a flight at silly o'clock in the morning, we even had time to go for a spin at the legendary Coed Y Brenin trail centre. 

The Tarw Du (Black Bull) trail at Coed Y Brenin is the UK's oldest purpose built MTB trail dating back to 1996! As there are many trails to choose from and we only have limited daylight we decided to take the MBR trail. Rinse told me about 18km of singletrack goodness and he did not lie.

Counting an average of 13 rainy days even in the middle of summer, the forests in Wales are lush and bright green. Tall trees and moss covered landscapes made me convinced that the elves and gnomes are not far away. The trail is a dream for any 140mm bike out there. Rocky enough to keep it interesting but plenty of flow to keep you in the zone. 

Back at the cabin we grab a shower and head out to the pub. Your best bet for a good meal, some beers and a warm fireplace. Because even though we are lucking out with the weather, the evenings are still chilly.
After a caloric dense meal and several dark tinted pints of beer we head back to the cabin as we have another big day planned tomorrow.

We decided to ride the slightly more remote trail centre of Penmachno. Situated right next to Betws Y Coed, this trail sees a lot less use and has a more natural feel to it. Even though the weather has been nice for the past few days, there are plenty of puddles to splash through here. I wonder what it would be like mid winter. I’m sure you could use a canoe on certain days! 

Penmachno is a relatively short loop, so by lunchtime we’re back at our van and head back to Coed Y Brenin to ride the other trails they have to offer. We love the mix of natural style trails with the odd ‘constructed’ rock garden section. You know these trails are really well built as any jump can be cleared smoothly and all of the corners have a perfect radius for bikers. 

Go big or go surfing

Today we’re headed to the famous Revolution Bike Park. Known from all the videos we knew this was going to be interesting. As I pull out my 140mm trail machine from the van I already notice I am a bit out of tune here. Most riders have big hitting enduro machines or full on DH bikes. I throw in an extra prayer for survival. 

Three well matured Land Rovers are at our service to drive us up the hill, where we have a choice of ten different ways to ride back down. The trails are seriously technical and the jumps are definitely bigger than I am comfortable with. I do my best to survive but after a couple of hours struggling I throw in the towel and promise myself to return with a proper bike next time. 

Michiel and Ydwer are also happy to call it a day, as we have a surf session booked at the wave pool in a few hours. Besides mountain biking we’re all keen surfers too, so it was hard to skip an opportunity like this! 

Adventure day

Our final day arrived, and we definitely wanted to ride some more natural stuff, so the logical solution was to head up Snowdon, Wales’ highest mountain. Now as this is quite a popular destination for hikers, there is a fair use policy in place letting bikers ride the trails until 10am in the morning. That meant packing up all our stuff the day before so when the alarm went off at 5am all we had to do was roll out of bed and into our van.

As the sun rose we washed away our yoghurt with some coffee at the car park. A two hours uphill struggle awaits us, as the trail up is steep and rough. We push most of the way, as the non steep sections tend to be rocky and rough, making riding up impossible. Along the way we see the odd hiker that’s trying to beat the crowds like us, but there were no other bikers to be seen. 

At the summit we get treated to amazing views. We can’t believe our luck with the weather on this trip as many people told us we’d be in for some horizontal rain and cloud cover for at least one of the days. As the first hikers and tourists start to arrive by train, we make the decision to take the more techy of the two routes down. We love a bit of adventure and adventure we get as the trail snakes down to the valley. Technical it is, but about 90% is rideable if you have a little bit of skills. The hikers that we encountered were all super friendly and kept on asking if we meant to go down this trail. Yup, we sure did. 

Back at the van it’s time to pack up the bikes and speed off to Liverpool airport for our evening flight. The drive back leads us over tight twisty roads that gradually get wider, straighter through a more and more populated surrounding. Perfectly easing us back into reality. 

Wales never fails they say, and they’re right. Even though we lucked out on the weather, it’s the riding and vibe of the region that really stood out to me. Something that even torrential rain could not ruin. Wales, we;ll be back! 

More info on riding in Wales:

- https://www.mbwales.com
- https://www.visitwales.com
- https://www.visitsnowdonia.info

By IMB

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