Sun came out, the trails were dusty and it was time to hit the gravel. Gravel bike still has some annoying creak coming from the cranks, I think it’s the chainring on the crank, which I’ll probably forget to look at before the next time I ride it.
What it really needs is stripping down and cleaning with brake and clutch cleaner and butting back together to see if it cures it.
A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best
He made a home in the wilderness…
– Telegraph Road
Bluebird skies and dry trails. Good time to be out riding…
Spring is definitely shaping up nicely. No Dire Straits to be concerned with today.
No riding for a bit, waiting for my legs to heal up…
Ride out with the boys down to Crosby Promenade with the boys for ice cream. Good weather, better company. The lads are growing up quick, they’re going to be needing bigger bikes pretty soon…
Local riding including heading out onto the beach at Crosby for a very low tide.
Another Place is a modern sculpture installation by British artist Antony Gormley located at Crosby Beach in Merseyside. It consists of 100 cast iron naked figures facing towards the sea. After being exhibited at two other locations, it was put on display at Crosby on 1 July 2005
So for a while I’ve been using the OS Maps app to find some routes. In the exploring North Wales vein, I’d found what looked like a decent route to the East of Betws-y-Coed.
Thing was the route, selected as an off-road route, just didn’t have any off road. Which meant it was a wet ride round North Wales on some quiet country lanes, but not really what I had been looking for.
Sunrise
Sunrise
Looks like morning in your eyes…
– Norah Jones
Quiet in the woods this morning but some of the trails have a bit of flow and pop, good for cruising around on the fat bike. Better once the sun came out this morning
So after a bit of reading up it turns out that the trail formerly known as the Marin, is now renamed the Gwydir Mawr with its smaller sibling, Gwydir Bach. Mawr is Welsh for big or large, bach means small. Marin bikes donated the cash to waymark the trail in 2002. No new funding meant a new name.
Today’s ride was from the carpark at the Gwydir Mawr trailhead and then climbed up and along the side of the valley to the top of Trefriw and picked up the climb from the ride last Thursday in the rain. The forecast today was much better and there was even a chance of seeing the sun.
The same close to 5 miles of climbing before the first descent and this time much more rideable trails with lots of fireroad double track before the first sections of singletrack.
Fundamentally the Marin trail seems to be so changed that the original trail can be hard to detect. This might be because every time I rode it I parked in Betws and did the bastard steep tarmac climb up to the trail crossing which I think equates to the bit located in the photo below.
That different entry point to starting the old trail and a hazy memory means it just feels strange. Close to 20 years of tree growth and felling means the landscape views are different too.
The final descent is a proper blast and a lot of fun with lots of drop offs and a decent jump line. There were a few trees still down across the trails since Storm Arwen, but the section that was closed in October for felling was opened again. Looking forwards to joining the Gwydir to Penmachno trails in the summer.
Meh.
R O T H A R . C O M 