Forest Groad BLAST

I’m in North Wales with the folks this weekend, originally to see a show at Venue Cymru, LLandudno last night but it got postponed until next Feb. We decided come up anyway and I brought the bike. In two weeks I’ll be in gravel heaven in The Trossachs, Scotland so I need to up my game and start riding outside more after a piss-poor couple of weeks amid a couple of wobbles and being busy at work. We had a giggle over a lovely homemade pie n chips meal playing with snapchat filters and then got to bed about 10pm but I had a broken sleep.

Sally and I went for a walk around town and on the pier this morning. I got back and had a snack and left around 2.30pm. The moody skies opened on the way and by the time I was parking up in Llanwrst it was raining. I wasn’t prepared for wet weather. I only had arm warmers. No gloves and just a base layer under my jersey.

I decided to ride until I got too cold to carry on. Just a quick blast. I rode over the river and popped out in Trefriw. A quick right and left and it was boom, up and up. There are three routes up. The infamous Colwyd Killer, to Llyn Crafnant which is a little easier and the route I was taking direction Gwydyr Forest. It had been years since I last rode this single track road. I picked my way around the houses and eventually found the 1:7 sign it was famous for and then 1st gear engaged and up it went. And it carried on and on and on about three times longer than I remember to be honest. A beast of a climb but the legs were good. I passed a couple walking down the opposite way and spat out some pleasantry before it topped out and I was able to enjoy a tight and twisty descent to the car park where the Gwydyr mountain bike trails start. It was raining and I was soaked through but warm.

I started the MTB trail but the rocks and roots were lethal so I stuck to the forest roads and began the long climb up over the top. The surface was awash with effectively liquid mud. I was soaked and filthy so I just embraced it a cracked on. I descended past Llyn Parc and stopped briefly. I contemplated a pic but I didn’t want to get too cold so I carried on up again on a freshly laid layer of rubble to resurface the forest road. I thought I’d try and get down in to Betws-y-Coed and took a left. Initially the trail was wide and going in the right direction but it turned back on myself and then dropped like a stone on singletrack with steps, rocks and exposed roots. Unrideable so I had to hike-a-bike down and then up until I picked up the forest road again. I was getting cold now so I decided to get out the clouds and back down so I retraced. I stopped for a log pile pic and rode back down the same way I came up but the spray of gritty mud made it hard to see.

Back at the car park I picked up the road and dropped down to Llanwrst and caught up with a lady riding her gravel bike. She had a grimy arse but nowhere near as filthy as me. We spoke briefly and then I rode off back to the car for a ride just over an hour. I was soaked, muddy and pretty cold so that was enough for me.