MTB Micro Adventures

On what promised to be a nice day in Blaenau FFestiniog with sunshine and temperatures of 19 degrees we gathered at the start point for our fairly epic day out on the bikes. Turns out that the weather in Blaenau is a  bit hit and miss, instead of the sunshine we had fog, a light breeze and what looked like rain approaching us, so much for the forecast! The usual faces of Helen, Owain, Chris and Mark were there but it was also great to see some new ones like Gerwyn and John, two local lads who used to ride a lot in their youth and fancied a challenge, good on ya. We started the day of with a paned (welsh for cuppa) in The Bridge Cafe and discussed the route we were taking. The plan was, if all goes well is to climb up from Blaenau over to the Penmachno trails then onto an old roman road from Dolwyddelan to Capel then finish on Gwydir Mawr. A total of around 50km with around 1600m of ascent. Two really tough climbs but with loads of fun downhill sections. Sound great. It`s not a ...

Cadair Idris is Wales 19th highest peak standing at 893m, almost 200m lower than Snowdon. Snowdon tends to get the largest majority of Mountain Bikers probably due to it being so well known and having been publicised in MTB magazines over the years. Cadair Idris is however a different beast on a bike. Where Snowdon is rock all the way to the top and back down again, Cadair is a mixture of everything. Singletrack bridleway, tarmac, double track, grassy traverse followed by a steep boulder filled ascent for the final 2km. We started our ride at Abergrynolwyn, a lovely little village to the south of Cadair. Our group of 9 were well up to the challenge that lay ahead. Off we went and within 20meters of the start point I had sent us down the wrong turning to the bridleway. This was followed by chants of "what sort of guide are you" and "what hope have we got of getting to the top if you cant get us out of the car park" Fair comment I suppose. Anyway we found the bridle...

Penrhos Isaf Bothy is situated on the south side of Coed Y Brenin Forest and is an ideal overnight stop if your into mountain biking and like a little adventure. The group of riders I was guiding this week was made up of three Dads and three lads aged 13. This was their second such trip to the Bothy having done a similar trip last year during the summer months. The day started in the cafe at the visitor centre where all good rides should start/pass or finish at. Following a bit of form filling, a chat about the plan for the weekend and with coffee and bacon baps lining our stomachs we headed up to the skills area at CYB MTB centre. The kids loved this last year and asked if they could go on it again this time. Its a great little set up for the little ones and for adults, with green, blue, red and black sections for them to try before they head out onto the longer trails in the forest. Having tested their skills on the green and blue runs we headed back to the cars to ma...

After riding the Elan Valley Challenge and coming down with something that knocked me for 6 for 3 weeks and also  injuring my knee somehow sledging at 1mph! I felt it was time to get back out on the bike. Route planning on a Wednesday afternoon in-between hoovering the house and feeding the kids was interesting as always. A quick weather check for Garndolbenmaen in Snowdonia and my Thursday was planned. A quick post on Facebook and by the evening there were 3 of us ready to ride a route that we had never been on before and by the look of things on the day had not been ridden by many if anybody at all? I needed to complete this ride in time to pick up the kids for 3pm,  with an hours travelling to and from the meeting point this left us with about 3 hrs to ride 35k and to explore the area. The meeting point for our mini adventure was at Inigo Jones Cafe by Caernarfon right on the National Sustrans Route 8 cycle route.  After a quick paned (cuppa in welsh) and a catch...

Well here we are, my first Blog. I`ve been thinking of doing this blogging lark for a while now but haven't got round to doing it. I`ve named the blog MTB Micro Adventures as that's what I tend to do these days, squeezing some great riding in-between family life and work. After years of riding trail centres like LLandegla and Coed y Brening   I started venturing out into the wild  about 10 years ago with a map, flask and a dog and I realised what mountain biking was really about.                                                Shep the trail dog, he`s almost 15 and still joins me on the short ones! Mountain biking is so much more than riding a man made circular route that starts and finishes at a cafe, don`t get me wrong I still enjoy doing that very much  but it all becomes a bit boring after a while. I don`t think you can beat the feeli...