Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
  • Cadair Idris, rideable or walk instead?
  • richmtb
    Full Member

    Hi Guys

    I’m going to be staying near Machynlleth this weekend.

    We are going with a non biking couple so plaining on doing some biking as well as walking

    Planning to go to CYB one day and climb a mountain another day.

    Cadair Idris seems like a good bet for walking as its nearby.

    So should I just walk up or is it worth dragging a bike up?

    I understand there are three routes up: Llanfihangel Path; Minfford Path and the Pony Path.

    Which if any are rideable, and are they all “legal”. I guess coming from Scotland I could feign ignorance about silly access laws, although I’d rather not if there is a non – cheeky alternative

    Ta

    Rich

    rocketman
    Free Member

    You’ll be carrying your bike all the way if you follow the Minffordd path although it’s a cracking walk especially if you carry on from the summit over Mynydd Moel right to the end then back along the old road

    In terms of biking the best route imho is down the valley from Abergynolwyn then turn right and make for the ridgeline on the left. It joins up with the Pony Path

    Artillerydave
    Free Member

    It is a good ride, did it last weekend again with our club, did Caidair in the morning and Snowdon in the evening, for an epic day out.

    Caidiar is a nice ride, well worth taking the bike for. Start by the chapel and head up for the Pony Path, climb and subsequent descent have a bit of everything. It is tricky at the top, plenty rocky. Also if you are lucky with the weather the views from the top are fantastic.

    I can send you a gpx of the route we use, if interested, but it really is navigationally straight forward. Think the magazine did an article on it in issue 80.

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    IHN
    Full Member

    Yeah, straight up and back along the Pony Path (although we took a bit of a detour on the way up and contoured up and round on the farm track then went across the side of the hill to meet up with the ‘official’ route.

    It’s all rideable (just), bar the last /top 200 yards, although you may find yourself walking/carrying the odd. Bit. Good fun though, a proper biking adventure.

    It took us three-ish hours up, twenty minutes down 🙂

    richmtb
    Full Member

    Thanks guys.

    Pony Path is probably the route I will try then

    Ta

    Rich

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    [video]http://vimeo.com/44474810[/video]

    no_eyed_deer
    Free Member

    Funny that… Cadair’s only just down the road from me, yet I’ve always avoided it, because the Pony Path just looked like a bit of a miserable experience from the map. That Dan Atherton vid, though, has me inspired! 😀

    roverpig
    Full Member

    He is quite good though 🙂

    no_eyed_deer
    Free Member

    Yeah, I know! 😯 …I would be in serious ‘mince-mode’ over most of that.

    IHN
    Full Member

    I most definetly was walking some of that, and was riding the rest CONSIDERABLY more slowly

    richmtb
    Full Member

    Well I gave it a go.

    Dragged the bike up the Pony Path to the ridge. It was blowing a gale on the ridge and the visibility was really bad so I sacked it and went back down.

    90% of it is ridable on the way down even for someone of my meagre abilities. There are a couple of sections where the rock steps are massive though so I didn’t fancy riding those.

    The way up was torture in places though, I wouldn’t say more than 50% – up to the ridge at least was rideable. Some of it was a carry rather than a push. Fair Play to anyone who can ride most of it

    twoniner
    Free Member

    I’m riding it Saturday (weather permitting), it’s local to me but never done it.

    Im just wondering if I should take the fatty or the Whyte FS 29er.

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