So off soon on my annual pilgrimage to Llandegla. The the first mountain bike trail I ever for so got a soft spot for it despite not being very nearby. Obviously I’ll ride the red/black first. But if I’m still up for more what’s the new True Blue like? Is it a blue in the Whinlatter/Glentress sense of just a dull forest road pootle. Basically is it worth the long climb up to the top for? Thanks

And I’m going to Llandegla anyway so let’s not start another ‘it’s rubbish/great’ thread

Similar to Whinlatter blue, bit longer, more gradient & a bit better. Easy to add onto the end of Black after a brew!

Additional question while we’re on the Llandegla subject:

I’m heading over to CyB on Sunday to help out at the Rhinog Raptor Adventure-X event. Since I’ll be driving over at a leisurely pace on Saturday and might stop off for a spin on the way, anyone any thoughts on doing Llandegla Blue and/or red on a CX bike?

Don’t know about blue, but red is probably doable but a bit hairy in places. I wouldn’t personally, but then I’m a bit of a wuss.

Yes,

my LBS owner has many a time run the black on a CX bike.
perfectly do’able

Haven’t been in a long time (pre board walk on the red/black) but we thought the Landegla blue was ace (not done any others to compare), you could bomb down it and really flow along – great fun with a bit of speed, yet beginners weren’t being pushed into something they weren’t prepared for.
As to whether it worth the climb.. couldn’t say, some of our group was tired and grumbling, so we all did the blue to stay together – didn’t regret doing it though.

Cool, thank you folks. Saves me sticking both bikes in the car!

Whinlatter/Glentress sense of just a dull forest road pootle

Which WL/GT blues have you been doing?
Not the same ones as me clearly.I thought the Whinlatter Blue had a fair bit of singletrack and very little fire road at all.
As for Glentress, whizzing down that with the wife, the kids and their granddad was one of the highlights of my mountain biking year (70 years age difference between oldest and youngest in the group). Admittedly it wasn’t hard, but it’s a blue and not supposed to be. It had very little fire roads either.
And I’d probably go so far as to say that if you include the shortcut gnarl on the hairpins at Whinlatter then it’s significantly more difficult that anything on the red* at ‘degla.

Getting back to your original question, I don’t think the blue is as interesting as either of GT/WH, but it does get most of the climbing over in one go, which makes it easier with small kids.

* I do appreciate that this is tantamount to saying “more tasty than MacDonalds” or “more cosmopolitan than a Glaswegian” etc.

tomj – Member

Is it a blue in the Whinlatter/Glentress sense of just a dull forest road pootle.

Dude! – when did you last go to Glentress or Whinlatter?!

Is it a blue in the Whinlatter/Glentress sense of just a dull forest road pootle.

I think that is supposed to be OR.

dangeroudbeans wins the internet.

Good spot. That makes much more sense.

I’ll be doing it tomorrow after a lap of the red and some black bits. If you pedal it and put effort in its ace, if you meander along it feels pretty dull.

Tomj, not sure how much you ride but I did the Red / Black combo last week in just over 90 min, including going wrong on some dodgy signposting on the black near the end – so rather than the blue tacked on do the red / black again? – ride, eat, repeat

Why not go for the full Llandegla Bruise..
Black and Blue, Red and Green

Cheers everyone. Sorry for the dodgy iPhone typing – yes I did mean ‘like the WL/GT blue OR a dull fire road’. I really enjoyed both those rides as a fun blast. Sounds like this will be similar.

Usually ride every couple of weeks or so and last time I did the new red/black it took me a little over 2hr and I still fancied a bit more of a ride. Not sure if I’m up for the whole red again but I could drag myself up the climb if there was a fun, mostly downhill ride to follow.
When I went to Glentress I did the red, had some lunch the blue to the Buzzard Nest, play in the freeride park (well the easy trail!) and blue back to the carpark. That felt like a good fun ride to me and I was looking for something like that.

Did black today, then cake, then blue. Caning it on the blue is ace fun, two laps of the black/red is too much for me, but the blue is a nice end to the day. I got a puncture on the last bit into the cafe on the blue, which was perfect timing (I’ve still got to fix it before BPW in the morning).