Gonna be extremely hung over on Sunday, but going to tackle the Marin Trail after a wedding. Have a friendly guide who will show us the way so should find some good stuff.

But whats it like? Am I going to see the previous nights dinner on the way up the first climb? Any good technical downhill sections or testing stuff?

It’s good.

About 30km tho’ so good luck hungover.

First climb is long but not difficult as it’s fireroad.

Enjoy.

Take it steady it’ll be no problem, it’s old school man made trails so forget about lots of berms etc. Saying that the last three descents I reckon are just about perfect for tuning your suspension, get it right for those and it’ll be great everywhere. There are places where you just have to soak up the views thou.

[img]http://russellb.co.uk/Pics1/Marin221011/Marin221011d.jpg[/img]

lovely flowey riding, no nasty climbs, great finish.

All moshable at high speed on rigid singlespeeds and even a loon on a fixed cyclocross bike, so nothing a new fangled boingy machine won’t fly over with a hungover rider on board!! 😀

It’s pretty good – have ridden it a few times. Be aware that the trail has suffered a lot of erosion after this wet summer, apparently.

A decent hardtail will keep you busy and an xc full suss should be more than adequate.

It’s utterly crap. The last 2 descents come nowhere near making up for the endless singletrack climbs which lead to pointless fireroad descents.

Go ride snowdon instead.

Take a 7 mile detour and ride Penmachno. Faster flowing and a little longer.

Then ride the Marin afterwards.

Or **** them both off and ride something decent.

penmachno is better but the marin is nice if the weather is rubbish as you can hide in the trees.

scott_mcavennie2 – Member
It’s utterly crap. The last 2 descents come nowhere near making up for the endless singletrack climbs which lead to pointless fireroad descents.

+1

So much tedious fire road, so little singletrack.

But whats it like?

A really nice ride with great views.

Am I going to see the previous nights dinner on the way up the first climb?

Maybe

Any good technical downhill sections or testing stuff?

A few sections that could catch you unaware if taken too fast, especially if it’s wet.

Ride it and make your own mind up. As it always seems to divide opinion on here!

Or **** them both off and ride something decent.

always a helpful response to the question….”what’s the marin like?”

I love this forum at times, sooooo many grumpy buggers, so few threads to grump on. 😀

why not just respond with “for a hungover post wedding ride, it’ll be fine, not my personal cup of tea and you may rather enjoy coming back to visit, when I would be only too happy to show you some of the quality off piste and proper trails there are in the area”?

see no need for negativity and yet still getting your point across. 😀

you may even make a friend, you seem like you need one, they’re nice and you can hug them when you are sad. I think this may help you. 😉

You were obviously too het up with uour own negativity to notice my positive comments regarding snowdon.

Miserable b*****d.

hmmmm still seem a bit grumpy, have you tried a nice herbal tea? or maybe some breathing exercises?

see always peace and love here.

anyway the Marin will be lovely with a hangover. That chap up there would love to show you snowdon….so it’s all a winner.

xx

It’s a long drive for a grumpy bugger lke me.

Also ads will still be inebriated and has no hope of riding anything.

Rode both Marin & Penmachno for the first time last weekend…..long planned road trip with a buddy who loved the Marin trail (a multiple return visit veteran) and he had been talking it up since earlier in the year. Marin was first up, and I have to say it was nice (in an apologetic pseudo positive kind of way) but underwhelming……. ratio of fire road climb time to actual descent time seemed very skewed….shortish downhill sections except for the last, which was good, but left you with a “was that it?” kind of vibe. Fine for some lengthy chats but there seemed to be more chat time than grin inducing downhill clatter…..I talked him into trying Penmachno the next day having seen the Ben Atherton clip on midweek movies and a recurrent online review theme that talked up Penmachno over Marin……. What a completely different experience. We only had time to do (19km) Loop 1 but we finished that with legs absolutely knackered from the last couple of flat out rocky descents in particular, massive grins all round and the joint consensus that THAT was a trail worth a return visit. In both our opinions it had a clear lead on both scenic and riding fronts….he now has a new favourite trail in the region and says he won’t be bothering with the Marin again in a hurry……I’d have to concur!

Hungover though, the Marin edges it as you are far less likely to leave your teeth on a large rock somewhere amongst the lovely heather and moss… you need your wits about you a bit more on the frequently longer rocky Penmachno downhill sections and you will definitely not appreciate the rocky juddery bump fest single track uphills that I would imagine are perfect for maximising any residual sore head 😀

Penmachno is awesome, however the Marin is a nice old school trip out.

Apologies as I’ve never been Man enough to do both in the day – and obviously ride between them.

Yes it’s got a bit more fire road than you want but it’s great post night out. Fairly social and fun. As always don’t ask about trail centres in here 🙂

There are a selection of DH tracks in there too.

You can do it from Betws if you want too. For some hangover cure have a look at the cafe next to the station (loads of tea and cake and proper fried maddness – they have some outdoor seating and about 50 different teas)

I found it had too much fire road between short sections of singletrack. The end was okay but in no way made up for a boring ride.

Would the Marin trail be a good choice for my wife then? She can climb well, but she really dosent like steep decents, or boulders, or roots, or anything that isnt pretty much smooth singletrack or fireroad. She can just about manage pot holes :lol:. It would be nice to ride somewhere with her thats tame, but has enjoyable scenery. Thanks in advance for any constructive surgestions.

I wouldn’t call it that tame there is still a chunk of rock around it. It’s not like a modern trail with smooth fast stuff.

I rode it last week and hadn’t for many years, it’s climby but I am trying to reduce weight so that gets a tick, stunning views which were nice, the singletrack is enjoyable, was also doing a social ride with a slower mate so it suited the ride well. I thought it excellent, I live within easy reach of a great range of trails so I can add this to ones to do and will add variety to the types of trails I ride,

It’s very similar to the Tawr in Brenin they are I think similar age, both being classical original trail centre trails, I personally really enjoy both when in the mood for that type of trail.

Not sure I’d be so keen to ride it with a hangover maybe the Minotaur at Brenin would be better for that 🙂

Some views

I think it’s a great trail especially the last descent(s)

My least favourite trail in North Wales, but it’s still a good trail and possibly ideal if you’re hungover, although a Full English before the first climb is only advisable if you’re looking to provide a comedy moment. There’s plenty of local off-piste and add-ons (see here and here).

It’ll be a nice little bimble round if you’ve got a hangover.
As others have said there’s some great views and it’s a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

I have to agree with Taz.
The OP was looking to see if people thought it’d be a ok as a hangover shake off ride. Then the “go and ride a mountain” posts start…

I like it. It certainly makes good use of rocks.

The last descent has had a lot of work done on it and the steps are great fun.
I have to agree with the apparently endless first climb, and the other fire-road climbs, but there are some fun bits of singletrack.

Grimy – Member

Would the Marin trail be a good choice for my wife then? She can climb well, but she really dosent like steep decents, or boulders, or roots, or anything that isnt pretty much smooth singletrack or fireroad. She can just about manage pot holes :lol:. It would be nice to ride somewhere with her thats tame, but has enjoyable scenery. Thanks in advance for any constructive surgestions.

Probably not, tbh.

If you want to ride in the area pick up a copy of the Bikefax Snowdonia guidebook and have a go at some of the easier routes in there – they sound like just the thing you’re after – Elins Revenge in particular is a great day out without tons of technical stuff and starts just outside Betwys. One bit she’ll need to push, but it’s not long.
Loads of really decent easier routes on Conwy mountain too. Again, in the guidebook.

I like the Marin.
Yes, it is a bit old fashioned and there are some tough bits that the less confident really, really wouldn’t like.

But it’s a great ride out in a lovely area with some stunning views.
Penmachno is a better, more coherent trail, but you still owe it to yourself to try the Marin. It’s a wonderful bit of history.

It’s a nice ride with lots of relaxing fireroad sections and some more scenic bits too. The full-on fun bit is the final descents.

If you are pushed for time or just want to shredddd the knaaar then this is easily lapped without doing the mellow stuff. Essentially, you follow the waymarked outgoing route, climbing up until it levels out on some fireroad. Then you will see that the signed incoming trail crosses over from left to right. Turning right here leads you quickly into the final descents.

Thanks for all the info peeps. I guess what I wanted to hear was that the clouds whisked you to the top of the mountains, and there was some gnarly downhill sections on the way back down.

As it is, I have no choice even though Panmacho sounds more my cup of tea. The guys who organised it for us (none bikers) have been saying its a ‘red’ trail and quite tricky etc.. But wanted a bikers view on it who had actually been on it.

ta

buzz-lightyear – Member

If you are pushed for time or just want to shredddd the knaaar then this is easily lapped without doing the mellow stuff. Essentially, you follow the waymarked outgoing route, climbing up until it levels out on some fireroad. Then you will see that the signed incoming trail crosses over from left to right. Turning right here leads you quickly into the final descents.

I’d thoroughly recommend that, as the last descent is very good.

But then you miss the excellent rocky section (Dragon’s Back?) over the top and all the best views

It is what it is. Ride it all, then make your mind up.

Final descent on the Marin is one of my all time faves. Enjoy.

But then you miss the excellent rocky section (Dragon’s Back?) over the top and all the best views

That’s the other memorable bit for me, and well named too.

Marin is very old school. As said above it was one of the first. Climb fireroad, descend quickly with thrills on single track, repeat. You will spent much of your time tootling up a fireroad. Might not be such PITA with a dropper post as no/less need to stop at the beginning and end of each section.

Have a soft spot for Marin as it was my first built trail when i started riding. Back then surprise, surprise found it very rocky in places but with enough smooth stuff thrown in and with no nasty surprises. Penmachno is better but takes a lot longer if you do both loops and not without its own fire road slogs. The second loop is more xc in nature but a beginner may find it hard going over some of the rocky singletrack sections.

Thanks Rusty, I’ll find myself a copy of that book and plan a trip. Cheers.

tazzymtb – Member

Or **** them both off and ride something decent.

always a helpful response to the question….”what’s the marin like?”

I love this forum at times, sooooo many grumpy buggers, so few threads to grump on.

why not just respond with “for a hungover post wedding ride, it’ll be fine, not my personal cup of tea and you may rather enjoy coming back to visit, when I would be only too happy to show you some of the quality off piste and proper trails there are in the area”?

see no need for negativity and yet still getting your point across.

you may even make a friend, you seem like you need one, they’re nice and you can hug them when you are sad. I think this may help you.

(round of applause)

The mere suggestion of riding Penmachno with a wedding hangover makes me want to throw up my innards.