I’m planning a week in Snowdonia. Where would you recommend riding? We are going to book a day at Antur and we have already done Snowdon this year. I like scenic and Mr TW likes fast and long downhills.

Thanks for any help.

Pont Scethin here
Llyn Cowlyd here
Drum here

That site is excellent, thanks. I have heard of the Pont Scethin route before. Is Cadair Idris worth doing?

Some great rides on that site that Rorschach linked to. I also loved the Cadair Berwyn ride here

Quite a tough, climby ride, but then so are most of them 🙂

Looks like the Mapmyride map plugin isn’t working though – maybe they’ve blown their limit for the day.

I always thought cadair was a thankless slog bar the last few hundred metres. There are suprisingly few bridleways in snowdonia (outside of betws) but plenty of riding :0) Just not so easy to give directions for.

If you want any GPX’s/ideas/opinions give me a yell. Email’s on profile.

saving this thread 😉

The drum mountain route is brilliant! One of my favourite rides! If you search on ‘what’s the fastest you’ve been on a mountain bike?’ Thread, you’ll find a number of people, including me, say the descent from the top of Drum mountain. The climb is brutal, mind. But don’t think about that 😀

Can anyone recommend a smartphone navigation app that I can use with these GPX files for navigation?

Totally agree with Binners, coming down Drum I hit one section of rocks that quick my vision started to blur on me. I’ve also been at the crossroads at the bottom of the climb watching people turn blue and that was in a July!

Haha! Came here to suggest Drum. First time I did it we had sleet at the summit. Back at the car I had sunburnt me bonce! Great views at the top if it’s clear too.

That’s the thing with Drum. It’s so fast, you need to concentrate. But the view out to sea is stunning!

Oh…. And make sure you’ve plenty of meat on your brake pads. You’ll need it. I had 45mph up on the GPS. And as the thread mentioned, that’s par for the course.

For GPS Apps, Viewranger will take some beating.

Cheers all.
So Drum is a definite then. It sounds like the sort of desent Mr TW will love. Then (despite all the advice not to bother) I might force him up Cadair just so I can admire the views. I’ve been pouring over the maps and aside from Snowdon and Cadair I can’t find many mountains that have bridleways to the top. We will be going mid-week in March so everywhere should be reasonably quiet.
Tom – thanks very much for the offer of help. As it happens, at this very moment I am flicking through your book. The Pont Scethin route keeps catching my eye. Which is your favourite?

Pont Scethin is great as the last descent ends in a pub.
It’s not much fun if the ground is sodden mind. I would only do it after a couple of weeks (at least) of no rain.

It’s not much fun if the ground is sodden mind. I would only do it after a couple of weeks (at least) of no rain.

Now you’re trolling me. I’ve been to North Wales. The last time they had no rain for a couple of weeks you had to observe a ban for the diplodocus breeding season.

We were considering Nant Y Aran as well. It would be a reasonable drive. Is it better than the local stuff? (Staying in Betws-y-coed or Capel Curig).

Nant y Aran feels a little more natural and wild than ByC or CyB. I wouldn’t say better or worse just a different sort of riding. Its a nice drive too. There’s some good trails around Machynlleth too.