we are thinking of riding at Panmachno before CYB in a couple of weeks.

What’s it like ? Rocky ?

If its anything like Penmachno then yes very nice.
Some rocky bits but not as full on rocky as the MBR.
One of my faves.

You fill up my senses
Like a gallon of Magnet
Like a packet of Woodbines
Like a good pinch of snuff
Like a night out in Sheffield ride in Penmachno
Like a greasy chip butty
Oh Sheffield United lovely Penmachno
Come fill me again….
Na Na Na Naa Naa Naaaaa, ooo!

It’s a bit like that, crossed with a night with Kylie.

Err, +1 Rusty Spanner

Loop 2 in particular is rocky and it’s probably the only person-crafted trail where I’m very appreciative of the full-suss. Still, it’s deffo a XC trail with nothing scary. All the same, treat the last two descents of Loop 1 with some respect, particularly if you like to go fast.

treat the last two descents of Loop 1 with some respect, particularly if you like to go fast

This

I got a couple snakebites from those pesky rocky parts! note to self: need more pressure!

Do it. Just do it. Then go back and do it again.

I get a bit grin just thinking of the place

Ace! 😀

flippin stonktonculous. EVERY bit of single track is 100% balls out flat out.

don’t know how they’ve done it, but it just rides so quick it’s unreal.

and as echoed above, when it goes wrong, it goes wrong quick. so bare in mind you may need to reign it in!

My overriding memory is that the trail footprint is narrower than other built trails. That, and being out in the hills a bit, makes it feel more natural.

I love it and will hopefully be doing so again over Easter. Give it a go, well worth it.

Great fun! Really recommend it. I liked the way, at least when I did it, that it seemed really ‘natural’.. . not too man made.

Hmmm.

It was rated really highly when it opened, like some secret sweet trail that only the few knew about, so we went to ride it.

It’s the only trail centre out of GT, Innerleithen, Ae, Mabie, Kirroughtree, Drumlanrig, Whinlatter and Dalbeattie that we’ve never bothered going back to. It’s just not that good in my opinion.

I’ve just come back from Wales. I did Llangdegla day one coed y Benin the beast day two and Penmachno day three. Penmachno was the perfect end to an amazing three days. If you like flowing ribbon single track through forest from a time forgotten then you will love it. I had one off over the three days and it was here as it eggs you on. I had to reign it in as i was alone and it feels remote.

crikey where do you live i need to post some soap for that mouth of yours.

maybe the issue is that it’s not really a trail centre eh? just a trail…

I just never understood why it was so highly regarded. I don’t dislike it, if I lived next door I would ride it more. It just seemed a bit meh and I couldn’t see why everyone raved about it.

because it inspires you to ride at about 7 billion mph and get all sideways into the trail features that suddenly appear in micro seconds.

whereas the other are predominantly nice and flowy, but fairly stable, and sedate and predictable by comparison.

horses for course I guess, but i rode PM, marin and half of coed y brenin last week. and PM is where its at.

whereas the other are predominantly nice and flowy, but fairly stable, and sedate and predictable by comparison.

Depends how fast you ride them.

I love it. Off there first thing tomorrow infact (only 40mins away.) With how warm its been the last few days, it will be very overgrown, very fast, very tight in places and very much ‘wilderness’ in others. It has bitten me a few times, but bloody hell it was fun.

Did I mention that I love it and am going tomorrow?

Rode it the once about a year ago on a HT. It’s ace. Proper natural feeling rather than scultpted Gnarwhiz trailz. I liked that about it.
Cafe at the bottom of the road at the T-junction was rather pleasing too….

Hammy, sounds like you had a similar weekend to us, we finished there yesterday, but it nearly finished a few are party:-)

Paul, yeah it was great just to get away. i got back on sat and my legs are still heavy!

So. We’re going on Friday. Weather forecast is rain…

Most of us will be on HT’s.

To enable me to pre-plan my mincing down the trail can someone please give me details of the particularly scary rocky bits ?

thanks

Can you get to the Betwsy trails now avoiding the road ?

lovely place!

Its good, its dark and spooky and moist.

Nothing springs to mind, really & I’m jeyer than a pink lycra rah-rah skirt.

The next to last bit has a steep slope off to the side, but that’s about it, really.
Rest of it is pretty much speed dependant – nowt scary if you take it easy.

Did it for 1st time yesterday and enjoyed it,a couple of speed wobbles on loop back but that was down to pushing it wee bit too much!! Few trees down from snow but you’ll see them in plenty of time.

The thing I love about Pen (and I am localish) is the amount of grip the rocks and trail surface offer compared with other local trails. I am not saying you cant lose it, but if you have ridden other trails locally, and you see a big slab of wet rock you usually think, this could be slippy, but riding Penmachno for as many years as I have the rocks and trail surface have so much natural grip its fantastic.

I am no geologist, but I am assumeing that a billion years ago give or take a week, the same mountains were formed from the same spewing volcano spitting out the same lava that created the hills around the Marin trail, so why does the rock at Penmachno stick like S**t to a blanket.
In all the years all my near misses and crashes at Pen have been coutesy of the trail offering so much grip and confidence that you go so fast down a 12″ wode ribbon of singletrack and eventually run out of room / talent 🙂
Brilliant place, tough on kit though, trail surface unleashes a grey grit paste that likes to eat pads / seals / transmission. But dont let this put you off, its an amazing trail

Sorry slight hi-jack.

I am going to Betws-y-coed at the end of this month with the mrs for a weekend. We are meant to be arriving friday evening and climbing snowdon on the saturday. I’m looking at a few hours blast on Sunday morning while she has a lie in.

So which would you recommend Penmachno or Marin for a quick blast?

And how long are we looking to do it? To give you an idea of my speed my local trail centre – Gisburn takes me about 90 mins to do the full figure of 8.

You can get round Penmachno Loop 1 pretty quickly so I guess that would qualify as a short blast, however to get the whole Penmachno experience then you should do the full trail (Loop 1 and Loop 2) and this you should commit 3+ hours to, and thats if you are not dollying around.
I like the Marin, its a good allround trail without anything too scary, but plenty to keep most decent riders interested. Dependent on how fit you are, it should take between 1 hr 30 mins – 2 hr 30 mins. Plus you can join the Marin easily from Betws in a couple of places so you need not even have to drive, which you would if you decided on Pen

Excellent, but very wet.

Only rode Loop 1, but really enjoyed it. Did it on a warm day end of Feb, feet got soaked. Someone on here posted that it was best ridden at the end of a weekend, but I ignored them and had to get the newspaper out to dry the shoes off :roll:.

Marin is also worth a look.

I absolutely loved It and It dosent really feel like a trail centre . A lot of it felt fairly natural with lots of rocks and great views over to Snowdonia.
I had the choice of only a few hours riding near Betws Y Coed and chose Penmachno over the Marin Trail after what I read on here . I’m glad I did.

Penmachno has to be my favourite trail centre …. almost feels like a proper day out in the hills. Top marks to the trail builders … it feels pretty natural and isn’t groomed to death like some other trails.

The lack of any facilities at the trailhead actually adds to the experience (in my opinion) … gives the place an entirely different feel to the more commercial set-ups.

PS Conwy Falls Cafe does the best coffee for miles 🙂 – ideally placed for that post-ride brew

I recall that Penmachno was generally fairly pedally and felt a bit more like a day riding around the hills than a trail centre blast – until the big finish, anyway, which blows through a lot of altitude rather quickly.

The first time I rode there I barely got any impression of it at all, the second time I found it nice. Unlike many trail centres it doesn’t have big signature features or sections that stick in the mind, so instead I have a general impression of a nice ride. Plus you can see RAF training aircraft flying nearby, often at roughly the same altitude that you’re at. 🙂

Went back on Sunday for the first time in 3 years. Its just as good as I remember. Trail was wet, but is holding up much better than other centers.

My favorite Man Made in the UK for me!!

it’s sooo good, i got 5 pinch flats on the one day i have been there. Each time i put a little more pressure in, but each time the trail just tempted me into going faster, and rougher. Brilliant trail.

rocky ribbon-tastic secluded delight of a trail.

A little more pressure, but you kept crashing over stuff like a blind man on a galloping horse more like…