Sarn Helen or Lon las Cymru?

going away for our usual elderly gentlemans drinking/riding trip in September.
fancy a week in the land of our fathers.

which is the best route for a mixture of on and off road.

Not done either but researched both a bit:

Sarn Helen for mainly off-road and ‘an Everest’s worth of climbing’ – if that’s what you’re after!?

Lon Las is Sustrans, so will be easier to follow, much more tarmac and lighter off road and hills.

Lon Las would seem more gents tour friendly, still challenging though, but can be split into sections.

Sarn Helen has the best finishing line…..

Sarn Helen is part swamp at this time of year…in bits.

Sarn Helen is part swamp at this time of year…in bits.

time to dry out by September then……… 😀

Sarn Helen is part swamp at this time of year…in bits.
time to dry out by September then………

Yeah…good luck with that. I did it last summer in July…it was still a swamp.

Have looked at both in the past and unable to recall how close they are to each other just now. With time to prepare how about mix and match the two routes to avoid the wet SH bits onto other NCN routes.

i am thinking of doing exactly what blackhound suggests, over a bank holiday weekend. has any ony got suggestions of which bits of Sarn Helen to cherry pick? The other thing is there is dyfi this weekend, there are some tics in the classifieds and was thinking this might make a better trip.

also, if you knew the explorer map numbers for those segments of the SH you recommend that would be amazing

GregMay – Member

Yeah…good luck with that. I did it last summer in July…it was still a swamp.

Unlucky. I rode it last June and it was a dust-fest.

I’ve ridden a great deal of ncn8 (lon las) and you. are. punished. for hills. I actually rode from dolgellau to machynlleth yesterday and it’s hellish, honestly it is a nightmare. Straight out of Dolgellau it is almost a vertical up for at least 3/4 miles and the downhill isn’t that rewarding. I’ve also done Welshpool down to cardiff on ncn 8 too and the hills are punishing. I pictured the sustrans staff having a wicked laugh between themselves as they pick the biggest hills to route the path on. It’s the annoying kind of Up down up down rather than the up up up and down down down.

1300 ft climb is a nice warm up. 😀

Sarn Helen is part swamp at this time of year…in bits.

This, especially the southern section from Brecon to Swansea.

jekkyl – Member

I’ve ridden a great deal of ncn8 (lon las) and you. are. punished. for hills. I actually rode from dolgellau to machynlleth yesterday and it’s hellish, honestly it is a nightmare. Straight out of Dolgellau it is almost a vertical up for at least 3/4 miles and the downhill isn’t that rewarding. I’ve also done Welshpool down to cardiff on ncn 8 too and the hills are punishing. I pictured the sustrans staff having a wicked laugh between themselves as they pick the biggest hills to route the path on. It’s the annoying kind of Up down up down rather than the up up up and down down down.

You’re not wrong.

For example, on the run in to Harlech, to avoid perhaps a kilometre on a ‘main’ road, Sustrans divert you up a sustained and brutal climb: double chevron, single chevron, double chevron. It’s horrific.

I have to say you are selling me on the ncn8 route. Are the views magestic? not too fussed about the downs on my laden road bike.

we are still doing one or the other the 2nd week in September. probably the lon las, with a few offroad detours.
think we are looking at the route to Chepstow.