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Was looking to ride the route from Tom Hutton's book in the next few days (Loop around Mynydd Llangorse and Cefn Moel down into Bwlch) and was wondering if it's any good? Seems to be a fair bit of minor road work to start/end. Anyone ridden there? Are the offroad bits worth it? Thanks
It's great! Worth the effort. The decent into Bwlch's fun.
Planning to do similar over the weekend http://www.mtbbreconbeacons.co.uk/hubs/talgarth/llangors-bwlch
also going to try this one - managed to convince a friend it's only black because of the distance, she's going to kill me if it's very techy as well (I'm assuming it's not as mostly on bridleways etc...) http://www.mtbbreconbeacons.co.uk/hubs/talgarth/grwyne-fawr-reservoir
Haven't seen Tom Hutton's book but the rides over and around Mynydd Llangorse can be really good 8) (though the area is very popular with pony-trekkers which can mess up some of the bridleways/UCRs 🙁 ).
FuzzyWuzzy, she may not thank you for the ascent of Rhiw Constable on the Grwynne Fawr circuit 😯
FuzzyWuzzy - I've done that Grwyne Fawr several times, only starting and ending in Crickhowell rather than Talgarth. It's black because of the distance and level of fitness required in my opinion. It's quite a bit easier doing it in dry conditions because, the pen y trumau ascent in particular, is very "draggy" when the soil is waterlogged. Nothing overly technical unless you're going down the Das not up it. Getting up the Das is a carry job and very tiring indeed (unless you're mega fit). The descent is worth it though. I had one of the best rides ever doing that loop in cloudless blue skies in May and one of the worst getting lost in rain, mist and fading light at the top of the Das one November when I first did it. You'll need plenty of food and water, map and compass to do it. Great ride though. This is one of my favourite MTB videos and shows the descent from Mynydd Ddu to Llanbedr in exactly the same conditions that I did it in May. Brilliant. Allow a full day to do it.
Getting up the Das is a carry job and very tiring indeed
It's amazing how Rhiw Constable (y Das) has deteriorated over the years since it was a vehicular RoW. We used to drive Land Rovers up and down there 25 years ago, bit hairy going down around the bends 😯
As Tinners says, the Grwynne Fawr Black is a great day out if you enjoy epic natural riding days in the hills and the Black Mountains are a great place for a weekend's riding because there are several other equally good routes in the area.
...and if you're thinking of doing the Grwyne Fawr loop starting and ending in Crickhowell or Talgarth this weekend, you'll have the ride of your life (you need to be reasonably fit though). It will be utterly sublime. Conditions are perfect. Finish it off with a pint of Butty Bach in the beer garden at The Bear at Crickhowell and it will take you all week to stop grinning afterwards. (PS Not a bad hotel to stay either. A bit of a treat because it's a bit pricey compared to self catering or bed and breakfasts, but they are very accommodating to mountain bikers and their bikes and soooo nice to sink into a jacuzzi after the ride and then nip downstairs for a few pints with friends!)
I know the Gwyne Fawr loop as the 'Black Mountains Killer Loop' following it's appearance in MBR a number of years ago. We generally start and finish at the Castle Inn, Pengenffordd, so Y Das is the opener, and Rhiw Trumau rounds the ride off. Fantastic route, however you do it, though.
Rode the Mynydd Llangorse circuit a few weeks ago in appalling weather, starting from Bwlch. The descent into Cwm Sorgwm really makes the ride, but the north side of Mynydd Troed turned into a bit of a comedy-fest of embarrassing offs in the mud ( not that the rest of the ride was immune!) There is a video:
🙂
Getting back to the original route....
This trail is steep
[url] http://www.streetmap.co.uk/idld.srf?X=316565&Y=226145&A=Y&Z=120&lm=1 [/url]
your friend might find that section interesting. Good ride, if it's fairly dry.
Did that route today, quite dry at the moment,
There is a bit of road work but on quiet country roads the views from the top over llangorse lake are beautiful , enjoy .
P.s weather is forecast great for Saturday.
Thanks everyone, in the end [url= http://www.bikebasewales.com/images/110.pdf ]we did this route[/url] today which had very little road work and I'd definitely recommend. The views over Llangorse Lake were magnificient, my favourite part was the dusty singletrack (who would have thought it eh?) near Cae Cottrell, although the first part had been churned up a lot by horses. P.S. agentdagnamit you weren't wrong about that descent!