NEW Cycling UK Route: Traws Eryri

Good news, doing this next weekend. Useful there is the official route now  : )

nearly 5000m over 200km... that's VERY lumpy !!!! not sure i'd manage that !

That looks ace, we might look at breaking that into sections at some point so we can explore the route a bit 🙂

Yep, we'll definitely be doing that at some point 🙂

What’s the logistics like for getting back to the start? Or is it really a 400km ride…

Yes agreed looks a bit lumpy! Hoping to do it in three days.. I say hoping but with bikes booked on trains we pretty much have to stick to schedule.

Took three days to do Pennine Bridleway, which was further but less hilly. Road surfaces are gonna come into it. PBW was very rough in places which slows you down (as do all the gates!).

Would be  interested if anyone else with experience of the Wales route knows how heavy going it is compared to PBW.

Thanks

Jam-bo : my plan is to leave vehicle at Crewe and catch trains.

Crewe-Machynlleth

Conwy-Crewe

Jam-bo : my plan is to leave vehicle at Crewe and catch trains.

Crewe-Machynlleth

Conwy-Crewe

That's a good plan.

Nice write-up in the Guardian today:

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/aug/23/cycling-wales-snowdonia-new-bikepacking-route

Does anyone know the bit up near Llanfairfechan that is still being negotiated (hence the A55 Cycleway diversion), and does it get ridden regularly anyway?

Found a rail map. Shrewsbury looks a good option coming from the south.

Looks interesting!

How hard do you think it would be in 2 days?

More of this good stuff, less pick up truck advertorials.

How hard do you think it would be in 2 days?

According to Strava route planner, two 60 mile days with approx 7,000ft of climbing in each. So not impossible, but long days. Logistics of travelling to/from the start and finish might make it trickier.

It could work well as a travel and shorter day, long day, then another shorter day leaving time to travel.

I'm definitely going to have a closer look at the full route.

Definitely interested in doing this route!

Having done 84 miles of the Pennine Bridleway from Settle to Glossop, it was two long days at 40 miles a day, just for that section.  All fit, just long 8 hour days - left at 10am and it was 6-7pm before we rolled into the hotel each day.

So I can imagine this taking a few days.

Nice one - although Traws Eryri actually means Trans Eryri

😉

Well, maybe it should be Llwbyr Eryi or Ffordd Eryi or something.

Anyhow, it looks nice. 2 days would be pretty full on and I reckon you'd be tired at the end. If the weather is good and trails dry then it's do-able. It's not a technical route, just a lot of hills.

2.5-4 days would be nice easy going with a bit of sightseeing. I like the booklet that goes with it as there is lots of interest nearby, especially abandoned quarries!!

Be warned that daytime trains (esp in summer) are VERY busy. Sometimes it's impossible to get another bike onboard (regardless of booking). Early morning or midweek is a better option.

I quite like the little guide that's available (for free) -- well produced

https://issuu.com/ctc_cyclists/docs/cycling_uk_traws_eryri_trailguide_artwork_online_e

How hard do you think it would be in 2 days?

A bit harder than the Trans-Cambrian Way in 2 days perhaps. 1.5 to 2 day TCW is quite realistic for an reasonably fit rider carrying their own kit to kip out. Book a bnb half way and carry less gear and it'd be 'easier'.

Route looks good, some sections I've ridden and some new links. And the guidebook is 👌🏻

Good work Cycling UK

@martinhutch

You could ride along the beach to llanfairfechan and avoid the A55.

Oi @DrP lenzzure new bike for a day..... 🙂

Any idea how feasible it would be to find somewhere to store your gear at the trail centres to make adding in a loop or 2 a bit more appealing?

I rode it earlier this year (Had a sneak preview). Took us 2.5days, and was an amazing ride even in crazy wet and windy weather. The descent through the slate mines in gale force winds was epic! Brutal last half day just when we thought it was almost done. Travelling S to N btw.

Planned to get a train back from Conwy to Mach but there was a train strike, so after a much needed lunch in a cafe, we followed a 'gravel' route suggested by komoot for our return. This meant another overnighter but was equally brilliant.

In summary; bring your climbing legs and enjoy the views. Allow 4 days for the loop.

After a summer spent trying to get fit enough (and pluck up the courage) for a crack at the Lakeland 200, this looks like a more achievable target. I like a point to point route rather than a loop, and Mach is four and a half hours and cheap by train....

Kestevan's got a couple of vids up on it (considering he wrote the guide book):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iU6cssHt80

Just got back from doing this south to north. As expected, a blinding route! Weather was great so that helped.

Could be done in 2 days if you really go for it.

Don’t be fooled by the distance- this is a hilly ride! Would recommend an xc mtb for it.

loads of accommodation available in September.

I did a slight shortcut from Llan Ffestiniog up through the snowdonia slate trail right into Penmachno, which avoids a lot of boring road climbs.

Trains were surprisingly quiet

I think they're closing the Barmouth bridge for repairs for a couple of months.

I think they’re closing the Barmouth bridge for repairs for a couple of months

You don't go over the bridge. You go via the estuary to dol or vice versa.

Doing this next year with a few cars and staying at my caravan by harlech. Seems a cheap way of doing it.

Will change some of the route. The part out by llan ffestiniog to penmachno can be ridden differently if you add a bit of cheeky into it as can Conwy mountain. But it is cheeky.

Barmouth bridge is closed until December.

Don't forget 30p for the toll at Penmaenpool!

Printed the guide of for this the other day - it does look an epic route.

Looked at doing it the MTB Wales to take the hassle out of it, but it's £795 for guiding, 4 nights accommodation, food & transport.....

When you take the cost of the accommodation, food and transport out of that, it's not a vast amount of money for three days of guiding, is it?

Five of us planning to do this in may. Looking at logistics of getting back to Mach after. Don't want to rely on being able to get 5 bikes on the train.

Can anyone recommend any taxi firms that can provide take bikes?

This Facebook group (the official one) has a lot of info and there are a few taxi drivers posting on it offering transport for the route - worth having a look there.

We’re doing the route at the end of may, really looking forward to it….

Mach Taxis in Machynlleth would probably come and pick you up from Conwy - they have minibuses if there are a few of you.

Just got back from this, was mostly fun, but I was convinced that Strava routeplanner had done me a dirty and changed the settings to 'prefer roads' without me knowing...I even re-downloaded the GPX to check.

A couple of the shots in this article - 'riding through the woods near Abergynolwyn' and the 'rolling through the hillside near Cadair Idris' seem to bear no relation to the route at all. The first 20 miles is almost entirely on road, including the section passing Abergynolwyn.

The whole of my first day (40 miles) was mostly road, with a shortish section of doubletrack, a bit of the Mawdach trail and some fire-road. This pattern continued on the second day, with a very high tarmac quotient and the majority of the rest being fire-road. I lost faith just before the big looping section in the forest before Betws and diverted to Dolwyddelan and a different route over to Capel Curig that I knew.

I'm not sure if there are access issues which forced the route to use so much road, both up and down - for example up and over to Penmachno, when it looks like you could plot a fantastic route over from Llan Festiniog instead.

IMO it's not an off-road mountain bike route as such, but a good gravel mixed route. There is probably 100 yards of downhill section that gave me pause for thought on a loaded full suss, so technically there would be very little pushing on a gravel bike.

Very scenic though, a great couple of days, and I'm grateful to those who put in the effort to try to come up with a route.

This explains one of the missing links, it is an access issue (the photo on the article showing the route going up Cwm Teigl from Llan Ffestiniog was confusing me). Hopefully they can get it resolved and get rid of the horrible 'diversion'. Eryri seems to be in even greater need of rights-of-way reform than national parks in England in some ways, it's hard to stitch a decent route together.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/334a17e2b4da447391357355eeb33d1f

Some kind of glitch means the article link at the top is broken for me. This might work better

https://singletrackworld.com/2023/08/new-cycling-uk-route-traws-eryri/

Hi,

Im Just researching this route after spending time around there in the campervan with the family. I was really looking forward to it until I read @martinhutch review.

Anyone made it there and back on the train from West Yorkshire? Is it possible for 2 people?

Whats it like for picking up food on the route? Looks like it should be pretty easy.

Looking at doing this middle of September weather permitting.

Which way is best? South to north as per the guide book?

@didnthurt have you ridden it? You always wrote really good reviews. 

Thanks

We rode it back in May including the two 'missing bits' from their website. After some helpful advice from Olly we also added in Y Slab and the first section of the blue at Coed Y. If you are wearing your big boy pants its worth finding the Jubilee Path down to Betsw (we had to push some corners with 40 miles in our legs and on XC tyres).

You cycle past some off-piste fun after Betsw if you want to add in a descent, it was way too wet for us that day though.

With a bit more knowledge I imagine that you can use Penmachno trails to get across the forest but having only been there once we stuck to the fireroads.

Again, following Ollys advice (thanks Olly) we hiked up to enjoy the ridgeline descent off Conwy Mountain, it is cheeky but despite being a beautiful day it was quiet up there and we only met friendly runners and walkers.

We did meet someone riding North to South as he lived near Mach but he said it was less fun. All in all our experience didn't match martinhutch's, it was a joyful 3 days of constantly changing views and as always in Wales, weather to match!

My wife took us to the start and met us each night at campsites which made the whole thing a lot more fun. If I'd been carrying my own gear I'd do 4 days rather than 3. There is a Facebook group for this with a couple of people that will pick you up from the end point and drop you at the start and lots of riders stories about where to stay on route.

I rode my Canyon Dude on Jumbo Jims  and didn't regret it, there were plenty of moments when I was glad of some suspension, I'd hate to climb so far only to limp back down on a rigid gravel bike. For reference, my only other long distance multi-day riding is a Jennride and a CDT.

Enjoy and if you want our routes just drop me a message (if thats working!)

@mugboo which gpx route do you recommend to use? I just downloaded the one from the official site but I'm confused what's open and what isn't. Thanks

I’d hate to climb so far only to limp back down on a rigid gravel bike.

Oh.

We set off for Wales tomorrow. Trans Cambrian for 3 days followed by the TE over 3 days.

Only just seen the chat of closed bits, any chance you could send me the route please so I can check how it compares to what we’ve got planned?

This is what we’re planning

https://explore.osmaps.com/route/21485176/trans-cambrian-traws-eryri-complete

I don’t *think* anything is “closed” at the moment. The published route differs from the original article as there are two major sections where the rights of way are ambiguous. These currently have tarmac alternatives.

Have a look at the article below for the background, and where they are (3 part article).

https://www.cyclinguk.org/blog/traws-eryri-mysterious-missing-bits

There’s also a short, off-road section near Abergynolwyn  that requires you to traverse about 100 yds of footpath, so isn’t on the published route.

Thanks, yep I just read that and realised what the issue is.

So from the Cycling UK article it suggests that it should be OK to ride but technically not allowed.

I wonder if I’ll get a chance to faff about with my GPX route and tweak it in time!

I did the route with Mugboo I'll try and post a link to my Strava for the 3 days riding.

@phil5556 - check your messages.

Day 1 https://www.strava.com/routes/3263189111859569490

Day 2 https://www.strava.com/routes/3263189768130598738

Day 3 https://www.strava.com/routes/3263190464614649778

@phil5556 – check your messages.

Don't worry - @Simon 's routes above include what I was going to send you (except the short bit near Abergynolwyn).

Enjoy!

@tillydog just messaged you so no need to reply but thanks!

@Simon thanks for that, I’ll grab the GPX later and compare it to ours.

All the extra bits OK to ride?

Sorted.

The quarries section definitely worthwhile and looks like it cuts out a bit of a slog of a climb up a road.

The other bit might be a hard sell to everyone at the end of day 6... I'm sure the view is glorious, but it adds about 350m on. Will see how we are all feeling.