Elan Valley

A group of us are off to Elan Valley next weekend for a couple of days riding.   There are a couple of planned routes around the reservoirs-1 from Rhayader and 1  from Elan Village.  Anybody local able to give an idea of what the ground conditions are like and how boggy its likely to be?

Thanks

In my experience not many of the locals actually ride.

Get in touch with these wonderful people who will be  able to get you up to speed.

https://www.clivepowellbikes.com/

If you are considering the Monk’s Trod, between Claerwen farm and Pont ar Elan via Carn Ricket (shown on the OS map as ‘Ancient Road’) go armed with a massive sense of humour. It is an exceptionally boggy mess, thigh deep in places for hundreds of metres. EVERY time I ride it I swear that I will NEVER do it again, it is that bad. Time dulls the pain and I forget just how bad it is… only to be reminded after it is too late. The very best time to visit it is after a long and extremely hard freezing spell.

I live further south in Carmarthenshire. Last weekend the hills above Llandovery were surprisingly dry but since then we have had a couple of days of rain.

The Elan Valley hills are seldom dry (hence the reason for building the reservoirs) so expect to get wet feet even in dry and sunny weather.

That blue trail behind the church is worth a few loops, its a beauty.

Clive Powell’s bike shop is practically closed these days, he hardly even bothers to open the shop anymore.

The manager and bike mechanic Neil has set up his own shop down the road.

Give Neil a shout here, he’ll be able to advise you on routes depending what you’re after.

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I think it’s probably going to be fairly damp, I don’t live anywhere near but I check the BBC forecast for Rhayader every few days with a view to heading out as soon as there’s been a week or two with no rain.

Forecast has been patchy the last couple of weeks, couple of nice days, couple of wet ones.. so I’d guess it’s still a bit boggy.