Was originally planning a day trip to Nant Yr Arian but might turn it into a long weekend, assuming there’s plenty of natural riding to be had close by (preferably easily cyclable from Ponterwyd) does anyone have any GPX routes they could share? Or would I be better off staying in Machynlleth and doing a couple of these http://www.dyfimountainbiking.org.uk/Dyfi_MTB/GPS_Routes.html ?

the summit trail has a very natural feel to it! If that’s not enough there’s a link to Mach3 which is essentially linked up natural trails. That’s a big enough day out.

What about parking at Nanty, ride down to Aberystwyth (all downhill and then flat), train to Machynlleth and then ride back to Nanty…

55km I think including the road ride to Abers and getting out of Machynlleth.

Or yeah, to nant and back 🙂

Interesting suggestion but want to keep off roads as much as possible, ideally looking for 20-30 mile routes and not massively technical (red grade stuff is ok). Still planning on one day at Nant and doing the long + short trail there but don’t think I’d fancy that for two or three days.

I’d suggest any or all of the Mach rides, and, if you’ve a car, maybe some parts of the Transcambrian either south from Mac or north from Llangurig or south from there or north from Rhayader.

I did the Rhayader Round route (http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/rhayader_round_route.html) when I was staying near there a month or so ago. Great fun, some techy and fast downhills in there 🙂

There’s some good stuff out there. A copy of OS Explorer 213 will be a great help … head out towards Nant Y Moch or maybe Fishermans retreat.

Oddly most of the stuff marked on the map is actually on the ground and rideable … not the usual case with much of mid Wales 😉