Rode Penmachno for the first time in about 10 years, it was expecting it to be very wet and it really was, had not expected the sleet was bloody freezing by the end of the ride.

There were an awful lot of diversions due to fallen trees, which I guess is expected at this time of year.  A lot of the raised woodwork seems to have rotted away and was unrideable.  Are the trails still being maintained by the volunteer group or are the trails no longer maintained.

I went round on an 100mm xc hard tail, had my tyres pumped up too hard due to lack of planning and I seem to have forgotten how to ride without a dropper, still great to be out.

Seemed very overgrown and pretty much deserted last time I was there 12 months ago sone trees down and loads of harvested areas – which is a shame because I remembered it being great back in the day. Guess a lot of folk are all about the uplifts and bike parks now so this place looks to have lost favour.

I love it.  Best man made trail in the UK!

I rode it a few weeks ago, same situation with closed trails. There was one where the diversion sign seemed to be a bit ambiguous, I rode on to unsurprisingly find the trail pretty substantially blocked. Evidence of lots of other people making the same mistake, detouring around the fallen trees.

It a good ride out, some great views and some really good sections of trail, but there’s soooo much standing water! I’m not a fair weather rider, I’m used to being wet, but bloody hell, it got tiresome.

Next day I rode the beast at coed y brenin, not a single puddle on the whole route! 🤔

“love it. Best man made trail in the UK!”

I see what you did there 😉

Yes it’s a great route and I like that the trails are narrow and you have to be really accurate.

I think after yesterday I need to buy a camelback again, took everything on me and the bike but could have really done with a mm extra layer after it got soaked through and then started snowing.  On there was a section higher up where I was struggling with braking and changing gear due to frozen fingers.

Yes it’s a great route and I like that the trails are narrow and you have to be really accurate.

I think after yesterday I need to buy a camelback again, took everything on me and the bike but could have really done with an an extra layer after it got soaked through and then started snowing.  On there was a section higher up where I was struggling with braking and changing gear due to frozen fingers.

It’s a 6 out of 10 route but gets a 2 out of 10 from me as a destination due to non existent drainage – I was there in August & I’d have stayed dryer by riding down a river.

Love this place, went last year, and ignored the diversions (no serious trees down at the time) and walked the rotten boardwalks, though guy we followed tried riding it unsuccessfully. I really enjoyed the tracks, though numerous runs were lower than the surround ground, so are often full of water. There was dodgy looking donation box at the trail head, but I wasn’t even sure it was in use. I did try checking if it’s still maintained but the website, though up suggests the last trail dig day was 2013, so again I was dubious about donating (I have emailed the info addy)

http://www.penmachnobiketrails.org.uk/support.html

Last there two and a bit years ago – hissing rain. Made it particularly spectacular with the waterfalls/river’s every where though. Two lads were taking their girlfriends round, and one was particularly un-happy. They didn’t bail and dragged her round, which wasn’t fair.

I assume the little bridge is still not repaired, and the log boardwalk was OK two years ago. I did a heck on a lot of swearing on the climbs that were about a tyre width stream. Very narrow in places.  Highlight was the slow descent back to the car park (before the fast run in) and we hit what we thought was a puddle, but the bike went under water. It was a real WTF moment. Stopped dead. Pulled the bike out and it looked like a swamp monster.

Last went there during the heatwave almost two years ago, it was boiling hot (almost too dangerous to ride hot) and hadn’t rained for a long time, it was still wet with big puddles!

I did the Marin trail straight after and it was bone dry and dusty!

There is a trail builders group of Facebook. They last posted last year when they were out strimming the trails so it looks like some of the diggers are still at it.

The latest from Penmachno Mountain bike Trails on FB (worth following – low message volume, mostly announcements.)

1st Section of loop 1 (Croeso I Machno) closed from 25th March to 3rd May for forestry works – please follow diversions.

https://www.facebook.com/100063517572437/posts/pfbid02KHyhE38sVXvJWFpW25LMdK9KgavHogQNGfk7EEHyr9Hz7coQ8AaMgXx97wT6GZSvl/?app=fbl

Posted last Sunday:

Please find current trail section information below.

Dolen Machno: Open apart from ‘Croeso i Machno’ (as per notice above) due to forestry works. ‘Bendigedig’ and ‘Fastis Tri’ are currently closed due to fallen trees awaiting clearing by NRW.

Dolen Eryri: Open apart from ‘Pedlo Cyflym’, ‘Dringfa Fach’ and ‘Fedw deg’ due to broken boardwalk.

They are currently putting together this years maintenance schedule.

Thanks will follow the group above.

I emailed the group (before anyone mentioned FB)

Thanks for the email – yes, we’re still active … it’s just the website that isn’t! We tend to use FB for any updates, and we need to sort the website, but it always gets pushed to the bottom of the list (we use Dreamweaver to avoid a monthly fee and fees on payments/donations, but it’s not so easy to update).
The trailhead donation box and Paypal are good to use, with 90% of donations going back into the trails, and 10% into local community projects.
The trails are still managed by the community team, and we’re in the process of sorting our maintenance schedule for the spring/summer. We are waiting for NRW to clear the trees and are also applying for funding to replace the broken boardwalk (our first application was unsuccessful so we’re now applying for different funding). So the trails aren’t at their best at the moment, however, we’re hoping some clearing and repair days will help with that!
We do rely on donations and volunteers to maintain the trails, so any donations (cash or time!), are always very welcome.