WRT 2016 - Interesting Waypoint Discussion

[Richard G]

...for the discussion of waypoints that were interesting, rather than interesting discussion.

Anyone got any thoughts on any of these / other waypoints that were memorable?


SH 627200 - Mynydd Egryn / North East of Barmouth

Hit this from the South in horrific weather and had to push up a very steep rocky climb. I had always sort of assumed that the dashed tracks meant that they were fairly good surfaces....nooooope! Really enjoyed bits of the descent to Llanddwywe so I don't really know if it would have been better North to South (For techy rocky descent) or the way I did it.


SH 695164 - Craig y Castell / West of Dolgellau

Got to this from the East and spent a good while pushing up another hill that probably would have made a great rocky descent. Really interesting little bit of track between two stone farm walls. Starting to wonder if Stu should let you buy "suggested directions" for donations to the Air Ambulance service.


SH 650187 - Allt Boeth / West of Bontddu

I really liked the little track I took up from the South East to get to this one. I think it would have made a better descent, but the views were amazing and the climb had good flow.


SH ?????? - Aberdovey

Have never been here before. Lovely little place, and I quite enjoyed that the placement of the waypoint took me to where the rich people live. (I didn't turn up on the Sunday for cake)

I wish I'd had an icecream though. :(


SH 637382 - Coed Felinrhyd / West of Trawsfynydd

Had a nice loop of Coed Felinryd after going around the edge of Llyn Tecwyn-uchaf (that bit was amazing, though I was a little scared of falling in the lake). Took the sneaky route around Trawsfynydd too, which felt sorta naughty. lol


SH 811335 - ~Bryn Cau / North West of Llanuwchllyn

Even in the crappy weather this was stunning; with the landscape and snaking roads on either side. Sadly because of a bike problem on the second day I'd had to hit this from the South East and then backtrack, but was definitely worth the vicious hills on the way.


SH 789058 - ~Bryn Maur / South of Dyfi Forest

Track to the North West goes through the "Jaguar Graveyard". Was genuinely in fear for my safety. Concerningly, on the just outside the graveyard I found a pair of glasses on the floor... the owner perhaps never to be seen again?


SH ?????? - Somewhere between Coed Y Glyn and Lake Vyrnwy

Not really sure exactly where this is, but heading south this was a very long climb which seemed to attract a lot of tourists (a number of cars going up it, almost none going down it). When I hit it I was dealing with a serious headwind which made it even less fun. Very memorable though. Hirnant pass perhaps?

[Ian]

I'll reply fully later, but did you get round all the checkpoints?

[Richard G]

Yeah, I believe so. My route was awful though, in part because I rushed it, in part because my bike started to fall to bits at the end of day two so I had to seek assistance.

[Ian]

OK, got a map in front of me now.

Mynydd Egryn - also known as Bwlch y Rhiwgwr, or Pass of the Drovers. I've never done this track before, but knew that it would ultimately lead to me to Pont Fadog, which is a bit of a feature of the area, especially as I'm particularly fond of bridges in this area dating back to the mid 1700's. All things considered, I reckon taking a bike over there was easier than trying to herd cows, pigs and geese

Craig y Castell - I think this is best done from the east - short grassy push, then a long rocky descent. I did it in the depth of night, and upon arriving at the farm just above Kings YHA, a bloke stuck his head out of a doorway and asked me am I lost? No, mate, I ride my bike in the middle of the night for fun. No, really, I do!

Allt Boeth - another new bridleway for me. A touch soft under tyre to muscle my way all the way up on the singlespeed, but I enjoyed it all the same, especially when it broke out of the trees and overlooked the estuary. I'm glad Stu put a checkpoint in here, otherwise I'd have overlooked this little track.

Aberdovey - I was way too early for cake, but as I tried to ride through town, Matt appeared from nowhere and hauled me into the Drovers Arm and made me eat beef burger, chips and onion rings.

Glyn Tecwyn Uchaf - this is an amazing spot - best checkpoint on the board and was the main reason I endured the awful weather that afternoon to get to it.

Bryn Cau - having missed the cafe by the lake, and gone past the Rhiw Goch too early, I pushed on to Llanwchllyn over this road. Pushed was the operative word. At least I had a tail wind, though at walking pace, it didn't help much.

Bryn Maur - the "jaguar graveyard" is exactly as I described it to Matt in the pub in Aberdovey. I went wrong here and nearly ended up in the guys back garden. Had to back track (very quietly) to the gate on the track further up as the bank was too steep to scramble down...

Somewhere between... that'll be Bwlch y Groes. Fair play for going up from the south, into the wind. I approached from Llyn Vyrnwy on the Sunday morning, which was hard enough. The descent to Dinas Mawddwy was painful as I did my best to descend at 20mph while the wind driven rain made it's way uphill at 40mph+

Other bits from me:

The most memorable bit for me came after picking up the one over Bwlch y Fenni at around 10:00pm. From there, I dropped down to Penllyn Forest and made my way up through the wood - pushing through the longest harvesting job I've ever seen (and that's saying something). I emerged out of the top of the forest and rode the twisting track westwards to rejoin the tarmac rode. The cloud was down so I could only see about 6 feet in front, and it was into a full on headwind.

The one by Pont Rhyd y gwair (remember I have a thing for stone bridges) was great, and the road that followed it to Llanfachreth and over Bwlch Goriwared was lovely too, mainly because the rain hadn't started yet.

Coed y Brenin trails were rubbish. Rutted stepped rocky mess that is supposedly the best Wales has to offer for mountain biking I rode many miles of superb natural trails at the weekend in awful weather that were 10x more fun.

[Richard G]

Craig y Castell - I think this is best done from the east - short grassy push, then a long rocky descent. I did it in the depth of night, and upon arriving at the farm just above Kings YHA, I bloke stuck his head out of a doorway and asked me am I lost? No, mate, I ride my bike in the middle of the night fun. No, really, I do!

Yeah, if waypoints have intended directions, that one was definitely East to West. I noticed you took an interesting loop to get to that one too, so arguably could have hit it from the East.

Bryn Maur - the "jaguar graveyard" is exactly as I described it to Matt in the pub in Aberdovey. I went wrong here and nearly ended up in the guys back garden. Had to back track (very quietly) to the gate on the track further up as the bank was too steep to scramble down...

I ended up going over the fence and scrambling up the bank. I turned off my lights because I was sh*tt*ng myself.

Glyn Tecwyn Uchaf - this is an amazing spot - best checkpoint on the board and was the main reason I endured the awful weather that afternoon to get to it.

I do wish I'd had full length leg coverage on that bit... the plants were scratchy! The little bit of forest after it (which I didn't need to do, but it looked like a cool little loop) was great too.

[NorwayCalling]

Glyn Tecwyn Uchaf - this is an amazing spot - best checkpoint on the board and was the main reason I endured the awful weather that afternoon to get to it

Was a nice spot - in the rain - and wind - completely on my own too - kind of remote feeling.

[Matt]

Any photos of the Jags?

[Richard G]

No-one had the balls to stay that long.

[Dan_K]

No-one had the balls to stay that long.

What was so scary about the place?

[Ian]

Difficult to pinpoint exactly. I descended down a rough track, it petered out to nothing. As I got closer to the house, I realised I'd gone wrong. The other side of the fence you could see the hollow corpses of two e-type Jags - rust had devoured their arches and panels to the point they were nearly unrecognisable.

It was a really quiet secluded valley, no sound, no barking dogs, just eerie silence. As I backtracked along the fence above the graveyard, it was like seeing the history of Jaguar stretched out over 50 years in various stages of decay.

Some of the newer ones that were parked up seemed in good nick. Maybe lured there with the promise of restoration, but seemingly unaware of their eventual fate of a slow and painful death in an obscure Welsh valley

[Richard G]

They say that sometimes, late at night, you can hear the engines gently rev.

[Richard G]

This was the graveyard btw: https://bit.ly/26SLht1

You can see the cars lining the edge of the track (there were a lot more under the trees).

[notinabox]

Can I ask for the grid reference for the amazing spot mentioned please? Glyn Tecwyn Uchaf

many thanks
Steve

[Ian]

It's here: SH 640383

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCKRzQrGtTP/

[notinabox]

It's here: SH 640383

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCKRzQrGtTP/

bril! thanks

[notinabox]

It's here: SH 640383

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCKRzQrGtTP/

oh my!! thank you for the picture!!!!!

we will be going there .....................