Welsh Coast 2 Coast Cymru Day 2:- Bye Bye North Wales

The day started well. Looking out of the window provided a view of a dry and bright day. 

A fantastic spread and cooked breakfast at the Cross Foxes in Trawsfynydd set us up nicely for the day ahead. Here we are getting  ready :- 

Joe wanted us all to know that he had brand new white socks to wear today which were going to be filthy by the end of the day. 

As we started.. a long and steady climb lead us above the A470 towards Coed y Brenin. 

I caught Peter on a couple of times

The track linked to the fire roads in Coed y Brenin where we reached the visitor centre for cake. Mmmmm 

 We were also accosted by a  fat chaffinch who wanted most of our cake for itself. As you can see, it can barely support itself on its legs. 

We headed off on the Minotaur trial a blue route in Coed y Brenin. 

From Coed y Brenin we followed cycle path #8 all the way down to Dolgellau for lunch 

Following a quick lunch we headed off for  the first of two big hill climbs. My knee had been hurting all day which forced me to take it slower than I wanted :( there was a good view of Dolgellau on the way

 

Once we finally got to the top of the big climb arrived at the Cadair Idris valley. Following the cycle track we traversed the valley where we found a stark warning :- 

Eventually cutting  across the a487 and started the last big climb in earnest as we could see rain clouds approaching behind us. 

Half way up the big climb. The rain arrived. So time to quickly put on some waterproofs. 

After finally getting to the top the climb we headed down the valley. Unfortunately the weather wasn't too good for pictures. But I tried : 

From the bottom of the valley we followed the river for Corris :-

Rain was as incessant as yesterday but we knew we were close to the end.. so with a good pace we headed down to Machynlleth. 

Crossing the Dyfi over the footbridge marked our leaving North Wales and entering mid Wales and arrival at Machynlleth !!! 

So all in all, we're all agreed that today was better than yesterday. We've showered, eaten and looking forwards to long day to Pontrhydfendigaid tomorrow :) 

Here's a link to our track for today :- 

http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/MzY0NDky

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Cylchdaith Eiraog Coed y Brenin Carwyn 7fed o Ebrill

Ar ôl trafod paratoi am y trip gyda Carwyn ac yn dilyn ei ymchwil.. mi awgrymodd y dylwn ni fynd am reid  mewn amgylchiadau tebyg i'r trip ei hun. Gyda hyn mewn golwg, mi luniodd Carwyn llwybr yn dechrau a gorffen yng Nghoed y Brenin.. ond yn osgoi'r llwybrau arferol wrth fynd i mewn i'r wlad a dilyn y lonydd cefn, lonydd tan 'fire roads' a'r llwybrau ceffyl a hynny am 30 milltir

Dyma ychydig o lunia yn fuan ar y trip.

LLun gan Carwyn - Picture from Carwyn

Roedd hi'n cychwyn grêt i'r diwrnod.. roeddem yn cadw amser da.. ac yn dod i arfer gyda'n teclynnau i ffeindion ffordd.. Carwyn gyda'i Garmin a finnau gyda'n Iffon.

Dwi'n gobeithio sgwennu yn y blog am declynnau GPS hwyrach yn y Blog.

Gafon ni ychydig o eira ar y llwybrau gweler fideo ohonof i'n trio beicio ar ychydig bach o eira.. dwi angen teiars gwell ar gyfer job fel honno dwi'n meddwl.

Ar ôl fwy o reidio, mi aethom ni ar draws ein lluwch eira gyntaf. Fedrwch chi weld pa mor ddyfn oedd o ar ôl claddu'r giât a llyncu'n goesau yn y lluniau yma : -

 

Ar ôl chwaneg o ginio.. mi ddaethom ni fyny at  lwybr roedd wedi ei orchuddio gydag eira. Wrth gredu byddai'r eira ddim yn rhu drwg a gan fod y llwybr yn uno a choedwig, penderfynom gario ymlaen at y goedwig ble fyddai'r eira wedi diflannu. Son am gamgymeriad.. ar ôl sloggio am bron i awr i gael i ben y llwybr trwy eira i fyny i'n pengliniau.. Roedd cymaint o eira yn y goedwig ag bob man arall!

Roedd ddigon o eira i allu ni sefyll ei'n feics heb dal arnyn nhw!

Beics yn sefyll yn yr eira 

 Erbyn hyn, doedd ganddom ni ddim teimlad yn ein traed, dim lot o egni na myned..mi aethom ni nol i drio ffeindio ffordd arall.  Aeth y gylchdaith yn eithaf da o fanno.. Mi aeth y reid tua 10 milltir yn llai na'r bwriad.. ond roedd hi'n ddiwrnod da a mi ddysgon ni lot! Da ni am  ddod yn ôl unwaith mae'r eira wedi diflanu!

Dyma manylion y reid :-

Snowy Circular above Coed y Brenin 7th of April

After discussing the Coast to Coast with Carwyn and some of his research, he suggested we should go on a ride similar to that we'll be facing on the trip itself. With this in mind, Carwyn made a gpx circular route starting from Coed y Brenin but avoiding the mormal tracks established in the centre and going up into the mountains and country allong fire roads, tracks and bridleways for 30 miles

Here's a few photos from early in the trip.

LLun gan Carwyn - Picture from Carwyn

The start of the trip went very well, we kept a good pace and we were getting used to navigating with our gps devices. Cawryn was using his Garmin and I was using my iphone with the Viewranger app. I'm planning on writing on the blog about the GPS app that I'm hoping to use for the Coast to Coast. 

We came accross some snow early on and here's a video of me having a go at riding through it. I think ill need some better tyres in this instance I think! 

After some more riding, we came across our first snow drift. You can see how deep the snow was after almost burying a nearby gate and swallowed my legs as you can see below :- 

 

After some lunch.. we set off and quickly reached a path that was covered in snow. Believing that the snow wouldn't be too bad, we set off up the snow as the path would later join a forest which we believed would be clear. What a mistake this was! After slogging for over an hour to get to the head of the path, where it crossed a stream to the forest, with the snow up to our knees for most of the way.. there was as much snow in the forest as there was outside it! As you can see from the pictures below.. the snow was thick enough to stand the bikes in! 

Snow standing bikes 

By now, we'd lost feeling in our feet, low energy and even less patience so we agreed to turn around to find another way. Once back down from the snowy path, the route went well.. loosing about 10 miles from the original path, but it turned out to be a good day where we learned a lot about navigation and reading the environment. One things for certain.. we'll be back when the snow's left!

Here's the details of the route:- 

Bwystfil Coed y Brenin Beast 17-03-13

Roedd hi'n anodd codi i ddod lawr i Coed y Brenin ar gyfer ar y bore yma.  Roeddwn wedi mwynhau dathlu llwyddiant Cymru yn ennill y chwe gwlad ar ddydd Sadwrn.

I'r reid, mi ddaeth Peter, Alice a Carwyn a benderfynon ni mynd ar trail 'Bwystfil Brenin'  llwybr Du, mwyaf y ganolfan... a rhaid i mi ddeud nath y trail ddim siomi!!!

Dyma gyswllt ar gyfer gwybodaeth ar gyfer y trail.

Yn anffodus, gafodd Carwyn bach o ddamwain yn fuan yn y dydd, dros y handlebars a glanio ar ei ysgwydd. Yn ei crash, mi blygodd ei olwyn a mech cefn.. oops! 

Roedd ei olwyn mor ddrwg, doedd o methu pasio rhwng ffyrc y beic.. Isod mae video o'r olwyn ar ôl ychydig o 'roadside assistance' gan Peter. 

Gyda'r olwyn mor ddrwg â'i ysgwydd yn brifo, mi benderfynodd Carwyn mynd adra ! Yn ddigon ffodus, doedd ei ysgwydd ddim rhu drwg ar ôl ychydig o ddyddiau..

Gyn belled ag mae gweddill trail mewn cwestiwn.... mi aeth Peter, Alice a finnau ymlaen i orffen y llwybr.. ac argian.. mae'r bwystfil yn hir, anodd... a HIR!!!

Yn anffodus, ges i ddim cyfle i dynnu lot o lunia.. ond dyma panorama neis islaw  i chi eniwe!

Well it was a little difficult getting up and down to Coed y Brenin on this Sunday. Id been enjoying the celebrating Wales's success in the on Saturday. 

 Peter, Alice and Carwyn cane for the ride and we agreed on having a go on the Beast of Brenin. its a black trail.. the largest route of the Centre.. and it certainly doesn't disappoint!

Here's a link to the information on the trail. 

Unfortunately, Carwyn had a bit of an accident early on in the day, went over the handle bars and landed on his shoulder. OUCH! In the crash, he buckled his wheel, damaged is rear mech ... oops!

His wheel was so bad it couldn't even run through his forks. Here's video on of his wheel after some road side assistance from Peter! 

His wheel was pretty bad, and with his shoulder hurting, Carwyn decided it would be better to go back home. Fortunately  after a few days, his shoulder was on the mend. 

As far as the rest of the trail was concerned, Peter, Alice and I went ahead to tackle the rest of the trail and jeez... the Beast is long, tough and LONG!!! 

Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of opportunity to take a lot of pictures, but I managed to get a nice panorama :- 

Reid #2 - Coed y Brenin - Ride #2

Mwy o ymarfer ar gyfer reidio Top i'r Gwaelod heddiw. Allan efo Peter a'i ffrindiau yn Coed y Brenin heddiw.. tro cyntaf i mi fod ar trail Du sef yr 'mbr'. Ar ôl mymryn o ginio mi aeth Peter a finnau am drip cyflym lawr y Minataur a cywilydd i mi.. es i dros yr handle bars a landio ar fy nghefn mewn ffos mwdlyd! Typical!

Dyma chydig o lunia a manylion y reids heddiw i ddilyn :-


More exercise for the Coast to Coast today. Went with Peter and some of his friends to Coed y Brenin today and completed my first 'black' trail, the 'mbr'. After some lunch Peter and I took a trip along the Minataur and to my shame I found myself going over the handlebars and landed in a muddy ditch in my back.. Typical.

Details and pictures from the day below :-

Todays riders

Peter - C2C contender

One of the last sections of the mbr

Pen ol mwdlyd ar ol syrthio yn y ffos
 A muddy bum after falling into the ditch :)

I got a mud-tan