Mountain biking around Llyn Brenig.
I tend to have those places that, despite not being all that technical, I still want to go and ride my mountain bike there. After visiting Llyn Brenig and the Alwen reservoirs multiple times for Wales Rally GB, they have been on my list for a rather long time. Arriving without a yellow helicopter dodging trees and rally cars doing the same, it felt rather quiet! Granted there were still plenty of people around, just not as many as when the WRC spectators pay the reservoir a visit.
I wasn’t expecting the routes to be anything near what I’ve ridden in the past. I was only expecting fire roads really, but I just wanted to see more of the place after only being able to see minimal parts of it at the rally. We started off on the fire road that goes around Llyn Brenig. I was happy just being in the Welsh countryside on my mountain bike. No pressure to go a certain speed or ride a certain way, just being out in the sunshine.
Opening and closing the multiple gates, we found ourselves at a junction of trails. Back to the Llyn Brenig Visitor Centre or to the Alwen Reservoir. After a climb that was a lot tougher that it looked, I was so close to saying let’s just head back, but with the sun out what better place is there to be? We’d only get home sooner to do well….not a lot! Me and my brother don’t get out on the bikes together much, so we may as well make the most of the rare occasion of us both having free weekends to ride our bikes.
Going round Alwen was something I didn’t regret either, as it was definitely closer to single track than Llyn Brenig. We were riding in and out of the forest too, which gave us a break from having the sun warming our backs. The trails were so quiet apart from a few walkers and young families out riding bikes. We couldn’t go particularly fast because of this, but it meant we could fully take in all of the amazing views around us. Those amazing views also meant taking lots of photos, which my brother wasn’t too pleased about ha!
In some sections the trees were that big we could have mistaken ourselves for being in Canada or somewhere in the Alps.
“As amazing as the Alps in the snow are, nothing quite beats Wales in the Spring”
Riding across the bridge over the pitch black Alwen, I somehow had to put all my faith in a bridge that was no doubt quite old…
Riding over the moorlands and coming to realise just how big the reservoirs were.
It was refreshing to see somewhere new and make the most of this sunny weekend.
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