Mountain Biking Mid Wales

Llanidloes & Surrounding Area November '14

Five days mountain biking planned in mid-Wales and the weather forecast was looking fantastic. We first noticed the potential for biking when we drove through the area on the A44 and A470 when returning from the Pembrokeshire coast. There are some hostels and bunkhouses in the area but there is also a great range of self-catering accommodation allowing us to pick exactly where we wanted to be. We settled on a 'cottage' at Drainbyrion, just west of Llanidloes. It was in a superb setting and we completed three rides from the door.




View from our cottage at Drainbyrion, Llanidloes

The area is so well suited to mountain biking as it has gently rolling hills climbing to heights of between 400 & 750 metres. It also has great interest as it is the area where both the rivers Severn and Wye start their long and winding journeys. The whole area is criss-crossed with bridle-ways, tracks and quiet country lanes, all ideal for mountain biking. However, many of the bridle-ways marked on the map don't actually exist on the ground. We often had no track to follow and had to climb over fences; when clearly  there was a bridle-way marked on the map. Those of you used to being out in National Parks, where a lot of funding is spent on signposting, will be surprised at the almost complete lack of signs and finger posts. This makes for interesting and challenging navigation! On the plus side there are a lot of tracks, that are not necessarily marked as a right of way; but we were assured all the local farmers were friendly and would have no objections to us following them. This did seem to be the case; everyone we met was incredibly friendly and keen to stop for a quick chat. We also found the area exceptionally quiet, meeting only one other walker in the whole six days.

On the small ridge close to our cottage

Having arrived at lunch time, we had a quick snack, prepped the bikes and got changed, ready to go. It was the first really cold, (and settled), spell of weather of the year, so winter leggings went on, along with thicker jackets and full-fingered gloves. Our cottage was at the top of a long, steep drive. This was great on the way out....



Early river crossing on the 2nd day

We set off down the drive, then right along the lane passing an interesting photo-shoot of a transvestite and a 1970's caravan; crossed the River Severn and climbed steeply up beside a small tributary of the Severn. We eventually found the bridle-way down to the stream. It went through someone's back garden, under their washing, passed their pet dog and on to some decidedly dodgy wooden log steps. We followed a muddy track past an isolated farmhouse, where, thankfully all the vociferous dogs were in their cages. From here the bridle-way was hard to find but eventually we made our way on to the top of a long ridge and then chose to make our way to the road due to a lack of track on the ground. The descent back to the River Severn was superb on rough farm track and quiet country lane. To make our way back to our cottage we spotted a footbridge over the river which saved us a few kilometres of lane cycling. One of us made it back up the driveway in the saddle; the other is a little older! (That's his excuse anyway).



Views towards Llyn Clywedog

That was a short, warm up ride. The next day I planned a full day of about 35km into Hafren Forest and the upper reaches of both the Severn & Wye. We managed all but about 1km on decent tracks this time. From the cottage we headed out right along the lane again but soon turned off for a short climb into the woods. There was a short descent to a stream river crossing and my first wet foot of the day; not great when it was icy but the waterproof socks did a sterling job. A little difficulty finding the bridleway over the hill but the first half did exist, unfortunately the second half did not. We followed the next lane for a while, getting superb views down over Llyn Clywedog. Soon we broke off the lane, finding the bridleway that gave us a lovely, long, grassy descent into Hafren Forest, following part of Glyndwr's Way.

Short descent into the woods

Looking towards the source of the River Wye

We popped out of the forest briefly but soon returned, winding our way round to the car park at Rhyd-y-Benwch, on the Severn Way. Once we had forded the Severn, we had a steady climb alongside the river, parallel to the Severn Way, on a forestry track for about 5km, to the upper edge of the forest. Crossing the ford allowed me to test the waterproof socks once again. The ford is pretty unrideable; slippery, deep with unseen ridges and troughs. If you take the time you might spot the bridge 50 metres around the corner. It comes into view as soon as you have crossed the ford!



Riding towards the Roman Fortlet on the Machynlleth Ride

Once out of the forest there is a little further to climb, still on good tracks until you reach the watershed and you are know looking towards the source of the River Wye. We followed the Wye Valley Walk a little way, again on a good track, then turned east again, heading back towards the forest. This is where the bridleway into the forest doesn't exist so we headed off-piste for about 500 metres down to meet the next forestry track.

Heading 'off-piste'

This was interesting and some bits were quite rideable, with a soft landing for those bits that weren't. We kept to the forestry tracks until we exited the forest again at Craig-y-Ffrwd. Then followed a lovey 4km descent which brought us to within a kilometre or so of our cottage.
This is a fantastic ride; varied terrain, tracks and views, with most of the uphill on good forestry tracks. I've not seen this ride in a guide book but would definitely do it again. Had we been a couple of weeks earlier though, we would not have been able to complete it due to a rally driving event.

We completed another ride, this time from the Mountain Biking in Wales book, on the way to Machynlleth. This ride was also varied and interesting with long up and downhills and fantastic views. I won't go into detail as the route can be found in the book.



Following Glyndwr's Way towards Nantyfyda on the Machynlleth ride

There are also a couple of Elan Valley rides in the book. For us, one was too short and the other sounded too tough. I mixed and matched the routes, added bits and came up with  another interesting route. A definite plus to this route is that the last 7 kilometres are on a traffic free route alongside the reservoirs and rivers. The route is again between 30 and 40km and took us most of a winter's day.



Misty views in the Elan Valley

We parked just outside of Rhayader, in one of the many lay-bys on the road to the Elan Valley. From here we briefly joined the traffic free route where we stopped to wonder at the number of Red Kites in and around the trees in the fields. Soon we got to the Wye Valley Walk; despite its name it is a bridle-way. We followed this, fording the Afon Elan, just before its confluence with the Wye. From the valley bottom, at about 180 metres, there was a short but steady climb to over 400m high. We were unable to stay in the saddle, but it wasn't long before we were back on the bikes to reap the rewards of the climb; almost 3 kilometres of gradual descent.

On the long descent

A short section on a lane, followed by an easy climb up a track to reveal hazy views of Caban Coch Reservoir. From here there was an undulating, interesting ride with fords and tracks decimated by 4x4 vehicles; to reach the track beside Afon Claerwen. We missed the bridleway on the south-west side and were actually quite relieved to follow the road instead. We didn't go all the way to Claerwen Reservoir; we decided we could miss the views on this misty day. One day we will return. From the lane it is another easy ride up a track towards the aerial at Cefn Llanerchi. There follows an interesting descent to the bridge across the reservoirs, (I chose to walk some of it). From here, downhill all the way along the traffic-free route to the car. Lovely.

Riding along the cycle route back to the car




Good tracks on the hills between Llanidloes & Llangurig

Our last day was another short trip from the cottage. With the knowledge we had gained about the state of the bridle-ways we planned most of this on tracks. Unfortunately the last downhill of the ride was on bridleway and we spent a lot of time trying to walk around knee deep mud. However the good parts of this ride can be combined with the best parts of the first ride to give a two to three hour ride on the hills above Llanidloes and Llangurig; all reideable and with yet again, stunning views.

Mid-Wales has so much more to offer the mountain biker and it is so easy to plan your own routes. We'll be back soon, to explore a slightly different area. If you pick the right place to live, you can do numerous rides from the door.