GPS co-ordinates for Wales

In yesterday’s post, I promised that I’d give you some GPS co-ordinates for the places I went biking at the weekend.

The forest was the Coed Llandegla Forest (note the Welsh double L) on the A525 about 7 miles west of Wrexham. N53° 03.767 W003° 08.120 should put you in the middle of the car park.

The campsite is at Llyn Rhys Farm – continue west along the A525 for a couple of miles, turn left at the 1st set of lights (very hosptable pub on the corner, good food but only until 9pm & very much cheaper than london beer) & the farm is about 100m on the left. Great so long as you don’t mind sharing the field with the sheep. I don’t know who was more surprised, the owners of the farm finding two people who wanted to camp in October of the sheep – very strange looks from them all. £3.50 pp per night & an extra 50p for use of the shower in the farm house. N53° 03.388 W003° 11.939

Top mountain biking in Wales

Having been an urban mountain biker, although I’ve been told I own a hybrid. I got dragged off to Wales to get it wet & muddy for the first time. What a hoot !

Some forest near Coedpoeth (GPS coordinates to follow) purpose built tracks through some managed forest just like your ski runs, green, red & black, all signposted out through the woods & free ! Decent car park, top cafe that’s just won an award for bacon butties, but the full english breakfast was better. Found a campsite (farmers field with toilet & shower at £3.50 a night just a couple of miles down the road & 150 meters from a pub)

The green run took us about an hour. The red run took 1 3/4 hrs & made the legs work harder. Hybrid urban tyres just about coped with the red run. I didn’t try the black as I think my tyres weren’t up to the job. Proper chunky jobs are required to keep grip on some of the hills. Enough there to keep us occupied for a day or two.

Then we used a book called Bikefax for Wales to try a longer & more challenging route along lanes & bridle paths. No bike, regardless of tyres, would have kept going through the puddle & peat bog that was that deep. My friend with fancy clip on shoes, found that as the front wheel sinks into peat bog, you can’t unclip your feet fast enough to stop you from an inpromptu cold bath. Urban hybrid wins again, although I would have liked chunkier tyres.