Routes in Mid Wales are excellent! Some are suitable for big trail bikes and novice trail riders, while other provide challenging and technical trail riding (although not enough to make up a day without some easy lanes).
In memory of our friend Patrick James, we are holding an event on 28th February. Please see the Special Days page.
We can take a single rider out, especially if one-to-one tuition is required, but if there are more of you, the price per person reduces. If you want the cheapest price, and your group is not big enough, I will try to find people of a similar ability and experience to join you. If there are more than eight, we are likely to split into two separate groups. Please see the Prices page for the cost of one or two days' riding.
Our trail riding days contain breaks to chat and admire the views and wildlife, and if the byway or road is one which is likely to have other users, the leader will ride at an appropriate pace. There will be a mix of fast flowing lanes and slower more technical going. Unfortunately there are a lot of gates which need opening and closing.
If you or your group will find the tarmac stretches annoying, and will not be happy following a leader who may be slower than you, then please think carefully before booking with us. You may find an enduro school with champion enduro riders Dylan and Geraint Jones and Wyn Hughes more to your taste, or may wish to enter one of the trail bike rally, enduro or hare and hounds events held in this area. See below for more information.
We are promoting a positive image of trail riders, and many of the local people we encounter frequently are friendly to us. In order to continue to build on our good relationships, we will not tolerate gates being left open, wheelies, stoppies and high revs in towns, villages and particularly the farmyards we pass through. You will receive a warning, and if not heeded, then you will be led straight back to the meeting place, with no refund of your payment.
In pursuance of sustainability, we prefer that you don’t get your bike stuck in a bog!
Many of the unsurfaced roads go through farms and beside rural dwellings, and to ensure continued use it is important that we are considerate. If your bike sounds too noisy, you will not be allowed to come trail riding.
Most enduro bikes with standard exhausts and silencers are OK. However, some of the early DRZ400Es and some KTMs from a few years ago (mainly 400s and 450s) had very noisy standard exhausts. Honda CRF250X and 450Xs are OK as long as the silencer insert is still in place. If you want advice, please email or phone 01686 430522 and ask to speak to Colin.
Trail riding has become considerably more popular during recent years - just at the same time as new laws have substantially reduced the green road network. We are lucky here in Mid Wales that most of the green lanes we ride are unclassified county roads and have not been affected (yet).
We are concerned to maintain a future for trail riding. There will be areas where we ask you to ride gently to preserve a delicate grass surface. Too much throttle or braking hard on the grass tears it up. Once damaged, the grass is unlikely to grow again, leaving a slippery muddy lane in winter and a dusty rutted one in summer. Gates must be left as they were found.
In Mid Wales, top class enduro schools are run during the winter months. See the Yamaha Offroad Experience for more details. The summer offroad schools are suitable for riders of all levels.
If you are looking for that extra buzz, you might like to consider entering one of the competitions on offer in this area. Trail bike rallies are ideal for the first time competitor, being aimed at the leisure trail or enduro rider.
North Wales Police put more resources into policing the roads than any other Force. During the summer of 2006 our groups were stopped by Police, and several riders received fixed penalty notices for small number plates. The routes from Llwyngwern Farm or the Dolgellau area are in the North Wales Police area, but the ones from Nant yr Arian are in the Dyfed Powys Police area. Sundays are the most likely day for police checks.
If you are concerned that a bike breakdown would end your day or days prematurely, we can usually provide a breakdown service. If one of your group's bikes breaks down, we will bring you a replacement bike, and retrieve your bike.
If you are a trail rider and have friends you would like to introduce to it who don’t have their own trail bike, we can provide bikes for them.
Enduro riding tuition is available if you wish. Colin has ridden and trained with Wyn Hughes and Geraint, Rowan and Dylan Jones. In the past he has assisted Wyn in running Husky Sport enduro training days.
Please email or phone 01686 430522 for prices if you would like more than two days. We can be flexible to fit in with your plans, and can provide accommodation for groups of up to five (six if one person doesn’t mind a mattress on the floor of the living area). If you only want accommodation, we can provide marked maps with notes on routes. Suggestions for other places to stay are available on our accommodation page.
The TRF is the National, voluntary and non-competitive body formed in 1970 by people who enjoyed exploring 'green lanes' by motorcycle. Our aim is to conserve our heritage of green lanes for everyone to enjoy. Trail riding is an ’active recreation’.
Visit www.trf.org.uk for more information.
We give £5 discount to TRF members. (You may be asked to produce your membership card)
Trail bike riders are unfairly blamed by groups opposed to any legitimate use of vehicles in the countryside, for damage caused to green lanes in certain parts of the country. While members of the TRF agree that bikes can and do cause damage when ridden in an irresponsible manner or in the wrong places, they often find when the evidence is examined that motorcycles have not been used to cause the damage, and are fighting back to refute such ill-founded claims. DEFRA commissioned a report on the state and usage of Byways in 2004 by Faber Maunsell, the report was published January 2005 and supports the TRF's View.