big bear route

[Mike]

so ive been thinking about having ago for awhile now but been trying to find the time to get it done as many others. I have a slot available soon and im contemplating going for it however ive just been studying it hard and OMG it looks so daunting . So whos had a crack and what ya think. Will start from Caersws. Theres alot of it ive already ridden at other times but some is new and looks like some brutal climbs?

Should i be scared of this route Stuart
I would hope to do this over 4 nights...is this being abit optimistic ??

[Bearbonesnorm]

I reckon 5 days / 4 nights is doable but it will probably require some longish days and a window of reasonable weather to make it enjoyable. In reality, you've probably got as much experience with the route as anyone ... there shouldn't be too many surprises in the bits you don't know

[ctznsmith]

Has anyone actually completed it yet?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Has anyone actually completed it yet?

No, not yet. That accolade is still to be claimed.

[slarge]

Mike, from Knighton to Trawsfynnyd is great riding, but in my notes to myself I did say it would be bad if wet. Definitely pick a dry week to do it. Took me 2 long days but I wasn't nailing it, just enjoying the scenery etc.

I haven't done the return to Knighton leg - I thought that wou ld be another long day which I didn't really have time for. I reckon 4 or 5 days would be ideal, and make it a real tour.

[Mike]

So tempted but a wet route would be miserable I think. And a lot of riding in the dark due to the shorter hours now. Just debating if it's a good idea to do the week of bb200 or if it would ruin my ride at bb due to me being knackered

[Chicken Legs]

Thinking of having a go at the Big Bear next week if things go to plan, unlike Mike I haven't studied the route, sounds like I would only put
myself off if I study it too hard

[slarge]

It is a great route, all rideable and stunning scenery.

Just don't ruin the experience by doing it when it's sub standard mudfest or bogtrot.

[ericrobo]

I started it first week in August, setting off from my mate's house near Chirk- after 10 miles or so I had to turn back due to my batteries all being flat, I think they shorted out on themselves... I should have known this ! However I managed to get new batteries in a Spar shop in Glyn Ceiriog, so got going again.

Weather was windy with the usual showers... some of the tracks were like canals so it was easier riding in the field on the grass dodging the sheeps.... never seen so many sheep !

Lots of single track road - after the wet off roads I was glad of the road (no traffic at all)

I remember one bit (Not sure where it is... probably just east of Plas Coch (which is 500 metres from Pencaedu) where I entered a field and circled it a couple of times because the route went through a dilapidated gate which looked as if nobody had been that way for about 500 years, so hmmm, it must be through there - then it goes to the right of the gully... it can't do, it's a bloody jungle- so I clambered over a barbed wire fence (which fell over) because that way there was a track, followed it for a bit to realise that the Garmin arrow is NOT this way - scratch head... maybe further down because there was another track... tried it - no good, so all the way back again and over the collapsed fence... it must be through the jungle !!!

And it was

You can lose a lot of time looking for the route

Then second day nearing Knighton I was only about 3 miles away but a lot of checking the Offa's Dyke bit, single track through a field (when you find it), a lot of undergrowth... then about a 100 metres up, then down again... in the rain... not fun when all you're thinking of is a 14inch pizza and a pint of good ale

So I threw the towel in at Knighton the day after and conveniently got a train (two trains) back to Chirk.

It will take some doing in 5 days - a big big advantage if you know where you are going.

Best of luck

(But that pint was good, and the pizza was so big I had to doggy bag 3 pieces (which was breakfast in a very wet field), so big I was too full for apple pie and ice cream... )

[slarge]

Eric, you got a grid ref for the jungle bit? Not sure if I experienced that bit.

[Bearbonesnorm]

With regard to undergrowth, Aug is possibly the worst time of year. A perfectly clear track in July can turn into waist high bracken in a couple of weeks ... and be dead and gone again by late Sep.

[NorwayCalling]

Is the Big Bear still an email only route i.e. "PM'm your email and I will forward the route to you" or is it openly available yet?

Cheers!

[Bearbonesnorm]

Is the Big Bear still an email only route i.e. "PM'm your email and I will forward the route to you" or is it openly available yet?

I believe someone did put it up somewhere ... found it: https://www.gpsies.com/map.do;jsessioni ... pjniibbxif

[Karl]

Mike, when are you thinking of having a go?

[ericrobo]

Steve

The jungle bit.... can't remember too well but as I said if you search for PENCAEDU, then just east of that is Plas Coch, and (I think) it's that bit
( I'm on an iPad and memory map doesn't give grid refs - it does on my PC)

There was another section, (don't ask me where) in the evening, where at a scruffy farm I had to turn right up an ancient, very ancient BW... nettles about 4 foot high on the left and brambles and dog rose on the right, bloody horrendous, stung all over. It only went on for a bit but seemed like a battle. At the end of it had to lift fully loaded bike over a rusty barb wire strewn gate... into a field of cows who all stopped to look at me as if to say "he must have been let out"

Pushed bike through field where there was a gate and a track (albeit inches deep in mud) and a sheepdog "smiling" at me - I said hello as it 'slunk' past me, and as soon as it was past it went for me... but I had been watching the bugger out of my 'reverse' eye, and used the bike to stop it...

The young farmer did apologise and slapped it a bit...

[Mike]

Karl if I do it ( weather dependant ) I will start it on the Sunday before bb200 weekend and hopefully be done by the Thurs so I can rest before bb