I've just got back from a couple of days driving round North Wales checking out some possible routes for April 25th. Left my carbon footprint all over the place.
Inital thoughts are to start from just outside Corwen and then head through Bala to Trawsfynnyd. That is an amazing road. From there through Tremadog (super unleaded available there) and up the A4085 to Caernarfon stopping at a pub for lunch on the way. Then up the LLanberis Pass through Capel Curig to Betws-y-Coed and on to do the Evo triangle. From the end of the triangle there is a great B road to Ruthin and we finish off at Horseshoe Pass. There is a brilliant up hill stretch of road just before there. Tight corners with barely a straight between them and a fabulously smooth road surface almost exactly like we DON'T get in Derbyshire.
Does that sound ok?
I did the standard Evo triangle on Saturday followed by the b road to Ruthin and a cuppa at Horseshoe Pass.
Sunday I did the complete run except that I drove the first part of the triangle but continued to Denbigh and then on to Ruthin and Horseshoe Pass. I didn't like this option so much. Still damn good though.
We stayed at a pub at Llanarmon down this beautiful valley. Miles off the beaten track. The sat nav indicated to turn right off the Corwen Llangollen road so I did and we found ourselves on a 25% gradient single track that just went straight up the side of the hill and just kept going. Then 25% all the way down again. By any standards the road surface was good, just as well really.
Even crawling home in traffic and then having to detour because of an accident on the A38 it only took a couple of hours to get home to Derbyshire from Llangollen.
Ideally I'd like to start out from Corwen by 10:30 at the latest to give us time for a few stops. Total driving time for the run from Corwen through Bala, Caernarfon, Llanberis, Betws-y-Coed, Evo triangle to Horseshoe Pass is about 4 hours. That's not hammering it.
I've chosen Horseshoe Pass for a finishing point because 1. it almost completes a circular route to and from Llangollen. 2. There's some great views and 3. There's a cafe with a big car park. Unfortunately this time of year it closes at 16:30 but by April it should be open later. If we did get there too late we could always go the the Country Cooks place outside Llangollen to have a final cuppa and say our goodbyes.
I'll get some maps and directions (mini road book) sorted in the next week or so.
My idea is that everyone does this at their own pace. We can have start and end points with one or two pre-arranged stops. If I provide clear (ish) instructions there should be no need to stay together on the road if you don't want to. If you want to do the tourist bit at any point, that's up to you to decide. Plus not everyone drives at the same pace. If you really want to hammer it, there's some great roads there to do it, it's your licence. I drive at my own pace.
I'll be going down there on Friday 24th April as there are friends coming from Scotland for the day. If anyone else is thinking of doing the same and want to meet up for dinner, let me know.
So, if you're interested in coming along, get in touch and please give me some idea of what time you could be there on the day.
Thanks for looking.
