Mach 3

The Mach 3 trail is the longest of three way marked cross country trails around the town of Machynlleth, North Wales. All three trails use bridle ways and quiet roads. In addition the 15km man made Cli-Machx just to the North of the town offers thrills and spills every bit as exciting as those that can be found a few miles to the North in Coed Y Brenin. More details and maps from the Dyfi mountain biking website.

A muddy descent through the woods

It was. Very

After a dismal morning on the train, I finally got pedalling. Despite being well signposted throughout, I still managed to missed the first turning and condemned myself to 6 bonus kilometres on the road. The first half of this route is all climbing; first on road, then across muddy fields and finally on forestry fire roads. As I was nearing the top of the final fire road climb I had a puncture just as it started raining.

By the time that I had fixed my puncture and finished the climb the clouds were so low that any views from the 500 metre Foel fras that I had just summited were obscured.

Not to worry, the real fun was about to start. There was plenty of warning that the Chute descent was tricky and they weren't wrong. Consisting of slippery, loose, sharp slate I descended gingerly with the words of the friendly lady at th British Rail booking office ringing in my ears. Yes there is a lot of slate around Machynlleth, but no I hadn't packed a spare tire.

With body and both sets of rubber somehow intact I continued descending all the way back to town down some fast bridle ways, muddy fields and finally some steep tarmac.

Whilst in the area I also rode the Mach 1 and Cli-Machx trails. Whilst being half the length and not as technical, the Mach 1 still managed to pack 2 brutal climbs. I can recommend The Holey Trail bikeshop in Machynlleth who fixed a broken spoke inexpensively and can also provide free maps of the routes and advice.

Posted: 07/09/06