DESTINATION ADVENTURE
So you’ve got the bike and the kit, now all you need is somewhere to go...
No other part of the UK offers more variety, depth or opportunity to find your adventure heaven than Wales. And Snowdonia is the cherry on the icing of this Welsh cake. Whether it’s the roads or the trails that appeal most, it’s a paradise for adventure bikers. Endless miles of legal trails crisscross the stunning landscape lacing together with beautiful roads that knit it all together to form a net you’ll be happy to get ensnared in.
Do you homework in advance, or pick a guide (like we did, hooking up with Ride The Wild) and the possibilities are endless. Within minutes of leaving the tarmac you’re immersed in an almost untouched landscape peppered only with cattle grids and sheep. Initially the sheep look curious but soon they tire of your presence and get back to the important business of eating grass. There are myriad gravel single tracks, often lined with ancient stone walls that snake over the hills like ancient fingers.
This is Wales, so you have to expect the going to be moist, and although the deep gravel paths often drain well, they still feel loose beneath our TKC80s. But it helps to keep our speeds sensible and we’re constantly rewarded with breathtaking views over the rugged, undulating landscape. But as much as you’ll want to soak up the scenery, you need to stay focused. Riding offroad, whatever the speed, is a test of reactions and awareness and while you need to relax, you have to stay sharp, too.
And with so many miles of tracks and tarmac to choose from, it’s easy to take a rest on the black stuff for a few miles before heading back off-road. You’ll need your energy for some sections, too. Some trails are much rougher and scarred with deep ruts – which isn’t so much of a problem when they’re dry, but they’ve often flooded, which means you no longer know what lies beneath. It’d be hard work on a huge adventure bike, but on the like of Yamaha’s Ténéré or the KTM 790 Adventure R we used it’s just a matter of paying attention and picking your way through. Pick your route well (or badly, depending on your perspective) and you can find some seriously challenging terrain in Snowdonia. The trickiest we encountered was large sections of flooded trail, deep enough to ensure the entire track we were following was underwater. It’s a new challenge; before it was all about negotiating a water-filled rut, now it’s a case of trying to ride through an underwater rut that you can’t even see.
The resulting bow wave ensures boots get filled with water, but there’s no time to give it a second thought because you need maximum concentration to stay on line. With eyes fixed on the end of the water and the sanctuary of dry land, the terrain soon changes again, replaced with rocky dry trails before we’re spat back out on to tarmac again. Much like the weather, if you don’t like the trail you’re riding just wait five minutes and it’ll have changed completely.
A few miles of tarmac later and the elation of riding this landscape is deeply embedded. What an incredible place the UK is to explore on an adventure bike.
If you want to ride some of the best, legal trails in Snowdonia you really do benefit from having a guide. We rode with ridethewild. co.uk, who offer bespoke rides from their Snowdonia base. Whether you want to have a gentle off-road tour on your GS or go and get stuck up a mountain on your enduro bike, these guys know where to go. Prices start at £75 per person so your dream ride needn’t break the bank either. Go explore.