Traws Eryri

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
mattheus
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Traws Eryri

Post by mattheus »

Do we have a thread on this?

https://www.cyclinguk.org/press-release ... orth-wales

"Designed by Cycling UK,
.....
Route’s creation has been funded and supported by Natural Resources Wales (NRW)"

Hard to pick a more stunning area! The publicity shots look great. The big question - as always - how consistent/rideable a surface?
Jdsk
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by Jdsk »

Opens today.

"Great rides: Traws Eryri":
https://www.cyclinguk.org/cycle-magazin ... raws-eryri

"Demanding 122-mile Trans Snowdonia cycling route to open in Wales":
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... n-in-wales

"Cathedral forests and drovers’ roads: Snowdonia’s new cycling route":
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023 ... king-route

Jonathan

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AndyK
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by AndyK »

Maps, GPX file and route guide at https://www.cyclinguk.org/traws-eryri .
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MrsHJ
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by MrsHJ »

It’s a good idea- seems to be focused at the MBR and gravel rider which means a mix of route types are available from cycling UK. The technical bits aren’t my thing so I’d be interested in the deviations around the very mountain bike bits.
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Traction_man
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by Traction_man »

re_cycler
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by re_cycler »

The GuyKes TV video of the route (The Cycling UK guidebook writer ).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5BZtiO ... l=GuyKesTV
glucas
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by glucas »

Just an idle question, I have been to Snowdonia a few times but only the usual tourist places. Is this route just suitable for bikepackers or are there enough cafes, hotels, b&bs and shops en route for it to be suitable for a credit card trip?
Nearholmer
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by Nearholmer »

I reckon you could do it on a b&b booked ahead basis, because it touches ‘civilisation’ in enough places, but if I was to try it (which I would love to, but won’t because it looks a bit ‘beyond gravel bike’ for an old bloke), I’d want to carry enough food for daytime eating, plus a bit for backup, and good gear for a sudden and nasty change of weather, think very strong winds as well as serious rain.

Where I think b&b could go awry, is if the weather turns nasty and you really don’t want to be halfway up a modest mountain in it, so you decide to stay put for a day until it eases a bit …… kindly Mrs Jones may gently shove you out of the door anyway, because the room is let to someone else on the coming night. There seem now to be a lot fewer ‘turn up on the day’ b&b places, which used to be everywhere.

One thing that surprised me when up that way last week was how poor the choice of evening eateries even in towns is. A lot of places serve lunch, then the kitchen shuts mid-afternoon, leaving you with a choice between a chippy and ….. er, just the chippy, so ideally book bb&em.
glucas
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by glucas »

Thanks for the heads up. It does sound about right. When I did the Peninne Way I stayed in some pretty well known towns - Buxton, Settle etc. These were rammed full of very good restaurants, curry houses and the like. Obviously, the further south through Snowdonia one goes towards mid Wales, the less populated with fewer choices perhaps.

I like the idea of rolling up and finding accommodation. I haven't done this so far because I wouldn't want to risk it. But yeah, I think one could get away with it in a dense area with lots of b&bs.
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Traction_man
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by Traction_man »

glucas wrote: 23 Aug 2023, 7:21pm Just an idle question, I have been to Snowdonia a few times but only the usual tourist places. Is this route just suitable for bikepackers or are there enough cafes, hotels, b&bs and shops en route for it to be suitable for a credit card trip?
there's loads of sleeping and eating options in Gwynedd that are close to or on the route, as it takes in and runs close by various towns and villages, and tourism is a major aspect of the region's economy!

the route guide (https://issuu.com/ctc_cyclists/docs/cyc ... k_online_e) has accommodation possibilities set out on page 59 and mentions B&Bs, hostels etc.

I'd recommend this place to stay :-)

https://mostyncottage.co.uk/

cheers,

Keith
glucas
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by glucas »

Thanks for the reply!

Yes. I can see on P58-59 of the route guide various options for B&B, Hotels, Shops etc. Fantastic.
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Traction_man
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by Traction_man »

glucas wrote: 24 Aug 2023, 9:21am Thanks for the reply!

Yes. I can see on P58-59 of the route guide various options for B&B, Hotels, Shops etc. Fantastic.
good stuff!

I like the guide, and interesting the maps used by CyclingUK are the old half-inch Bartholemew's maps, I guess they're out of copyright (https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=5 ... rs=192&b=1), but also they're nice maps for cycling, large enough in scale to show smaller roads and tracks but small enough to show a wider area, shame there is no modern equivalent for GB.

cheers,

Keith
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plancashire
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by plancashire »

AndyK wrote: 23 Aug 2023, 8:59am Maps, GPX file and route guide at https://www.cyclinguk.org/traws-eryri .
That GPX file is a track with one segment of 4631 points, not a route, so Garmins may not navigate you. It also has no elevation information, so a profile will be dependent on some extra work by your satnav or associated systems.

I have always had elevation in my GPX files, so I looked into this. This file was produced by GPSVisualizer, which also has a tool to add missing elevations. Doh! Here it is: https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/elevation. Does anyone know who to inform at Cycling UK so they can publish a complete GPX file?
I am NOT a cyclist. I enjoy riding a bike for utility, commuting, fitness and touring on tout terrain Rohloff, Brompton M3 and Wester Ross 354 plus a Burley Travoy trailer.
Jdsk
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by Jdsk »

plancashire wrote: 29 Aug 2023, 2:45pm
AndyK wrote: 23 Aug 2023, 8:59am Maps, GPX file and route guide at https://www.cyclinguk.org/traws-eryri .
That GPX file is a track with one segment of 4631 points, not a route, so Garmins may not navigate you. It also has no elevation information, so a profile will be dependent on some extra work by your satnav or associated systems.

I have always had elevation in my GPX files, so I looked into this. This file was produced by GPSVisualizer, which also has a tool to add missing elevations. Doh! Here it is: https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/elevation. Does anyone know who to inform at Cycling UK so they can publish a complete GPX file?
I suggest: campaigns@cyclinguk.org

Jonathan
AndyK
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Re: Traws Eryri

Post by AndyK »

plancashire wrote: 29 Aug 2023, 2:45pm
AndyK wrote: 23 Aug 2023, 8:59am Maps, GPX file and route guide at https://www.cyclinguk.org/traws-eryri .
That GPX file is a track with one segment of 4631 points, not a route, so Garmins may not navigate you. It also has no elevation information, so a profile will be dependent on some extra work by your satnav or associated systems.

I have always had elevation in my GPX files, so I looked into this. This file was produced by GPSVisualizer, which also has a tool to add missing elevations. Doh! Here it is: https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/elevation. Does anyone know who to inform at Cycling UK so they can publish a complete GPX file?
It's usual practice these days to publish GPX tracks, not routes, not least because the GPX route files are too open to creative interpretation by Garmin devices. A GPX route file would not be a good idea as it would result in Garmin Edge devices auto-generating a route that frequently wandered some distance away from the intended path. Normally on road routes you can get away with this, but on offroad routes it's likely to end in tears.

GPX track files provide a much more detailed path: though the Garmin can recalculate it and produce turn-by-turn (but it's not very good at that offroad) it's tied down to the designer's intended path much more closely.

4631 points is not a problem for any modern GPS device. I've just been working on a 100-mile road route in RideWithGPS: the exported GPX file contains over 8000 trackpoints. The equivalent GPX route file contains just 100 routepoints; if handed to an Edge device the device would probably build several of its own unintended variations into the route.

Like it or not, GPX tracks are the lowest common denominator - the format guaranteed to work with almost every different navigation device and app, even if they don't give you turn-by-turn. GPX routes aren't. In fact they're rarely used now.

It would actually be better if they also offered a TCX file for Garmin users, as the TCX format allows the route creator to prescribe full turn-by-turn instructions.
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