Pont-Rhyd-y-Groes route 1 - The Arch Bicycle Cue Sheet at Bikely.com

This is a cue sheet for the Pont-Rhyd-y-Groes route 1 - The Arch Bicycle Map. You can print it out for later use.

Cumulative	Distance	Notes	Direction		Elevation
0km	0km	So, if you can't start in Hafod, start from Pont-Rhyd-y-Groes. Parking may be an issue. There's more space up the hill towards Ysbyty Ystwyth. The route starts with a monster climb out of P-R-y-G to a property called Storehouse.	W	254°	145m
2.55km	2.55km	The bridleway has been redirected from through the Storehouse. Turn left off the lane. This is a nice short downhill with a steep grassy climb to a forestry fireroad.	NNW	337°	254m
3.05km	0.5km	If you come up from the Hafod Estate, you'll join the route here.	SSE	155°	235m
3.86km	0.81km	Take the left fork just here.	ESE	91°	306m
4.08km	0.22km	Take the right fork away from the small-holding. Muddy but later a very rewarding track.	E	89°	304m
4.26km	0.18km	Not really obvious, but take a left here. It starts to go downhill and becomes a superb long downhill blast. Eventually you reach a junction where you hairpin back on yourself to the left.	NE	37°	322m
5.87km	1.62km	A good XC bridleway. A few gates, but well marked and a reasonable surface.	ENE	67°	182m
8.04km	2.16km	Not sure the next bit's worth doing, may be better to just turn left here and skip it.	SE	122°	227m
8.57km	0.53km	This is what I thought was the start of the bridleway, but it doesn't match with the OS map. I couldn't see the start further up the road. I followed my nose through a gate at the top of the climb and then down a track through a farm. That doesn't appear to be right.	WSW	245°	234m
8.78km	0.21km	Rather than go through the gate at the top of the climb through the trees, keep climbing the track to the right all the way up the the hill (very steep) till you can turn left and skirt the drystone walls at the top of the fields and come back down to the road on the north side of the farm.	NE	39°	262m
9.74km	0.96km	Turn right now for a big tarmac climb to The Arch.	NNW	319°	229m
13.06km	3.32km	The Arch. Take the left fork, at the back of the carpark then take the first left. You've got a very fast fireroad descent ahead watch out for the hairpin left you need to take at a junction.	NE	28°	386m
15.58km	2.51km	Not sure of the legality, but you could turn left here if you prefer to skip the next section (e.g. if you don't like paddling in rivers!)	NE	28°	287m
17.09km	1.52km	Easy to miss this gateway as the fireroad heads back into the forest. Hairpin left and follow your nose across the field, you can see the faint line of the bridleway down to the right - use it or lose it!! You need to make for the fork in the river where there's the remains of an old bridge. This is where the bridlweway officially crosses.	SSW	198°	294m
17.47km	0.38km	Pick a point to cross - don't bother agonising about where to do it, just go for it, you'll end up wet wherever you go!!! The bridleway skirts the edge of the river and is sunken and wet. It's a hard slog but is nearly 100% rideable.	WSW	227°	258m
18.5km	1.03km	Time to leave the river - head through the trees through the gates (it's waymarked if I remember correctly).	W	248°	246m
20.43km	1.93km	The map and the waymarkings take you into the drive of the second property on the left, but the waymarks look like footpath ones and there's a horrible style to climb. Go this way - it looks far more suitable.	W	263°	243m
21.08km	0.65km	Take the right fork here.	WSW	242°	243m
21.43km	0.36km	Say hello from me to the beautiful friendly chocolate labrador in the house on the left!! :-)	S	170°	253m
21.71km	0.28km	This next section is unknown to me. It's a suggestion I didn't do because I was short of time. I'd had navigation issues and had done way more than 13 miles by this point! I reckon I may have missed an excellent track here.	E	88°	263m
26.58km	4.87km	Go straight on through the gate where the road bends sharply to the left and follow the track up the hill.	SE	131°	250m
26.97km	0.39km	I went right here towards the church over the hill, fearing I'd have nav issues and running out of time. Left towards the derelict mining works looks like a more interesting choice, but may be more difficult to follow. I think the route follows some old drystone walls around the edge of the hill.	W	253°	266m
27.44km	0.47km	According to the OS map the bridleway climbs the shoulder of the hill on the left. However I can't see any sign of it on the sat photos - stick with the boundary wall.	WNW	276°	283m
27.92km	0.48km	The bridleway runs through the farm buildings and right round the far edge of the old spoil tip. I took the pragmatic approach and turned left straight away as I entered the tip. It looks like a nightmare to navigate, but it's improved since this photo and the track is easy to see.	SW	206°	249m
29.73km	1.81km	Steep climb on tarmac then gravel. Good track with a short fast smooth downhill.	ENE	58°	209m
32.05km	2.32km	If you wish to skip the next section just turn right and head south along the road back into P-R-y-G to miss this out and finish.	ENE	49°	279m
32.13km	0.08km	Another one I didn't do. The track I did instead of this is back down the road on the right but don't bother with it, it was a total nightmare. This one looks more do-able and though it's difficult to see on the Sat photos I reckon it should be navigable. The start on the OS map looks as though it's closer than this to the T junction you just came out of and shows it going to the south of the derelict building ahead, but being pragmatic might be more sensible.	ESE	109°	279m
32.52km	0.39km	Fork right just after the derelict building, after that, you're on your own!! The bridleway probably just used to skirt around the edges of the common land above the fields. Follow that philosophy and you should be OK.	SE	133°	311m
33.72km	1.2km	It should be possible to see the farm below and to be able to see when to turn downhill towards it.	S	177°	341m
34.22km	0.5km	If you're riding through the Hafod Estate turn left here to get to the car park by the church.	W	252°	294m
36.13km	1.91km		SSW	185°	145m