A question probably aimed at the UK riders here…anyone here made a decent of Snowdon on a Unicycle?
I’m thinking of a challenge to set myself in the next 12 months and am thinking about a trip to Wales to do this. The tricky part for me languishing in the Royal County of West Berkshire is that we don’t have many hills and rocky downhill runs are unheard of…I’ve started searching for places to train for this one (above practicing drops/stairs in a trials/street setting.
My key question is how long did the decent take? Stamina is clearly going to play a part and I want to ensure I’m able to do the distance/time before even considering the real thing.
this is one of the 6 routes (the easiest apparently)
it looks pretty rideable with some fun looking bits. The problem i see are the stone paved bits and how they fit together. Also theres a lot of bland dirt track descent.
All 6 paths up snowdon are less than 5 miles. Id say about an hour or so on a 29.
I have ridden it quite a few times, it is a really nice ride down. The one down to Llanberis is the easiest and very cool. How long it takes to get down depends on how fast your ride. I have done it without stops fast enough to easily beat the train down. Getting up is a different story. You can not use the train officially, you have to walk up and that takes a couple of hours typically.
For practice, you just need to ride lots. Any long decent is hard on your legs. I have only once done this with a brake and it was a rim one. I suggest with a disc it would be considerably easier and highly recommended.
The thing to remember about Snowden is that it is a really busy mountain and has voluntary restrictions on mountain bike use (yes this includes us!), this is as far as I can tell 100% observed. 1st May to 30th September between 10:00am and 5:00pm
Aren’t they keen on unicycles on the train? I do recall the carriages are a bit on the snug side. That said I was hoping to train it most of the way…may have to strip the Uni down and bag it up
Yeah, had spotted that…thought an evening descent might be best as the number of walkers will be lower. I don’t object to dismounting to pass people so long as it’s not every 20m!
Cheers for the pointers…by the way, what size wheel did you do it on?
davejh, nice vid…thanks for highlighting that one. Quick on a bike isn’t it…I’m more pedestrian pace and the large stone sections may need a bit of hopping so I’m assuming a much slower pace. The video was great to examine some of the terrain though so thanks.
I’ve ridden the llanberis path. Its by far the easiest but still pretty technical. I wouldn’t consider any of the other routes for a first go. It’d be tough on a 29" unless you have a reasonable amount of experience. I did it on a 24’ which felt about right to me. We went at around walking pace on the way down with the odd stop to regroup or try a trickier bit.
The train won’t allow bikes and I think you’d struggle to smuggle a MUni on. Its also crazy expensive. The trail does get busy with walkers, especially on a summer weekend so time it carefully.
If that video is the ‘easiest’ I don’t think I’ll be attempting any of them for a while I’ve visited Snowdon a few times, never ridden down it on anything though…
Good luck on your trip, I look forward to hearing your write-up/hopefully a video!
My 24er is my default goto Uni for tricky stuff but I’d have to fit brakes (a Nimbus so was going to try Magura rim brakes). My 26er has disk brakes but I’m less confident on it. The 24er would break down into a pack that I could smuggle on the train too I think.
My goal is to work up to doing this in July so I’ve got quite a bit of time to build my skills and stamina. Probably have to book the train in advance as I recall it gets busy on weekends in the Summer. I imagine it will still be quite busy on the trail in the early evening but I’m likely to only be going at walking pace
I did take my 24 Muni on the bus once, I took off the frame, pedals, and seat + post and strapped it all to my backpack. I got an odd look from the driver but I bet he just thought I was carrying a bunch of parts.
They had a no bike rule on the bus & my stuff was no bigger than what some people bring on.
I have brought the same uni (road tire) on Boston’s subway fully intact multiple times w/o issue. It did get a bit crowded but I just kept it out of the way. Very crowded might have been a problem. I think they also have a no bike rule, but the attendant was only amused by my uni.
I’ve visited Snowdon a few times, never ridden down it on anything though…