Hi all. Planning yet another trip to Wonderful Wales. Pretty familiar with Rhayader To Llandovery up to Bala Blaenau, but this time staying in Oswestry. So looking at doing a route from Oswestry to Bala then we are good on roads. Question is do we go out of Oswestry up A5 then take A494 down to Bala, I was wondering what the roads are like more cross country ie using B4580 out of Oswestry to Pen y Bont then B4391 over to Bala. We like to make progress, I have ridden near B4391 so know it’s not fast but it it beautiful. Worried A5 is camera city? TIA as always.
@Zeus for this I don't venture that fair North often due to speed traps and having a preference for country lanes.
I usually start a welshpool and go over the mountain some nice twisty bits and fast sweepers you can do a little detour and go to lake vyrnyw And get a coffee and ride round the lake
My suggestion is Oswestry to Pen y Bont then B4396/4393 to Lake Vyrnwy then unnamed road (signposted Lake Bala) which is beautiful but single track.
If that’s the single track road I’m thinking of it’s very much a favourite of my Son and I, especially so if there isn’t much traffic on there. You get a lovely view down from the Lake Vyrnwy direction.
A5 in and round wales has regular police and unmarked cars out to catch people. I’ve seen them going after people the last couple of times I’ve been up that way. Best avoided.
Another vote against the A5, saw a couple of lads pulled over last year when I came back in the car, they went past us doing no more than 10mph over the limit tops and didn’t disappear at any great rate so I think they are close to zero tolerance.
An alternative to the suggestion by @duke63 for getting from Lake Vyrwny to Bala is via this road. It's significantly single track, apparently the test road for Austin 7s back in the day. I usually come into Bala from Welshpool. A slightly adapted version, coming more from Oswestry, is this along the lines of the suggestion by @Helmut Visor. The video below is the Bala end of this route heading back SE (away from Bala) on a typical Welsh day...
There was a plack in the car park on that road telling you about Austin and morris using it for road test it said it was called spitfire pass
