Sunday 26th July 2026 @8am and 8:30

Part of the Welsh Festival of Cycling held Rhuthun the last weekend in July

The Welsh Festival 2026 will have other rides over a long weekend on other days. Not currently audax rides
Camping will be available and evening meals and some catering.

Details to follow but last year 3-4 rides from 50 to 100km around the hills and valleys of North Wales with friendly folk

Image from the Ride with GPS route click on the image to get to the ride

The ride starts in the beautiful market town of Ruthin in the Vale of Clwyd.

We follow lovely lanes north towards the sea along the flat start of the ride, the route cuts of a corner through the hills just above Abergele at St George to read the coast at Pensarn for the first panad stop.
Back inland over the main hill of the route to Llyn Brenig then a descent through the Clocaenng Forest to second brew stop in the town centre at Yum Yum's (above)
Return along the river Dee for a few miles before an ascent of the famous Horseshoe Pass and Ponderosa Cafe; Sadly closed so no paned see this year. We then ride the southern half of the Vale of Clwyd to the town of Ruthin

Dave Matthews (President of Chester & N Wales CTC) original write up: (When this was written the start was in Corwen)
‘The Clwydian’ route starts by circling south round Lake Bala and then heads north to the first
control at The Three Cooks’ caf  on the A5. The ride then continues to the Loggerheads
Caf  near Mold for the next control. After Loggerheads, riders continue north through the
scenic Clwyd hills to Rhyl and then west to the seafront caf  at Pensarn. (This explains why
the ride is scheduled for March - before all the tourists arrive and block the roads and sea
front from Rhyl to Pensarn).
Now comes the extra-fun bit. Leaving the caffi  at Pensarn, you head back over the Denbigh
moors to Llansannan and on to Llyn Brenig. Once past Llyn Brenig, barring one short climb
out of Pont yr Alwen, it is all down hill for 25K to Corwen. Descending the well graded 15K on
the A5 from Cerrigydrudion to Corwen after crossing the hills from Pensarn is a great and
unforgettable experience.
In the past, there was only one Audax ride on offer on this occasion. However, for those who
do not relish the full 200k experience at this time of the year, there is now a brand new ride the Clywd Gate"

Now as we are starting in Ruthin the Brenig experience comes in the middle of the ride followed by a loop of Llyn Tegid and Y Bala but you get to enjoy it in the summer.

We start from Ruthin Rugby Club in the Market town of you've guessed it Ruthin, round or through the town to head south at first towards the pass at the top of the Vale near Llandegla (Mountain bike country)
We loop around Mold to Loggerhead and another of North Wales rivers the Alun. Then up onto Halkyn Mountain (only 280m max) before descending across the Clwyd's wide valley joining the 130km route to Pensarn and the coast.

After a brew at the Pantri Bach at see level the route heads south over another "Mynedd"( mountain and Llyn Brenig 400m or more

A long descent through Cerrig to Corwen and afternoon tea at Yum Yum's in Corwen (top photo) before a trip around Wales' largest natural lake to Bala is followed by a undulating route through gorgeous welsh scenery and a great descent to Ruthin for a pint at the rigby club