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The Fron (16 miles)
From Chester follow signs for the A483 to Wrexham. Pick up signs for LLangollen & Oswestry.
Follow the A483 into LLangollen and turn left over the town bridge.
When you reach the traffic lights you'll see the Smithfield pub in front of you.
To the lmmediate right of this is a side street. go up this street and park in the car park opposite.
Get yourselves ready and try to warm up for a while on the road next to you. Why? You might ask. Because you are about to embark on a monster climb!
When your warm enough, turn left out of the car park and take the first left up onto a mountain road. I advise that you pace yourselves here.
I joined Alvin, (The Fron's creator), on this ride and tackled this climb blind. Believe me when i tell you that it is a killer!
The climb is about 2.5 to 3 miles long and at its steepest is about a1 in 5.
Climb until you come to a junction left with a sign to Glyn Ceiriog, Berwyn and Llangollen which should be pointing the way you've just come.
Take the turning left for Glyn Ceiriog and keep on the road until you reach a T junction. Take a minute to check out some of the breathtaking views around here.
Turn left and follow the mountain road until it bears right. You'll recognise this because it has a track directly in front of you and a large gate to the left.
This route will be taking the track in front of you but you can go over the gate to the left for some good single track and downhills.
Take the track in front of you and then take the first left you come to. The track will start to descend sharply with plenty of sharp twists and turns.
When you reach a rickety rusty corregated shed on your right, take the track to rear and right of it.
Follow this around and down being careful of the 30 ft drop to your right into a quarry!
This single track is quite hairy with lots of rocks, logs and other obstacles to tackle. Good for improving your technique.
After completing this you will emerge on a track with a couple of cottages on the left just short of a junction.
At the junction go straight on and you'll see a pylon with radio transmitters on top. To the right is a stile and in front is a narrow steep track.
The choice is yours to which direction you go. We took the stile. Go over the stile and turn right through the woods.
This is a short but tricky single track which will take you down to a road. Turn left and carry on until you get to a main road.
Straight across the main road will take you down towards an aquaduct. When you get there look for the tow path marked out for Llangollen and follow it keeping to the left side of the canal.
The tow path will take you all the way back to the beginning. This is a rough hack but you can really pump it out here.
Make sure you come off the path where it opens by a small car park on the left. You can turn left here and get on to the road down into the town.
At the bottom of the hill