# Landegla - why did we bother?



## Globalti (21 Feb 2009)

Took my wife and son there yesterday, what a disappointment. Firstly we waited exactly ONE HOUR for the food we ordered in the cafe. The place is run by kids with no understanding of customer service or real sense of urgency - everything's "Kewl", even if it's bad or late. There was one fat bird in the kitchen who seemed to be able to do one order at a time only, even if it was just one of their "famous" bacon rolls.

The cafe itself was scruffy, the tables un-cleared and not wiped down. Kewl again, I guess.

The toilets were in a disgraceful condition. Kewl.

Litter: we must have passed fifty to a hundred plastic Lucozade bottles bought in the shop then thrown down by the trail, that was just on the bits of trail we rode. I guess throwing litter is Kewl as well. 

There was little altitude so after half an hour of climbing, admittedly not steep, the downhill was disappointing and there were plenty of extra climbs thrown in, on both the blue and red circuits. I mentioned this to another rider I met and he replied "Yes, of course; there's much better riding out there in the hills". He's right of course, nothing beats a map and compass and the big wide outdoors. Don't know why we bothered.


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## spence (21 Feb 2009)

Interesting. Not been myself but have mates who have and they didn't rate it much. Stay on the A5 and head for Penmacho, great little trail.


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## trio25 (22 Feb 2009)

I used to head there in the winter as the trails were sheltered and winter-proof. But now I can't be bothered, its like a motorway as well its so busy!


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## 02GF74 (23 Feb 2009)

Rigid Raider said:


> There was one fat bird in the kitchen who seemed to be able to do one order at a time only, even if it was just one of their "famous" bacon rolls.



do you have any idea what is involved in making a bacon butty?

The bacon needs to be fried or grilled to perfection follwed by the complicated process of applying butter with a knife to a bun cut with extreme precision to ensure each half is the same thcickness.

Then the top of the ketchup bottle needs undoin, no easy task, followed by application of the aforementioned condiment to the bacon just before the bun is closed.

Why do you think none of the 5 star Michelin restaaurant or top celeberity chefs sell or make them? Simple. Far too difficult.


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## Kirstie (25 Feb 2009)

I enjoyed it when I went. But it was snowing and so probably was less busy than normal. Didn't think much of the cafe either. We waited ages for our food.

It's possible to weave it into a ride around the Clwydians, which are really great, as long as it's dry. Anything else and it's a foot deep in mud.


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## yenrod (25 Feb 2009)

Overrated -goto Clocaenog forest ! in the week: not a soul around.


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## Globalti (26 Feb 2009)

For me cycling on man-made trails equals skiing on the piste. I'm not saying I'm a mad bad off-piste skier but I do enjoy ski touring where you use the skis as a way of getting to otherwise inaccessible places. Same goes for a mountain bike.


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## Bodger (27 Feb 2009)

Rigid Raider said:


> For me cycling on man-made trails equals skiing on the piste. I'm not saying I'm a mad bad off-piste skier but I do enjoy ski touring where you use the skis as a way of getting to otherwise inaccessible places. Same goes for a mountain bike.



I like the cut of your gib young man.
On the plus side all these trail centres mean that the hills get less of a hammering for those of us that prefer a little more in the way of solitude and smelling of the flowers.


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## Globalti (1 Mar 2009)

More to the point, the trails receive the litter that would otherwise be thrown in the Great Outdoors by MTBers who didn't come from a mountaineering or walking background and who have no understanding of the lore of the outdoors.


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## dodgy (2 Mar 2009)

I haven't been to Llandegla since last May or thereabouts. I went there with a couple of novices and I thought Llandegla would be ideal for a first outing. We went after work (I work in Chester) and it was fairly quiet and so was the cafe. To me, it's just too sterile, something which I imagine afflicts all trail centres?


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## Kirstie (2 Mar 2009)

The Marin trail is a bit dull. By far and away the best trail centre, and actually some of the most challenging XC riding I've done in the UK is at Kirroughtree.


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## mondobongo (2 Mar 2009)

The Marin and Penmancho are both pretty tame and a lot of grind for little or no payback. Cwmcarn is the uknown gem of the purpose built centres in Wales.
Nice meandering climb which stings in places, all the fun of the fair at the top with the Freeride area and then a fantastic downhill which I can reccommend doing at night catch the last uplift of the day for maximum enjoyment.


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## dodgy (2 Mar 2009)

Penmachno  It's amazing how often you see it spelled Penmancho


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## bonj2 (2 Mar 2009)

dodgy said:


> I haven't been to Llandegla since last May or thereabouts. I went there with a couple of novices and I thought Llandegla would be ideal for a first outing. We went after work (I work in Chester) and it was fairly quiet and so was the cafe. To me, it's just too sterile, something which I imagine afflicts all trail centres?



no, coed y brenin's much better, especially for a full sus.
in fact coed y brenin and penmachno are both a LOT better than llandegla, not just better but like in a different league really. For a beginner, or a _lazy_ hardtail rider, then llandegla might be your best choice, but penmachno or coed y brenin are a lot lot better.
Llandegla's enjoyable to ride round, but only as enjoyable as not requiring much skill can be.

I was going to say coed y brenin's marginally better than penmachno but i think penmachno has got some real quality bits to it, in terms of technical niceties they've bot got things the other hasn't.
But cyb's got more quantity, and it's also got showers which is very civilised, while penmachno has a much more 'wilderness' feel to it.

apparently also gwydyr forest is pretty good just north of penmachno, don't think it's a proper trail centre but not sure whether it's got waymarking?


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## Kirstie (2 Mar 2009)

bonj said:


> apparently also gwydyr forest is pretty good just north of penmachno, don't think it's a proper trail centre but not sure whether it's got waymarking?



That's the Marin trail. It's very obvious from the main road but the actual route is waymarked. There are several points where you can start it.


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## mondobongo (3 Mar 2009)

bonj said:


> or a _lazy_ hardtail rider, then llandegla might be your best choice.



Just what is a lazy hardtail rider Bonj?????


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## bonj2 (4 Mar 2009)

Back to the original subject, I think it's a bit rich to expect a mountain biking centre to have the very best standards in catering. It's a trail centre, not a michelin starred restaurant ffs.
People these days are far too obsessed by being a 'customer' of something, you're not a 'customer' of llandegla you're a rider there. They feel that since they're a customer the world should drop everything in order to serve them and when they don't, they have a strop. Not saying the op is like that, but perhaps a better attitude is look to see if they're too busy, and if it looks like they can't really cope, then maybe try NOT giving them _even more_ work? Either that or do some jobs there yourself if you're that bothered.


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## trio25 (4 Mar 2009)

llangdela advertises its cafe as good food and with the awards it has won. It is not simply a trailside cafe. It is trying to appeal to the food market a bit.


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## Globalti (6 Mar 2009)

What I object to is giving my hard-earned cash to people who haven't grown up and who think customer service is all a bit of a laugh and mediocrity is kewl. These are the people who address customers as "Guys" and think it's okay for customers to wait an hour for a sandwich because the poor bint in the kitchen can't cope.


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## bonj2 (11 Mar 2009)

User3094 said:


> Thats cos according to Bonjey your not a 'customer' of the shop, you're a 'rider' who happens to be in a shop.



the public at large are far too 'customer' centric - they're obsessed with the fact that they are always a customer of something or other and therefore they should be _served_ upon.


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## Flying_Monkey (11 Mar 2009)

served upon what? 

a floured bap, perhaps?



It's always the unexpected cafes that seem to provide the best experience... the ones you find after a hard morning when its been rainy, the trails have been really rough and the grit is chewing up your drive-train. The overhyped ones almost always disappoint. Of course it may be that it was really good once, but the number of people who have been attracted to it as a result have simply overwhelmed its capacity.


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