A bright sunny day again. Spirits were high, muscles ready for action. We had been re-joined by Hugh Cory who had pulled off a marathon 130 mile solo ride to get into Brecon late on Saturday evening.
What was more remarkable, we found out later, was that Hugh had only managed to eat one small meal over the previous 4 days and was still weak from his dreaded lurgie.
Back up to six chaps and the two girls we were joined at
Realising we would not make Edwardsville by 12.30, 4 cyclists (the two Andys, Nia and one other new rider - James) set out for Edwardsville, rubber burning.
This first group arrived at Edwardsville at 12.30 to be met by a large group of over 40 supporters who were enjoying tea and cakes in very pleasant surroundings at the Pontygwaith Farm.
A few of the second group managed to catch up and re-join the first group.
At 2pm it was clear that the second group were still some way back, and it was thought best as most of those at Edwardsville were children of various ages (from 10 years upwards) and some adults, Andy (H) decided to push on and rendezvous at Blackweir in Llandaff fields.
Ed, son of Jeff and Isabel Graham also joined us. Ed did really well and enjoyed himself over the stiles and gates. Isabel Graham is one of the Trustees of Celebrate the Children.
The 30 or so riders from the first group made good progress as quite a few of the youngsters thought it was a race! They took a bit of controlling but between Nia and the two Andys the group kept together well and thankfully safely.
The first group were then slightly surprised to see some members of the second group who had got lost, cycle past them going North trying to find Edwardsville. A few turned round to join the first group heading South. Confused?
Frankly we had not realised what terrific support in terms of numbers, abilities and age ranges would join us along the way. However the large numbers and mixed ability meant progress all round was slower than we had anticipated.
We therefore decided to bring the third group, who were going to assemble at
Eventually the second group arrived at Edwardsville about 4 and a half hours after setting out from Brecon – 28 miles away. You do the maths but it was a slow average speed!
There was no time to waste, we had to try to catch up with the first group.... but with our priorities still focused on our stomachs, lunch had to come first. Vicci’s sister and parents had brought a wonderful picnic with them which we promptly devoured. Shirley Cory had also prepared a feast fit for kings; there were no kings in sight so we eat that as well – thanks Shirley. Just as we were rounding everyone up, the group who had been lost and were last seen heading back north to Edwardsville arrived, a further delay as they were also famished.
At about
Soon after leaving Edwardsville it became apparent that Keith Gibson’s bike (actually his son’s 12th birthday present; who is now 17) was woefully inadequate for a 6 foot tall man. Keith had already cycled this tiny bike from Brecon, his knees were shot and each revolution of the peddles was sheer torture. Fats graciously swapped bikes so that Keith could stretch out his legs. Then came the first puncture. Frequent punctures brought out the best mechanical ability of Fats and
Progress was slow and the clock was against us. Fats was also struggling with the tiny bike so when we stopped for the second flat
With the change in bikes progress improved and they began to catch up with the rest of the group, first there was Vicci & her sister’s family and then as Tongwynlais came into view there was Marcus, Hugh and the rest of the second group. Nia and the Andys couldn’t be too far ahead. It wasn’t until Blackweir that the whole group became one.
Waiting at Blackweir for the first group were about 35 supporters. They had unfortunately been waiting well over two hours and were keen to get moving. However we wanted to wait for the second group to catch us up so we could all do the final stage together.
When the second group arrived at Blackweir there were over 80 cyclists. Nearly everyone was in their red shirts, kindly donated by BCB International. The youngest cyclist being 8 years old and her bike was only marginally smaller than the one that
Riding along James Street into The Bay was a sea of red shirts. One of the funniest sights at this stage was seeing Mark’s brother-in-law cycling along on his wife’s bike which had a completely flat front wheel. The need to get to the Oval Basin was greater than the need to mend the puncture!
We were all giving a rapturous reception at the
The celebrations continued at a wonderful home coming party, given very generously by Jeff and Isabel Graham.
To date we have raised over £5,000 for "Celebrate The Children". We fully expect to reach £6,000 this week and then more.... Thank you to all our supporters, and friends for your generous donations. We also thank all of our families who have kept the home and work life running while we have been away.
We started off a group of firm friends - some admittedly a bit over weight. We have returned much firmer friends, with rekindled affection for our very beautiful country, some fitter and some even more over weight!
A special vote of thanks has to go to our support team: Georgina, Candice & Max were at our beck and call. There must have been long periods of tedium waiting for us, mixed with frustration of having to run what may have seemed like pointless errands. Thank you! You were all terrific.
Thanks again and please keep your donations coming in on www.justgiving.com/N2Sbikeride
Stats for the day:
Distance: 48 miles
Average speed: Slow
Maximum speed: 29.8mph
Total calories: 3474
Total accent: 2345feet
Sausages: Worst of the trip!
Total Trip Stats:
Distance: A long way
Calories: 18,034
Climbs: 22,914feet / 6,984metres
This was billed as the easiest day of the 6, not many climbs and the distance was said to be small. Mark’s bike needed some attention so we all agreed to a leisurely start. Breakfast was at 8:30 with Mark picking his bike up at opening time (of the bike shop not the pub).
Andy (M) and Marcus took the opportunity to seek some local knowledge from the weirdo in the bike shop who told them that all off road routes were hopeless due to crazy motorbikers cutting up the mountain tracks. This clearly got to Marcus (who had a tough day yesterday) he quietly stated that he would stick to the Sustrans route with Vicci & Nia.
By 10:00 we were in the saddle and as usual headed UPHILL. The girls (& Marcus) stuck with us for the first four miles at which point our chief navigator (who poopoo’d the crazy weirdo’s advice) took us off road through a valley inhabited solely by sheep. We cycled along showered by sheep shit from our tyres enjoying the spectacular view and solitude. No sign of the destruction alleged to have been created by those reckless motorbikers.... then we hit the boggy bits. Those motorbikes really do cut up the terrain!
After Fats lined up the other boys behind, Andy (H) ploughed forward down an incline and fell as he hesitated in front of a deep pool. Never hesitate. Rock hit a hard place and blood was spilt. Unfortunately he bounced back up before the camera could record the event. Breaking an unwritten rule of the Team: “stay down until the camera is out”.
We met the girls & Marcus in Builth Wells, who bizarrely, due to closed roads and other alleged obstacles took longer to get there than the real men. A leisurely lunch followed... remember the day had been billed as easy.
After lunch we set out again, joined by Marcus who was feeling better and had been sucked in by the constant chat about the easy day ahead. UPHILL we went. Three miles and 1200 feet later we met up with the Jacksons Cars support team who were on their way to Brecon to drop off our bags etc. A few minutes were then devoted to photos before we set off again to the Griffin Inn for a well deserved pint, we even promised to buy the Jacksons Cars (committed to you) support team a drink. Readers please be advised the Griffin Inn marked on the map DOES NOT EXIST! We only found this out after passing our off road track and descending 600 feet. There was a vote: do we stick to the road and do the last 9 easy miles into Brecon or do we turn around and go back UP to the off road track? Marcus (he wasn’t alone) was expecting an easy ride and was all set to head on down the tarmac however the casting vote was with Fats and back up we went... we are doing this for charity and off road!
Back we went up a 25% hill to the track across another boggy expanse of Mid-Wales.
Andy (M)’s chain had by now developed two twists which were causing him difficulty changing gears, known as “chain suck” in the trade. He had one spare link which helped but was not ideal. A quick phone call to the Jacksons Cars support team ensured that a new chain would be waiting for us in Brecon (9 miles away by road) but we still had a cut across the off road section before dropping down into Brecon.
The summer of 2008 will go down in history as one of the wettest ever. There was a lot of water lying on the ground which made cycling along the moorland muscle sapping. The high point of this section was Antony first encouraging Fats to head into a puddle that turned out to be very deep, he nearly went tits up into the water! Antony skirted round the lake and shouted encouragement to Andy (H) to keep to the left track and go through the water (the advice was “it’s not deep”). He smelt a rat and took evasive action. To the great hilarity of Mark, Andy (H) & Antony, Andy (M) fell for the cry of “keep to the left & go for it!”; in he went for it – right up to his thighs. We laughed even harder when Marcus was sucked in also! Sense of humour failure loomed – remember Marcus was expecting an easy day. We were laughing so hard the tears flowed. We left the Moorland even wetter. Silence had by this stage fallen on the group as Brecon was nowhere in sight and the bog got wetter.
We pushed on, though the bog, and out into a fine forest we had been skirting. Fats chirped up again his now famous motto: “all down-hill from here”. We knew not to believe him, and rightly so; as we emerged from the forest we climbed up a stiff hill to be greeted by a sign: “4 & half miles to Brecon”. There were long stretches of downhill interspersed with some stiff climbs. We arrived in Brecon well after beer time completely worn out. Who said this was an easy day? A: the chief navigator!
Nia and Vicci..... cycled 55 miles (they got lost) and are too tried to talk let alone blog!!!!!! Marcus is much relieved to have taken the decision to join the boys, despite his swim across the bog.
Hugh Cory, from now on to be referred to as superman, set off from the Pen-y-Gwryd Arms (where we stayed at the end of Day One) at 9.30 as he could not miss his cooked breakfast and arrived at 7.30pm at our hotel at Brecon, he covered 130 miles of hot tarmac !!!!! Well done great effort. We are in awe.
Stats of the day:
Distance: further than we had been led to believe
Average speed: 9.3mph
Maximum speed: 39.8mph
Total climbs: 3841feet
Sausages: Revolting
Falls: Andy (H) + BLOOD
Breakdowns: Andy (M) – twisted chain.
Greatest distance in a day: 130 miles – Hugh (superman) Cory
Deepest puddle: Ask Marcus
At 9am we were in the saddle after a hearty breakfast (sausages scored an A*) to be faced with a stiff 6 mile climb up from 170 feet to 1678 feet much of which was off road via a forest track. At stages the track was so steep we had to walk, whilst walking the conversation turned to altitude sickness and at what point oxygen should be mandatory.
The girls took the road option which met up with the forest track at 1500 feet; imagine our delight as we hit the tarmac to see the girls coming up the hill. Vicci: “Next time we go to Val d’isere why don’t we *@~&£*$ cycle there, these hills are no less *@~&£*$ steep. Next time I’ll do the Tour de France.”
From the top of Rhiw Fawr we took off down the forest trails heading to hot chocolate and elevenses at Staylittle.
To get to Staylittle we cycled along the Glyndwr trail. Boggy, wet & steep are the adjectives that spring to mind.
On arrival at Staylittle we discovered way it was so named: It’s little & that’s the way it will always be. There are no cafes or pubs and the visitor centre was closed. The silver lining was that the Post Office was open and served hot drinks and wonderful flapjacks. After thoroughly confusing the proprietor with our purchases (Fats had to go back to the counter & empty his pockets) we managed to extract £5 from him for the charity and we only spent £15! That was lunch! Marcus was not happy & Antony moaned about the lack of liquid carbohydrates (Stella Artois).
From Staylittle we were back into the forest following the “Wye Valley Walk” which, after sometime and a lot of uphill, was sign posted as the “Source of the Severn”. It was at this point that the chief navigator told us to look out for a dis-used mine. Readers please note there are a lot of these dis-used mines and we passed all of them. Andy (H)’s knee continued to give him severe trouble, especially on the sharp inclines as he only was using the one leg. Codeine and Ibuprofen and got him through.
On arrival at a “cross roads” Antony chose to keep following the stream uphill to the “Source of the Severn”, more climbing. Marcus became very quiet at this stage; a consequence of no lunch and a reluctance to consume “gel bars” because of the effect they have on one’s bowel movements. Andy (H) asked why we were travelling north, following the “source of the Severn” when we were intending to go south to Cardiff Bay. This prompted the chief navigator to allow Andy (M) to fire up his GPS (thank the lord!). We turned round and headed back down the hill, passing the same dis-used mines, back to the “cross roads”. What’s 600 feet of off road hell between friends!!!!! After this Antony behaved and stopped at every junction.
We then proceed to the Maze forest where we got lost again. By this time a solemn silence descended on the whole group but trial and error got us through. To bolster morale Fats announced that the rest of the day would be downhill!
Great descents all the way down to two steams that needed to be forded just as our feet were drying out. There followed the steepest ascent that any of us had ever experienced even the mountain goats looked knackered. More steep ascents followed for the next 5 miles, fuel tanks and Fat’s credibility were at an all time low. Finally the descent into Rhayader was spectacular and even Fats managed to overtake a car! (Assisted by his ever increasing bulk). Everyone (except Marcus) agreed that it had been a memorable day, Wales is the most staggeringly beautiful, wild magnificent country even if pubs are a bit scarce.
We were all delighted to hear that Hugh is back to full fitness so much so that he is to restart the challenge tomorrow from where he left us and race us to Cardiff Bay by road. Good luck Hugh; you’re going to need it you’re a road nutcase!
Vicci and Nia’s blog
“Feels like I’ve done the bleep bleep tour de france” Vicci said “might as well of biked to Val D Isere”
Found great place for lunch in Llanidloes. The Great Oak Cafe where sparrow Nia managed her first full plate of food!
Vicci also managed her first bit of retail therapy – surprise, surprise! This carried on when Nia popped into the PO in Llanqurig for a quick check on directions, she was only gone for 30 seconds when she came out there was no sign of Vicci (Shirley would be proud of her), but her bike was abandoned in the middle of the road, more retail therapy and a ship load of sheep skins on its way to Barry End! The biggest sale of the wet summer for the only gay in the village of Llangurig. It wasn’t until Vicci handed over her credit card she remembered she was meant to be on economy drive– Typical!
More “I want” when we passed the caravan of your dreams – see Vicci for photos.- Nia nearly turned around to join the eco warriors in Llanidloes and have a lentil curry, never to be heard of again. By the way if you can’t speak Welsh you would soon learn what Rhiw Mawr meant if you’d cycled it. It was when Vicci started swearing a lot and the mist came down as we were so high we were in the clouds, along with the RAF Fighter Jets.
Stats of the Day:
Distance: The furthest we’ve been in a day so far
Hours in the saddle: Too long
Average speed: 8.7mph
Maximum speed: 40.5mph
Calories: 3689
Height climbed: 6319feet
Falls: One (Antony – AGAIN!)
The most knackered: Marcus
The most stoic: Andy (H)
Navigator of the day: You can guess! (It’s not Mark)
The day started with the Jacksons Cars support team taking us back to the Coed-y-Brenin mountain biking centre; this was based on the general view that we needed to do more off road work. Apart from the rain and trench-foot this was a great idea. The single track runs through the forest were absolutely fantastic! That is until Antony fell, poor boy now has a baddy knee and spilt some blood. An hour and a half after leaving the hotel we passed it again but this time we were on the other side of the river and heading to Machynlleth.
We had to have lunch first... the pretty waitress tempted us into the empty restaurant; big mistake of ours to stay. Woodies Restaurant cooked our food to order, slowly. Our rain soaked bodies cooled to the point of freezing and the trench-foot got worse.
Leaving lunch straight up a very nasty, long and steep hill, Antony’s chilli tried to make a return but was kept in place with great difficulty. The hills are definitely getting steeper! A short wizz down before we had to climb the mother of all hills up the side of Foel Crochan, a peak of 1335 feet.
The trail down was in the process of being re-surfaced so all attempts at reaching a maximum speed nearly ended with Fats ending up in the back of a lorry. At the bottom of Aberllefenni we encountered the source of Nia’s slate supplies – beautiful scenery, a place that time forgot.
By this time Andy (H)’s baddy knee was giving him some considerable gip so he and Marcus pealed off whilst the rest of us climbed back up to an altitude of 1175 feet to take the Cly-Max trail through the Corris forest. What a great trail! We sped through some white knuckle paths dropping down to Machynlleth to finish the day.
Vicci’s & Nia’s Blog:
Nia and Vicci bravely forsook the chance of a flight to Anglesey choosing instead in Vicci’s case to risk life and limb and highly contagious disease by cuddling up to Hugh in the white sick van excellently driven by Max. In Nia’s case she had to endure the usual lengthy discussion ( when 2 or more boys get together) on finer details of their bodily functions.
The memorable thing about Anglesey was three gorgeous donkeys who did not talk about their bodily functions. Tourist board views from the Britannia bridge in heavy rain and wind. Heads down and on to Llanberis where we were hugely cheered after a visit to Pete’s Eats. Everyone who reads this should go there before they die. A hellish climb up the Llanberis Pass was softened when we spotted the boys in the distance behind us, waited for them to catch up, and then realised we were AT LEAST as fit as them. Nia chatted up Gwyn Berry from nearby Betws in the hotel bar and got the first fiver in the bucket.
Pen y Gwryd to Beddgelert was stunningly beautiful and we sped on to Tyn-y-Groes hitting a top speed of 39.99mph. Hurrah the girls. DAY3 We thought it was to be an easy day with only 16 miles to Machynlleth.
After a special detour for us to ring headquarters (Isabel) , but guess what: signals failed yet again. After a few sheer steep miles quickly uphill Nia’s bike broke and much to Vicci’s fury we (Nia) had to carry the bike downhill. Nia managed to mend it after smearing herself in oil and sheep droppings – was she hoping to attract another welsh speaker or the sheep???
Uphill after uphill we eventually reached 1335feet our record height with the steepest decent to follow. In a lot of pain and not looking forward to tomorrows hills.
Stats of the day:
Distance: 30.54 very tough miles
Average speed: 8mph
Maximum Speed: 31.6mph
Total height: 3, 692feet
Sausages: shit
Falls: 2 (Antony & Marcus)
We woke to a damp start which was the opposite of the forecast; our hearts fell. Breakfast was a full blown affair – the sausages were great! By the time breakfast was over the day had cleared and we were set for a great day...However during the night the galloping trots re-visited Hugh, and as we have already established the ailment “runs in the family” so exit Max too!
The long descent from Llanberis pass was followed by one of many sharp and vicious long climbs, Andy (H) attempted to switch to a road roller but after much counselling and encouragement from his good friends he was reunited with his bike.
We thought that following the previous day’s navigational nightmares Mark had relinquished all responsibilities for route guidance. How foolish! Several steep climbs and a number of dubious “bike” trails followed. The only silver lining was that “Fats” had established the lunch spot.
Lunch was at the Oakley Arms on the A487 where we met the only surviving members of the “West Derbyshire Youth Club”. The average age of these people we estimated at being 75 but they did give us £15 so they are top people & looked as though they were having a laugh.
After lunch we cycled to the now disused power station at Trawsfynydd. This is where the bog cycling started. Fats tried to distance himself from the route planning but the cry “follow me chaps” isn’t really a way out of blame!
The sun came out and the scenery was just beautiful, why do we want to holiday in the Med? Answer: it kin’ rains in Wales! The final straw was when, after two more hours of cycling / “bog snorkelling” we looked back over the wonderful views only to see the Trawsfynydd power station that we had passed from every conceivable angle.
One of our interactions with the local community was with an 8 year old boy who was getting off the school bus. He declared that school “sucked” and that in 5 years time he would be free! What does he know!
The next turn was right, after the cattle grid where we met a sign that said “No bikes, Private Road”. After much discussion we decided to press on.
Q: What do you call a North Wales Farmer with a shotgun? A: Sir.
The long decent through the Coed-y- Brenin forest was a joy! Enjoyed by everyone except Andy (H) who was claiming a baddy knee; in fact we all were concerned because the last person to complain normally is Andy (H) but this didn’t slow us down.
We arrived at the Tyn-y-Groes Hotel at 5ish, just in time for a very welcome beer- or three. The landlady of the hotel very kindly arranged a raffle for us which raised £20. Many thanks! We went on to win the Pub Quiz which resulted in another £14! Not a bad day’s fund raising - £59!
Stats:
Falls: 1 (Fats again)
Height climbed: 3950 feet.
Distance: seemed like a lot (we are not crows).
Average speed: 8.2 mph
Antony’s Maximum Speed: 41.8mph
Early start! Torrential rain was on the menu, so were local sausages – both were disgusting. Spirits were high and at 8 am we were off with a following wind. Sadly though we were heading north, to dip our tyres in the chilly Irish Sea. We knew we were going to burn some rubber at some stage so a quick cool down helped.
The coast path we had chosen as our initial route was a figment of Mark’s imagination. We would have been more at home on an Irish peat bog. There was no path, and the circles seemed to be getting wider. We passed the hotel we had left about 1 hour earlier, having covered 2 miles. Andrews was deposed as the primary navigator. One wag asked another “how was his bike” only to be informed that it was heavy to lift over gates and fences, and difficult to push though bog. Hugh slipped for our first casualty of the day, we won’t mention the knee!
After the third U-turn we had to stop at a burger van to ask directions. Another U-turn followed but only after Fats had topped up his calorie intake with a bacon buttie. We finally crossed the Menai Bridge at 12. The terrain suddenly got steeper and the rain and wind harder. Welcome to The Big Country....Snowdonia. We climbed over 2800 feet.
After much whingeing and mutiny we resorted to tarmac in the driving rain. Uphill all the way we all had to dig deep and to cap it all we missed all the restaurants and pubs for lunch, Andrews and Capel were deeply upset. We went via the slate trail at Llanberis, a fantastic route through the derelict slate mines. The only casualties were one flat tyre and Mark forgot to unclip his peddles before coming to a halt. The bigger they are the harder they fall.
The Llanberis Pass was long and steep, wet and very windy –a head wind all the way! The hotel was at the end a most welcome rest – the first of the day.
Stats for the techies
Distance: 45 miles
Average Speed: 9.5mph
Total Calories Used: 2877
Punctures: One
Falls: Two
Empty Stomachs: Six
The day started with a report from the transport provider, Jacksons Cars, reporting that the EGR valve on the Relay Van (available from £8,995 – see www.jacksonscars.com “committed to you”) required replacement. Within a few hours the super efficient Parts Department of Jacksons Cars had sourced a replacement and the van was ready to roll.
The next impediment was news that Huuuuuughie Cory had spent the night on the great white telephone to God. There was talk of him pulling out but our leader, Fats Andrews would hear nothing of it; especially as he had been popping Imodium as if they were Smarties. Diarrhoea we now understand to be hereditary – it runs in your jeans!
Whilst waiting for everyone to assemble Marcus, not to be outdone with the all the ailments being bandied about, showed us his “baddy ankle”. He tried for a sicknote but received absolutely zero sympathy. We have “googled” his complaint and have diagnosed gout and have prescribed a zero alcohol diet for 7 days.
We finally left Barry End two hours late only to stop at Culverhouse Cross to fill up with food.
We stopped for a quick pint just outside Bettws-y-Coed at which point Vicci got quite excited because she thought we had arrived but when it turned out that Andy (M) needed to discharge the earlier coffee and Antony needed to top up his levels of liquid carbohydrate her smile disappeared; so when we finally pulled into the hotel car park she was heard to exclaim “If they’re stopping for another pint......”
Meanwhile two of the support drivers, Georgie & Candice, felt that they had to set off (on their own) from Bridgend, having saved Cameron (an actor) from car failure – another success for Jacksons Cars! Their trip to Holyhead was quicker and easier than anyone else’s. George slept all the way & Candice drove.
We hope to get to Holyhead sometime this week..... more to come tomorrow.
