October 22, 2019 - 1367 views
Cycling to North Wales from South Wales along twisting mountainous roads would be a daunting prospect for the most experienced of riders.
Friends David Roberts and Dan Wellings will undertake that very challenge over four gruelling days later this week.
Neither David, who lives in Weston-super-Mare but hails from Abergele, and Dan who is from Colwyn Bay but now lives in Llandudno, have much experience in road cycling. David describes the challenge ahead as “200 miles of lovely, difficult, exhilarating, tiring, fun, wet but hard work.”
They will set off from the Cardiff on Thursday (24th Oct) and hope to reach their destination of Rhos-on-Sea four days later.
They will follow National Cycle Route 8, more commonly known as Lon Las Cymru, and will take in some breathtaking scenery including the delightful hills of Brecon and Snowdonia.
“I used to cycle quite a lot as a teenager as my default means of transport but it’s not something I’ve done as a leisure activity,” David said.
“These last couple of months have been quite a new experience for me. I bought myself a new hybrid bike and since the summer I’ve been training on the weekends. I’ve no doubts at all that it’s going to be really difficult.
“But as hard as it’s going to be it’s nowhere near as hard as for the people that we are ultimately doing this for.”
Dan and David have a very good reason to take on such a gruelling challenge. Recently close friends of Dan and David received the worst news possible - their 9-year-old little girl is terminally ill.
“We are part of a very tight knit group of friends and been friends for many, many years,” David added.
“When one of my friends found out that his daughter had an inoperable brain tumour it hit a lot of people very hard. We thought we’d like to do something to help and the family told us about all these amazing charities that have helped them and continue to help them.
“The family have been overwhelmed with all the help they’ve received from the charities and they felt they’d like to give something back. Dan and myself thought we’d do our bit to help them and give something back on behalf of family.”
CLIC Sargent are one of the charities that have helped the family and so Dan and Dave will ride through Wales to raise and give a little something back to the charity.
Wales Bikeathon 2019 JustGiving page - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/walesbikeathon2019
Wales Bikeathon Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/836958736706892/
