Emily and her dad ride in tandem for
St Bartholomew’s
At the beginning of the school summer holiday, Russell Jones, a member of the PCC at St Bartholomew’s, Llanover, with his 14 year old daughter, Emily, undertook a week long sponsored cycle ride on a tandem from Chepstow to Holyhead, to raise money for St Bartholomew’s restoration appeal.
Emily tells her tale of the journey:
We started the journey in Chepstow by the Severn Bridge and cycled around twenty five miles to our house in Goytre. After spending the night there, we set off early and made our way to Builth Wells.
I wasn’t sure how I would cope with the mileage, but somehow the excitement kept me going. When we arrived we booked in to our Bed & Breakfast, and went to see Harry Potter! It was really busy there, because everyone was preparing for the Royal Welsh Show.
The next day we set off for Llanidloes. Our aim was to try and find a place called “Stay a Little” as our accommodation was the other side of it. I still shudder at the thought of those hills, they were so unbelievably steep, I can’t even begin to describe them! Just as it started to rain, we finally found it after much struggle!
The views from the farmhouse window, (that wouldn’t shut), were stunning, just a blanket of rolling hills for miles around. Talking of blankets, there were seven in total on the bed, which proved very useful given the window situation!
The next day, after a massive breakfast, we went to Machynlleth and spent the day at the Centre for Alternative Technology. I found this very interesting, and especially like the lift powered by water. That night we stayed at a vegetarian Bed & Breakfast. They had chickens and goats and we had fresh eggs and goats milk with our breakfast in the morning.
Our next stop was a Youth Hostel in Dolgellau. It seems that every Youth Hostel is up a hill, but it was worth it for the showers and the food.
The next day was Criccieth and we had rooms right on the sea front. All we could see was the crashing waves as far as the horizon. It was really nice to walk along the beach and have the sea breezes.
We stayed cycling by the sea on our way to Llanberis – another Youth Hostel, another hill! After staying the night, we packed up for our final stop–Holyhead. After cycling as far as Caernarfon, we got a puncture in the back wheel of the bike, so had to spend time fixing it. We cycled across Anglesey and the puncture came back again, so we fixed it again! Fortunately the repair held out to get us over the bridge and to Holyhead.
My theory worked again when we had to climb up yet another hill to the Youth Hostel! I was really tired by then and had a great night’s sleep.
I am happy that I’ve done this trip because I think it’s a great achievement and experience. I’m also glad that I could help the church by doing it.
I know that if I put my mind to it, I can do anything I want. Even with the hills, I enjoyed it and I think I would like to do it again in the future.