Cardiff

LAST DAY on the road. Approx. 60 miles was waiting for me to complete my charity cycle. The fundraising was a very good motivation on the hard days, but the thought that this was the finish run, that today I would see my girlfriend and my friends who supported me all the time gave me an extra push to GO GO GO.
I am going to miss my Welsh discovery days, but I think ten days is just on the boundary between a long trip and a lifestyle. As I knew that I wouldn't stay on the road for months or years, for me that was the perfect amount of time to spend exploring the unknown and spreading Ty Hafan's message.

Between Llanelli to Swansea was a beautiful park. The cycle path was under the shade of trees touching above the road. Then a nice ride alongside the the sunny Swansea beach, and then... I thought I was back in the polluted part of Pančevo, Serbia. The cycle path led me through the industrial zone of Port Talbot, following the main road from roundabout to another. The first time that Route 4 left the main road, it went into the wild. The nice Margam Park is really worth a visit, but it didn't suit me either because it only had dirt roads, and as it slowed me down quite a lot, I decided to leave the National Cycling Route. I was too excited to get back to Cardiff, so I just got onto the main A48 road, and finished the last 25 miles of my 9 day long cycling trip in a sprint back to the city. Because of my need for speed I didn't stop to take any pictures, but to be honest that last chunk didn't have any new landscapes for me.
In Cardiff I got a welcoming applause from my housemates, and with that warm welcome my 9 days cycling +1 day resting trip around Wales came to its end. The time has come to lay back and open a beer.

Felinwynt + Wild card rest day

I wanted to start early on the sixth day, as I was very excited about the reunion with Alfi. He's Angela's dog, my ex-landlady from Cardiff. She invited me to visit them in their hostel in West Wales during my trip. 

So, lots of exciting meetings planned for the day. But, the weather got in my way... I wanted to have lunch with her and her husband, but I couldn't even start cycling from Machynlleth before 11 a.m.

That day was horrible. The worst thing I could do that day was cycling. 

I started the coastline route with a very powerful storm. There weren't any nice moment; hailstones, rain and constant wind were hitting my face all day. That wasn't only the most challenging cycle, but most challenging activity of my life so far. The two things that motivated me were some fellow travellers' good luck wishes who I met on the road, and that I didn't want to fail fundraising for Ty Hafan.

While having a little break in Aberystwyth's harbour, I got literally scared of the weather. The sky was darker than the sea, and the wind was louder than my thoughts. 

Fighting the wind for 10 hours, being blown off the road a few times, pedalling with all my power even downhill, I almost reached my finish line for the day with an average 6 mph speed. My hosts came to look for me on the road as I was so late, and they gave my bike and I a lift for the last 2-3 miles.

It wasn't hard to fall asleep after that apocalyptic day. 

Nothing had changed when I woke the next morning. After looking out the windows and listening to the storm for about 10 minutes, I felt like it would never stop, and I would end up waiting here, in that big stone house forever, like in the Torin Horse from Bela Tarr. I decided not to ride that day, and rest on my seventh 'Sabbath'.

Luckily, I didn't have to spend all day at the window, as Angela and Paul very kindly showed me around in their beautiful, rustic hostel complex and then drove me to some hidden, secret places nearby.

Machynlleth+The sheep thing

On the fifth day I started my way back to Cardiff.
The guys who hosted me a few days ago offered me a couch in Machyntllath for tonight too, so I came back here, resting a bit after my last hilly day, before I hit the coastline.
Today was cold, windy, wet, hilly, but for some unknown reason it was also my longest distance, and the quickest ride as well. As the bridge at Penrhyndeudraeth was closed I couldn't change too much on my way back, but I still found some interesting segments on my first day - WITHOUT pushing my bike up any hills!
After the empty roads on the weekdays, today I had the chance to join to a convoy of cyclists twice, and share a few thoughts. It was good.

A ship instead of sheep

THE SHEEP THING

Dear population of sheep in Wales,

I know that one of my previous posts was a bit harsh; I said I was bored of seeing you around me all the time. I want to apologize for that sudden aggression. 

You have to know that I am one of you. My nickname, Racka, comes from my surname in Serbian+the the Hungarian -ka ending which means 'junior'. But after having dreadlocks and meeting a band called Rackajam I found out that my name actually belongs to a traditional Hungarian breed of sheep, as well.

I am attaching the only document that proves that I did cycle all the way to the Hungarian-Slovenian-Austrian triple border just to see you sheep. (I was very happy, but my cyclist friend Edina smiled instead of me, because I was too deeply touched to show it on the surface.) 

Machynlleth

My second day was too short for blogging - after the first day's mission, the test wasn't letting up on the second.
I left Brecon on the main road because it seemed like a nice shortcut - and it really was, but I decided it was too boring, so went from Builth Wells back into the wild.
I couldn't count the hills I had to push my bike up, but l of them was worth it thanks to the picturesque view I got in return. Realising there was no way of taking a photo as breathtaking as the reality, I just sat on my bike and flew down the hills. The 25% gradient was almost like flying, but because I was still on two wheels, let's call it bike-diving.
So, after all the up-n-downs my right knee started his strike, and made that long day even longer.
By the time I arrived to Machynlleth I had met with a cyclist, a motorcyclist and a hiking couple. I had a short chat with all of them, but as they were heading in the opposite direction, I carried on by myself, alone all day. As I didn't have signal in the woods where I spent my whole day, I couldn't communicate with anyone, but "I have never been lonely".

The day was still nice, even with the extra 15 miles looking for a place to stay when the booked one unfortunately became unavailable. "Faith!", my godfather would say. I asked the only being left on the streets late that night for directions to a B&B, just as it was starting to rain again. After a quick chat he invited me to crash on his couch. It turned out that he lives with a girl from Lisbon who had met another guy from Serbia - he had stayed in the same garage in Lisbon as me. Doesn't mean anything, but still. BOOM!
As I will go back for one more night, the pictures of Machynlleth are coming in a few days. So far, here are a few pictures of my second day in the Welsh woods.

THE PLAN

Empty keyring - I don't need a room anymore - just the road!

Cymru Cycle starts on Monday, the 5th of May.
Here's THE PLAN:

Day 1

  Cardiff - Brecon (50 miles / 80,4 kilometres)

Day 2

  Brecon - Machynlleth (72,8 miles / 117 kilometres)

Day 3

  Machynlleth - Caernarfon (60,8 miles / 97,8 kilometres)

Day 4

  Caernarfon - Holyhead - Caernarfon ( 66,1 / 106 kilometres)

Day 5

  Caernarfon - Machynlleth (72,8 miles / 117 kilometres)

Day 6

  Machynlleth - Felinwynt (53,9 miles / 86,7 kilometres )

Day 7

  Felinwynt - St. David's - Haverfordwest (60,3 miles / 97,1 kilometres)

Day 8

  Haverfordwest - Llanelli (51,2 miles / 82,4 kilometres)

Day 9

  Llanelli - Cardiff (60,9 miles / 98 kilometres)

+ one wild card rest-day when I want (or need!!!) one.

At the Rocky statue in Žitište, Serbia on a cycle tour in 2011

After receiving lots of good luck wishes from family and friends, and getting amazing support and sponsorship from my workplace, Café Junior, the time had come to say thanks to all of them, and to my very special Hannah and her family for their kindness (especially for lending me a bicycle - quite an important part of the trip). 

Your help will be a very good downwind up the hills!

I'll keep you updated from the valleys!

Countdown

The final countdown started yesterday - two more weeks before the proper pedalling starts.

As there is not much time left, I decided to do cycle sessions around Cardiff every day as warm-up training.

Yesterday I rolled up to Barry.

Googlemaps said it was 10 miles away and would take 1 hour by bike. Pff, Google underestimated me - or so I thought. I was wrong.

The way to Barry was UUUUUUUp  'n downhill. Thankfully, there were a few hundred metres when the terrain was quite flat. I remember two of these stretches.

One was between Lavernock and Sully. There I had a feeling, a sort of flashback, from when I was in Serbia, on my way from Moravica to Kishegyes. I am on my way home from a wedding party, hung-over, feeling like a blossoming tree, sweating out the past, and breathing in a memory with every curve.

Fruska Gora and the white smoke of Kovin

Later, heading from Barry to the Knap beach, the town with all its closed down shops, and a street with all the too-colourful petrol stations/car services look like a mix of the crumbling industrial zone of Kovin in Serbia and the tax-free Andorra`s "petrol avenue".

But these are just minutes, and then I'm Running Up The Hill again.

Fundraising for Tŷ Hafan

the plan of my rolling

A blog was kind of originally in my plans to extend the tour with some notes, pictures, comment, whatever, but later on I decided to add an other layer to this whole story. 

I've read about many cycling, running and climbing events for charity. As a guy growing up in Serbia, this "doing something good while on holiday" was an unknown gesture for me, but it sounded very positive, similar to voluntary work but not quite the same... I thought the only way to really understand it is to try it. 

To show my thanks for this very welcoming environment in Cardiff and for the people around Wales who offered a place to stay during the coming ten days long adventure I want to support Tŷ Hafan as a local, Wales based charity.

About the charity:

Tŷ Hafan is the charity I want to help with my sponsored cycle. They offer comfort, care and support to life-limited children, young people and their families, helping them make the most of the time they have left together. 

Tŷ Hafan is not part of the health service and in 2012-13 received just under 4% statutory funding towards more than £3.5 million needed and to continue to offer its unique service to families, it relies on the generosity of the public, its corporate sponsors and volunteers. 

I was working in Café Junior, a family-friendly café during my staying in Cardiff. Besides the café's menu the most I could learn there is the importance of the love in the family and the children's need of their parents' care every minute. I couldn't imagine a cause that is closer to my experience in Cardiff. I would like to give as much as I've received from this society before I leave.

Here is my justgiving page where you can sponsor my round-trip in Wales.

https://www.justgiving.com/jozsefracz

About me:

My name is József Rácz - in Hungarian the surname goes first, so it is actually Rácz József, but I am used to having more versions of my name as I was born in Yugoslavia - three years before it fall apart, so I have a Serbian version of my name as well. Every time I introduce myself, this Serbo-Hungarian identity question takes up the most time and I still don't have a short version of it, so I am just going to skip it now!

As a cyclist I have been to most of Serbia's neighbouring countries with an organized cycling tour group, Tour de Délvidék. These events were always fun, almost party-time, for me cycling and relaxing with lots of friends - during the years most of my folks bought a bike and joined the team. This trip will be my first longer solo pedalling.

I never took cycling too seriously, like doing it as a sport, race or a super-healthy lifestyle, but it became my favorite hobby, and then an everyday thing, the main transportation in my life. For me cycling means freedom, either from a city bus or from a stinky tourist bus and not just from buses but cycling gives me that freedom-feeling that you just can't explain through any bus metaphor.

Every Hungarian kid has heard about Wales through a very famous (required reading) lay poem, The Bards of Wales by János Arany.

Last year at the time of my usual cycling tour I moved to Wales for a few months, but it ended up lasting almost a year. Now, before I leave this place I want to look/cycle around this region.