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.

Brecon

On the road again! Today I cycled the shortest distance of the trip - good for a warm-up and to test everything. First, my nice Welsh flag fell off - picked it up; then, my water bottle - picked it up; then the whole pannier rack - fixed it up. After all that happened, I managed to leave Cardiff. :)

proud of my nice flag.

With the wind behind me the first thing that could stop me on Route 8 was a super-tight, one-way passage - I was on the 'give way' side. Behind that short road were hiding all the hills of Brecon Beacons. The wind wasn't strong enough to help there; the up-n-downs stopped me a few times. Twice I had to push the bike, once go mud-surfing on a temporary chunk of the Taff Trail, and do 2 extra climbs because I got lost.

Today's fun expedition cycling wasn't the only reason why this leg took me 6 hours. Cycling through Brecon Beacons is also hard without slowing down and being amazed by the stunning landscape (another reason for having a break there is the thought that I have a box of my Hannah's delicious flapjacks in my bag).

After a very warm welcome and a refreshing warm shower at a fellow cyclist couple's house in Brecon, here are some spots that you shouldn't miss out on!

at the tight lane with my travel-buddy LostnFound Bunny

levitating lake

No cyclist-blogger can avoid these road-pictures.

Traffic jam in Wales

shephard style

hmm, this just simply cool

Good night from Brecon, the place where I am having my first (brilliant) Warmshowers experience!

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!

Tandem

traffic jam in Romania (2007)

In a previous post I mentioned  The Bards of Wales by János Arany which is all the knowledge that Hungarian kids have of the country. Using my travels and this blog in tandem, I've found a goal which is as important as my fundraising. I would like to give a little more information, on top of the bard poem, to anyone who doesn't know much about Wales. 
This region really deserves to be part of a wider international discussion, as a secret corner of the islands of Europe.
Besides this blog I have published a few comments about my impressions of the British world in Képes Ifjúság, a youth magazine based in Serbia, and will report on the trip and the (so far really positive) experience of fundraising in Press Szó, an online magazine for young journalists.

There is a fellow cyclist from my home town, I just call him Spiritleader. 

He and I didn't have many chances to cycle together, but when we did manage to hit the road, it was always like being in a very bright dream, pedalling away from reality into the haze.

illustration by EdE Sinkovics

As he wanted to join me this time, too, I'm  inviting him here on my blog for a tandem cycle with his blog, the site of his latest book, Cycling with Zoli the Turk!

Risca mistery

Learning from my mistake, this time I chose my destination based on the simplicity of the town's name, so that I wouldn't have the same problem I had on the way to Llantrisant the other day.

That's why I was heading to Risca this time. It wasn't easy to remember just because it's shorter; it also reminds me of the most popular Hungarian cow name "Riska" very much.

I wanted to test my orientation on a bigger scale - avoid any highways and big avenues; find a way out of the city in a very random place and continue the journey, avoiding busy roads.

The landscape is beautiful; the roads are peaceful. I don't meet anybody except horses and (probably not riska) cows. It is all very nice, but I still don't feel that I'm on the right track. No signs for a few miles, so I am following my senses.

Farmland pals

pink Hobbit house  and some landscape

I'm following it, following it. There are some signs here and there, but not the ones I am looking for; none of them leads to Risca. I don't give up, especially because there are such nice hills I can crawl up, so I continue following my senses. Then there is a sign saying Town Centre, straight on. Okay, even if it's not Risca I will go there, look around and cycle back to Cardiff.

I can see some towers of a castle from a distance, but I realise that I am in Caerphilly when I get to the same shop/café that we ran into last time before the thunderstorm.

flying above Castell Coch

That's never happened to me - heading to one place, and arriving at an other one in the opposite direction. Anyway, it was a good chance to buy some traditional Caerphilly cheese for dinner and to finally try out the tough Taff Trail through the woods, passing by Castell Coch, finishing the journey in the almighty Bute Park.

Visiting Llantrisant

After I got a message from a fellow cyclist saying how much will I enjoy my tour if I like hills, I realised I should start getting used to them as my previous bicycle adventures were very enjoyable, amazing aaaand 99% of it was on flatland.

I was looking for a place, about 2 hours away by bike, to check out. As I was free from  1p.m. Llantrisant seemed to be the perfect circular route from Cardiff. I wanted to try out a local main road  on the way there, and to come back an alternative way which connects farms with the surrounding villages.

I decided to do it in reverse > so, I cycled on the way there on the country lane. I think I found the tightest road I've ever been on in my life - maybe only the Romanian rubbish-shoot with a bulldozered lane in the middle, presented on the map as a secondary road, could beat this. 

So, I find it just as I expected - thanks to Google street view. There is just one way, no chance of taking a wrong turn, but at the end of one short section under the cover of hugging trees on both sides of the road, there are two possible directions. One is closed, so no hesitation, I turn left- I would have chosen the left anyway, because in Hungarian "right" means "better", but for me the left is the better. Left-handed people are more sensitive about these implicit lingual codes. Anyway, after my left turn I reach a village where I have to ask for help.

BOOM! I CAN'T PRONOUNCE THE NAME OF THE PLACE WHERE I AM HEADING.

I don't know the name of the city. Luckily my guy is patient and starts giving me the names of all the towns around here. Oh, yeah! he says it. Even better, he gives me clear directions - I can't believe that in the UK there are so many Tescos, there is always one which you will be passing by or where you have to turn...

I want to see the castle - which is actually one high wall (similar to the one in my village called Pecze kastely). To get there I have to face a 16% gradient. No problem, I am here to fall in love with hills. On the way to the castle-wall Dr. Druid says hello in his self-designed wolf costume.

Pecze kastely in the 2000s

Llantrisant castle c. 1910

After sunbathing in the castle garden, and realizing that in this town everybody is walking at least one dog, it creates a very friendly atmosphere. It reminds me of the Serbian village Jankov Most where are more geese living there than humans. Maybe that's a bit more creepy, but there is no druid power radiation, so let's say they are similar.

Banat Geese Gang

Dr. William Price in his uniform

Okay, this post has gone on too long. I just wanted to say that I chose the farmer's path on the way back as well, because the A4119 road gets very busy after a while. Even if its cyclable , listening to the tweets of the lorries are much less fun than the puddly valleys. 

Road signs = cultural maps

My first day in Wales started with a culture-shock - or an uncultured-shock, more like. 

Not that there is no culture in Wales, but I didn't know, there is an ancient language called Welsh until I got there. I thought all the road signs with lots of LLs, DDs, Ys and Ws are probably normal here and they are weird for me just as the Serbian Cyrillic would be for a British person. Then I realized that one half of the sign was always clear; most of the Ys and Ws were all on the unclear half - the Welsh version.

This old Celtic language is not in a dying state but as a small language it really needs the attention. Being able to read it everywhere on the streets with an instant English translation under (or above) is a very cool way of promoting the Welsh culture.

I would always get excited about multilingual signs wherever I saw one.

In the region (Vajdaság/Vojvodina) where I am from most of the towns have multiple names. There, you see an everyday usage of road signs that I haven't seen in Wales yet; people post "messages" about either national, political or love conflicts through traffic signs.

These (love-)vandalised signs still communicate with travellers - in their own way.

Another case in point: I once heard from fellow travellers how shocked they had been at the Russians' pride(?) in their own alphabet, putting out signs only in Cyrillic.

All these signs are brilliant, how they always lead us somewhere...