Saturday, Nov 27

The first 20 mile stretch to Machynlleth is mostly down hill and its absolutely knobbling again.

After that its on to Aberystwyth where I take a rest. Rhys and Andy carry on and I get back on just south of Aberystwyth with The Stone. We cycle

on to Aberaeron where Ian takes a rest. Andy, Rhys and I carry on and I manage the climbs to Ffos Y ffin and on to Synod Inn.

Rhys is struggling with knee pain and keeps applying Deep Heat and Tiger Balm, screams for pain killers and soldiers on.

After Synod Inn I take another short break and get back on with Ian at Horeb and cycle on to Windy Corner, taking in the climbs at Llandysul and Pencader.

At Windy Corner garage its clear that Rhys is suffering but decides to carry on.

Ian and I join the other in the van and head on to Travellers Rest just outside Carmarthen for the final 15 miles to Laugharne and the climb to Cross Inn and Hall Down.

Ian and I get there in good time and await Andy and Rhys who is by this stage making “ ah ah ah” noises with every pedal turn.

The short downhill run into Laugharne feels great and we are welcomed by Dai the Milk and Dr Gareth Williams outside Seaview (where we find the staff packing up for a move..)

A quick bottle of bubbly and its handshakes all round and back in the van for the journey back to a warm shower at Pendine followed by the All Blacks game at the 3 Mariners and home to loved ones…

A minimum of £1500 will be on its way to Frenchay After Burns Club, Bristol and another £1500 will be collected for the Dragon Burns Club, Morriston Hospital asap.

Thank you everyone for all your efforts and many thanks to all the people who kindly put a few pennies and the occasional pound in the coffers for the children.

Roll Call:

Phil 'ill' Jenkins, Andy 'mince pie' Edwards, Rhys 'the hero' Hughes, Gethin 'it's a myth' Jones, Ian 'jail hill did me' Stone, Mervyn 'how much' Cooper, Mike 'busy busy' Rowlands

Friday, November 26th

A Quick breakfast of Porridge, Toast and Meatloaf and Mike drops us off at the Rhyd Ddu path. When asked what Rhyd Ddu means Mike advises “Black Rhyd”. We tell him we should be back at the rangers path by 12.30.

Conditions on the mountain are difficult and getting worse and after about 3 hours in an almost white out the

majority of the group opt to return to base via the Rhyd Ddu path.

Rhys desperately wants to continue having walked the path some weeks early in good conditions and trys to persuade everyone to carry on.

It is at this point that the Commodore comes out with a classic line.. while stepping backwards nearer to the group

that wants to return to base he says “ I’ll sit on the fence and go with the majority”…it’s a moment of lightness in what was a difficult decision.

The 4 40+ climbers go back and Rhys and Gethin (Chi Chi) continue and make it to the summit in very, very difficult conditions. Rhys understates that there is 10 minutes of a scrambly bit then we'll be back on the path and it'll be fine.

Geth follows and off they go.

'Bwlch Main is a narrow col, and is extremely exposed to the wind. It is quite safe, in reasonable weather, and as long as you keep to the path. In snow and ice conditions, however, it is extremely dangerous, and should only be attempted by experienced mountaineers with the proper equipment.'

The 4 that return to base get back to the

bunkhouse by 11am and find that Mike has already left for his 12.30 rendezvous. When Andy catches up with him he ask Mike why did you leave the bunkhouse so early…” I’ve only been here half hour` says Mike even though we’ve waited from 11am till 1pm at the house..

We pack up camp and by 2pm Andy and I are back on the bikes on our way to

Corris. The first leg is a long slow climb and while not 100% I feel better than I did and Andy continues to cycle strongly.

Rhys Joins us later and we arrive at Tal y Llyn lake near Corris around 5pm.

Tonight we stay at Braich Coch Bunkhouse and after having sorted the sleeping arrangements with Ian

`the nasal passage` in with Rhys and Gethin and Me Merv, Andy and Mikalis in the other

room, we meet at 6.30 for the trip into Machynlleth for food at the White Lion.

We have a pint or two and while Merv is checking in with home on his mobile he drops classic quote number two on us. While on the phone to Rae he’s also reading the menu…” I’d really like the ALL DAY breakfast, but I don’t know if they do it at this time of day”…

After food we head back to Braich Coch and a couple of pints in the bar. Andy and I get the

guitars out but I’m suffering still with my doggy chest and don’t feel in the mood.

Bed by 11pm and we’re up at 7ish for breakfast and shower before the off. 87 miles today all the way back to Laugharne.

Thursday 25th November

The Two Fat cyclists and friends (Rhys `The Hero Like` Lloyd Hughes, Ian `The Champignon` Stone, Meryvn `The Articlulate One` Cooper, Gethin `Chi Chi` Jones and Mikalis Rowlandakis of Crete, gathered outside of the Seaview restaurant, Laugharne for the 7am off.

Four cyclists set off a little later than planned and with freezing and icy

conditions we took the first few miles easily to build our confidence.

While Andy, Ian and I were in full winter cycling regalia including tights, jackets etc, The Hero opted for the late summer look with two vintage tops, SHORTS and gloves complete with holes.As we reached Carmarthen after the first 10 miles the light had improved as well as the traffic volume.

The first leg was Laugharne to Alltwalis (22 miles) but Ian Stone hits the wall early, complaining of tight elastic in his socks and is exhausted after exerting massive effort to do jail hill. He gallantly carries on as far as Glangwili but the climb to Peniel and on to our first stop at the base of Alltwalis is to much and an emergency distress call to Chi Chi Jones is required. Ian gets a lift and we are later met by the support vehicle along with Dai `the milk` Griffiths bearing still warm, sticky honey buns from Laugharne bakery...lovely.

Mikalis Rowlandakis, who has had a tough first 20 in the van with the heaters on is first in the queue for a cuppa and a cake. After a quick 10min stop were off up the hill and on to our next stop Llanybydder another 10 miles on. The temperature seems to be dropping and there are several small pulls enroute to Llanybydder and a second quick stop is welocome. Surprisingly Mikalis is first in the queue again and is pestering Mervyn for a cup of coffee while getting a ststaining beef and onion pie into his gob followed immeadeatly by a hunk of fruit cake mmm.

Rhys, Andy and I then crack on to the next stop at Felin Fach. I start to feel the effects of the cold temps during this leg. Rhys' drinks bottle has frozen to slush puppy consistency and mine is so cold I find it hard to drink.

By the time we get to Felin Fach, Mike has drunken so much Coffee we've nearly run out of Sugar and he's so hungry having only had breakfast, pie, pasty and cake so far, nips into the garage for another warm pasty.

The 3 of us depart and head for Aberaeron and onto Aberath and the next Stop. At this stop I'm suffering from cramps as a result of not taking on enough fluids and decide to sit out a leg.

I join back in at the next stop just outside Aberystwyth and we crack on to Talybont. The first few miles go well but at Bow Street I start to suffer again with my heart rate way above my normal zone on even the slightest climb and more cramps, the others go on without me.

I struggle on in agony to within half a mile of the Talybont stop and have to call it a day with only 70 miles in the bag out of the planned 120 or so.

Rhys and Andy carry on making great progress in deteriorating conditions. The break does give me a chance to try to warm up a bit in the van but I cannot prize Mike out of the front seats nearest the heaters.... I'm suffering now and my chest is in agony.

Ian joins Andy for the fantastic climb up through Corris past Cader Idris, its around 3pm or so and the temperatures are now plumeting.

Andy carries on for a further leg and Rhys has gone on way ahead on his own.

We get near to Beddgellert at 5pm and have to call Rhys into the van as its now dark and we have to catch the outdoor shop in the village to purchase Crampons for the walk up Snowdon tomorrow as there is more snow forecast.

The shop had promised that they were open till 6pm and had suitable non ice crampons. We get there at 5.30pm and they are pulling the shutters down, and say that they cannot serve us as they've closed up the tills for the day and the chain type crampons they advised us about are for pavement walking only...useless.

6.15pm and we get to he bunkhouse and The Hero Lloyd Hughes baggsies the best mattress position and firsts in the shower. We all wait while he sings and bathes himself and we all manage to get to the Cwellyn Arms in time to order food.

We split into small groups of 2 and 3 for a couple of rounds and the pub has some great real ales.

Merv goes for a beer which is almost Guinness like. `is it like Dark` he asks the chef serving us..

Merv later goes to order his food (burger and chips) and as its his turn to get a round for Andy and I in asks for 3 pints of HoEgarden as well. With £20 note in hand ready to pay for his fare and hoping for some change, The Commodore is floored buy the request for £23.45..."beg your pardon shippers" says the commodore. "£23.45" says the Barman.."the Hogarden is £4.50 a pint". With much muttering Merv digs out a little more cash and sits down to enjoy his pint of lemonade.

After supping a 1/3 of his pint Merv complains that it doesn't taste nice and is a diffrent colour from Andy's. He calls over the Barman who investigates and says the Barrels OK. Merv says it tastes like crap and eventually a new barrel is connected and we get fresh beer. Then its back to camp and alarms set for 5.30am

Sea to Sky and Back - The Story of a cycle ride from Laugharne to Snowdon and Back (with a little walk in between...)

Why are we going in November..remind me again Andy?

This was the question on our lips as dawn broke on a freezing Thursday morning.

Phil is ready!

Mexican tour tache' - check

Snowdonia - Friday - This is it!

Weather

It will be a cold day with patchy frost to start. Any early patchy mist and fog in valley locations will soon lift giving the possibility of transient but short lived hill fog. It will be mostly cloudy throughout with sleet or snow showers. Cold in northerly winds.

Visibility

Generally good away from the sleet or snow showers. Occasionally very poor in any hill fog.

Hill fog

Occasional patches of hill fog as early valley fog lifts. However, any hill fog is expected to be short lived and to have cleared by mid-morning.

Maximum winds above 500m

Variable, 10 to 15 mph

Temperature

Valleys	Minus 1 Celsius first thing, rising to a maximum of plus 3 Celsius.
900 m	Minus 3 Celsius.
Freezing level	300m.

Phil Update

Walking Poles- check
Crampons- check
Ginger Bear sweets- check
Flask Coffee- check
Mickalis Rowlandskis- check

SEA TO SKY AND BACK AGAIN

Sadly Dai Griffith will not be able to come with us due to a family bereavement but he will be ably deputised by Mike 'Fiver' Rowlands aka Rowlandakis who has flown over from Crete to join the team. Mike will be mainly sitting in the front of the support vehicle, drinking coffee, eating Welsh Cakes and listening to his ipod. He will also be the unofficial, official photographer of the trip.

The final teamlist looks like:

Cyclists: Ian Stone, Phil Jenkins, Rhys Hughes, Andy Edwards

Hikers: Ian Stone, Phil Jenkins, Rhys Hughes, Andy Edwards, Gethin Jones, Mervyn Cooper

Driver: Gethin Jones

Galley Slave: Mervyn Cooper

Assistant Navigator: Mike Rowlands

Mike will not be hiking up Snowdon. Phil is worried that if he sits in the van for 5 hours he'll end up frozen solid like the Alpine Ice Man.

Wrap Up! Early Winter Snowfalls Forecast

Katie Cassidy, Sky News Online

Bitterly cold temperatures are forecast to descend on Britain this week, with snow predicted to fall as far south as East Anglia.

Weather Forecasts

It's getting colder!

MET OFFICE REPORT FOR SNOWDON ON FRIDAY

Another breezy and cold day across the park with further wintry showers at times. Freezing levels will once again be well below the summits, allowing snow to penetrate to low levels at times. However, north to northwesterly winds will ease somewhat, which will lower the risk of chill on all but the highest peaks.

Some of the boys are a bit worried about the route we are taking up Snowden!

We are going up the Rhyd Ddu and down the Ranger Path.

Estimate of 5 hours up and down.

Rhys and Kim have done a recce. When asked if the path was easily accessed. Rhys is quoted as saying, 'It'll be fine, I know it, definite'

Below is a happy Kim on the Rhyd Ddu ridge!

Sea to Sky - Planning Meeting

Planning meeting held at The Three Mariners. All set? Foodlist prepared and sponsor pics taken.

FLAPJACKS, WELSH CAKES, BARA BRITH, POT NOODLES, HARIBO, MARS MB, SQUASH, PORRIDGE. JAM, SUGAR, CHEESE, MILK, TEA, BAGS, COFFEE, TOILET ROLL, BREAD, BUTTER, CRISPS, BANANAS,

NEW STS LOGO

13 DAYS TO GO - COUNTDOWN HAS STARTED!

125 mile non stop cycle - hike up and down Snowden - followed by a 125 mile non stop cycle home!