CARDIFF TO CAPEL COCH FOR A GREAT CAUSE
A PAIR of friends from Anglesey will embark on a gruelling three-day bike later this week to raise money in support of the 2017 National Eisteddfod, which will be held on the island.
Dafydd Llywelyn, aged 26, and Ifan Morgan, 28, will pedal from Castell Coch in Cardiff, to Capel Coch, the village where they were both raised and went to primary school.
Dafydd, who now lives in London and works as a computer engineer said: “We were both brought in in Capel Coch, where we went to primary school.
“We are both keen cyclists and we were hoping to plan a bike ride to help support the Eisteddfod next year, and we were trying to think of a theme to tie in the route from Cardiff to back home.
“I had a bit of time to look at a few maps when I was injured a few months ago and I was trying to look out for places with Capel or Coch in the name.
“There were a few places with Coch (red) in the name, and I managed to draw a fairly clear route going through those places, so it worked quite nicely.”
The 265 mile-long route will take the pair through Clawdd Coch in Glamorganshire to Bryn Coch in the Amman Valley, to Cnwch Coch and Commins Coch in the Aberystwyth area, to Cefn Coch, near Welshpool, before their penultimate stop at Red Wharf Bay, or Traeth Coch, on Anglesey.
They will begin the challenge on Thursday, September 1 and hope to finish in Capel Coch on Saturday, September 3, where there will be a homecoming party.
Ifan Morgan, who is training as a GP on Anglesey, said: “There are a lot of hills along the way and I’ve been practicing around Anglesey, but I don’t think those ones are as big as the ones we’ll be pedalling up elsewhere in Wales.”
The duo are also inviting people to join them for the last leg of the journey from Menai Bridge at 2pm on Saturday. Those wishing to join are asked to donate £10 and will be welcome to join the party afterwards, where there will also be a hog roast.
For photos and updates of Dafydd and Ifan along the way as well of details of how to donate, follow @ Taithycochion on Twitter.