I started making the recycled bike today and learning bike mechanics with the amazing staff at Craft. We have been making the bike from donated second hand bike parts. Remember it is always possible to re-use parts on machinery that no longer works so please recycle and do not throw things into landfills. I learnt how to take a bike apart to be recycled and then how to put one back together. It is surprisingly easy to do. Just shows how everyone can do bicycle repairs with a little trial and error. (Pierced an inner tube when putting it back on the wheel. Oops!) Have ended up with very black hands. A very enjoyable day nether the less! Thanks Craft!
Did some administrative work today. Getting the web site written up ready to be posted on the web. Also helped out at the Peace and Justice stall letting people know about the bike tour and raising awareness.
Back at Craft again, adding finishing touches to bike. Tried to put on an old speedometer but found it did not work. Never mind. Eddie has managed to get me an old radio and battery for the tour. Got some good old beats playing!
Went on a test bike ride to Charlotte's house. Broke down just outside of Aberystwyth. The gears kept jumping and the chain kept coming off. Eventually managed to fix it and it only became a problem again when I needed to change gears.
Cycled back to Craft again. The same problem kept occurring and the bolts on the mud guards kept coming undone. Will have to remember to tighten them properly.
Back at work again for one last week. Did not quiet realise the dates so had to delay tour by one week. Never mind no big problem.
More administrative work especially sorting out the web site. Have been trying all day to find a trailer. Have eventually found some instructions to make a trailer out of recycled bike parts. Let's hope it works and that I have enough time to do it in.
Back at Craft again to mend bike. I now know how to fix the gears. Simple when you know how, just turn a couple of screws. Also put washers on all my bolts and did them up tighter to stop things falling off. Have found a funky bike stand. Everyone is now going to be able to charge up their phones etc...
Back at Craft again for an early start. Finished making the bill board and started painting it. Nicky and Megan came along to paint some funky stuff on it. Wow paint takes a long time to dry.
What a chaotic day trying to get everything finished. As well as that I lost my phone or had it stolen so was nearly about to abandon everything. But then I thought it was too late to do that, to many people were counting on me. Anyhow Megan lent me her pay as you go phone until I got mine sorted out.
Well I left Aberystwyth and I got to Tony's house in Machynlleth, it was quiet a journey up Penglais hill. The chain coming off just as I left Aberystwyth. I thought I would never get there before dark but I did.
My first day of talking to people about the project. it all went down rather well and I got some great contributions for the book.
Realised my front cog was broken with one of the teeth completely bent back. I will have to get it sorted out.
Ran the workshop at Tony's and although not many people were there it all went rather well.
Left Tony's a little later than I had hoped and managed to get the bike fixed in Machynelleth. Cycled to the Centre of Alternative Technology hoping to find someone there to give me a bed for the night. Arrived only to find it just as hard to get anything sorted as it was over the phone. I still managed to get some good contributions for the book never the less but realised that a workshop just would not happen even if i had booked it three months in advance.
Cycled to Corris where I got a cheap nights sleep in the bunk house.
Cycled from Corris over the hill to Dolgellau. What a horrible climb and in the rain as well. Ended up having to push the bike up the hill which was hard enough work. I felt like the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings when they are going over the mountain regretting having taken to much with them.
Just as I was thinking this is a perfect photo opportunity a photographer from the Daily Post turns up to take a picture, let's hope they put the story in.
Arrived in Dolgellau at around 1pm to a lovely welcome and a nice cup of coffee. Then off to work to talk to people and some more photos to be taken. Oh why will it not stop raining.
They have a great thing here in Dolgellau a health food co-operative. A little house where they keep all the goods and each member of the co-op has a key and goes along and gets there produce living the money in a tin. They all take it in turns to bag the produce. They even have their vegetable boxes delivered there. The smell was lovely and reminded me of my parents old shop.
Let Dolgellau for my longest cycle ride yet to Portmadoc. Went to the bike shop first to get my back breaks fixed as they had worn right through. The shop kindly did it for free.
Have got an article in the Daily Post with a lovely picture of me cycling in the rain.
Parked the bike in the centre of Portmadoc and got a very good response from people.
Left Porthmadog to go to Pwllheli. Stopped off in Criccieth at a lovely Internet Cafe and bookshop. Managed to get my website updated eventually, let's hope I can do it again.
Turned up at Pwllheli in the bright sun and cycled down to the beach. Realising it was not very busy headed back into town to get people to contribute to the Agenda. The reaction from people was not as good as I would have hopped.
Stayed in a campsite just outside of Pwllheli and managed to get them to let me stay for free. My camping neighbours even gave me a lift back into town to buy some food for my dinner. It was nice to have my little camping stove. I then had a lovely walk along the sea, beautifull.
It has been a whole week already, you know I really did not think I would be able to get this project of the ground and honestly thought that I would have to abandon it but hey I am a week in and everything is going well.
Woke up extremely cold this morning and with a sore neck. Cycled to Penygroes today. There is a lovely cycle path from Pant Glas all the way to Caernarfon.
A couple stopped me on route and gave me a nice cup of coffee as well as a small donation. They thought they had seen me on TV but in the end realised it was in the paper. Cycling has become a lot easier already and I am able to get up the hills now.
Cycled to Carnarfon to spend the day and then on to Bangor in the snow. Ah isn't the Welsh weather great.
Spent the morning in the Christian Aid office in Bangor and then a few hours trying to find cheap photocopying. (£20 for 100 sheets! You are joking!) Managed to bump into some great people who could help me out and visited the Greenhouse, a community centre.
Cycled to Beaumaris and spent a successful afternoon somehow avoiding the rain. Although a small town, I got some great comments.
Cycled to Llanelli. Had a very steep climb out of Beaumaris where the hill just did not seem to stop. I thought Anglesey was flat. How I was wrong as the hills went on and on all the way. Eventually arrived at around lunch time and spent the afternoon talking to people.
Cycled in the heavy wind and snow across Anglesey to Holyhead. Although the road was relatively flat this was my worst cycling day as the wind prevented me from cycling lots of parts of the way and ended up pushing the bike. The wind kept pulling me in to the side of the road. I arrived in the end and got speaking to people. They seemed very concerned about local crime. I had to get the train back to Bangor as it was too dangerous to cycle in the wind. Never mind.
Spent a day trying to organise things not to much success but got a few things sorted.
Ran a workshop in BAngor University. Had a good turn out of around 10 people, perfect number really. Everyone enjoyed themselves.
Cycled to Conwys via the Hendre, a great old set of stables turned into a music venue. They are going to be running an alternative music festival there the last May bank holiday weekend, 25th-31st May. For more details see the Snowdonia Nights out Gazette. I went along the cycle path which suddenly came to an abrupt end at a pedestrian bridge Abergwyngregyn. I then had to cycle to Llanfarfechan along the express route, where the cycle path started again. I got 200 yds down the road and then a Motorway Maintenance vehicle was blocking the path. I was just about to call the police to get it removed so that I could carry on my journey when the driver turned up. He refused to remove the vehicle but did help me carry my bike around. I got a further 100 yds and another vehicle blocking the cycle path. This time I got them to remove it. I eventually got to Conwys where I met a cyclist who took a picture of me for his website.
Woke up to a lovely cooked breakfast, and then to a flat tyre on my trailer. Roger helped me pump it up and it sounded as though there was no leakages so assumed it would be ok.
Spent the day again talking to people and went to the fairtrade shop which was lovely. Unfortunately I did seem to have a puncture so tried to pump the tyre up again only to find that my pump did not work. A lovely man tried to find me a pump with no luck so I walked to the garage to try and pump the bike there. Yet again no luck as I could not afford the eight pounds the garage was asking for for the pump, luckily some family lent me there pump and helped me out. But the tire did not stay inflated long so I decided I had to cheat yet again so got the train. Arrived at my lovely hosts who helped me mend my tyre.
Parked the bike outside the shopping centre as the pavement was extra wide. Also since it was raining it meant I could catch people under the shelter as they walked past. I got told by the security to move and so I moved further along. They created quiet a fuss which I thought was unfounded for as I was not doing anything wrong and how was I supposed to know they own the majority of the land in Llandudno.
Since I had not heard back from my contact in Colwyn Bay, I had to stay again in Llandudno.
Set of early for Colwyn Bay so as not to miss my appointment with the Weekly News. It was surprising how quick it took me to get there and I even cycled a mile too far as I did not realise that I arrived. Then unfortunately my chain came off. This seems to be a recurring thing and I am now used to having black hands and getting motorists to stop and help me pull the chain out as it is stuck.
Had my photo taken and hopefully they will put the article in the paper. I then spent the day in Colwyn talking to people, who were all very friendly even though it was raining. It is great how much people want to voice their views. We are continuously being told that we are apathetic yet people are aware of the issues they just feel that they are not being listened too and no one is taking any notice.
Cycled to Rhyl along the cycle path which was very good until you approached Rhyl when I got stuck in sand and could not move the bike. Luckily some young men came to my rescue. The path carried on for a while and then came to an abrupt end in a sand dune. Not very sensible there could have been some warning.
Went to a great community centre in Rhyl where I got the cheapest photocopying ever. 1p double sided if you supply your own paper. They even had a guillotine I could use. It is great how many community centres there are across Wales. We need to set one up in Aberystwyth. I think that will be my next project.
The rain was horrible today but nevertheless I still got some great contributions from people. People feel very strongly about the drugs problems here and about having strong communities. Everyone seems to know everyone and there is a strong community spirit where they all look out for each other.
Cycled to Prestatyn along the seafront, did not have any problems with sand this time which was good. There were some windmills out at sea which I thought were beautiful. I do not understand why people do not like them.
Prestatyn was a very poor run down town, more so than Rhyl. It is such a shame that such beautiful places that must have been thriving in the seventies are now in such dire straits. People nevertheless were friendly a part from a couple of young girls who ripped my leaflets to shreds and dropped them on the floor. Also a man was very racist because the sign on my bike was in Welsh. Does he not realise he is living in Wales and that there language is Welsh and not English. I feel terrible that I can't speak Welsh but to not allow others to do so is terrible.
Cycled to St Asuph which was dead so went and had a coffee as I was cold and wet. Decided to to stay long as no one was there so headed on to Denbigh to my new lovely hosts who run Cymru Cuba. They have had some very important visitors to their house, Ambassadors and the like I feel I do not live up to the previous guests.
Spent the day in Denbigh. The paper saw me so sent a photographer to take a picture. The BBC have a temporary studio in Denbigh so I tried to get them interested but to no much luck. The TV are just doing election stuff at the moment.
I am finding that many people are so disheartened by politics that they do not want to voice their views any more. They do not want to vote and they feel as though no matter what they do they will not be represented anyhow. They feel that Blair and other governments take no notice. Two Million people walked the streets of London and we still went to war people are telling me. They do not want to write comments for the Welsh Agenda as they are so disheartened. I try and tell them that we need to carry on the fight or things will get worse and they reply that they will anyway. But maybe it will give them spirit to know there are people out there who do want to do things for the World.
Cycled across to Ruthin and went and had a cup of coffee to recuperate and prepare for the workshop I had booked at one, at which point it poured down with rain. The workshop went very well although it went slightly over the forty minutes time scale. It was completely different to the Bangor workshop and due to the shorter time scale had to be a lot less interactive. I hope I still got across the essential information, it seems everyone found it very instructive. Went and had a lovely late lunch before heading back into the centre of Ruthin where due to the rain was dead so decided to head to my amazing hosts, yet again.
Cycled up the long hill to Mold. It was not quiet so wet as it was last time I had a long clime. I also found the cycling a lot easier and hardly pushed at all, although I did have to have breaks. It was market day in Mold and the traders were not very impressed at me being there so sent me to see the Market superintendent. Headed to the town council to find him and he said it was perfectly fine to stand by the town council office. I then had a guy who turned out to be polish who would not leave me alone. I had to take him into the offices and the lovely lady at the counter helped me out and we both tried to find out what he wanted. She even went as far as getting a translator. He was having problems with his house mates and wanted me to help him out. He kept wanting me to talk to him and as hard as I tried to tell him I was busy he did not or would not understand. In the end I got saved by Aled Lloyd Davies. By the time I had had a cup of coffee with him, the town was dead but I did manage to get a journalist come and take a picture.
When I arrived in Holywell I instantly bumped into David Mcknight. Holywell was lovely and it helped the sun was shining. Got some lovely comments especially from a group of young girls who thought it was great that I was doing what I was doing. They even put all their money together to buy me a trifle.
I got a lift to Rhyl this morning and back again in order to get some more leaflets printed in the community centre. It worked out very well that the daughter of the people I was staying with had an appointment there. Had an easy cycle today to Connah's Quay. I got stopped by some mechanics who were totally behind labour and upset that the previous person who had written a comment was saying we should have less taxes. They were even more appalled when I told them he was a workman. Connah's Quay was a strange place where it took me ages to find the centre. When I eventually did realise where it was i got a good response.
Spent the afternoon in Wrexham. I arrived and had a cup of coffee like I usually do and went out to talk to people only to find I couldn't. I was not in the right mood and if I had of spoken to people I would have had a bad response. It is a shame really since I was in the biggest town in north Wales. So, i sat down and let people come and speak to me and ended up having some interesting debates. In the end I got my friend to have a break from his canvassing and come and see me.
Cycled across to Llangollen, a beautiful tourist town. It was very busy and most people did not have time for me. I ended up just taking it easy and taking the same approach as in Wrexham of letting people come to me.
Arrived in Oswestry to a lovely reception. I had a large group of people helping me out. They brought banners as well and got lot's of photos taken for the paper. It was lovely having people to help me and made it all so much more enjoyable. Everyone was so lovely and I did not get one bit of negativity all day. I even had the cafe come and give me a free coffee.
Had a late start as was sorting things out, but luckily the cycle did not take long at all. The quality of the roads makes such a difference to how long it takes you also it probably helped the road was rather flat. The weather however was terrible and it was sleeting on me nearly the whole journey. Anyhow I had an enjoyable afternoon in Welshpool.
Met up with Lembit Opik for a photo. He is totally backing the campaign and said that if he is reelected he is going to ask a question in parliament about it. After the photo shoot I headed for Newtown. I had a lovely afternoon talking to people before setting of for Llandidloes for the night. After some rather busy windy roads I arrived in Llani as it is known to the locals.
Llani turned out to be a rather odd hippy like town. It was rather dead so I only stayed out for a few hours before heading for a snooze.
Cycled over two mountains to Aberystwyth. A lot of long but not too steep climbing. Luckily for me a bit more down than up, I am dreading the return journey to Rhayader Anyhow looking forward to my first day of rest tomorrow. Arrived in good time Aber and headed for Craft Recycling as there is something wrong with my bike pedals they are making a horrid noise. I got told that I would have to take the bike apart and put it back together again. At least it will be in spec order for when I do South wales.
Sleep and more sleep. Happy dreams. Went to see Bethan play in her fabulous band Gillespi
May Day and yet not one single demonstration in Aberystwyth. My how well workers most be doing these days! Or maybe it is just a Sunday Or... Anyhow although it had been organised for the media to come and see me they did not turn up. It must be the sunny Sunday thing. Anyhow I had a nice day looking after the stall on the promenade with the Aber is Green crew. It was great to see my friends, although they are all rather busy. That time of year again. Essays, exams they do not stop.
Headed up Penglais hill to the students union only to find it deserted. What has happened to all those students they seem to have disappeared. They were not even hiding from the rain in the library.
Back to craft to repair my bike. The ball bearings had gone in the pedal bracket no wonder they were making horrid noises. But yet again thanks to Craft they are now great. Cheers...
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