Holy Island (Holyhead) to HolyCity (Vatican City)

[Rockybruno]

On Jan 4th 2017, Dafydd aged 60 and I aged 66 are to cycle from Holyhead to the Vatican City, raising funds for Cancer charities. I have recently had knee replacement surgery and have arthritis in both hips. Dafydd last year nearly died from cancer, had his stem cells removed and received huge doses of chemotherapy. My nephew Matthew aged 16 has just been diagnosed with cancer of the throat, chest, lungs and spine and he too is receiving chemo. Life just doesn't seem fair.

Dafydd and I want to give something back through raising money and highlighting various areas where cancer prevelantly attacks; breast cancer, testicular cancer, prostrate cancer etc, together with indicating the need to raise funds for Cancer Research, and the particular wards and hospitals who assisted with fighting cancer and to recovery.

On Jan 4th Dafydd and I are cycling to the Eurotunnel to and through France, the border of Brussels, into Switzerland and the Alps, go Italy, Rome and the Vatican City, approx 1780 miles. We have to reach Rome and the Stadio Olympico by 5th Feb as the Italuan Rugby Union has agreed that we can enter the stadium during the first
6 Nations Rugby International to wave and be greeted by the fans of the Italy v Wales game.

It is thereafter being considered that we are to be allowed to meet and be blessed by His Holiness the Pope.

Neither Dafydd or I are cyclists but are now training to meet this projects needs and already I have lost 5.5 stone in 18weeks and can now cycle, something I couldn't do then, due to mobility difficulties after my knee replacement.

I am now wring this to seek the support of this forum, in order to identify the most appropriate route from the Eurotunnel to Rome, avoiding as many of the most difficult hills, and in the knowledge that our project is in the middle of the winter.

We are hoping that someone out there has knowledge and experience of a suited route, who can assist us.

Time is now of the essence and we would appreciate support via the forum or direct to email address,
jeffreyevans@anglesey.gov.uk or via telephone 01407 760556 or mobile 0754 2716756.

We really will appreciate any support / advice

Best wishes / Regards

Rocky runs

Jeff Evans
Dafydd Rhys Thomas

 

[King Boonen]

Sounds like a great ride!

In terms of getting across Wales, and in particular Snowdonia, I would take the Bethesda, Capel Curig, Bets-y-Coed route. Any route you pick is going to involve a fair bit of climbing (unless you go up to Conwy and then pick and choose a route down to Llanwrst) but that's probably the easiest route and heading North will be longer and on less nice roads. I wouldn't go via Llanberis, the climb after Nant Peris is harder (although not that hard) and it's less direct. The Beddgelert road has less climbing but would be much longer.

After that I'd take the A5 to Corwen then the B5437 to Carrog. At Carrog there is a road to the north of the river Dee, take that and it connects to the B5103, then the A542 to Llangollen for lunch. From there the easiest option is to take the A5 out to Chirk then B roads to Oswestry. That would be about 150km and 2000m climbing. If you could push on to Shrewsbury it would be about 180km and 2100m climbing. If it were me, I would be aiming to get to Shrewsbury on the first day as getting across Wales in one go would be a good motivator and, depending on your following route, that probably contains 30% of the climbing you will have to do in the UK.