Cycle Wales - Wendy's Way

Wendy Yap has just completed her studies at Cardiff University for a Master's Degree in Law. She has returned to her native Singapore, but not without leaving many friends behind in the United Kingdom. Like many young people she has a deep concern for a world which contains much injustice and hardship amongst people who are least able to care for themselves. One such cause for concern is the appalling humanitarian crisis in Darfur and Chad.

Early in 2007 Wendy decided she had to do something to help. She decided on a sponsored cycle ride - around Wales. Nothing special about that, you may say. But Wendy had little experience of cycling apart from pootling about, and had never before undertaken a ride which had left her more than slightly breathless. She decided she would cycle solo around the perimeter of Wales anti clockwise. No less than eight hundred miles in eight days.

She set about getting the best of advice, and a decent road bike, and for two months undertook a strenuous training regime. On Monday 16th July 2007, she duly set off. She had a few good days' weather - but also some pretty foul stuff. On her third day she met your editor and some of his chums out for their weekly ride along the North Wales coast. She was assisted with a relay to Bangor Youth Hostel. Wendy proved herself a remarkably resilient rider despite her lack of experience - and endeared herself to all the folk she met along the way.

If you would like to support Wendy's most worthy cause, all to the good. But if you have a cause of your own and wish to follow Wendy's route, details are to be found here .

If you decide to ride Wendy's Route yourself, we would be most interested to hear of your experiences. Why shouldn't 'Cycle Wales' join the C2C, or even the 'End to End', as an aspiration for all cycle tourists?

Footnote: Upon returning to Singapore to take up a post in the legal world, Wendy wrote 'From being a stranger in a strange land a short year ago, I now feel like Wales is my second home. I'm glad I didn't spend all that much time at the books...one might spend one's whole life studying but never learn how to think; I am trying not to make that mistake.'