1. Pals' pedal power helps out charity
Wednesday, April 04, 2012 Carmarthen Journal
TWO Pendine cyclists have raised £8,000 for a children's centre after an epic 1,000-mile ride through
America's industrial heartland.
Cyclists Andy Edwards and Phil Jenkins, known locally as the Two Fat Cyclists, covered 1,000 miles
in just six days from Chicago to New York, raising funds for the Canolfan Plant Sir Gâr children's
centre charity._
They were joined on the trip, in which they rode in relays, by drivers Lyndon Williams and Gethin
Jones. To add to the challenge, they played at acoustic music gigs at various venues en route, even
meeting Welsh opera singer Bryn Terfel at the ride's end. Andy said: "Everything went really well,
better than expected. We were there 12 days all together, with six days of cycling.
"A lot of people told me we were crazy going over there in March when you can have a foot of snow,
but spring had come early. "There were no real problems on the ride, except the headwinds and the
rain, but at least it was warm rain." They had planned to ride 1,200 miles, but didn't quite make it that
far. "Between the two of us we planned to cycle 1,200 miles. We didn't quite get to 1,200 as we got
lost in the South Side of Chicago," said Andy.
"Another day we got stopped by police, and that wasted an hour. Gethin was swaying about a bit and
they had to check everything; they were really friendly but it wasted time. "A couple of the days we
did 70 rather than the 100 miles we planned, but we did well over 1,000 miles between the two of us."

2. "Nothing went really wrong, it's great that everybody's safe and everybody's home." This is not the first
time the Two Fat Cyclists have tackled a ride in the States for charity. Back in 2009 they took part in
an even more impressive trip, battling 3,000 miles across the US in aid of the Ty Hafan children's
hospice. Andy got within 200 miles of the end of the ride, only to crash his bike in torrential rain on
the last day of the adventure.
He admitted the previous crash led to a cautious approach. "After it was dark we said we wouldn't
cycle, we were not taking any chances this time," Andy said. He said the support from music fans had
also been welcome. "We played five gigs and raised $940 (£587) just by putting a hat out. The last gig
at The Longbow in Brooklyn was the day after St Patrick's Day, there were only 12 people there in the
bar at its height but they put $248 in the hat, that's the sort of welcome we had."
The boys also enjoyed Wales's Grand Slam rugby victory during their trip, meeting some well-known
Welshmen. "We went to the Red Lion in Manhattan and met up with Welsh expats. We were there
with Bryn Terfel and Matthew Rhys the actor; we sang with Bryn at 8.30 in the morning." The cyclists
had planned to raise £12,000, but feel they have raised as much money as they can.
"At the moment we've raised in excess of £7,000 for the charity, I'm hoping with a few more things to
get it up to £8,000," said Andy, adding: "We're having a rest now."