Despite a stolen bike Westhead lads battle on into Asia

* The Westheads flew across the Caspian Sea from eastern Europe into Asia.

As they arrived in Asia one of the first things that happened to the three young friends from the Llangollen area cycling to Thailand was one of them having their bike stolen.

Dyfan Hughes, 18, from Llangollen, Louis Dennis, 19, from Garth, and James Thomas,19, from Wrexham aim to pedal the 10,000 miles to the Far East in memory of Tony Edge, the father of a friend who died following a heart attack in 2024, raising money for a heart charity along the way.

The intrepid trio, calling themselves the Westheads, had just flown across the Caspian Sea from Georgia to Aktau in Kazakhstan when they stopped at a shop for some supplies. They left their bikes outside and Louis came out to find his had disappeared. 

The good news is that it was found after about an hour and they were able to resume their journey, first stocking up on all the bottled water they could carry as they headed off into the desert.

They spent the next couple of days battling high temperatures and wind. And running out of water despite loading up beforehand they hit a lowpoint when they had to drink the juice from a tin of tuna, which they called "going all Bear Grylls."

Even more water loaded aboard their bikes it was back on the road to the town of Beyneu from where they took a train into neighbouring Uzbekistan. Once there, pedalling off again they had reached a town named Karakalpakia by early today (Thursday).

There was another small setback when Louise took a tumble from his bike and sustained a cut on his arm but that didn't stop him getting back in the saddle.

The lads set out from Lllangollen Football Club's HQ last August on their marathon ride which they reckon will take them at least 18 months to complete. 

Originally, they aimed to raise £10,000 for the British Heart Foundation but, so far, well-wishers following their daily social media updates have pledged more than £24,000 to their cause.

* To follow the journey on their social media and make a donation if you wish, go to: https://linktr.ee/westheads