Westheads look back on first year of their Thailand-bound odyssey

Eighteen countries, two continents and over 15,000 kilometres covered - that's the fantastic achievement of the three young lads known as the Westheads since they left Llangollen bound for Thailand exactly one year ago.

Mates Dyfan Hughes, 18, from Llangollen, Louis Dennis, 19, from Garth, and James Thomas, also 19, from Wrexham, are making their mammoth journey in aid of the British Heart Foundation in memory of Tony Edge, the father of their friend Harrison, who died following a heart attack in 2024. 

Their end destination is Thailand where Harrison now lives and along the way they are raising as much cash as possible for the British Heart Foundation in his dad's memory.

In their latest daily video diary they have been looking back over the past 12 months and some of the adventures they've pedalled into.

It all started when they left the HQ of Llangollen FC on August 2 last year heading for the English Channel from where they crossed into Europe and made their way across Belgium, Germany and Austria to pick up the River Danube, which they followed for hundreds of kms to the Black Sea, crossing Romania and Bulgaria into Turkey.

* The Westheads ready to set off on their big adventure last August.

After wintering at Batumi in Georgia they were forced to make a radical change in their plans and board a plane to fly across the Caspian Sea when they couldn't get visas allowing them to enter Russia.

From there it was thousands more kms through Uzbekistan, stopping off in the legendary city of Samarkand, Tajikistan - and a bout of severe food poisoning - and Kyrgystan, making a climb of over 3,000 metres over mountain passes into China.

Despite meeting up with people who they readily acknowledge are some of the friendliest they've met on the trip so far, trouble was brewing in the province of Qinghai where Louis was involved in a collision which left his trusty bike in pieces.

But after money for a replacement was quickly wired by supporters back home the trio were back in the saddle and have recently been visiting some of the most stunning cities in the country and recording it all on their socials.

The generosity from back home continues, with a big shoutout going to Llangollen Hostel which paid for their latest city stay.  

At the end of their one-year recap, the Westheads reveal that they have so far raised over £40,000 for their chosen charity and are now aiming to make that £50,000.

If anyone can help them to do hit that target figure it will be much appreciated, they say.  

* llanblogger is recording the lads' adventures along the way. To follow the journey on their social media and make a donation, go to: https://linktr.ee/westheads