I missed a day but Andy Edwards and Gareth Evans and the rest of their team touched down in LA and are on their way across the country, raising money for the Children's Hospital for Wales! They're going to blog their trip and I'm going to reproduce it here for all of us:

DAY ONE

Early start from Pendine at 0200 hrs and pick ups on the way down the M4 meant the team was all together by 0500 and heading for the airport. Stopping at Reading Services for a million dollar breakfast meant we were at Heathrow in plenty of time. Self checking meant no upgrade but all progressed smoothly until Tom got on the Guiness by 0900.

An 11 hour flight with Myra the Welsh speaking stewardess from Talley slipped by unnoticed. Phil and Merv were not happy with the food but the views ou t of the window of Greenland and then the sheer size of the States was realised and they soon lost their appetite. Good fun was had telling jokes and playing quizzes.

Henry, Gareth and Richard who had had their 'Skins' underwear on all day started to melt in the L.A. heat not helped by the taxi driver attempting to drop us off at the Beverley Hills Plaza Hotel where Julia Roberts was entertained by Richard Gere. The Hotel was 10 miles away from our hotel and 10 times the budget and I don't think flip flops would have been appreciated in the foyer.

We've now been for a dip in the pool after being up for over 24 hours and are now about to step ashore for some bevvies and a bit of scran.

RICH'S FIRST

And so finally the trip starts in earnest, although the 11 hours sat on my bottom courtesy of virgin Atlantic promises to be a little less taxing than that which will follow. The journey started in less than auspicious circumstances at the Ibis Hotel in Cardiff Gate. As we were being picked up at ridiculous o'clock I booked the hotel for myself and Gareth. As we would have bike bags I requested a ground floor twin room. We got a top floor double room! Despite strict demarcation and Gareth's plea for no spooning, the appalling softness of the mattress meant Gareth gravitated towards the centre of the bed to the extent that I considered getting out and back in the other side. So sleep was not exactly plentiful but the journey so far has been all according to schedule. I'm 8 hours into the flight between films and looking forward to getting there and sorting my bike ready for a gentle warm up tomorrow.

DAY TWO

It started with most people waking up at 0200 thinking they had had a good night's sleep. People are itching to get going but there's still so much to get done. Who's going to be in charge of what? Mervyn has stepped up to be i/c of laundry and Andrew immediately took up the offer of being i/c of the kitty.

0500 - Phil is playing his guitar in his pants, Mervyn is looking up sightseeing spots, getting mixed up between John Wayne and Ronald Reagan and asking whether we should go and see the Queen Mary and the Russian nuclear submarine down in Long Beach.

0900 Merv's confusion continues - four hours of Australian dits he then saw the Hollywood sign from Wilshire Boulevard and realised that it didn't look anything like Perth. After a moment of disappointment and a plateful of grits at the local Denneys, we took in the sights and Merv's focus turned to the many palmed treed avenues and the frequency of Eurasian beauties driving Lexus and Saabs driving by.

THE NIGHT OF NOISE

Whilst the acoustic set in room 1008 is in full swing, there is a very different acoustic in room 1014 aka. 'The Room of Noise'.

Myself and the Wild one spent the hours of 10pm till 4am enduring 20 minute stints of sleep disturbed as efficiently as the japanese transport system by the dulcet tones of Stoney's face.

The english language cannot do justice to the sound he emitted throughout the night but I will leave you with a few stats...

Number of times woken up by the 'noise' last night - 8 (minimum)

Number of time Wild one was woken up - 8 (minimum)

Numbers of ways we have come up with to 'accidently' kill The Stone - 142 (and counting)

Phil has told me he has earplugs so all is good from this point on.....bring on the noise Stone. That is all for now.....

GARETH'S FIRST

Finally here! The worry of "have I packed enough base layers and spare kit" has been put to rest by the fact it's 75degrees outside, and it's still only 9am. The bikes are set up,the weather is good, but we still have the day at leisure...which way to the beach? You could swear the good folk of l.a. Have never seen a Welshman walking down the road for breakkie in shorts and t-shirt at 7.30 before!

Got to look at things positively, could have had as good a nights kip as Henry, spooning the coast2coast wind tunnel that is Mr. Stone. He loves it really.

Henry Saves the Day - The Day the Kitten Shone

On opening Ian's bike bag I found that the lug that held the rear derailleur had snapped in transit. I had been warned by John from Tenby Cycles that this was one of the weak points that could be trouble when traveling abroad.

On closer examination I discovered that it bit of the frame had snapped as well - total and utter disaster. Ian was informed and did not take the news too well. he immediately phoned his insurance company, Lloyds of London and his Platinum account stated that his bike was not covered. Controlling his temper Henry suggested to Ian that a phonecall to the Press officer of Virgin Atlantic would be a better option. After speaking to the baggage handling department of Virgin, who were very concerned about the colour of the 50 bike bag which was grey and not the 1500 bike inside it. On the other phone Henry in his best Meltwater voice was conversing with the Virgin Press Officer who realised that a PR disaster was on the horizon especially as the BBC are traveling with us and she authorised an immediate allowance of $2000 to cover the cost of a new bike! henry's thinking outside the box and his phone manor and charm. Whether Ian will thank him by the end of the trip will be another story! Ian will thank him tonight by sleeping in the bathroom so that Henry and Tomos will not suffer the snore torture!

Henry Saves the Day Again - International Rescue

During the drama of the afternoon Henry received an urgent phonecall from the Principality's capital as a large unknown male spider was walking around Lowri's bedroom. After consulting with Ian 'The Exterminator' Stone who's thought process went through pistol whipping and bitch slapping finally settled the best form of defence was attack and that she should use a machine gun.

Negeseuon Pob Lwc

"Andy-I know we all need to keep in shape but this is a bit extreme.When you get the chance read a book called"The memory of running by Ron McLarty."
Roger Ford, London Welsh RFC

"Fanstastic cause Andy, well done for doing this very extreme challenge. Just make sure you pack the Vas! Not a bad excuse Andy and well done for raising so much for this very worthy cause. I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time doing it and some great memories along the way. I'll keep you in the loop."
Dai Williams London Welsh RFC Old Boys

Thank you for your donations.

'What are we but memories'

Gar #2

A night at leisure meant that half the guys went for a jaunt 'downtown'. Without the exterminator Stone and his sidekick, Henry Kittenger, would we be safe... We did after all have 'Dyfrig death' driving!!

After a swift spin down the road, we finally arrived at the staples centre; an luminous metropolis that makes Blackpool look like Cwm Cou. Anyway-to the box office, and after a confused discussion with your friendly Mexican tout, we got our tickets...for a damn sight cheaper...(it wasn't until after our south central friend had departed did visions of Ross kemps gangs come to mind!!).

Back to the basketball, the LA Clippers do a job on the Washington Wizards, a smash and grab our tout friend would have been proud off, with the highlight of the event undoubtedly...the clipper spirit, google them for yourselves!

Quick spin back through Korea Town to the chateau, swift steak and it's back to bed, only to find Rich 'the 1' Belcher sleeping comfortably in the floor, spooning his duvet in a way that would have made jenny proud. (sorry Jen xx)

It's midnight now, Thursday is upon us, a crucial day for the logistics and psycho Stone with the purchase of his new wheels upon us. Stone...pimp your ride.

Oh yeah, it was also nice to get a couple of hours road time today, even though the 80 degree heat was a tad uncomfortable, it sure beats the bloody snows of Blaenavon. Electrolytes at the ready!

10-4

Pops

Rich's #2

I'm still very much on UK time. It's 5 in the morning and I've been awake a while. Will I ever see 10 o'clock at night?

So yesterday saw the first road miles -a quick leg stretcher around the local streets in search of a bike shop to source Stoney's new steed.

Surely 9th street is between 8th and 10th! Well it turns out it is, only the part we were on goes under a different name. Unfortunately the school crossing control lady doesn't know so a few more minutes of aimless cycling before we find someone to point us in the right direction, and it turns out we need to be a couple of hundred yards down from the school crossing.

That bike shop doesn't sell road bikes but gives us the address of the most famous cycle shop in LA so off we go again and Andy is soon on first name terms with the guy in the shop, getting the squeak on his bike looked into and negotiating a discount for Ian.

Then back to the hotel along with Andy's magical reappearing squeak. The traffic lights meant it was all very stop start but I was surprised by the courtesy shown by the inhabitants of this car loving nation, with several people tooting, waving, giving the thumbs up and declaring their Welsh heritage at the lights.

LA from the 10th Floor

Well here we are Thursday 19th day two at the Radison Wilshire Plaza on Wilshire Blvd. Just as I'm starting to feel settled in,today we pick up the vehicles and head on down to Oceanside,our kick off point.

It feels as though the little things start to feel complicated like how do we pick up the two vehicles from different locations and all be there to sign the paperwork, what do we need to stock the motorhome up with for the trip and what replacement bike should Stoney get?

After our arrival on Tuesday we all decided to try to stay up as late (normal) as possible to try to overcome or even circumvent the effects of jet lag. A pasta meal and a couple of Moretti beers and I think I hit the hay at around 10pm local time (around 30hrs after getting out of bed in Carmarthen).

Awake at 1.48am the next day (Weds 18th)and up at 4am myself, the Bear and Cooperman headed out in search of scran. We found Denny's just a few blocks west and had a Grand Slam breakfast with GRITS. "What's this made of please I asked potato?" "no corn its really good". After adding maple syrup and jelly Merv decided that the wallpaper paste was OK.

Back to the hotel then for our first team meeting and a swim. Some of the team have tasks and will go find provisions while the cyclists will assemble bikes and go for a fist run out. 5 bikes done and then Stoney's come out in more pieces than we expected. Its clearly been handled poorly and a small but significant piece has been snapped clean off and its beyond repair. We hit the phones and emails in an attempt to gt the OK for a replacement.

Ian's patience is tested to the max as he keeps being asked by claim staff what colour the bag is and what it says on it. After screaming `your missing the point` for 20 mins he`s about to explode when THE KITTEN rouses from his position and turns all MAX CLIFFORD like on the Virgin Press office. We leave then to it and the four of us go for a spin in search of a bike shop. Whatever happens with the claim we'll have to get a new steed.

We end up at Helen's bike shop in Beverly Hills and find two great looking machines. We head back to our hotel and are met with the great news that The Kitten's mojo is cooking and Virgin in light of the charitable nature of the event have agreed $2000 replacement. Smiles all round again.

We chill for a couple of hours and after a quick dip in the outdoor pool hit the hotel bar for just a couple as drinking here could lead to a fiscal deficit similar to a UK high street bank at nearly $6 a bottle of beer.

Seren, Tomos, Porth and Telesgop staff head off to see a basketball game and the remaining 6 head back to Denny's for dinner.

Several `dits` from the Cooperman over dinner, one of which was full of advice about the need to take a couple of ninja's to the toilet with you - something to do with hand shaking apparently!!! saw us all having a good laugh.

THURSDAY 19th

Up early again the body clock still hasn't fully settled but feeling good. Its feels like this is it as we have things to do and places to go today ahead of tomorrow's real off.

Happy pedaling...

Phil `the ninja hand shaker` Jenkins