Day 06: getting nowhere, really really slowly

Sunday June 10, 2012, 68 miles (109 km) - Total so far: 327 miles (526 km)

Wow... What a day.. We knew it was going to be a tough day, but we were unprepared for the first part... It was very hilly, and progress was very slow. Andrew did actually lose it a few times, so the bike was thrown down and some slightly unsavoury words were expressed.. Anyone who knows Andrew will be able to fill in the blanks here..!

It was when we stopped for a tea and cake at 1pm and had only done 26 of the 70 miles needed today that we knew we were in trouble, and action had to be taken. We couldn't continue on these hills as neither of us were feeling 100%, and we still had so far to go. We looked at the map and decided to take a more direct route, which was on a busier road, but would be less hills. It was a bit of a risk, but the option of taking the original route was looking to us something that was not going to be possible for us to actually do.

So into Hereford we went, and then out on the A4110.. There were still climbs, but they were manageable and we were happy that by now the miles were starting to pass by. This was us having a break on the A4110..

So we finally got here to Bucknell, staying above an old shop in a very pretty little village... Which is great except that all the pubs here don't serve food on a Sunday night, and both of the two taxis in the area are busy taking people to heathrow.

This is also where we realised that you can easily tell the people who have been doing B&B for a long time, and the ones that haven't been doing it for long... we arrived outside the old post office in Bucknell and rang the doorbell, to which the guy answered, we had a chat about where we'd come from, and then, while we're still standing outside, we started calling taxis to come take us to dinner... and we're still standing outside.. and he's not sure what to do for us... and we're still standing outside... and all we want to do is go inside and sit down...!

it was fine in the end, but it was obvious that we were one of the earlier guests who had been at the B&B, and they were soooo friendly that it really didn't matter in the end.

We ended up having a home cooked spag bol made by the B&B owner, and it was just what the doctor ordered...! Fantastic..!

The shop even has some of the old shelves and tins...

We also had tunnocks tea cakes in the room..! Though apparently Scottish people get a bit upset when you call them 'those marshmallow things'...! How was I to know..? Andrew just asked me what I had with the 'marshmallow things'.. Tea perhaps..?

We are now 1/3rd of the distance at 330 miles covered so far...!

Tomorrow we are off to Chester, which seems a bit mad to us, because that means we're almost past Wales by then...!.. It's another long day, that will be hard for the first quarter and then hopefully a bit flatter and quicker after that.

Apologies for the delay in this update, there's no connection here in the village, so I'll send it tomorrow when we're on the road..

Calories used: 4964 

Feet climbed : 3631 

Flies eaten by Andrew : 24 (honestly) 

Flies eaten by Nick : 1 (my First!)

Day 07: faster-longer-higher