We awoke early as usual and started our day with a small packed breakfast in a bag. It consisted of the smallest bowl of cereal ever, a small croissant and a mini muffin. Definitely not something to set us up for the day! Either way we needed to set off so we grabbed our bikes out of the Travelodge office, leaving as quickly as we could so they didn't comment on the oily floor.
We set off along the busy A49 south, however this quickly turned into another fast flowing, traffic filled road so we took a small detour down a country road to avoid the cars. This was successful in some ways but it did take us on the bumpiest road known to man, past the farm yards and through 2 fords. It was quickly decided that we needed to get back on the A49 to pick up the pace again! A short while later and we took a side road off towards Hereford, taking us away from the traffic and through some nice villages.
We arrived in Hereford for a quick break and stop at Tesco before ploughing on through the countryside to Monmouth where we were due to meet mummy and daddy Hunter Smart and mummy Robinson. However, a few steep hills later and Jo's knee started to give up, closely followed by her pannier rack. Entertaining to say the least. We ditched the rack and Rich took on the extra load.
A few miles further and we'd found another hill, but this time it was Charlie's turn to break something. The power she was laying down to get up the hill, she managed to shear off the derailer hanger, essentially the whole gear mechanism! Bugger...with no spare parts near by and a long way to go, we had to make an emergency repair by making the bike single speed. She managed to cycle this the last 10 miles into Monmouth where we hoped we could locate the part. It also gave us the opportunity to have some lunch, sit by the river with the parents and think about how to solve our problem. Unforunately there was no spare part, so she was going to have to cycle single speed another 30 miles to Bristol.
Lunch with the parents was just what we needed. We sat in the sun by the river eating a mountain of pasta, soreen, sandwiches and fruit, something we'd been missing a lot. It also gave us a long rest and a chance to tell a few stories so far. However with 30 miles to go we had to set off.
We headed straight along the Wye valley, absolutely stunning in the sunshine and mainly downhill. It was possibly the most scenic place we'd been. The hills were relatively easy for Charlie to tackle in her single speed while a few points needed a gentle push up. We quickly crossed the Seven bridge in the sunshine and headed straight for Bristol city, up and down the hills into the city centre to stay with Pete and his friend.
Luckily Pete had managed to source a part for Charlie's bike and prep food for us so we quickly fixed the bike, cooked a spag bol and rested. Even Zigi the dog was on hand to help(ish)! Incredible showers and beds...just what we needed after the day we'd had.
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