Woke up at around 4.30 and realised that the curry was a mistake after my first toilet visit. After getting ready I went down for breakfast at 6.10 (later than intended) and didn't leave until 6.45. About 15 or 20 miles later I had to stop for another painful toilet break in a portaloo - not good. After maybe another 20 miles I stopped in Weston Super Mare and looked for a bike shop and internet cafe. I found a bike shop after about 15 minutes and got my punctured tyre properly inflated (it was maybe 60psi (all my small hand pump can get to) when it should have been around 100psi making life a bit more difficult until now) and also invested in a couple of inner tubes and a little C02 cannister that is supposed to inflate the tyres to a good pressure very quickly saving time and effort with a small hand pump. After leaving the bike shop I got some food from a bakers and managed to find an internet cafe - result. Trying to print off my maps however was painful and despite the owner of the internet cafe helping me I ended up spending a good 3 hours in there. So I left Weston Super Mare well after 1pm still with 120 odd miles to try and cover before the end of the day. I was rushing and so made the fatal error of guessing which way to go/trying to take shortcuts without consulting the map and took a few wrong turnings delaying mw even more. I finally had crossed the River Severn Bridge and was into Chepstow by around 5pm. I stopped at Greggs and got 2 meal deals (1 for now and 1 for breakfast in the morning) and some chocolate brownies for eating whilst riding. Maybe an hour or so later I got lost again and I soon realised that I wasn't going to make my intended target of Shrewsbury that day so decided that I'd try to find somewhere to stay in Hereford instead. I found Hereford Easily enough and thankfully found a cheap B&B by about 8.15. I had a quick shower and went to a Pizza Express nearby for a pasta meal with chocolate cake for desert. Then went back to the B&B and looked over the maps for the next day, deciding that from now on I'd stick to the A roads wherever possible, go the most direct routes and avoid city centres. I then went to bed as knew I would have to try and cycle well over 200 miles tomorrow.
Reviews
B&B (The Bouvrie, Hereford) 8/10 - nice room, friendly staff, good value. However had to chain up bike by bins at side of building and no shower gel.
Evening Meal - 7.5/10. Food good but not a great portion size, not bad value, good service.
Lessons Learned
Leave earlier (especially if it's gonna be a long day), stick to the A roads as smaller roads are far harder to navigate and are often hillier and much slower due to crossroads/junctions/lots of turns, don't eat curry when you have to cycle the next day.
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