Joanne here again - I'm taking advantage of the wireless network at this Travelodge in Bristol (at a cost of £12 a day!) to put in a quick update before I try and find somewhere to fix Bob's wheel.
It look me ages to find this place yesterday - my Tom Tom has gone mute and I kept missing the roads. The guys simply followed the signs for City Centre and got straight here!
Our evening was uneventful. The centre here is lovely but seems to house only the undesirable elements that live in the middle of every big town. No-one that was capable of speech could recommend anywhere and the best we could do was Bella Pasta which did the trick and the guys turned in for an early night.
They plan to cycle 138 miles today. A huge distance but they're all in great spirits and left at 7am this morning after their breakfast of Muesli in a mug (we didn't bring any bowls with us). I hope to catch them up around Kidderminster for lunch which I'll pick up in good old Marks and Spencers.
The guys reckon they have raised about £1,800 so far for Riannas Fund and Cancer Research – which is a fantastic achievement. If you have sponsored them already thank you, I will endeavour to keep the list updated. This is a once in a lifetime journey (us wives hope!) and it's fantastic that these charities will benefit thanks to your generosity. Please sponsor the guys if you haven't already, text or email them or me and I'll try to keep a running total.
It look me ages to find this place yesterday - my Tom Tom has gone mute and I kept missing the roads. The guys simply followed the signs for City Centre and got straight here!
Our evening was uneventful. The centre here is lovely but seems to house only the undesirable elements that live in the middle of every big town. No-one that was capable of speech could recommend anywhere and the best we could do was Bella Pasta which did the trick and the guys turned in for an early night.
They plan to cycle 138 miles today. A huge distance but they're all in great spirits and left at 7am this morning after their breakfast of Muesli in a mug (we didn't bring any bowls with us). I hope to catch them up around Kidderminster for lunch which I'll pick up in good old Marks and Spencers.
The guys reckon they have raised about £1,800 so far for Riannas Fund and Cancer Research – which is a fantastic achievement. If you have sponsored them already thank you, I will endeavour to keep the list updated. This is a once in a lifetime journey (us wives hope!) and it's fantastic that these charities will benefit thanks to your generosity. Please sponsor the guys if you haven't already, text or email them or me and I'll try to keep a running total.
The journey on foot to the bike shop with Bob’s wheel was long and not entirely satisfactory. I did my research on yell.com and called ahead with my detailed description of the make and model, and our diagnosis of a lost nipple (I’m learning a lot about bike parts). I was assured that Fred Baker Cycles, on the Cheltenham Road, would have everything we needed. The short walk wasn’t and helpful Fred wasn’t. The guy who had spoken to me on the phone was no-where around. When Fred finally looked at the wheel properly he agreed to fit a nipple he had which wasn’t a perfect match but ‘would probably hold’. Didn’t take him long and he charged me £10!!
I traipsed back to the city centre (it’s hard to walk when you’re not a tall bloke with a bike wheel in a bag – it bangs on the floor unless you keep your arm up a bit – uncomfortable after a while). M&S were giving away free flavoured water with the salads I bought but my arms were already hanging off so I didn’t take them.
Anyway enough of me, the guys stopped at the Costa Coffee in Gloucester for a mid morning snack. They were not impressed with the bird life (anti-anorexics was a phrase Tony used) and we learned a new South African call today – ‘hooha’ (the opposite of heyho). The reserved English males in the Surrey 4 have now started to use the cry.
The boys had not had a great morning, urban cycling with lots of big lorries throwing up dust together with strong head winds. Eyes are starting to get sore as well as bums (Bob has noticeable bruises – don’t know about the others). Gloucester had some great cycle lanes and big signs reminding drivers to ‘keep bikes in mind’ but they didn’t last into the next towns.
The lunch stop was beside a river at a place called Caunsall just outside Kidderminster. The fisherman catching chub (pronounced in a local way which I cannot capture with letters) was a man of few words and he helped set the picturesque scene which was complete when an old barge went chugging by.
Wolverhampton is not a place you want to hang around in (apologies to any Wolverhampton readers) and our famous 4 had an altercation with a local who took umbrage with their use of the pavement (which they were standing, not riding on). The end result of which was much flaying of arms, with very aggravated fingers suggestions and some choice phrases, including one which ended in ‘…your granny’ which I couldn’t possibly repeat as I know our children are reading this.
The guys later came to the rescue for a second time this week with their car pushing skills (the first being on day one) and since Martin captured it on camera we share it with you here.
The Soup Kitchen in Stafford was wonderful. Great coffee and soft leather chairs brought outside especially for the guys to rest their sensitive bottoms on.
Our evening ended at the Travelodge in Stoke on Trent. May was very helpful and patiently let me check the rooms, reject one on the basis that it was not non-smoking, and later refund the cost of a second which had not been cleaned (dog hairs on the carpet arose my suspicions and a closer inspection revealed other nasties). Bob was already in the bath by then so we didn’t have the energy to move. We did however borrow the hoover and I tried not to look at anything else too closely. Good old Travelodge – the only upside was that our total accommodation bill for the evening was only £52.
We were glad not to have followed May's recommendation of the pub carvery down the road and our meal at the nearby Miller & Carter Steakhouse, very tastefully furnished in a lovely old mill, was very good. Food was well presented and came with ‘an iceberg wedge with choice of dressing’ on the side – novel and better than the usual limp salad .
An early night ended the day, the Surrey 4 having completed their longest daily distance so far. No sign of the Chichester 3 today….
I traipsed back to the city centre (it’s hard to walk when you’re not a tall bloke with a bike wheel in a bag – it bangs on the floor unless you keep your arm up a bit – uncomfortable after a while). M&S were giving away free flavoured water with the salads I bought but my arms were already hanging off so I didn’t take them.
Anyway enough of me, the guys stopped at the Costa Coffee in Gloucester for a mid morning snack. They were not impressed with the bird life (anti-anorexics was a phrase Tony used) and we learned a new South African call today – ‘hooha’ (the opposite of heyho). The reserved English males in the Surrey 4 have now started to use the cry.
The boys had not had a great morning, urban cycling with lots of big lorries throwing up dust together with strong head winds. Eyes are starting to get sore as well as bums (Bob has noticeable bruises – don’t know about the others). Gloucester had some great cycle lanes and big signs reminding drivers to ‘keep bikes in mind’ but they didn’t last into the next towns.
The lunch stop was beside a river at a place called Caunsall just outside Kidderminster. The fisherman catching chub (pronounced in a local way which I cannot capture with letters) was a man of few words and he helped set the picturesque scene which was complete when an old barge went chugging by.
Wolverhampton is not a place you want to hang around in (apologies to any Wolverhampton readers) and our famous 4 had an altercation with a local who took umbrage with their use of the pavement (which they were standing, not riding on). The end result of which was much flaying of arms, with very aggravated fingers suggestions and some choice phrases, including one which ended in ‘…your granny’ which I couldn’t possibly repeat as I know our children are reading this.
The guys later came to the rescue for a second time this week with their car pushing skills (the first being on day one) and since Martin captured it on camera we share it with you here.
The Soup Kitchen in Stafford was wonderful. Great coffee and soft leather chairs brought outside especially for the guys to rest their sensitive bottoms on.
Our evening ended at the Travelodge in Stoke on Trent. May was very helpful and patiently let me check the rooms, reject one on the basis that it was not non-smoking, and later refund the cost of a second which had not been cleaned (dog hairs on the carpet arose my suspicions and a closer inspection revealed other nasties). Bob was already in the bath by then so we didn’t have the energy to move. We did however borrow the hoover and I tried not to look at anything else too closely. Good old Travelodge – the only upside was that our total accommodation bill for the evening was only £52.
We were glad not to have followed May's recommendation of the pub carvery down the road and our meal at the nearby Miller & Carter Steakhouse, very tastefully furnished in a lovely old mill, was very good. Food was well presented and came with ‘an iceberg wedge with choice of dressing’ on the side – novel and better than the usual limp salad .
An early night ended the day, the Surrey 4 having completed their longest daily distance so far. No sign of the Chichester 3 today….
