![\"\"](\"http:\/\/travelswithleopold.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-UK-with-Mom-5462.jpg\")
<\/a>Knighton in Wales. Our first stop of the day for coffee.<\/p><\/div>\n
That makes today\u2019s ride an eminently civilized 230 kms or so. While in theoretical terms you might do that in a couple of hours, however, in the UK you can reasonably expect that to take all day. Particularly given that we are taking \u2018B\u2019 roads for most of the trip (all of which are delightfully meandering, and some of which are surprisingly narrow. Specifically, single-car-width narrow, with tall hedgerows either side). So, despite our highways and by-ways of choice being officially subject to the \u201cnational speed limit\u201d (that would be 60 miles per hour), actual rate of progress is somewhat slower.<\/p>\n
Progress was particularly slow today because my GPS has apparently lost its mind. On the way up, every time I did something that was unexpected (this involved something as simple as leaving the hotel driveway) it recalculated the route. That meant that the route that I carefully programmed via my computer was rapidly revised as soon as I was on the road.<\/p>\n
<\/a>In Hay-on-Wye, this dog was doing a great job of blocking the shop entrance.<\/p><\/div>\n
My strategy was therefore to built in waypoints all along my chosen route, so that even when the GPS recalculated, it would keep on following my chosen roads (at least, this was the theory). In actual practice, the GPS apparently isn\u2019t happy until I\u2019m EXACTLY RIGHT ON TOP of where I\u2019m supposed to be. So if I don\u2019t reach a waypoint to its satisfaction, it keeps trying to get me to turn around until I do.<\/p>\n
As you an imagine, this behaviour is less than pleasing to me. Before I figured out what was going on (and ultimately stopped it from navigating for me), I had made three u-turns, and stopped several times at the side of the road to figure out just what the hell it thought I was supposed to be doing. Out of frustration, I tried to commit the intended route (at least until our lunch stop) to memory. I got it part right, and once I was far enough in the back and beyond, I set the destination for our lunch spot and let it guide me there.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The bookstore we hoped to have lunch in.<\/p><\/div>\n
This became a slight variation of the rest of my day\u2019s navigation. I would figure out the roads that I needed to take\u2014at least for the majority of a navigational leg\u2014and then tell it my destination for that leg. This had the benefit of (mostly) letting me take the roads that I wanted to, while still ultimately getting to where I had intended to.<\/p>\n
Amazingly, this was not the worst GPS adventure I\u2019ve had (I don\u2019t think Dianne will EVER let me forget \u201cThe Nightmare on Loon Lake Road\u201d) but it ranks up there amongst the more annoying. I\u2019m not entirely sure what the solution for this is going to be. The biggest problem is that, from the perspective of the GPS, the roads we are taking are in its considered opinion un-navigable, and it can get us to our destination faster even by going miles out of our way on an A road (I\u2019ve already banned it from motorways). Given that the next three days of riding has a lot of specific \u201clet\u2019s take this road; it looks interesting!\u201d built into the planned route, this is going to take some work to sort out.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Tintern Abbey. A bit of a fixer-upper.<\/p><\/div>\n
Despite the challenges, we made it to our destination (and mostly followed the route I expected we would). There were a few noteworthy changes to our travel, mostly because once you are dealing with the road less travelled, the actual signage is abysmal. I missed one turn this afternoon that had me veering back in a direction I didn\u2019t want to go on. Correcting this resulted in an epic re-orientation over a hillside into the next valley, along what was without question the narrowest road we travelled all day.<\/p>\n
After Tintern (home to an abbey that has fallen into disrepair and would likely be described as a \u2018modest fixer upper\u2019 on Home & Garden TV), the last half-hour was motorways, bridges and rush hour traffic to get to our hotel. Including a pretty intense crosswind as we crossed the Severn River (the pointy end of the Bristol Channel). The consolation for this was that our hotel is a delightful little boutique (Apsley House<\/a>, just outside of Bath proper) with amazing views, awesome rooms and miniature teddy bears. We arrived in time to relax for a bit (tea for mom, G&T for me) before heading out to dinner.<\/p>\n The bear that was waiting in my hotel room.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a>