John o Groats to LandsEnd

volvine

Hi all
a friend of mine is planning to ride from John O'Groats to Lands end he is planning to do this in (4 DAYS).
I have told him i think he will struggle as it is over 200 miles a day but have agreed to go with him and ride with him as encouragement but have told him i will not be capable of riding that distance.
has anyone done this ride if so how difficult was it ect.
cheers

martincroxall

That distance is possible but won't be enjoyable. When I did it I was riding around 120miles per day and found that I wasn't able to take everything in properly. It all depends if you're trying to prove something to yourself or to enjoy the experience.

Isn't there something about the best part of travel isn't the destination but the journey itself?

Dave L

Since the record is less than 2 days, it is clearly possible, though it depends entirely on your friend's level of fitness and training. Some trained racing cyclists don't manage over 200 miles in a relatively flat 12 hour time trial.
You would need to be riding a route similar to that used for end to end record attempts. There is a link to such a route (842 miles) and schedule on this page.....
http://www.dadswell.co.uk/dadswell/Cycling/cycling.htm
(This is from a recent unsuccessful attempt to break the tandem trike record).
Ideally you would need to be flexible as to the direction you ride or to be able to vary the date, since 210+ miles a day for 4 days into a headwind would be extremely hard for any rider.
I have done the end to end though I specifically wanted to avoid main roads where possible and enjoy the experience. (My mileage was just over 1000 miles).

jibi

First of all look at the prevailing wind, it is more usual from the SW and so makes LeJog easier than JogLe.

The route is able to be done in the time your friend wants to do it in. But it could mean over 12 hours, (at the least) everyday in the saddle.

The first and second day should be Ok, but the third day will find fatigue and pain kicking in , and it is a struggle to keep going.
If you have accommodation booked somewhere, make sure they will take you late and provide a meal when you get there.

As has been said, to do it in the time it needs to be done on main roads, which can be very busy, noisy and polluted.

Have fun, and good luck

Tailwinds

george