Anyone cycled from lands end to john o'groats?

James_Russell

...as above, I'm considering it!
-James

impished

You gonna do it for charity or for the hell of it?

James_Russell

I'd be doing it for charity, especially since I work part time at waitrose and they are able to double what I raise (up to £500!). I was thinking about doing it with mates during the summer holidays. I know people have done it plenty of times before, I was just wondering if there was anyone here who had?
-James

slimbob

I did it in 2004. Took 8 days on a road bike. Unsupported but staying in B&Bs and youth hostels. There were two of us, it was wicked and I want to do it again, probably take longer this time so not have to push it so hard.

You've got to do it, it's an awesome buzz when you've finished!

James_Russell

I knew someone here was as mad as me! maybe even madder, since I was thinking I would do it over about three weeks! eight days seems impossible to me ( I'm on a mountain bike, but its on slicks, rigid pace forks, 1:4.4 top gear etc).
Did you do it as the crow flies, or did you explore as you went along? what was your total milage? where were the prettiest/most interesting/most challenging bits?
-Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to figure out a rough route. The main criteria so far is to keep to the west most of the time, so I get to go through north west wales (snowdonia national park) and the west of scotland (hills and beautiful scenery). I think I want to go from north to south too.
I've got two mates who are simular in fitness to me, who are up for it, but our plan is to camp rather than using B&Bs etc, which means carrying food/water in the stretches where civilisation is scarce, basic camping gear (tinderbox, sleeping bags, torches), first aid (for us and the bikes) and anything we need to navigate. I plan to build a bike trailer for my second year engineering project, and make a hitch for each of the three bikes.
It'd be great to hear more about your experiences!
-James

slimbob

Ooooh, gotta think back now. The route we took from Land's End stopped in Exeter then Cheltenham (that was the night Kelly Holmes won her first Olympic Gold! - random?!) then Maccelsfield then Kendal then Moffat then Caputh (north of Perth) then Inverness then JOG. We went pretty direct, the roads weren't that busy other than coming out of Exeter on a 5 lane A road, 6am, raining and dark and then just North of Carlisle we ended up the extension of the M6, think the A74. Total mileage just under 1000 so must have been quite direct.

One of the things I noticed from doing it in 8 days was that we didn't have enough time to enjoy it and take in all the scenery hence why I'd like to do it again but slower. The riding was tougher than expected in Cornwall and Devon even though we had been warned of the hills and alot easier than expected in Scotland - alot of the roads navigated round the mountains.

Bumped into a fella who was doing a similar ride to what you are proposing and he was loving it. His mountain bike was loaded with paniers and equipment and he was still going at a steady speed. Alot of other people we met at JOG had come up the West coast, seems to be a good and really scenic route.

The problem with going North to South is the wind. Make sure you factor that in when making calculations. Going S to N it is normally with you, we never had any problems with it.

In terms of prep, we did some big rides but surprisingly little. Once we booked it in we just decided to go for it even though we'd managed to allow ourselves to spend the previous 3 wks boozing! It shows that with a bit of preparation and the right mindset it is do-able. I think age was on my side then too.

Sounds like you are preparing pretty well. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

cheers
Tristan

James_Russell

Thanks for the reply, your advice is helpful!
hadn't thought about wind. nothing worse than constant headwinds!
I think I'm fit enough for it, I'm eighteen and I ride about a hundred miles in an average week, largely due to commuting sixteen miles a day.
When I go out for a fitness/leisure ride, I'll do anything up to 50 miles, but I know I could do further. I did the capital to coast ride last year which was 60 miles and didn't quite kill me!
-James

slimbob

The wind is far worse than any hill you'll encounter.

James_Russell

yes, especially when its trying to push you back down the hill you've encountered! (yes, I'm a pesimist!)
-James

Moldo

If any of you fancy a Jogle Off-road then please visit this page:

http://www.bloodsweatandtyres.co.uk/ride2008_1.asp

and contact me if you are interested.

James_Russell

I'm afraid my ride is going to be mostly (or entirely) road based, due to me specialising my bike to commuting and road endurance.
I do my part for heamophillia sufferers though, I've been a regular blood donor since I turned seventeen!
Your website may come in handy for planning our ride though!
-James