John O'Groats to Land's End Sponsorship

Beachslapper

Hi

I’m sure this has been asked time and time before but I just want to put across exactly what I want.

Me and a friend at school (we're both 15) have decided to go with the school to Borneo in 2010. Whilst there for a month we shall do some charity work, climb Mount Kinabalu and visit the orangutans and so as you can imagine we are looking for ways to raise money.

One of our main ideas is to cycle from John O'Groats to Land's End. I know this may not seem like a lot to you but we aren’t the most amazing cyclists in fact I only brought my first road bike a few weeks ago ( a giant SCR 3) but I am out on it every single chance I get.

If we were to go ahead with this, which we probably will I would like to ask a few questions.

1. What routs would you suggest?
2. What equipment should we carry with us?
3. Is a support vehicle necessary?
4. Who are the best people to ask for sponsorship?
5. What sort of distance should we aim to cover every day?
6. How long a time period should we aim for?
7. What sort of average speed should we be looking at?

I probably have others but I can’t think of them right now.

If you need more information please ask

And if you are able to help in anyway or join us on our ride I would love to hear from you

Also if you have done it before and you have any advise that would be great

Thanks

Rob and JL

chrisb177

Sounds good, try going to the tour and expedition threads they'll tell you more i've done a few long distance rides solo myself and im only two years older than you and they are good fun but the main thing is to get sufficient calorie intake or you will feel terrible day after day as for equipment you'll need the usual; food, tent, sleeping bags etc but if you take a support vehicle they can take all of your equipment, but other than that ask around people who might have done this before and get their views. You might want to try doing maybe a 50 mile ride with full kit and go away camping as a test run before hand it helps alot. Need anything else just ask

Chris

k-dog

4. Who are the best people to ask for sponsorship?

Rich people?

Beachslapper

Ok that sounds cool

im rubbish with all the diatory stuff what should i be eating? High energy snak bars and stuff?

BUICK

I'd suggest joining the CTC - you can find them online. There are a lot of member benefits that would make your trip easier to prepare for, including information packs on the LEJOG journey - with timetables, suggestions for accomodation etc etc

Bronzie

Beachslapper wrote:

1. What routs would you suggest?
2. What equipment should we carry with us?
3. Is a support vehicle necessary?
4. Who are the best people to ask for sponsorship?
5. What sort of distance should we aim to cover every day?
6. How long a time period should we aim for?
7. What sort of average speed should we be looking at?

I did the LEJOG in 2005 with 4 others from my club (all regular cyclists). We did it as a holiday really although we raised some money for a local hospice as well.
You can read my diary here:
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bronzie/endtoend.htm

1. CTC produce some helpful route guides - the route we used was based on a 20-day schedule of about 50 miles a day, but we doubled it up so we took 11 days. Many others take 7/8 days so it depends on how fit you are and how much time you have spare to do it in. If you are carrying your own clothing etc I'd allow another couple of days and decrease the daily mileage accordingly.
2. All the usual emergency repair kit (pump, tubes, tyre levers, chain tool, multi-tool etc), maps, camera etc - I found a handlebar mounted bag with a map reading pocket on top really useful
3. No but it makes things a bit easier if you can find someone willing to do the driving
4. I just fleeced friends and family, but you'll need to get a bit more creative than that I think
5. Depends on your fitness, how long you have available and where you are planning to stay each night (we used hostels and B+B's but it was a holiday as I said)
6. Depends how long you have!
7. Don't worry too much about this - we averaged about 14mph (moving speed excluding stops) but we did have a tandem with us which slowed us down on the hilly days

Hope this helps

nosmo-king

Try the CTC first, they offer lots of advice on routes, and accomodation.
We averaged 60miles a day for 16 days. We weren't mega fit ( only did about 60 miles a week training). Think about accomodation seriously, especially in the wilds of bonny Scotland.
We used b&b's. The CTC used to provide a handbook of recommended B&B's, don't know if they still do.
Best of lick, and above all just enjoy it!

paulbricey

Details at www.arewethereyet2007.co.uk