LEJOG in 2011, anyone?

gazrolo

Our LEJOG route for Easter 2011 is now planned out. 1020 miles, incorporating some dramatic scenery on the West Coast of Scotland. This should hopefully be useful for anyone planning to do a similar trip http://journal.garethroulston.co.uk/?page_id=87

Comment on the Blog to let us know your thoughts/experiences.

Cheers.

harpo

chrisw12 wrote:

What's people's thoughts on carrying stuff in particular tools? I had to get my team car (aka wife's car) to pick me up today (only third time in three years mind) as my rear mech bent into the wheel. What's the advice if you have a mechanical that is too bad to be road side fixed. Anyone have any experiences with this?

My missis rear mech broke just like that on LEJOG. It was a pain but I just fixed the chain on one cog that she could manage on to the next town. Luckily it happened at the end of that day but the next day all the good bike shops were shut in Crewe and the halfords only had SRAM but we found a wee shop where a old wee man fixed it with a replacement mech. I think that broke later that day, she got catapulted off the bike and knocked herself out and ended our LEJOG effort.

When it broke the people that lived next to where it happened were really nice and a friend of theirs who had done LEJOG hapened to cycle past just after they tried to call him to help. I think most people would help if they can at all. How would you or most people you know respond to a know on the door for help?

So if something goes wrong just deal with it. Get a taxi to nearest town or train or bus. People where you are staying will help. You can carry all sorts of tools and spares but how many thousands of uninterupted miles do you cycle in a year and don't have any problems? How big a problem can you sort out at the side of the road anyway?

If/when I try it again I'll service my bike a few weeks before the trip then let it settle with a few rides before the trip. I'll carry spare tubes, patch for inner tubes, patch for tyres (no spare tyre), lube, brake and gear cable, multi tool and tape and cable ties. What you can't fix with that you probably should attempt to fix on a trip like LEJOG.

barney69

I'm intending doing LeJog last 2 weeks of the childrens holidays, on my own (so far) (no support) and stopping at B&B's - I've been telling everyone I'll do it in 10 days but it may take up to 14 days - I'll be booking B&B's as I arrive.
Good luck to everyone.

spinndrift

I'm doing it in June Comic Relief style with a team of 8 riders, two drivers and a tour bus but then looking to do it again with a mate for my 40th next year.

gazrolo

How has everyone gone about planning their route? We started with the a road map and some guide books, then once we'd traced it out we transferred it to Google Maps so we would have something that we could print and use during the ride.

Our maps are on our blog below.

Then I discovered mapmyride.com last weekend, which is loads more powerful than Google Maps, so now I need to transfer our route onto this. It really is a good tool - gives you elevation, turn by turn instructions and even how many climbs of different gradients are included on each route.

The downside is that you have to pay to print maps off - 5 per month for about £6. As our route is 10days I'm going to join up for two months and then cancel.

Has anyone else got any route planning tips? Any recommended guide books?

daveyates

This is a really good thread.

I'm going for a solo assault on the JOGLE option (I want to ride towards sunchine and beaches and away from midges and rain).

Dates
Doing it at the end of May - looked at the weather maps and there is a better chance of good weather throughout most of the country at that time.

Timing:
Hoping for 9 days at c.100Miles per day

Style:
Lightweight - credit card and YHA. Solo assault, but a few mates will take it in turns to join me on about half the days

Route:
Still to be decided - any help would be ...well helpful

Kit
Bloody nightmare. I'm training on a Spesh Rockhopper MTB with slicks doing about 40 miles a day and getting longer rides in at weekends from here on in. Looking for a road bike at the moment, but not a tourer, I want something lightweight for sportive use afterwards £1500 budget - any thoughts.

To the guy doing it on his MTB with slicks, good luck. That was my original idea - but after all the training I am doing, I can average about 15 -18 MPH on a relatively flat/undulating terrain, but anything more and the average speed becomes too slow to consider end-to-end in 9 days. The small wheel and the heavier MTB kit will not make a hard task any easier.

cyclingmev

i'd love to ride LEJOG or JOGLE....i'm in Cumbria....