John O'Groats to Lands End

Caver1989

Hi All,

Myself and a few friends are training for JOGLE this Easter. We have accommodation, taxi, fight etc booked. None of us have toured before, however we ride a lot. For example my daily commute is 25mile round trip, then usually do longer 40-60mile rides on weekends. We will be doing roughly 90miles per day for JOGLE. Just wanted to see if.anyone has any words of wise for us. What to expect, what to do and not to do. Best things to eat or drink. Basically any advice at all you could give 5 novice bikers attempting JOGLE.

Thanks,
Steve

daviddd

With that experience you should be fine mileage-wise. You probably need to be very OK with your saddles given the extra hours - in Oz I developed pretty bad saddle sores that didn't heal as I was riding every day - although you will be probably taking less that 2 weeks so not as long. Sounds like you are already booked, but note that you are statistically more likely to encounter headwinds, as the prevailing winds are more from the SW, but they're not that predicatble anyway tbh. Plenty of carbs rather than fatty stuff and meat.

Caver1989

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, we understand the head winds we could encounter. WE live in south west so want to finish close to home. The saddle sore is expected, and I find my thumbs ache too, but its a price we all pay in order to enjoy the roads. Food is my biggest worry about the trip, I'm not very knowledgeable about what to and not to eat, my basic understanding is carb up, avoid junk and fatty meats as you said, but what meals are high carb low fat. I know to opt for chicken and fish. Pasta, rice, potatoes.

Also, on bike nibbles. I use frusli bars, and mixed fruit nut and bananas. It works for what I do, will it be sufficient for JOGLE.

Thanks,
Steve

daviddd

I lived on pasta in Oz! For dinner, main meal by far, I would cook a ton of spaghetti and make a tomato / garlic sauce, with fried courgette and cakes and bread if I had it. Mostly drank iced coffee (gallons in the heat!) water, tea and wine in the evenings. Muesli for brekkie.

jimwin

I wrote up my experiences last year (and LEJOG in 2008) here....

http://www.wilkinet.demon.co.uk/Cycling/Tours.html

Enjoy,

- JimW

lastant

Number one tip? Enjoy it!

IMO you'll be fine with that sort of 'practice' under your belt and plan - the write up / diary of my twelve-day LEJOG is available through the link in my signature.

Brakeless

My one tip would be Chamois Cream (My preference being Assos)

unixnerd

Take warm clothing for the north of Scotland. It's possible to get snow and freezing temps at easter, still lots of snow up here. Use hot water in your water bottles, keeps the chill off. Good gloves and headwear are your friends, don't forget the overshoes either. If it's been frosty overnight stay off the cycle paths as they're not gritted and can be icy.

What's your route?

Caver1989

Thanks for all your replies.
I will be sure to have a look through your diaries.
The Chamois Cream, I'll be sure to have a look at. I can imagine that being a big help on long tours. Thank you.

Caver1989

unixnerd wrote:

Take warm clothing for the north of Scotland. It's possible to get snow and freezing temps at easter, still lots of snow up here. Use hot water in your water bottles, keeps the chill off. Good gloves and headwear are your friends, don't forget the overshoes either. If it's been frosty overnight stay off the cycle paths as they're not gritted and can be icy.

What's your route?

I have warm and cold weather gear which I plan to take. Don't have hat though. Should get one for sure.

Our route is:
John O'Groats - Wick
Wick - Inverness
Inverness - Onich
Onich - Carlisle
Carlisle - Preston
Preston - Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury - Bristol
Bristol - Okehampton
Okehampton - *Undecidedd*

princeperch

Ill be doing the LEJOG from 21.04 to 02.05. Will probably pass you on the way!

Good luck with it.

Caver1989

princeperch wrote:

Ill be doing the LEJOG from 21.04 to 02.05. Will probably pass you on the way!

Good luck with it.

Best of luck to you. I hope our paths cross.[/list]

gazrolo

We're also doing LEJOG at Easter - sounds like there are a few people taking advantage of the way it's fallen this year to do the trip without having to take too much time off work.

I'd second the advice on Assos chamois cream; not only does it reduce the impact of friction the antibacterial properties help prevent horrible things like abscesses - having suffered one of these awful blighters last year I've never ridden without chamois cream since! Sooo painful.

For anyone interested there is a cool map of our route here http://journal.garethroulston.co.uk/?page_id=87.

There's also some info on the site from people who have done the trip before, mainly regarding route highlights etc.

Good luck to all LEJOG'ers and JOGLE'ers this year, will be good to hear how everyone else gets on.

Gareth

prb007

We are JOGL'ing in May, several of us are 'Doing the Dragon' in June, and a few of my mates are doing IM Wales in Sept, so plenty going on this year.

If anyone fancies a training ride whilst raising a couple of quid for our chosen charity,
check this out... http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12765722

starockets

I rode it 2 or 3 years ago, albeit the other way round.

The advice I have is :

1. Ride with your head up and enjoy what's around you.

2. Eat what you want, when you want.

3. Have a few celebration beers every evening.

4. Don't turn and oggle at women whilst riding in rush hour traffic, cars seem to appear in front of you very quickly.

prb007

[quote= rode it 2 or 3 years ago, albeit the other way round.

The advice I have is :

1. Ride with your head up and enjoy what's around you.

2. Eat what you want, when you want.

3. Have a few celebration beers every evening.

4. Don't turn and oggle at women whilst riding in rush hour traffic, cars seem to appear in front of you very quickly.[/quote



Sage advice indeed!
I've been dry for 2 months and intend to do no.3

jibi

if you need shower or help
I live just north of lancaster on A6, near Carnforth....

send pm for phone number...

I have helped others before including round the world guys....

info on jogle....enjoy it...eat anything you will burn it off.......when I cycled across Australia I ate huge fry ups and cakes...lost a load of weight and inches from girth....

good luck

Biffz0id

Yeah, just eat like nobody's business. Take a spare saddle. One that's in a different shape to the one you're currently using. If the saddle sores get really bad just swap them over and it'll give you a new lease of life... at least for a few hours.

I'd suggest taking some duct tape. Never know when it'll come in handy. Also, try and avoid towns a cities during peak times. Nothing more frustrating that sitting in traffic when there's miles to cover.

But yeah, enjoy it. Eat lots and just have a laugh.

Have a read of my blog - http://www.cycleexperience.com/blog/?p=730. I know it wasn't 'record breaking'. I didn't write that ha. My boss did.

teulk

I did LEJOG last July, i will go for the "eat what you like", we just had loads of cereal bars with us to eat on ride. We generally had a decent Breakfast, stopped for dinner and had a pub meal for our evening meal. We drank bucket loads of Powerade and we had no problems,we chose it because we could get a 4pack for £1.50 so it was a bargain and bought about 200 bottles of the stuff.

Enjoy it, if you get lost then dont fret, just replan your route or turn around.
If you can take a phone with satnav on, mine helped us out a few times, especially when we went through Manchester and going around Bristol.