Anyone done a LEJOG?

iclestu

lastant wrote:

Lowestoft and whatever it is on the West too...

Lands end? Surely?

Lands end must be the furtherst west in mainland uk? No?

It would be on the map i drew! :-)

iclestu

Forgive me resurrecting the thread but at least this way if you are sick of me asking pestering questions about my LEJOG you know which thread to avoid, yeah!

ok - Youth Hostels.... Never stayed in one in my life. Ever. Whats the crack? Can you just turn up at the door and get a bed for the night or do you need to book in advance? What are they like? I really don't mind my tent and can stay in a B&B or Hotel every 3rd or 4th night or something but from what i can gather these are pretty cheap alternatives - and from my googling seems to indicate that they are much more widespread than I had ever imagined!

Ooooo - and if they are called YOUTH hostels - any age limit?!

(right - back to bikehike for this route planning lark!)

optimisticbiker

iclestu wrote:

Forgive me resurrecting the thread but at least this way if you are sick of me asking pestering questions about my LEJOG you know which thread to avoid, yeah!

ok - Youth Hostels.... Never stayed in one in my life. Ever. Whats the crack? Can you just turn up at the door and get a bed for the night or do you need to book in advance? What are they like? I really don't mind my tent and can stay in a B&B or Hotel every 3rd or 4th night or something but from what i can gather these are pretty cheap alternatives - and from my googling seems to indicate that they are much more widespread than I had ever imagined!

Ooooo - and if they are called YOUTH hostels - any age limit?!

(right - back to bikehike for this route planning lark!)

Everything you need to know is here: http://www.yha.org.uk/faqs

meanredspider

iclestu wrote:

lastant wrote:

Lowestoft and whatever it is on the West too...

Lands end? Surely?

Lands end must be the furtherst west in mainland uk? No?

It would be on the map i drew! :-)

Noooooooooooooo! Ardnamurchan Point on the mainland. You've been watching the BBC weather again! You'll be surprised when you can't cover the length of Scotland in a morning

iclestu

meanredspider wrote:

iclestu wrote:

lastant wrote:

Lowestoft and whatever it is on the West too...

Lands end? Surely?

Lands end must be the furtherst west in mainland uk? No?

It would be on the map i drew! :-)

Noooooooooooooo! Ardnamurchan Point on the mainland. You've been watching the BBC weather again! You'll be surprised when you can't cover the length of Scotland in a morning

I will not be surprised at all!

As a fellow (albeit 'ex-pat' now) scotsman, I can assure you my head is suitably hanging in shame!

iclestu

OptimisticBiker wrote:

Everything you need to know is here: http://www.yha.org.uk/faqs

not quite..

im still left wondering if i need book in advance.

and there is the more wooly question: What are they like?

meanredspider

iclestu wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

iclestu wrote:

lastant wrote:

Lowestoft and whatever it is on the West too...

Lands end? Surely?

Lands end must be the furtherst west in mainland uk? No?

It would be on the map i drew! :-)

Noooooooooooooo! Ardnamurchan Point on the mainland. You've been watching the BBC weather again! You'll be surprised when you can't cover the length of Scotland in a morning

I will not be surprised at all!

As a fellow (albeit 'ex-pat' now) scotsman, I can assure you my head is suitably hanging in shame!

What's worse is that I'm an (albeit 'ex-pat' now) Englishman

iclestu

meanredspider wrote:

iclestu wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

iclestu wrote:

lastant wrote:

Lowestoft and whatever it is on the West too...

Lands end? Surely?

Lands end must be the furtherst west in mainland uk? No?

It would be on the map i drew! :-)

Noooooooooooooo! Ardnamurchan Point on the mainland. You've been watching the BBC weather again! You'll be surprised when you can't cover the length of Scotland in a morning

I will not be surprised at all!

As a fellow (albeit 'ex-pat' now) scotsman, I can assure you my head is suitably hanging in shame!

What's worse is that I'm an (albeit 'ex-pat' now) Englishman

ooops - one should not make assumptions! My apologies

iclestu

Think I've just mapped the longest LEJOG route ever? 1300 miles? I did say I wanted the scenic route!

GPX file here. Comments welcome (but know its a big file thats probably not very interesting to anyone other than me! )

Particularly interested if anyone knows the following off-road NCR bits (i get nervous if I have to uncheck the 'follow roads' box in bikehike!):

The Severn bridge crossing (do I have the approach right?)
NCR 7 north of Pitlochry towards Dalwhinnie (I much prefer roads but A9 looks real busy there and NCR appears to run right alongside. Cant determine if the off-road bits are paved or not from google's satellite imagery - anyone know it?)

CiB

iclestu wrote:

and there is the more wooly question: What are they like?

They vary enormously from v basic to modern but sparse. It's been a few years since I've been in one but from memory:

You're as likely as not to share a room with other hostellers, who can be quite noisy. Family rooms are available, usually for families though.
Beds are comfy enough but nothing great - hard-wearing for obvious reasons.
Cooking is sometimes a DIY affair in the kitchen unless it's a staffed operation with on-site catering. I think these have become the norm now tbh. You'll find out quite easily through the obvious sources.
Bathrooms are shared.
There's probably a common room of some sort for evening recreation, although these days it'll probably be half full of people prodding iPads & smart phones to the exclusion of all other intrusions. Last time I stayed in one wi-fi & widespread web access hadn't been thought of so I don't know what they offer now; again one for the specific site's web page to fill you in on I'd imagine.

In short, they're anything from spartan in the style of a 50's boarding school to modern but basic, but with facilities. I think you have to be a member of the YHA and I also recall that rates weren't much cheaper than a basic B&B either. Up to you.

iclestu

Well this is it.

On train to penzance nervously watching the dawes swing precariously on those poxy hooks that passes for bike storage on some trains!

Digs booked in penzance tonight then the big blue yonder from tomorrow morning!

Wish me luck!

thegibdog

All the best, hope the weather is ok for you.

pangolin

Good luck iclestu, enjoy eating all the scones and cake you can across the country without it affecting your waist. Upload some pics if you can!

stuaff

Good luck!