LEJOG 48

memsley89

My googling didn't find any BR threads, (only one lame tritalk thread) but if this has already been discussed on here feel free to re-direct me...

LEJOG 48, 4 man team, one support vehicle, 2 ride/2 rest repeat.
Anyone attempted it? Tips? Stories?

mouth

Don't reckon it can be done. That'd be an average speed of nearly 20 mph for 12 hours a day for each pair.

A colleague did recently complete it in 5 days though. Same fella is currently on a 12 day ride to Monaco.

Gussio

It would be a big ask. As a reference, RAAM solo average speed record is around 15mph.

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/raam2.php?N_webcat_id=72

stuaff

Doable, if the four of you have the strength and endurance. And as Gussio's pointed out, that's a big if. Bear in mind the solo record for a conventional bike is 44 hours (absolute record is 41, on a Windcheetah recumbent trike).
Rather you than me.....

Blacktemplar

My brother-in-law's wee brother and a team of four others did it in just over 50 hours a couple of years ago. I think they were riding 200mi on/200mi off in a relay. One or two of the guys are serious riders - bordering on pro-level - and they found it really hard going, not helped by some poor weather. I think the biggest issue during the 'rest' period was sleep - don't think anyone got much, including the driver. Good luck though if you try it.

memsley89

I only got involved as they had the 4th man drop out,
plan to leave LE at sunrise, to give us a big enough window to finish at JoG!
Set off in a couple of weeks, 31st- 2nd.

We're reckoning 2hrs on, 2hrs off during the day, perhaps up to 4hrs on, 4hrs off at night to allow resting riders to sleep? It's gonna be brutal i'm aware, but it's all for charity, innit.

Plus, i've never been to Scotland

SteppenHerring

Well, Gethin Butler (Keith's son) did it solo in under 48 hours. Also Andy Wilkinson has done it even faster on a Windcheetah recumbent.

It's certainly possible and it's certainly hard.

UndercoverElephant

memsley89 wrote:

Plus, i've never been to Scotland

I'm pretty sure you'll hate the sight of it after that.

iPete

Doable but I think the weather is going to play the biggest part on whether you manage it. I know two guys who did it, no relay stuff in 3 days 19 hours.

confused@BR

Would it be a bit more 'do-able' if you put the support vehicle in front? Just asking

mrc1

Definitely doable if you get the shift lengths right (ie shorter shifts = higher speeds). Problem might be the number of support vehicles required to do that properly.

If doing 2 on 2 off then put 8 hours aside and try it out on rolling terrain. Dont forget that getting lost, changeovers and faffing will slow you down so you need to be aiming for something more like 21/22mph to finish on target.

mrc1

Oh and also i wouldnt count on much sleep so i almost wouldnt bother planning for it with the four hours at night shifts. The night shifts are the worst for riders so id much rather have twohours on the bike and two hours of nap time than four hours on the bike when knackered/cold/hungry. In RAAM we probably got about 10 hours of actual sleep all week - its the napping style of thing that refreshes you.

mrc1

Oh and also i wouldnt count on much sleep so i almost wouldnt bother planning for it with the four hours at night shifts. The night shifts are the worst for riders so id much rather have twohours on the bike and two hours of nap time than four hours on the bike when knackered/cold/hungry. In RAAM we probably got about 10 hours of actual sleep all week - its the napping style of thing that refreshes you.

memsley89

confused@BR wrote:

Would it be a bit more 'do-able' if you put the support vehicle in front? Just asking

I genuinely hadn't thought about that, good point. ha!

mrc1 wrote:

In RAAM we probably got about 10 hours of actual sleep all week - its the napping style of thing that refreshes you.

Thanks for this, that's probably quite logical.

We're all meeting up to plan more on Thursday so i'll mention these bits and pieces. Thanks guys

vorsprung

Gethin Butler and Andy Wilkinson are truly remarkable long distance cyclists. Those records are heavily contested and the times are good. It's unlikely you'd be able to match them, even riding as a two-up in relays. Someone mentioned RAAM. Chris Hopkinson, who was the first British person to do RAAM successfully tried to beat the End to End record as part of his training program. He didn't

A more realistic target would be 60 hours ( 2 and a half days )