Fat lads cycling LEJOG

litwardle

So, er, yeah...I'm cycling form Lands End to John O'Groats! A friend and radio colleague has been on a massive weight loss campaign, Roy only 4 months ago weighed 21 St, and after intensive exercise and diet control has lost a staggering 5 Stone in 4 months! He wanted to keep the motivation and cycling seemed the best way. Sadly he lost his brother to SUDEP, (sudden death in Epilepsy) a little known side effect caused by sufferers not taking meds after a few years of no fits. Up until recently this unbelievably isn't something doctors would tell patients about. In fact Roy was one of the people heading a campaign that went to Parliament to get the law changed. However doctors only have to tell the patient when asked! It was decided that an epic cycle ride would not only give him something to work towards but also benefit the SUDEP charity Epilepsy bereaved. So Lands End to John O'Groats it is then!! He was joined by a colleague Sean and now myself. There are five of us all together But Roy, Sean and I are responsible for getting the ride of the ground. Here is our blog: Chubbs Cycle Challenge

Now I know that LE to JOG has been done, a lot, but for us the battle is actually getting fit for the challenge!! Roy actually doesn't own a bike and hasn't cycled for years. I do a bit of road cycling but being monumentally unmotivated and until recently had a very sedentary job means I'm painfully unfit. I have been jumping on the back for the past few weeks however and now cycle a good 24 miles every other day. Starting steady though as my cardio fitness is none existent! None of us are used to long distances in the saddle let alone endurance cycling! This is why we are taking 18 months to get up to speed. We WILL train hard, get fit and smash it however!!!

We would really appreciate advice on both the training and the ride itself and any useful links/contacts you may have that could help us?

We're having a meeting tonight to decide on the best route. We are aiming to do the challenge in about 14 days at the moment, but could be less depending on fitness levels as we get closer to the challenge. We have already put together a support team/vehicle. Of course the hope is to raise as much awareness about SUDEP as possible, as well as raise the money! With 2 of us working in the media we are hoping to use lots of contacts to make this as big as possible!

Thanks!

iGaz

litwardle wrote:

So, er, yeah...I'm cycling form Lands End to John O'Groats! A friend and radio colleague has been on a massive weight loss campaign, Roy only 4 months ago weighed 21 St, and after intensive exercise and diet control has lost a staggering 5 Stone in 4 months! He wanted to keep the motivation and cycling seemed the best way. Sadly he lost his brother to SUDEP, (sudden death in Epilepsy) a little known side effect caused by sufferers not taking meds after a few years of no fits. Up until recently this unbelievably isn't something doctors would tell patients about. In fact Roy was one of the people heading a campaign that went to Parliament to get the law changed. However doctors only have to tell the patient when asked! It was decided that an epic cycle ride would not only give him something to work towards but also benefit the SUDEP charity Epilepsy bereaved. So Lands End to John O'Groats it is then!! He was joined by a colleague Sean and now myself. There are five of us all together But Roy, Sean and I are responsible for getting the ride of the ground. Here is our blog: Chubbs Cycle Challenge

Now I know that LE to JOG has been done, a lot, but for us the battle is actually getting fit for the challenge!! Roy actually doesn't own a bike and hasn't cycled for years. I do a bit of road cycling but being monumentally unmotivated and until recently had a very sedentary job means I'm painfully unfit. I have been jumping on the back for the past few weeks however and now cycle a good 24 miles every other day. Starting steady though as my cardio fitness is none existent! None of us are used to long distances in the saddle let alone endurance cycling! This is why we are taking 18 months to get up to speed. We WILL train hard, get fit and smash it however!!!

We would really appreciate advice on both the training and the ride itself and any useful links/contacts you may have that could help us?

We're having a meeting tonight to decide on the best route. We are aiming to do the challenge in about 14 days at the moment, but could be less depending on fitness levels as we get closer to the challenge. We have already put together a support team/vehicle. Of course the hope is to raise as much awareness about SUDEP as possible, as well as raise the money! With 2 of us working in the media we are hoping to use lots of contacts to make this as big as possible!

Thanks!

First of all Congrats on doing something about SUDEP, my mum suffers with Epilepsy and her brother to so I have come across the meaning of SUDEP a few times myself and think you have done a good thing by giving it awarness.

I have done LEJOG in 2010 with my friend, we did 1100 mile Scenic route in 9 days and it turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life and I ahve been all over the world done so many things but LEJOG was and still has been the highlight of anything I have done until now.

Advice for this would be enjoy your stops, and while picking out your checkpoints for rest try doing it around landmarks and areas of interest so you can take a look at some of the beautiful things we have around us.
When we was in Scotland we was riding through so much forestry that you would think you was in Canada then all of a sudden you turn a corner to see an OLD (Very very Old) Tiny church with no one in it only an amazing warm feeling when you go inside and see the book thats been written in by people going past mostly cyclists and that book alone had dates from 1950 when people was writing in still and I put a message in their and just to know how long that had been open and the stories of the people who have stopped to put their messages in etc was an amazing feeling. You then look around the church and theirs stairs going into the ground only to find headstones that have been placed their from 100's of years ago. It must get opened in the morning then closed at night but while we was their there was no one around or at the church but you could feel the history oozing out of it was great.

LEJOG routes can be what you make them but I would certainly say avoid the quickest routes if it means you will sacrifice points of interest because it's these things that make the ride worthwhile.

Ok logistics, book BnB's in advance we did around 100 miles avg and set our BnB's out at the end of a town rather than the beginning so the next morning your avoiding the town traffic and just on your way.

Don't take to much in the panniers I had 1 set of clothing for off the bike and thats it and on the bikes two sets so I could wash one at the BnB and have one ready and dry incase the BnB had problems drying clothes I would be getting on in the morning with wet or damp cycle wear.

An odd thing happened to me on this ride and I am not sure if anyone else has experienced this but as each day went by, I got stronger on the bike I felt I could get up the steeper hills and fight against the wind and rain and stay longer in the saddle.

Goodluck mate keep us posted on your return

litwardle

Thank you soooo much for the quick reply! Really glad that you understand the reasoning too!
Re: Scenery, yes indeed!! It is so important to us that we enjoy the ride, apart from anything else that will help ignore the pain ha ha! Great advice re logistics and clothing etc. We're really not sure where to start at the moment so that's great!

Glad you found yourself getting stronger, I must admit I really do hate the wind..It's so power sapping...I suppose it means I need to be more powerful eh?!

Well it's very early in the process and we will indeed keep this thread busy, and of course the blog.

Many Thanks and keep in touch

thegodplato

Good luck with the training. Me and my mate are doing it in just over 4 weeks time - YIKES!

960miles using our own route in 8 days.

You can follow us here if you want to - http://cyclemadness.blogspot.co.uk/

litwardle

Amazing! Good luck with it! I'll follow the blog, I can't wait to hear how you guys do!

diy

First off - go and talk to your GP and get at least some basic risks checked.

If you've had an indulgent life thus far suddenly upping the tempo could be quite dangerous.

If you have a smart phone things like strava will give you basic stats on your progress, but after getting medical advice I would take it slow and build it in gradually.

Just hitting the miles is one way, but there are smarter ways like building in intervals to increase your fitness. i.e. find some parts of your training rides where you can sprint flat out for a min, then 2 mins etc, to build in efficiency.

typically I'd look to build 2 - 3 sprints in to a training ride and then just up the duration of the sprints as your fitness comes up. Personally I would say it takes about 1 year of training before you get proper cylcists legs. But 3-6 months will give you big gains.

Also consider diets at the same time to accelerate the gain. I personally use the 5:2 diet (any two 2 days 600 cal max, 5 days eat what you like). I'm now at the point I can do a 1 hour sprint session at about 70-80% of my normal performance without having eaten anything for almost 20 hours. It takes a while.

litwardle

Thank you that's great advice..Just about to venture out actually so I will do some sprints. Health wise, I'm OK, I'm 30, 5'9" and just under 13 stone. Up until a year ago, I was quite fit. It's just the last year that life has gone a bit mental!! I have IBS so I don't really eat much crap tbh, it's just general lack of activity. I had considered checking with my GP..... Not sure...Can't hurt I guess!!

Pumpkin Positive

My 2p worth:
If you were fit a year ago then it won't take you long to get back up there.

I think Strava's a great motivator. If you don't use it already then start right away. You're biggest gains in fitness will be early on so capture that on strava at the outset and it will be a great motivator to get out there and improve on last weeks figures. I use a local 50km loop as a fitness barometer and I've set the whole loop as a Strava Segment, I ride it every so often to check my fitness http://app.strava.com/segments/2356902 (I'm No. 5 at the moment).

Strava's great fun (as long as you don't pay any attention to the strava snobs and don't take it too seriously) and it becomes quite addictive.

You'll probably want a dedicated GPS bike computer for LEJOG anyway so buy it now. I'd suggest getting one with mapping such as the Garmin 810 if you're going to be doing miles on unfamiliar roads. Failing that use a smart phone and download the strava app.

I'm doing LEJOG in September this year with these guys http://www.great-bear-tours.co.uk/#/10- ... 4561915482 I was planning on doing it unsupported but when I started costing it out I figured £800 for a fully supported trip was good value.

Good luck with your training!

litwardle

Sadly I don't have a smart phone at the moment (long story, miss my Iphone) but it won't be long and I will def get the app. Good look with your ride and thank you very much for the info!

(great site by the way!!)

diy

Well you are still young so perfect time to get fit again. You never know you might get the bug and find you are talented.

I am the same height as you and was about your weight (a bit more actually) when I got in to cycling only a few years older at the time. Currently just about 11st, 3lbs. I kind of wish I got in to it at a younger age, as at 42, I'm probably not going to get much better.

Weight loss makes a massive difference to cycling performance.

litwardle

Well it would be nice to get down to that weight! Just a case of getting out and riding. Planning the ride it quite fun, deciding on the route is becoming quite interesting too.

diy

its ridiculously hard to lose weight through exercise alone. It took me 3 years to drop 1/2 -3/4 of a stone only to put it back on at xmas. Switched to a 5:2 diet last summer taking 4,000 cal a week out through dieting and lost the rest in little more than 2 months.

BobScarle

Good luck with the challenge. I, along with many others I suspect, had never heard of SUDEP so raising awareness has got to be a good thing.

The CTC forum has a section just for LEJOG, http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewforum.php?f ... 8d5cb70477. There is loads of information together with accounts from riders that have done it. May be worth a look.

Also, http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk/index. ... e&Itemid=1 is worth a read.

thegodplato

I'm 41 and 5ft 10 and was around 13 stone when I started cycling in April last year. Now I'm 11 1/2 stone and seem to be fairly stable around that weight. I haven't changed my diet too much either - don't drink a lot either.
I dis start taking CLA and ThermoPure from MyProtein for around 4 months which I think has helped get rid of some of the weight. Having said that, I stopped taking them at the end of November and my weight hasn't changed much. I still eat cakes ( the wife makes very nice ones! ) and have big meals,
One I have noticed is that I am a much better climber now I'm lighter.

As to Apps on a Smart Phone - yes they are good but unless you are only planning on riding for maybe 4 hours a day you will have no battery. Plus what happens if your battery does go flat and you need it for an emergency? I have the Garmin 800 and wonder if I will get the 12-14 hours worth of battery out of it - especially when our 7th day from Helensburgh to Inverness is 155miles and very hilly!

thegibdog

diy wrote:

its ridiculously hard to lose weight through exercise alone.

Not sure I agree with that, it will vary from person to person. I couldn't keep the weight on when I was training for my LEJoG due to putting lots of big miles in.

zx6man

thegibdog wrote:

diy wrote:

its ridiculously hard to lose weight through exercise alone.

Not sure I agree with that, it will vary from person to person. I couldn't keep the weight on when I was training for my LEJoG due to putting lots of big miles in.

I reckon Its mostly the diet to lose weight, but I am sure there are exceptions, like lots of big mile jaunts :-)

Think LEJOG is next on my agenda too

diy

Adding 4,000 Cal of exercise is harder - was really my point. On a training ride I will do 6-800 cal per hour (would be more if I was heavier), so looking at 5-6 hours of extra training to achieve my two days of mild discomfort.

litwardle

BobScarle wrote:

Good luck with the challenge. I, along with many others I suspect, had never heard of SUDEP so raising awareness has got to be a good thing.

The CTC forum has a section just for LEJOG, http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewforum.php?f ... 8d5cb70477. There is loads of information together with accounts from riders that have done it. May be worth a look.

Also, http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk/index. ... e&Itemid=1 is worth a read.

Great thank you very much for the info! Just a passing visit to the forum this afternoon but will have a good read tonight.

Fitness and fat loss talk is quite interesting. Two of the lads from the challenge are on a 5:2 I believe, they are losing weight in huge order!! They're on a hardcore exercise routine however! Lost stones in only a few months.

VTech

My dad and sister had epilepsy, he died in 99 as at the time drugs were not as good as they are now, he was on epelium 500 if I remember correctly.
I wish you the very best and if you need anything for the trip let me know. I cant help with fitness info as im new to this myself but my offer is genuine.

Good luck.

litwardle

VTech, Thank you so much, it is very appreciated. The best way for you to help at the moment is to let people know about the ride and why we are doing it. If you can share our site on your facebook/twitter etc (if you have it) that would be amazing

Good luck with your cycling too my friend

VTech

we have millions of followers on both, ill speak to PR tomorrow and get them to do the necessary.

buckmulligan

I did LEJoG back in 2007 and it's an absolutely fantastic experience. Most of these have been covered but my advice would be:

(1) Choose a nice scenic route - you won't believe how many beautiful parts of the country you'll pass through and these are the bits you remember afterwards; hacking it along a dual carriageway to shave off 5 miles never a good idea!
(2) If you can afford it, get a GPS - any route you pick around the first few days (Cornwall-Somerset) will involve a lot of small roads and navigation; stopping every 5 mins to check the map is not only frustrating and time consuming, but will take a lot out of your legs. If not, try to make a list of the villages/towns you'll be passing through each day and tape it to your top tube then at least you can follow the signposts and keep moving.
(3) Travel light - if you've got a support vehicle that's perfect, but still try to keep the stuff you're carrying to a minimum. For example, you don't need two inner tubes and a mini pump each if there's a group 3 or more, spread the load out. You'll be passing through enough towns to pick up spares en route.
(4) Eat Properly - by the 4th night I was sick of eating pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so I decided to make cheeseburgers for myself instead. For dinner that night I ate 4 cheeseburgers and a bit of salad; needless to say the next day was awful, the first 5 miles felt like 50, just couldn't turn the pedals over until my breakfast porridge had kicked in. This single experience completely changed my thinking about food; there's definitely not much nutritional value in cheeseburgers!
(5) Get the miles in beforehand - at your early stage of training every single ride will add a little bit of strength and fitness so get out as much as possible; try to fit in some long rides (up to 100 miles) so they don't come as a complete shock on the day. The last thing you want to be doing is watching the light fade in the middle of nowhere knowing you've still got another 20 miles to go before you can relax.

My LEJoG was an unforgettable experience. The most depressing part for me was after we'd finished, jumping on a coach at Inverness to get back home and seeing the roads we'd been cycling along for the last week whizz by in a flash. I wanted to get off and cycle back! Good luck though and enjoy it.

dai_t75

Myself and the missus are also going to be attempting LEJOG in August this year! How far have you come with your planning? We have mapped out the route, booked the flight home and booked a few B&B's so far.

@Buck

With regards to navigation - this is something I have been a bit worried about. I can't justify the money on an expensive GPS with turn by turn instructions. Did you have any GPS device or was it all maps/instructions?

I am thinking about maybe a Garmin Edge 200 (can just about justify the price of this, although I realise it is 'bread crumb' navigation) along with a map/instructions, what do you reckon?

cheaterkiller

When doing LEJOG, what speed will you typically maintain so that you are able to go all day? I typically ride at about 20mph on the flat but I have never cycled much over 50 miles. I certainly couldnt ride 100 miles a day for 10 days consecutively.

litwardle

VTech wrote:

we have millions of followers on both, ill speak to PR tomorrow and get them to do the necessary.

You're amazing thank you!

VTech

if there is anything you need for the ride let me know, did you sort out the gps ?

litwardle

BuckMulligan wrote:

I did LEJoG back in 2007 and it's an absolutely fantastic experience. Most of these have been covered but my advice would be:

Thats amazing, thank you so much for the info! I know exactly where you're coming from on the cheese burger thing!! Lots of interesting points and all great advice!

Regards

Lee

litwardle

dai_t75 wrote:

Myself and the missus are also going to be attempting LEJOG in August this year! How far have you come with your planning? We have mapped out the route, booked the flight home and booked a few B&B's so far.?

Well we are in the process of planning the route and of course as we are doing it for charity the planning is two-fold as we want to make it as publicized an event as possible to raise lots of awareness for our charity and of course lots of money! We were going to get the train back but it's sooooo expensive!!!

Lee

litwardle

cheaterkiller wrote:

When doing LEJOG, what speed will you typically maintain so that you are able to go all day? I typically ride at about 20mph on the flat but I have never cycled much over 50 miles. I certainly couldnt ride 100 miles a day for 10 days consecutively.

I guess it will depend on the topography of the route and of course our fitness levels. We will of course do a few long runs in training, and the plan is to ride sections of the route in advance so we will get an idea of speed then.

litwardle

I wouldn't normally push our blog too much on here but If I may could I ask you to take a look at the latest post please?

Why raise money for Epilepsy Bereaved? What is S.U.D.E.P anyway?

It is an interesting and heartfelt post written by Roy (who I mentioned in the first post)

Thank you

VTech

I have just spoken with a friend and you may well be in luck.