Another LEJOG thread...

Paul-Posh

This summer I am planning to ride LEJOG. The plan is to ride the route in 3 to 5 days. So putting in a decent amount of hours/miles each day.
Having come up with this idea only a couple of weeks ago I am still very much in the early stages of planning (and training) and would be interested in any experiences or places to avoid on the way up.
I'm doing the ride over the August bank holiday weekend (starting Saturday aiming to finish between Monday and Wednesday)
Due to the nature of the ride/challenge I am looking to do the shortest route possible, but if anyone knows of unfriendly roads or anything along those lines I'd be very interested.

And as for most things of this nature I am also doing it as a charity ride for the RNLI. I am a keen sailor/windsurfer so understand what an important job they do.

So, any advice or anything would be fantastic. I'm currently working on increasing my longest ride to over 40 miles...
Cheers
Posh


www.justgiving.com/PoshdoesLEJOG

pdstsp

That's some schedule you've decided on - somewhere between 170 and 300 miles per day when your longest ride to date is 40!! I wish you luck. Shortest route may well take you down some lanes which may well be hillier than the A road alternatives - you need to decide whether you are comfortable riding in traffic on potentially faster roads or whether you would rather go on the by-ways. On my lejog in 2011 we did mainly lanes and found Devon to be the hardest section - brutal in places!!
There will be people with far more detailed knowledge along - if it was me I'd plot any route out on one of the plotting sites such as bikeroutetoaster and look at elevations etc - hills won't be your friend on that schedule!!

Otherwise you need to spend the entire summer on the bike. Once again good luck and keep us informed - by the way the CTC forum has quite an active LEJOG section which might be useful for you.

Paul

Paul-Posh

I've heard from a couple of people that the south west is the hard part, though I am expecting it to get progressively more difficult the further in I get... Sounds like I need to do some more hill training. I live in a fairly flat part of Wiltshire (Swindon). My ride to work has an elevation change of about 200m. (15.5miles shortest route)

I will check out the CTC and other sites and start to piece a route together. So far its been based on Google Maps.

I'm going to be blogging some of my training and the event itself. So I will link it on here (assuming I'm allowed to...)

http://community.cotswoldoutdoor.com/ac ... 7800C46EB1

www.justgiving.com/PoshdoesLEJOG

neilrobins

I think it is safe to say, the shorter the route the worst the roads. It's also safe to say the longer the route the bigger the hills albeit safer.
Get the miles in and find a big steep hill and do some repeats.
Good luck

whoof

Cornwall and Devon have some serious hills. The most direct route up the main A30 is a miserable ride on a busy mainly dual carriageway. Between Launceston and Exeter you can avoid this by riding on the old A30, a road running next to the dual carriageway which is now a pretty quiet road. If you look at a map and follow the road that goes through Lifton, Lewdown, Bridestow, Sourton Cross (Good meal stop in the portacabin on the RHS not the Little Chef on the LHS), into Okehampton out on the B3260 Sticklepath, Whiddon Down, Crockernwell, Cheriton Cross, Tedburn St Mary, Pathfinder Village, up the B3212 into Exeter.

Also bearing in mind you plan to do it in 3-5 days I have a GSXR-1000 for sale, you may find it useful.

southdownswolf

3-5 days is really pushing it if you are only up to 40miles on a long ride so far. Also, the end of August could be really hot and uncomfortable to do that sort of mileage, even in the UK.
However, if you are a determined character, no reason why you shouldn't be able to do it if you put the training in.

I am about to start my JOGLE on Thursday afternoon - train gets me into Wick at about 2.30pm, then I cycle up to JOG before starting on my way back down. You can follow my progress @ www.stuartmole.co.uk - the route that is on my website is slightly different to the actual route I will be taking, but I will update with Garmin/Strava routes at the end, or possibly each evening if my Garmin to Phone link works.

Paul-Posh

Cheers for the advice chaps. Have now managed a slightly longer ride. Got out for just over 60miles on Sunday. Was a really nice ride and I managed to avoid the any rain. Clocked 2hrs51mins; so was quite pleased with that. Have done an other couple of 40 milers on the way to work earlier in the week, but have been off my bikes for a couple of days now. Looking forward to getting back on them over the weekend!

I've started to look at possible routes and definitely agree that duel carriageways are grim to ride. Overall ride at the moment is looking at about 930 miles. Which allows me to go down some quiet roads and also stop in some free places

The Gixxer is tempting but am still planning on fuelling myself with food rather than petrol!

www.justgiving.com/PoshdoesLEJOG

marcusjb

3-5 days is going some. Well let me rephrase that, closer to the 5 days is very achievable (call it 1400km - 5 days, very achievable for someone with decent distance riding experience). In audax world, there is a permanent ride for LEJOG which is 1400km in 4 days, 20 hours and 40 minutes, and that is very achievable (same distance as this year's London-Edinburgh-London ride and I am aiming for 96 hours on that - I'm not one of the super fast boys though - sub 80 is considered very fast).

3 days unsupported would be very challenging.

Supported, then 3 days does become more achievable.

My initial thought was that you probably couldn't pick a worse time to attempt a fast LEJOG than the August bank holiday weekend! Extra traffic etc. will impact on you (and possibly your support vehicle if you are using one).

An interesting challenge for sure. I think you need to decide if you are aiming for 3 days, 4 days or 5 days first of all - having such a fluid target will make it difficult to decide how to tackle it really.

Best of luck with it! Certainly an adventure.

Paul-Posh

Hi All,

So I have decided to go for it in 4 days.

Day 1 will be from LE to Just north of Swindon
Day 2 - Swindon to Kendal area
Day 3 - Kendal to Somewhere along the A9
Day 4 - A9 to finish.

Still fairly rough on the details as you can see. It works out about 250 miles for the first couple of days then 200 for the last couple.

Training is going ok. I'm getting a couple of hundred miles in a weeks at the moment. Normally 30-45miles in the mornings on the way to work. 16 on the way home. Then a weekend ride if I have time.

Got out last weekend in the beautiful weather on Saturday for what turned out to be 110miles. (meant to be 80 but got lost - didn't want to stop and check my phone for directions). On the plus side I felt fine throughout the whole ride. Took on a mix of flap-jack and a couple of gels. And I now know that my bike stays comfy(ish) for 5 1/2 hours.

This weekends plan is for a slightly more relaxed (45m) ride with the misses including cake stop. Hopefully the rain will hold off for long enough to get her out of the house.

marcusjb

Good schedule and target for sure.

Are you supported or unsupported?

96 hours very achievable in both circumstances, though unsupported will clearly have additional challenges.

If you are planning this trip for 2013, you need to get some bigger miles in. Certainly back to back days as well.

Whilst my long ride for this year is slightly different to yours (London-Edinburgh-London 1400km), it's distance is very similar and the time I would like to finish it in is the same (96 hours). I am riding 400 mile weekends at the moment (alternate weekends - so this weekend is a rest weekend where I might do 50-100 miles only).

You are going to be sat on the bike for much longer than 5 1/2 hours - so you need to be more than comfy(ish) on the bike. Comfy(ish) will become significant discomfort within a couple of days.

If you're determined, there is no reason why you can't do it - but, from my viewpoint as a reasonably experienced long-distance rider, you are still a little way away from where you need to be with only a couple of months to go before the ride.

But the very best of luck.

prb007

mmm...any particular reason you need to do it in 4 days?
You won't remember huge chunks of it, doing 200+ miles per day, IMHO.
We did JOGLE in 8 days, 2 years ago, and as everyone says Devon and Cornwall will
be the lumpiest, so your legs will be in bits by the time you get to Swindon!
386k, according to 'toaster... http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=565592

tlw1

prb007 wrote:

mmm...any particular reason you need to do it in 4 days?
You won't remember huge chunks of it, doing 200+ miles per day, IMHO.
We did JOGLE in 8 days, 2 years ago, and as everyone says Devon and Cornwall will
be the lumpiest, so your legs will be in bits by the time you get to Swindon!
386k, according to 'toaster... http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=565592

I'm doing the jogle in 8 days from the aug bank holiday - did you enjoy or endure it?

marcusjb

prb007 wrote:

mmm...any particular reason you need to do it in 4 days?
You won't remember huge chunks of it, doing 200+ miles per day, IMHO.

IMHO it makes it easier to market. A 4-day LEJOG is an easy sell for sponsors who should be able to see that this is not an ordinary LEJOG. It would be a very impressive acheivement, particularly unsupported - not 100% certain I could do it, I am aiming for a 96 hour London-Edinburgh-London next month, but that is, in effect, supported. I, for one, would be impressed by anyone doing a 96 hour LEJOG - I have the beginnings of a plan for a 110hour one in the next season.

The OP has gone a little quiet, hopefully out there getting the miles in!

As for remembering 200 mile days - sure, some of it gets jumbled up, you do forget some bits - but you do remember the important bits, be they good or bad. You do also tend to forget how much it hurts and sign u to do the next one....

prb007

matthew h wrote:

prb007 wrote:

mmm...any particular reason you need to do it in 4 days?
You won't remember huge chunks of it, doing 200+ miles per day, IMHO.
We did JOGLE in 8 days, 2 years ago, and as everyone says Devon and Cornwall will
be the lumpiest, so your legs will be in bits by the time you get to Swindon!
386k, according to 'toaster... http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=565592

I'm doing the jogle in 8 days from the aug bank holiday - did you enjoy or endure it?

err..both; Scotland was wet and windy, though not as hilly as you might expect - we went through the mountains, rather than over them! Took a bit of a scenic detour by going via Arran, rather than go anywhere near Glasgow (most/all the forums will tell you to circumnavigate Glasgow, if at all possible), the Lake District was VERY impressive (will return there on another trip, definitely), the Welsh borders were lumpy but not difficult, but once we got into Devon and Cornwall (with 7, 100+ mile days in our legs), I found it excruciating - I NEVER want to see Porlock hill again :shock: ; when I stumbled (literally) into our digs in Barnstaple I was borderline delirious and could barely get myself out of the bath!!
8 days is a far more sensible timescale, IMHO, and most of the sponsors we got (we raised over £4000), were impressed that we'd do over a hundred miles per day, anyway. I agree it is difficult to get a USP to convince sponsors to cough up, just feel that the OP may be overstretching himself and setting himself up for failure with this kind of mileage every day. Either way, good luck to any and all of you who attempt either JOGLE or LEJOG this year.
We did E2E France this year (Cherbour-Nice, via the Loire, The Auvergne, The Ardeche, Mt.Ventoux and the Verdon gorge), and I have to say that weather can really make or break this kind of endeavour..
JOGLE temps 10/18degC, rained every morning for the first 4 days.
E2E France 16/28 degC, no rain until were drinking Kronenbourg in Wayne's Irish pub in Nice

tlw1

How much training had you done? I'm currently still riding with stabblisers........

prb007

matthew h wrote:

How much training had you done? I'm currently still riding with stabblisers........

We did quite a bit for JOGLE; building up from a decent winter base to riding 3 x 100-milers on successive weekends in April (we did it in early May 2011).
E2E France training was a bit less prepared due to the prolonged winter...plenty of miserable turbo sessions, but also 'secure' in the knowledge that we had 'done it all before', also we did the French trip over 10 days, not 8, 900 miles not 1000, on better, quieter roads, with more courteous drivers, better weather and virtually no wind
First 100-miler this year was on French soil...http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course. ... rse=517801 ,
several of the party (there were 12 of us), had NEVER ridden a century before, but all coped well.
Get yourself some technology (Garmin/iPhone/Maverick app), etc. as JOGLE is long enough without making wrong turns!

tlw1

prb007 wrote:

matthew h wrote:

How much training had you done? I'm currently still riding with stabblisers........

We did quite a bit for JOGLE; building up from a decent winter base to riding 3 x 100-milers on successive weekends in April (we did it in early May 2011).
E2E France training was a bit less prepared due to the prolonged winter...plenty of miserable turbo sessions, but also 'secure' in the knowledge that we had 'done it all before', also we did the French trip over 10 days, not 8, 900 miles not 1000, on better, quieter roads, with more courteous drivers, better weather and virtually no wind
First 100-miler this year was on French soil...http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course. ... rse=517801 ,
several of the party (there were 12 of us), had NEVER ridden a century before, but all coped well.
Get yourself some technology (Garmin/iPhone/Maverick app), etc. as JOGLE is long enough without making wrong turns!

great help thanks! Re: technology - I ride with that many gadgets the lads have renamed me Clive Sinclair

Paul-Posh

I have indeed been away getting some miles in... (actually had a weeks hols in Greece last week and got very few miles in but it has freshened me up somewhat this week)

The reason for 4 days as opposed to taking my time is a mixture of (as Marcus says) an easier sell for sponsors. But mostly because I wanted a challenge that I knew I'd have to work hard to achieve.

The first 2 days are looking to be roughly 250 miles (400km). then 200ish for the second 2 days. I'll be treating each day as 2 rides but don't expect to be feeling particularly fresh at any stage after day 1.

Training is going quite well. Lots of work atm getting in the way slightly but still getting a few hundred miles per week in. Some big weekends coming up! Loving the weather today (apart from my foggy ride to work) Def getting the miles in rather than the beers this evening!!!

Mikey23

Doing big distances will kind of push your thinking towards bigger, busier arterial roads and dual carriageways in order to get the times in. Please, please read the stuff about the 2 poor guys who got wiped out by an artic on the A30 while doing a lejog and plan accordingly ...

Paul-Posh

Yeah I had clocked that very sad news.

It has spurred me to do some more route planning (haven't done much yet), it doe's look like I can fully avoid the A30 and dual carriage ways in general while down in the SW. I also like the idea of riding across Dartmoor so my route is likely going to be heading in that direction and the up from there.

Day 1 is currently looking like 245miles. Which is what I had in mind anyway.

Beautiful weather for the training atm too! Loving not having to layer up in the morning for the first time this year.

alexandergray

First off; best of luck with your training and trip.

I've just done JOGLE via the 3 peaks. My quick tip:

Avoid the A30 like the plague. We circumnavigated; only added 5 miles or so as you can take a more direct route. There are some nice climbs in and out of villages though.