John O'Groats to Lands End .......

zak3737

Friend of mine has decided at age 52, he's going to set himself some challenges in next 2/3 years, and next year, first one is the London Marathon.
He's quite fit, despite being 6-3" & 15/16stone, and has started the training already, so good luck to him.

However, for 2016, he says he wants to do John O'GRoats to Land End on a bike, over 7 days, and with a group, fully supported etc, and he was urging us to get on board.

Now, I may be enjoying my cycling again since summer, and whilst I'm regularly riding 40+ mile rides quite comfortably already, I'm doubtful that at 52, I could possibly get fit enough to consider doing 7 back to back days of 100+ miles per day ........surely a herculean effort for even the very fittest racing snake cyclists ??

So, is my hesitation well justified ? :shock:

thegibdog

No reason you couldn't do it. You don't have to be that fit, you just have to be prepared to ride your bike (almost) all day and then do it again the next day and the next and so on. Your age shouldn't be an issue, John Woodburn was 45 when he broke the end to end record in 1982 and you'll have 5 more days to complete it in than he had!

peddlingmadness

did it back in 2006 and kept bumping into 2 guys on route in their late 60's who had only trained riding around Richmond park. 10 days and fully self supported (carrying everything) so yes you should have no problem so get yourself signed up.

southdownswolf

A 7 day JOGLE or LEJOG is very acheivable, especailly with over 1 year to prepare.
I did one in 8 days, solo, unsupported but using B&B's. I have to admit that even going up to JOG on the train, I was worried if I had done enough training to do 8 consecutive days of 100+ miles. I just kept going each day no matter what the weather and by the time I got to LE, I was wishing I could turn around and head back up to JOG. With support, planned training and cycling with friends, then it should be fairly comfortable.

d_o_g

Guy I know did it for charadee mate, hadn't cycled before, trained for 8 months, did it (slowly), fully supported no problem.

He hasn't cycled since.

The irony is that had he just donated all the money he spent on the bike and the accommodation, support etc. it would have been more than he raised.

ForumNewbie

I think 7 days is a bit optimistic unless you get really super fit. I'm in my mid 50s and if I was going to do it I'd probably be looking at 20 days, as I think even 14 days at around 70 miles every day would be a struggle. If you are going in a group that are planning to do it 7 days, I would imagine they would be pretty fit and keeping up a fast pace, so it could be a struggle to keep up with the group, and could therefore be a bit demoralising if you can't. I'd rather go at my own pace and enjoy the ride and scenery etc. and possibly do a slightly longer route if it means quieter roads.

Also, most people prefer doing LEJOG as it's going with the prevailing winds rather than JOGLE.

cougie

It's not that hard - it's just a lot of steady miles. If you want to do it - you can. If you think you really can't do it - you're probably right too.

tlw1

cougie wrote:

It's not that hard - it's just a lot of steady miles. If you want to do it - you can. If you think you really can't do it - you're probably right too.

Correct - I did it with a few detours last year, 8 days and an average mileage of 140 per day and as is said above its about hours on the bike

ForumNewbie

matthew h wrote:

cougie wrote:

It's not that hard - it's just a lot of steady miles. If you want to do it - you can. If you think you really can't do it - you're probably right too.

Correct - I did it with a few detours last year, 8 days and an average mileage of 140 per day and as is said above its about hours on the bike

I agree that you have to believe you can do it to do it, but it will definitely be hard. To do well over 100 miles each day for 7 or 8 days will also require a fair bit of training and preparation as well as belief that you can do it.

rhysyd

Zak3737 wrote:

Friend of mine has decided at age 52, he's going to set himself some challenges in next 2/3 years, and next year, first one is the London Marathon.
He's quite fit, despite being 6-3" & 15/16stone, and has started the training already, so good luck to him.

However, for 2016, he says he wants to do John O'GRoats to Land End on a bike, over 7 days, and with a group, fully supported etc, and he was urging us to get on board.

Now, I may be enjoying my cycling again since summer, and whilst I'm regularly riding 40+ mile rides quite comfortably already, I'm doubtful that at 52, I could possibly get fit enough to consider doing 7 back to back days of 100+ miles per day ........surely a herculean effort for even the very fittest racing snake cyclists ??

So, is my hesitation well justified ? :shock:

You can do pretty much anything if you set your mind on it, train hard and smart!

BeaconRuth

Zak3737 wrote:

........surely a herculean effort for even the very fittest racing snake cyclists ??

Not at all. It's within the capability of any decent cyclist who is very determined and who prepares properly for it.

So, is my hesitation well justified ? :shock:

Well, the first question is how long your 40-mile rides take you? If you knock those out in a couple of hours or so then you're a pretty strong rider who will easily scale up to doing 100 miles a day at touring pace. If 40 miles is a fairly epic ride which you complete in 4 hours or more including a cafe stop then you have got a fair task on your hands to raise your fitness. But if you have over a year to train and you're sufficiently determined (and can commit to the time it would take to train very long and very hard) I agree with everyone else that it's not beyond you.

Ruth

lemon63

Hi, I did it in June (I'm 51) over 12 days with 3 others of similar age with a mate in a van as support. We found that 12 days was ideal, approx 80 miles a day average. 7 or 8 days would have been do-able for us but it would have been far less enjoyable, we didn't have to rush so could enjoy scenery more and not worry too much about nailing the mileage, we even managed a couple of stops for a swim in Loch Ness and 1 other loch.
We'd reach the destination each day at a reasonable time (we had all the B&B's pre-booked) meaning we could relax in the evenings a bit more in the local pubs.
So I'd recommend taking your time a bit if you can get the free time to do it.

whoof

It depends why you want to do it. If you want a challenge then it will be challenging but very doable. If you ride in June/July and do average 12 mph for 10 -11 hours a day that should do it.
If you want to enjoy it you might want to take longer.
Also the shortest route is just that. There is not a great deal on pleasure to be had from riding the A30 through Devon and Cornwall.
CTC has three recommended routes. Shortest will ride on a busy A road for miles if it's the shortest way. Longest: avoids all A roads and will include some longish detours to get around them. Middle route mainly quieter roads with short stretches of busier ones.
http://www.ctc.org.uk/article/cycling-g ... hn-ogroats

adamtaylor

It's definitely doable. Taking ten days allows a little extra leeway for mechanical or physical problems that may arise. We did it over Easter, self-supported. We just kept it slow and steady. Cursed at broken spokes and kept pedalling. It's a fantastic achievement when you reach the destination.

zak3737

Thx for all the comments/thoughts.

I guess it comes down to mental toughness perhaps, and preparation/training before, - and altho I'm loving my riding so far, I'm not sure I have the mental fortitude for such a tough one.
I've done C2C's & South Downs Way on MTB's before, but that was 10yrs ago, so need to give this some thought before I commit !

Dandelionclock30

A friend of mine did it in 10 days, unsupported staying in b and bs and camping on a £100 Halfords hybrid. She only previously cycled here and there to the shops,mates houses etc.
If you train you will easy do it, as long as you dont have any major problems or get lost etc. If your worried do it in a couple of extra days.

cougie

For me - the main sticking point is amount of days holidays used. Its definitely on the list for when I retire though.

CiB

Zak3737 wrote:

Thx for all the comments/thoughts.

I guess it comes down to mental toughness perhaps, and preparation/training before, - and altho I'm loving my riding so far, I'm not sure I have the mental fortitude for such a tough one.
I've done C2C's & South Downs Way on MTB's before, but that was 10yrs ago, so need to give this some thought before I commit !

Take a day off work and try a long weekend cycling the sort of distances you're talking about per day to see how you cope. 1 day is easy, 2 is just doing it again but 3 is when it sets in. Physically it's not that demanding doing 8-9 hours in the saddle, the biggest thing is the boredom. Doing 300 miles in 3 days cured me of any desire to spend a week or so pedalling from one end of the country to the other.

milleman

Not quite the same, but I did LeJoG last year in 13 days fully supported. 7 days would be pretty full-on, my total mileage was 1050 so it was quite a scenic route avoiding busy roads which was what I wanted.

If possible I would say try and find a bit more time, I think 10 days would be within the abilities of any reasonable cyclist with a bit of training.

Most importantly it was honestly one of the best things I have ever done, would have been quite happy to cycle back!.

StillGoing

ForumNewbie wrote:

I think 7 days is a bit optimistic unless you get really super fit. I'm in my mid 50s and if I was going to do it I'd probably be looking at 20 days, as I think even 14 days at around 70 miles every day would be a struggle. If you are going in a group that are planning to do it 7 days, I would imagine they would be pretty fit and keeping up a fast pace, so it could be a struggle to keep up with the group, and could therefore be a bit demoralising if you can't. I'd rather go at my own pace and enjoy the ride and scenery etc. and possibly do a slightly longer route if it means quieter roads.

Also, most people prefer doing LEJOG as it's going with the prevailing winds rather than JOGLE.

It'd be hard if you didn't accept that you're facing around a week of 100+ mile rides every day and adjust your pace to do it. Thinking you're having to try and do your normal pace on each leg is not going to help you. Accept that all you're going to do every day is sit on the bike, pedal and eat. There's nothing else to do but admire any scenery and collect donations along the route if you're doing it for a charity.