LeJoG

AllAboutGuitar

Hey everyone,

Wasn't sure which forum to put this in but thought this might be the best one.

Thinking about doing LeJoG or JoGLe maybe next year, most likely 2018 though to get a bit more fit and used to long(er) distance riding than what I'm used to now. Also thinking of doing it as a pair or more, not on my own just in case there was an emergency on route.

Few little questions, starting with bike choice. Currently looking at Cyclocross but I've heard someone mention Touring before. The main differences I can see are Touring can hold pannier racks while Cyclocross is more frame/seat bags. But which one would you recommend, kinda swaying towards Cyclocross more.

Has anyone ever rode either way? How long did it take? What are some key technical points you'd tell someone to look out for on route?

Any other tips you can give would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,

Josh

popularname

Your best bet probably is to start with this:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?client= ... 8ge5xJvYDg

dhungerf

I ran into a guy who did the ride using a Surly Long Haul. he said that he took his time and planned stops in key locations, I think he said that it took him 2 weeks but he wished he stayed longer in some of the small towns.

http://surlybikes.com/bikes/long_haul_trucker

haydenm

Do LeJoG rather than the other way round, less head wind and the navigation gets easier into Scotland. Having said that I've never done either, I rode the Scotland leg of a mate's JoGLe ride which they completed the other day, we had a support car so we didn't have to carry anything and managed 190km per day and did Scotland in 3 and a half days. I doubt I would have been able to keep up that pace for the rest of it but the other two were fitter than me.

In terms of bikes, I was on a Genesis Equilibrium which is great for touring with panniers, very similar to a Genesis Croix De Fer (cyclocross bike) which seems to be the bike of choice for nearly everyone at the moment. I would go for the equilibrium over the CDF but I doubt there is much in it, they both take panniers.

andcp

Have you seen this forum?:
http://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewforum.ph ... 118fd3c0db

AllAboutGuitar

dhungerf wrote:

I ran into a guy who did the ride using a Surly Long Haul. he said that he took his time and planned stops in key locations, I think he said that it took him 2 weeks but he wished he stayed longer in some of the small towns.

http://surlybikes.com/bikes/long_haul_trucker

Thanks for the reply. That's actually quite a good site

HaydenM wrote:

In terms of bikes, I was on a Genesis Equilibrium which is great for touring with panniers, very similar to a Genesis Croix De Fer (cyclocross bike) which seems to be the bike of choice for nearly everyone at the moment. I would go for the equilibrium over the CDF but I doubt there is much in it, they both take panniers.

Thanks for the recommendations, looking at them, the equilibrium is no longer on sale Quite like the look of them though

Andcp wrote:

Have you seen this forum?:
http://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewforum.ph ... 118fd3c0db

I didn't know about that site. Thanks for showing me it. It's just I use BikeRadar most of the time so posted it on here.

webboo

AllAboutGuitar wrote:

Hey everyone,

Wasn't sure which forum to put this in but thought this might be the best one.

Thinking about doing LeJoG or JoGLe maybe next year, most likely 2018 though to get a bit more fit and used to long(er) distance riding than what I'm used to now. Also thinking of doing it as a pair or more, not on my own just in case there was an emergency on route.

Few little questions, starting with bike choice. Currently looking at Cyclocross but I've heard someone mention Touring before. The main differences I can see are Touring can hold pannier racks while Cyclocross is more frame/seat bags. But which one would you recommend, kinda swaying towards Cyclocross more.

Has anyone ever rode either way? How long did it take? What are some key technical points you'd tell someone to look out for on route?

Any other tips you can give would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,

Josh

Why Cyclocross or are you doing it off road.

AllAboutGuitar

Webboo wrote:

Why Cyclocross or are you doing it off road.

Was thinking of doing it on the western side of the UK, on road. But of course wouldn't get rid of the bike after and would use it for normal cycling. Before I thought about starting road cycling I was mainly a mountain biker and thought getting a proper road bike wouldn't be best to go to straight from a full sus MTB.

kayakerchris

These days any of the 'endurance' bikes from the big manufacturers will do the job. The new Roubaix for example would be perfect.

I would definitely look at wider tyres 28-32mm and I would go tubeless for ease of use.

Really important for long distances like that to have a good core and be well setup on the bike.

Get used to riding long distances on your own self supported and it will get easier. Audax rides are perfect for this. Start at 100km and go up to 1400km or more. There is even a website for doing LeJOG the hard way and going over as many hills as possible.

I would look at eating as well. More and more information out there about LCHF diets for endurance athletes. being able to go long distances (200km) on very small amounts of food will set you up for night riding and for riding through dartmoor and scotland when the shops are shut.

Be careful though because long distance endurance riding can become addictive!

webboo

AllAboutGuitar wrote:

Webboo wrote:

Why Cyclocross or are you doing it off road.

Was thinking of doing it on the western side of the UK, on road. But of course wouldn't get rid of the bike after and would use it for normal cycling. Before I thought about starting road cycling I was mainly a mountain biker and thought getting a proper road bike wouldn't be best to go to straight from a full sus MTB.

Cross bikes are hardly much different from road bikes other than the brakes. I suspect you wouldn't advise a roadie to use a rigid mountain bike for downhilling