Cycling UK Forum

Well I had to go up Pork Hill on the E2E but got above 40mph a couple of times between Merrivale & Moretonhampstead. The downhills were great, but alarming due to the narrow roads, Sunday drivers and hidden bends - hence the 40 max.

Yes
Harlech and Barmouth for me as well.

Thanks for your comments

I had a pair of bar ends with those padded area things, which still made my hands go numb after 40+ miles, cured by a change of bar ends, which were wonderful from day one, but I couldn't tell you why one set were pants and the others lovely.

I'm planning on doing this in the summer, Holyhead to Cardiff rather than Chepstow as I have done the Chepstow to Builth Well section before. As the route is all NCR there is not much route planning to do, just wondered if anyone had any comments or recommendations for accommodation etc?

My stages are

Holyhead - Criccieth
Criccieth - Machynlleth
Machynlleth - Llanidloes (short day, mostly spent at CAT)
Llanidloes - Brecon
Brecon - Cardiff

I went across Dartmoor last year on my End to End, as day two of the trip it was a bit of a shock, also for the sunny Sunday picnickers who heard my language on some of the climbs! I went from St Austell - Tavistock - Moretonhampstead, hard work but very scenic and some impressive descents until you bottle out and clamp on the brakes. I take the point that in poor weather it would not have been a good choice and had the 'northern route' as a standby if it had been wet.

What you don't do is stay at Lochalsh B & B in Mill Street!

I booked several months in adavance when doing end to end last year, to avoid the whole looking for somewhere to stay when tired at the end of the day routine, only to find that when I arrived they had re-let my room to a two women (presumably because they could charge more). To rub it in the B&B owner had gone out leaving another guest to tell me the news!

Rant over.

Had an overheated room at The National instead - just love the tartan carpet!!

Is it possible to do what we do when putting up gates etc with my Conservation group? Put the nut on the bolt and then file the end of the thread so the nut will not come off.

I used a Trek 7.5 for LEJOG earlier this year, gears low enough for all the hills and comfortable enough for all day cycling. My only modification was to add bar ends to give me more alternative positions for my hands. The bike was great, no mechanical problems and no punctures. I reckoned to average 10 miles an hour including breaks, the 1070 miles took me 15 days including two short 50 miles days.

At JOG use the fact that the official photographer uses an ancient film camera to your advantage. I was in the short queue, having just finished LEJOG, man disappears into his hut to change the film so I gave my camera to the next bloke, posed with bike by the sign, off and in the cafe / bar before matey is out of his hut. Mind you my pictures do have the distance to a town in Italy on them!

Thanks to the theiving whatnames at Bristol Temple Meads I am in the market for a new bike, to replace my Trek 7.5 FX. Guess I am looking at similar price so £600 ish. and a similar bike - commuting mainly although I did do End to End on the Trek earlier this year. Definitely a flat bar bike, my back can't cope with drop bars. Anyone any suggestions?

I did my LEJOG in wonderful weather at the end of June / early July and had winds behind me for the last 3 days in Scotland. Found Cornwall OK - going Penzance, St Austell direction, the really bad plan was going across Dartmoor on the second day rather than my original route skirting Dartmoor through Okehampton. Despite what I had heard about the A82 didn't find it too bad, there are signs of cycle paths around Ballachulish which will help. Then went Dingwall, Altnaharra, Bettyhill. Worst hills? - Waddington just north of Clitheroe and whatever that horrible climb on the A833 near Drumnadochit is called

My seat post bolt sheared of whilst I was riding in torrential rain on Tuesday, so a good day got even better! I had been aware that the saddle was making some squeaks but didn't get as far as checking anyhting out before it snapped. The bike is a Trek 7.5 FX. Doing a quick google last night I found another example of this problem, which apparently was due to Trek using an aluminium bolt.
(1) Anyone else aware of this problem
(2) My lbs who is also a Trek dealer was surprised to find that the bolt is 7mm - they have 6 & 8mm in the shop and now tells me that they can't source one. Anyone any suggestions?

Agree about the map holder on the Altura, a great bag otherwise. I used the oversize bar mount to fix it to my Trek. The velcro on the map case came away from the plastic first time out and the eventual solution was a small bungee around the whole bag.

My guestimate would be around the £700 mark. I did it in fifteen days, staying at B&B's, eating in pubs etc and including a flight back from Inverness to Bristol.

The Barrasgate House - Springfield rather than Gretna is OK and cheap, cost me £20 for a single room last week
Rossmount guest house in Argyle Street in Inverness great value & very good eating / drinking at The Castle 5 mins away.