Cycling UK Forum

Pete W H wrote:Forget canals! They take ages to ride.

The Caledonian Canal is nice, it's got a huge wide towpath -almost a road in itself - all the way up from Fort William. It can be very windy though, the sheltered nature of the canal means it can funnel the wind right down it. Forunately, last time I rode it, I was riding south with a screaming tailwind, I'd have hated to ride into it!

It depends on the route you load onto it.
I plot routes via ridewithgps.com and load them as .gpx files onto my Edge Touring. However ridewithgps (at least the free version that I use) is a pain for redirecting you wherever it can onto towpaths, footpaths, bridleways, off-road routes and so on and it sometimes needs some very careful scrutiny to ensure it's not directing me off down random (occasionally non-existant!) paths - this in essence is the opposiite problem to you, I specifically want mine to stay on road, you're asking for off-road.

It will do off-road but what the unit shows on the screen and what actually exists on the ground can often be two very different things...

The main thing you need to watch out for is the re-routing setting on the unit. If it's set to Auto Reroute it will start recalculating every time it thinks you're off route and that can be incredibly annoying.

And nothing - that was presumably why the woman decided to get a taxi. Sorry, just setting the scene.

Day 5 is the one that catches a lot of people out. Day 1 and 2 are tough, through Cornwall and Devon and the Mendips but 3 and 4 are relatively easy up through the flattish roads along the Welsh/English border. Day 5 starts off OIK and then sudfdenly, after 2.5 days of flat, you hit Shap. Suddenly wakes the legs up a bit!

Nice climb though, pretty steady and some good views.

Paulatic wrote:I would be afraid that a lot of weaving about could easily put you off route and any extra mileage might outweigh the perceived easier climbs. Ive lost count of the number of times I've been over Shap and I can't recall ever seeing anyone off the bike and walking it.

Someone on RAB a few years ago got to Kendal, decided she couldn't face the prospect of a "a hill" and booked a taxi to take her and her bike to the summit!!
I was guiding a group through there at the time, stopped in Kendal and got a coffee. Got back on the bike, rode up Shap and caught my group about 100m before the summit. They'd had a 20 minute head start on me...

Contrary to what was stated above by Barred1, RAB actually uses a lot of little back roads although the logistics of moving that many people mean there are stretches of A-road that a smaller group or a rider with more time would certainly avoid.

landsurfer wrote:And to have the flattest, easiest route we can complete in 12 days cycling.

Just bear in mnd that "flat" does not necessarily equal easy. Flat means you have to keep pedalling the whole way rather than enjoying the view form the top of a hill and the freewheel down the other side and it also often restricts you to valley roads which are busier unless you can findf canal towpaths or disused railway lines like the Monsal Trail through the Peak District. (Bakewell to Buxton)

I mean there's "avoiding the worst hills" which means not going up the middle of the Trough of Bowland or right over Dartmoor but there's also "oh no, that's a slight hill, we'll take the busy A-road instead!"

But it sounds like a lovely little endeavour, mixing bicycle riding with luxury camping (especially if you don't have to pitch the tents and cook the food!)

Paulatic wrote:Some of them barely know where they are ending up that same day. Absolutely no idea which route they are doing tomorrow and a vague recollection of where they were yesterday. Always on an organised event.

That's one of my pet moans about organised events (inc Sportives) and also to a certain extent club rides with a designated ride leader.
"What did you think about [thing/place]?"
"Oh I didn't notice it..."

They can however recite their power figures, average speed and Strava stats without a second thought.

A friend in a cycle club used to take rides out regularly until other commitments meant he had to cut back on it. His club forum was alive with complaints that he wasn't ride leading anymore and he simply said "well take a group out, you know where we've been". It turned out that they didn't know at all as they had simply sat on his wheel every week without a clue of where they'd been, where they were going or how they'd got there...

/sigh

Mick F wrote:

robgul wrote:What happens if you want to take a day off and get to the next destination by train, or get a lift?
What's actually wrong with circumventing Dartmoor whilst all the other riders climb over it?

Maybe I'm coming at this as an experience End2Ender, so know the route?
Maybe the people who use these companies aren't like me?

The people doing the events are not like you or (I guess) most people on this forum. They're not experienced tourers, they don't have an in-depth knowledge of the route or the roads, they are doing it as a challenge, as a charity ride, for personal reasons and they've bought into it.

Frankly, the very idea of going off route wouldn't even occur to them! And why should it? That's like signing up to a cruise but then deciding that you don't like that bit so you'll jump on a speedboat for a bit!

You've signed up for a package - you do the package.

There is the option to get the broom wagon if you're really ill / injured but agaion, most people would rather crawl over broekn glass to get to their bike than admit defeat and climb into the broom. As robgul says, it's fairly straightforward logistics and common courtesy to do the event that the organisers have laid on for you. If you don't like it, don't do it.

That said, to answer the OP, to do the event that YOU want is basically going to rely on you finding a couple of like minded people that you're happy to spend three weeks with and someone happy to drive a support vehicle for that amount of time!

Mick F wrote:I often think about going on a supported ride, but going my own route, and only joining up at each day's destination.
Maybe you could consider that?
There can't be any rule about following their route faithfully, so long as you start and finish each day at the correct place.

Having worked on supported LEJOGs several times, there absolutely is a rule about sticking to the correct route!
Mostly logistics - if you get lost, suffer a mechanical or an injury or fail to turn up at basecamp that night, they've got zero way of tracking you. Yes there might be options to fit everyone with a spot-tracker but that in itself would be a huge logistical challenge.

And you'd still require lots more vehicles driving round all sorts of random back lanes trying to find errant riders or groups going off course or trying to decide on the hoof which direction to go.

The whole point of a supported LEJOG is that you're paying for that backup and logistical support, why would you then "go solo" during the day? It's almost the worst of all worlds - paying a large sum of money for support but then not making use of any of it while still being constrained to their start/end points each day!

"total weight" is a bit of a weird thing to go by - you have kit you need, kit you want, kit you don't (or shouldn't!) need and kit/things you can probably do without for a week or so.

Within that kit you need, you could go the ultra mountaineering route; buy titanium everything, ultralight waterproof, superlightweight/minimalist panniers, summer weight shorts, etc but that might be really crap when you're slogging into a rainy headwind.
Or you could do the "normal" kit route where it's slightly heavier duty but weighs a few grams more or doesn't pack down as small but might be warmer or more versatlie. And it will be a lot cheaper!

Depends on the bike as well, is it a lightweight adventure bike or a full on steel touring rig with all the mounts & racks?

Toffee wrote:Using the N78 all the way involves 2 ferries which is alright for the Corran one but the Camusnagaul over to Fort William does not have one after the 12.20 till 16.15 which is quite a gap if you miss the first.

The Camusnagual Ferry* is rather endearingly quaint and they will actually come and get you if you phone up. On the other hand if the weather is truly atrocious, they won't run at all!

*Calling it a "ferry" is a stretch of the imagination, it's a tiny little boat with space for about 12 people at most sitting inside it and they strap your bike to the roof... Somewhere I've got a picture of my bike on top of it and a Strava file showing my "ride" across the water.

Do be aware that if you're stranded over the Camusnagual side waiting for the ferry there is the square root of bugger all there. At least if you're awaiting for it in Fort William there is a Costa just round the corner!
This is the ferry pier...

mnichols wrote:I'm just planning my 3rd Lejog. What was your route through Manchester like?

That's about the best I've seen to bypass that awful uban sprawl of Manchester - Warrington - Preston - Blackburn. although from Market Drayton, I'd have cut across to Alsager and up to Holmes Chapel rather than go through Crewe.

mnichols wrote:If you go up through Shropshire, is there a good way up through the Peak District and then back to the Lakes?

You're sort of going too far east to go up through the Peaks unless you then go round the east of Manchester. The best way to get to the Lakes is to follow that route up to Slaidburn but then go to Hornby -> Warton, up through the Yealands to Kendal then either over Shap or Kirkstone depending on your preference. Even then you're only skirting the eastern edge of the Lakes

mnichols wrote:Also if you stay West to go up to Loch Lomond is there a good route around Glasgow?

I've always gone east of Glasgow through Hamilton, Lennoxtown and over Crow Road to Fintry then Callander, Lochearnhead, Crianlarich. You can use the A82 up the weatern side of Loch Lomond but its a VERY busy and quite narrow road, horrible to cycle.

Firstly, you can do the ride on pretty much ANY bike - it's been done on unicycles, penny farthings, a Boris Bike - it just depends on your particular requiements. I can see it's got space for mudguards, not sure if it's got rack mounts though?

You could of course go for some sort of bikepacking set up:
https://www.apidura.com/shop/
whcih I personally find infintely preferable to traditional panniers.

Gears should be fine, it's already got a compact chainset with a 12-30 cassette so for lightly loaded touring it should be fine but I guess that'll depend on if you're 70 and have dodgy knees or you're 20 and a former Junior road race champion...!

Don't get too wound up about kit. So long as it fits you, it's comfy and it works FOR YOU, it'll be fine. So many people get stuck on little things like does it need a 28T or 30T cassette or what bar tape should they use and the end answer is - does it work FOR YOU. Do YOU find it comfy. You're the one going to be riding it day in day out, it's no good me telling you that [x] gears are fine just because *I* can use them!

The riding bit is actually the easy part. People get really wound up about their training, the mileage, average speed etc they should be doing and (certainly at the more organised tour level) things like power, Strava, cadence and all the other assorted rubbish that seem to accompany a bike ride these days.

What will be the learning curve is the specific touring part. How to pack the tent, which panniers to have stocked with what, where you keep x, y and z. That's the tricky part - if you're anything like me the first time you unpack and put a tent up / take it down you'll be rummaging in 4 different bags looking for that little thing that you know you packed somewhere safe but is actually in a bag completely unrelated to the rest of the kit!

What I tend to do with touring is run with a basic plan of route, timings etc and then see where I end up. Booking.com is brilliant for last minute "OK, I'll be at [town] by [time], let's stay there". Call up booking.com, look through B&Bs/campsites, whatever, book and then turn up there a few hours later. Saves having a rigid plan which is then subject to external factors, delays and so on.

But yes, you can do it - the ride itself is pretty acheivable for anyone of basic fitness and a basically functional bike.

mnichols wrote:Thanks everyone for the advice and kind comments. It certainly was an experience

Have you recovered OK - did you find out what had caused the hand issue and the palpitations? Straight overexertion?
How long until you were back to normal?

And, most importantly, are you on speaking terms with your fellow riders yet?!

The RAB route into Okehampton comes in through Launceston and Lewdown, it misses Tavistock completely. Only the last 3 miles or so are on the A386.

I presume their plan for the 5-day "Ultra" challenge next year uses the same route although obviously with different stopping points. Reading through the info and talking to the guys involved it seems to be the plan that they'll set the 9-day riders off on the Saturday as usual and then on Wednesday, the 5-day group heads out. The idea being that everyone gets to JOG on the same day.

Be interesting to see how it pans out. Reading the OP's account of his 5-day ride on here was a bit of an eye-opener as to the things that can happen en route. I'd like to know if the three of them that rode it are still on speaking terms!