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by mill4six
5 Mar 2009, 8:06pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Lejog bike for £350?
Replies: 24
Views: 2727

Re: Lejog bike for £350?

I really hope a £300 front suspension aluminium MTB with a seat post mounted rack is ok cos that's what I'm taking. I've had it for 10 years, must have done thousands of miles without incident. Treated it to a new Deore groupset and wheels two years ago and wow! what a difference. I also have a secret weapon, "Specialised all condition pro" tyres, only 25mm wide, designed for your normal MTB rims but they run at 110psi. Now I can keep up with the roadies, no riding through treacle effect with my forks either, I just don't break my wrists if I hit a pot hole. Grip and stability is spot on too I can whizz down hills on slimy country lanes while my road going mates wobble nervously behind, to prove a point, one of them took a fall on a wet road this week, of course maybe I would have too but the bike feels superb. At £25 each though the tyres are not cheap and you need the narrowest 26" tubes with high pressure valves. I also had to beef up my rim tape as the pressure was forcing the tubes into the spoke holes! They are folding tyres so I can carry a spare but they are tricky to find 26" versions of in the shops so I ended up buying on the internet. My wrists would never tolerate dropped bars so the wide flat bars on my MTB are my personal choice. My last long distance trip was also on an MTB in the Pyrenees, that one did have some stability issues when unevenly loaded with camping gear coming down from the Port de Larreau at 45Mph but then I was being a bit stupid.
by mill4six
5 Mar 2009, 7:43pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Chafing!!!
Replies: 10
Views: 1304

Re: Chafing!!!

Good advice, I ditched the underwear a long time ago, the seams are in the wrong places, now I've got some sudocrem and fingers crossed I'll be ride fit by Sunday (40 miles).
by mill4six
4 Mar 2009, 8:29pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Chafing!!!
Replies: 10
Views: 1304

Chafing!!!

I normally do around 60 miles a week, now ramping up as I approach the start date. 100 miles last week and 90 so far this week. An occasional problem is becoming a real pain! Now I weigh 15 stone so you can imagine that....areas.....are a little prone to soreness after a long ride. One bit in particular about the size of a 5p is now raw and weeping. It's not the sort of place you can stick a plaster, talc is too dry, lanolin is too greasy, hot and sweaty so does anyone have a miracle cure? Please?? After 1000 miles it really isn't going to be that funny. Not for me anyway. Yes I have padded shorts and I'm happy with my saddle. :oops:
by mill4six
26 Feb 2009, 10:17pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Companions needed May!
Replies: 11
Views: 1526

pm probs

I'm sending PM's but they are not showing in my sent box, Pete did you get my reply? Simon.
by mill4six
24 Feb 2009, 7:53pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Carrying bikes on a car
Replies: 12
Views: 8324

I have a 4 bike carrier on my tow ball, very quick to fit and remove but they should really have called it a 3 bike carrier, You can get 4 on but you have to put each one on so that the handlebars are at alternating ends, even then I had to undo the bars and turn them on one bike to get them all on. The whole thing doesn't look strong enough but I've been to the continent and back without incident so I suppose it must be. It was pretty cheap too around forty quid off the internet. The bonus is you can still hitch a trailer and hang the bikes in the gap between so it's great for camping trips. Simon.
by mill4six
23 Feb 2009, 8:26pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Companions needed May!
Replies: 11
Views: 1526

Pete you have a PM
by mill4six
15 Feb 2009, 4:44pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: My hopes of doing LEJOG have been dashed....maybe?
Replies: 12
Views: 1614

Alan, I don't know if you saw my post but I'll reproduce a bit of it here..We are going in early May to take advantage of the bank holiday and we are only reasonably fit so there will be no heroics. An average speed of 13 miles an hour would be lovely but we will be content with 8 on the hard days. We expect to cover up to 80 miles a day preferring quieter roads and taking about 13 days for the trip. Accommodation will be youth hostel or B&B. We are a mixed sex, mixed age group and would welcome all comers. We will be raising money for the neonatal intensive care unit in Bath but you may have your own cause or none. We are experienced cyclists and have been out at weekends building up the distance. We live in and around Bath and would love to meet you if you are local but presumably could sort something out with more distant companions. We hope to pre-book our accomodation and return flights/trains so we will need a commitment fairly soon. We hope to have a spouse/spouses at the finish (JoG) who could ferry us to Inverness for the return.
If this interests you at all PM me and we'll sort something out. Good luck! Simon.
by mill4six
12 Feb 2009, 8:55pm
Forum: Lands End to John O'Groats
Topic: Companions needed May!
Replies: 11
Views: 1526

Companions needed May!

After an initial burst of enthusiasm our Lejog team has dwindled to a diehard core of three. We don't feel that it's viable unless we can boost our numbers. So the question is do you want to be in our gang/can we be in your gang???? We are going in early May to take advantage of the bank holiday and we are only reasonably fit so there will be no heroics. An average speed of 13 miles an hour would be lovely but we will be content with 8 on the hard days. We expect to cover up to 80 miles a day preferring quieter roads and taking about 13 days for the trip. Accommodation will be youth hostel or B&B. We are a mixed sex, mixed age group and would welcome all comers. We will be raising money for the neonatal intensive care unit in Bath but you may have your own cause or none. We are experienced cyclists and have been out at weekends building up the distance. We live in and around Bath and would love to meet you if you are local but presumably could sort something out with more distant companions. We hope to pre-book our accomodation and return flights/trains so we will need a commitment fairly soon. We hope to have a spouse/spouses at the finish (JoG) who could ferry us to Inverness for the return. This has been a dream of mine for a while and it's excruciating seeing the chance slipping away, Join us!!! Simon, Nr Bath.