American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation?

Specific board for this popular undertaking.
tbessie
Posts: 186
Joined: 10 May 2014, 3:27am

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by tbessie »

puffin wrote:If you're going in May I can lend you a Dawes Vantage (I'm 5ft 11) or at a push my 1990's Galaxy. We live about 20 miles from Oxford so not near either start line. The Vantage has done LEJOG once and the Galaxy three times so they are broken in.


Wow, all these nice offers! Great bunch of kind and helpful people 'round here! :-)

I decided to spend the money and ordered a Surly Long Haul Trucker, which I'm going to have S&S couplers put on, buy one of their overpriced cases that let you check it as regular luggage, and go from there. I could have had the Bruce Gordon chopped up like that without spending money on a new bike, but the thought terrifies me (I know it's been done before, though, as I've seen a few examples online).

So I'm set for the bike; now I just have to learn how to set up an S&S coupled bike. But it also means I needn't worry about this any other time in the future, which is nice.

I might buy racks for it in the UK, and leave THOSE there, as they do add to the bulk and wouldn't fit in the bike case.

- Tim
puffin
Posts: 559
Joined: 15 Aug 2010, 3:29pm
Location: Bicester / Aylesbury

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by puffin »

As a student I worked at Boston Logan airport as a groundhandler and we treated bikes well.... I even bought one and brought it back with me. I would be happy putting a bike on a plane, the ground handling agents get stick from the airlines if there are complaints.
tbessie
Posts: 186
Joined: 10 May 2014, 3:27am

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by tbessie »

puffin wrote:As a student I worked at Boston Logan airport as a groundhandler and we treated bikes well.... I even bought one and brought it back with me. I would be happy putting a bike on a plane, the ground handling agents get stick from the airlines if there are complaints.


That's good to hear; but I've also heard the opposite, so you can understand why I might be a bit concerned about it.

In any case, the route I chose to go, with the S&S-coupled bike in a hard case, I think will make me feel more relaxed about things. :-)

- Tim
irc
Posts: 5192
Joined: 3 Dec 2008, 2:22pm
Location: glasgow

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by irc »

puffin wrote:As a student I worked at Boston Logan airport as a groundhandler and we treated bikes well.... .


I was once airside at Prestwick airport and watched luggage handlers dropping cases 10 feet to the ground from the top of a flatbed truck. Not a jot of concern for damage to them.
Vorpal
Moderator
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Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by Vorpal »

I posted this story on here before...

Once when I landed at a city ariport, I was sent to the 'special baggage' area to collect my bike. The special baggage area had a good view over a baggage handling section where the (non-special) baggage was being unloaded from the little trucks, and loaded onto the conveyor belts to be taken to their waiting passengers. What I observed was...

Three workers took a couple of bags each off the trucks and tossed them onto the belts. They then took a step back and repeated the toss. Then, they had to move to get more bags, but still tossed form a step further away form the belt. And the next time was a step further. You get the idea. If I remember correctly, it was about 7 or 8 paces back before someone missed the belt. At this point, cigarettes exchanged hands and disappeared into pockets. The process began anew with the next load to arrive.

This was some years ago. And maybe wouldn't be permitted by the H&S folks today. OTOH, what do bored and poorly paid workers do with our bags and bikes when we aren't watching?
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
LindaB
Posts: 70
Joined: 17 Jun 2013, 8:41pm

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by LindaB »

As an American (Davis, California) who rode LEJOG in June 2014 with 3 others, we found taking our bikes (packed in boxes, as always) to be a fine choice. Admittedly they arrived in London a day late (due to runway work at San Francisco airport which put us on a different flight than our luggage). For us, there's nothing like riding the bicycle you're used to! Check my blog at crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG. Happy to talk to you about your trip! We did lots of sightseeing on the way - about 1100 miles. This forum was extremely helpful in planning our route and offering advice! It's a trip I still think about often. We're planning Paris to Amsterdam for 2016 - hope it's equally satisfying!
Samuel D
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Location: Paris
Contact:

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by Samuel D »

tbessie wrote:but in general France was extremely good to me as far as finding many alternate ways to go to the same place, with very good signage.

Do you find the the UK is similar? Eg, on a route like this:

map1.jpg


I found many crossroads with a zillion signs in every direction, like this (not a great example, but you get the idea):

route.jpg

Yes. If anything, the signposting in the UK is better than in France. It is when you get lost in or around big cities that things get tricky. For that reason, I would take a GPS with moving map (but I have a terrible sense of direction).
puffin
Posts: 559
Joined: 15 Aug 2010, 3:29pm
Location: Bicester / Aylesbury

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by puffin »

I keep thinking about going to Europe instead but I'm put off by all the faffing around to convert the bike to go on the right.
tbessie
Posts: 186
Joined: 10 May 2014, 3:27am

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by tbessie »

LindaB wrote:As an American (Davis, California) who rode LEJOG in June 2014 with 3 others, we found taking our bikes (packed in boxes, as always) to be a fine choice. Admittedly they arrived in London a day late (due to runway work at San Francisco airport which put us on a different flight than our luggage). For us, there's nothing like riding the bicycle you're used to! Check my blog at crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG. Happy to talk to you about your trip! We did lots of sightseeing on the way - about 1100 miles. This forum was extremely helpful in planning our route and offering advice! It's a trip I still think about often. We're planning Paris to Amsterdam for 2016 - hope it's equally satisfying!


Thanks for the link to your trip - I'll definitely read it!

Sure, I'd be interested in talking to you about your experiences - phone, email, PM or forum best for you? My own experiences in touring are reasonably limited - two week-long credit-card-touring trips in France; a two-week fully-loaded tour (mostly camping, some hotels) from Astoria, OR back to San Francisco; and San Francisco to Washington, DC as part of a fundraiser in 1996 (that's what initially got me interested in doing more, tho' it took a very long time before I started doing it again).

- Tim
Lilyf
Posts: 85
Joined: 26 Feb 2016, 4:12pm

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by Lilyf »

Just read LindaB's write up of their LEJOG and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Hope mine and hubby's forthcoming trip is just as good (but without any 'mechanicals' or tumbles!).
LindaB
Posts: 70
Joined: 17 Jun 2013, 8:41pm

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by LindaB »

Hi Tim -
Don't have anything to add on your bike choice, but as a "neighbor" (I'm in Davis, California) who, with 3 others, rode a wonderful LEJOG in June 2014, felt I should tell you how wonderful an experience we found it! The help from the generous people on this forum was invaluable. If you search for my posts, you'll see lots of questions! My blog with links to our route maps is at crazyguyonabike.com/doc/2014LEJOG. Happy to help with any other questions, if I can.
Linda
michaelacope
Posts: 9
Joined: 6 Feb 2007, 3:13pm

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by michaelacope »

Hi Tim
I'm just starting peperation with a friend for my second LEJOG later in the year. You will have a great time !
I don't know where you are with your own bike for the trip, but I posted an advert in the For Sale section of the Forum, which might be worth a look at. The bike is a Ridgeback World Tour, done less than 100 miles, IMMACULATE, priced £360. If the size is OK, it's ready to go !!
"Mud, Sweat and Gears" by Ellie Bennett is an amusing account of LEJOG based largely round riding and visiting pubs.
In any event, good luck and keep posting....
Mike
tbessie
Posts: 186
Joined: 10 May 2014, 3:27am

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by tbessie »

michaelacope wrote:Hi Tim
I'm just starting peperation with a friend for my second LEJOG later in the year. You will have a great time !
I don't know where you are with your own bike for the trip, but I posted an advert in the For Sale section of the Forum, which might be worth a look at. The bike is a Ridgeback World Tour, done less than 100 miles, IMMACULATE, priced £360. If the size is OK, it's ready to go !!
"Mud, Sweat and Gears" by Ellie Bennett is an amusing account of LEJOG based largely round riding and visiting pubs.
In any event, good luck and keep posting....
Mike


Thanks for the tips! I'll check out that book!

As for the bike - I bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker here, had my local bike shop remove all the parts, sent it to a well-respected local frame-builder to have S&S Couplers put on it, and now it's at a paint shop being repainted (a luxury that wasn't strictly necessary, but it'll be nice :-) ). Then I'll return it to the bike shop and they'll put it back together, with couplers for the cables, etc. I bought an S&S case, so everything will go nicely in that.

We'll see how it all works out; I've never flown with a bike before, never assembled/disassembled a coupled bike.

- Tim
hilloverthehill
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Joined: 9 May 2016, 11:14am
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Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by hilloverthehill »

Hi I did a JOGLE in November, camping most of the time but taking refuge in B&B etc after particularly bad soakings. Folk generally say you can't wild camp in England, but I had half a dozen nights of stealth camping alongside canals, woods and fields with no problem. No shower either though! I'm not sure what kind of route you're looking at, but I tried to do as much as possible either off-road or on wee backroads. I was taken out by a tractor on an A road a couple of years ago, so have developed an allergy to busy roads! My blog's on http://hilloverthehill.blogspot.co.uk if you want to have a look. It took 23 days, and almost 2 Everests of climbing, so I was as fit as a butcher's dog by the end! Have a great ride!
tbessie
Posts: 186
Joined: 10 May 2014, 3:27am

Re: American wants to do LEJOG - equipment and accommodation

Post by tbessie »

hilloverthehill wrote:Hi I did a JOGLE in November, camping most of the time but taking refuge in B&B etc after particularly bad soakings. Folk generally say you can't wild camp in England, but I had half a dozen nights of stealth camping alongside canals, woods and fields with no problem. No shower either though! I'm not sure what kind of route you're looking at, but I tried to do as much as possible either off-road or on wee backroads. I was taken out by a tractor on an A road a couple of years ago, so have developed an allergy to busy roads! My blog's on http://hilloverthehill.blogspot.co.uk if you want to have a look. It took 23 days, and almost 2 Everests of climbing, so I was as fit as a butcher's dog by the end! Have a great ride!


Just how fit *is* a butcher's dog? ;-)

- Tim
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