Actual cost of the ride

Specific board for this popular undertaking.
Lilyf
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Joined: 26 Feb 2016, 4:12pm

Re: Actual cost of the ride

Post by Lilyf »

I see a link has been posted, which shows the total cost of our LEJOG in 2016. We certainly didn't skimp on cafe stops and evening meals.

One tip I would like to add is regarding booking rooms in Travelodges.
Once you have booked your room via 'central booking' then ring the 'actual' Travelodge to request a ground floor room and say that you would like to take your bikes into the room. It's never been a problem for us but we made sure we had a couple of old rags to wipe down the bikes if they got wet - as I don't think they would be too happy if you left oily, black, marks on the carpets or walls. Fortunately we only needed to use the rags once.

Also, as mentioned in my 'linked post', we purchased bowls and spoons and carried cereal & milk. A breakfast pack in a Travelodge costs approx £5 and you don't get much for your money.
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Tigerbiten
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Joined: 29 Jun 2009, 6:49am

Re: Actual cost of the ride

Post by Tigerbiten »

PH wrote:If I wanted to devise a route that reduced accommodation costs, I'd get a map with the Travelodge and Premier Inns marked, I haven't tried but I'd imagine it would be possible to cover at least a third of the nights that way and the savings would run into hundreds. I've used seven in the last couple of years on group tours (Not E2Es), the average price has been around £30 for a room with plenty of space for two and bikes.

I did similar camping by using the main Camping and Caravan Club sites.
I know that each site will be sub £10 even in high season.
So I tend to pick a route so that the sites work out around 50 miles apart and then just meander my way around the country.

On my long tours around the UK (4-5 months) I know the accumulated discount given as a member per site will be more than the cost of the membership.
Henry741
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Joined: 31 May 2013, 12:04pm

Re: Actual cost of the ride

Post by Henry741 »

I did LEJOG with my Sister back in July 2013. 15 days B&B, Train Reading to Penzance & a lift home from JOG.
We shared a room at the B&Bs which kept the cost down.
It cost me £1100, including Train, B&Bs, food and drink along the way.
It did not include the equipment I purchased before I left, Garmin edge 800, Bike service £200 before I set off, Rack and panniers, water bottles.
So the Grand total would have been about £1500. So about £100 per day per person.
Also excluding loss of two weeks work (I am self employed) But you have got to live and enjoy your life.

Bottom line - Great experience and priceless memories of a great trip.
sultzer
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Joined: 15 Apr 2015, 8:39am

Re: Actual cost of the ride

Post by sultzer »

my jogle cost was around the £400 that is hired van , b&b , yha , camping as we did some wild camping to cut costs down , even food , that was may 2017.
I am a pure cheapskate at best of times , i did however purchase a tent £2 , panniers carrdice £1 from carboot sale .
mfpnl
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Joined: 20 Sep 2016, 1:00pm

Re: Actual cost of the ride

Post by mfpnl »

In response to your question NEvans, I assuming here that you're interested in ways of managing the costs of LEJOG as well as some indicative cost? Forgive me if this isn't the case - but I thought this would be a good topic for sharing some experiences.

My son and I finished our self-supported LEJOG a couple of weeks ago. Our overall route was a mashup of Sustrans and Cicerone. Roughly speaking, we used Sustrans in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, Cicerone in England and then back to Sustrans in Scotland.

In terms of cost, I'd agree with Rob that there can't be a definitive cost because there are so many variables involved - not least of which are duration, personal preferences, chosen route, time of year and so on. Overall, looking back on our experiences, I was reminded of just how cheap cycle touring can be - without even trying. Here are a few things that worked for us:

Although we've done a lot of cycle touring together, we didn't really know how far we could cover each day - so we didn't pre-book any accommodation or transport. Once on the ride, we settled into a simple routine. By late afternoon, we'd have a rough idea of how much we'd got left in our legs. We'd agree a target destination for our overnight stay (town/village etc). We then used the free Wikicamps smartphone app to search for the that location. Once we'd found something we fancied (we prefer small farm-based sites) we'd usually ring up to confirm the place was open and had space. Cheapest overnight was £2.50 each camping in the Trough of Bowland.

If we decided we needed a night indoors to dry out/avoid midges/sleep in a proper bed etc, we used hostels or bunkhouses. We chose hostels in preference to B&Bs because there's more contact with fellow travellers, they're cheaper and a bit less fussy. Although we're YHA members, we ended up staying in a few 'private' hostels which worked really well for us. Hostels usually worked out around £18 a night. Again, these show up on the Wikicamps app.

Finally on accommodation, we did need to stay in a Travelodge in Glasgow and a Premier Inn in Bolton. Again, we used their apps to book a room on the day. Although we weren't taking advantage of deals/offers, these places were not expensive (although I did use the Triage app to check for local deals). As Lilyf has says, places like Travelodge and Premier Inns are really helpful in managing bike storage.

In terms of food: Breakfast, coffee and cereal bars (we always carry Zlyss cafetiere style coffee mugs); for lunch, we became connoisuers of the 'meal deal'. A pasta salad or wrap, bottle of juice and a piece of flapjack for £3. Evening Meal: At lunchtime we also bought stuff in advance for our evening meal. Again, this never cost much. A packet of fresh pasta and a jar of pesto costs £4 and it's quick and simple to cook on a stove. We did eat out if there was somewhere close that we fancied. As MickF says, this was money we would have spent anyway - so really this isn't part of the cost of the trip.

I'd originally told my son that I'd be maintaining my 'no midweek drinking' rule. This was before I realised how important beer would be to my rehydration needs (and how good local beers have become). Best pint? 'Yellowhammer' Black Isle Breweries, Inverness.

In terms of transport costs, we hitched a lift to Lands End with my daughter who had a residential work event in Cornwall (this did get me thinking about whether you could use a 'ride sharing' website to manage some of the cost). Cost wise,I'd anticipated that getting back from John O'Groats would be the sting in the tale. In reality, with my Older Persons Railcard and my son's Young Persons Railcard it worked out very reasonably. I booked the tickets using the Trainline app the day before we travelled. We cycled down to Wick and put our Airminal bikes into their bags and got a slow train to Edinburgh. Cost £45pp. We had a night in Edinburgh and then got a train to Scunthorpe for a further £31pp.

Incidentally, you can see from account that we relied on having a smartphone - with signal and battery life. This is something I anticipated by investing £42 in a Velocharger device running off an SP dynamo. I just stuck it in my top bag and connected it to my phone. It kept my ageing iPhone charged for the whole trip. BT network coverage also worked surprisingly well - there were only a few places where we couldn't get a signal.

I hope this is helpful - and apologies again NEvans if this has strayed from your original post about the actual cost.


Mike
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TrevA
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Re: Actual cost of the ride

Post by TrevA »

One if the best parts of our JOGLE was being able to sample different real ales from different parts of the country. My best pint was Skye Breweries Red Cullin Ale, of which I had 3 or 4 pints at Bonar Bridge. We mostly ate out in pubs in the evenings.

If you really want to do it as cheaply as possible, then camping and self catering is the way to go.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
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NEvans
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Re: Actual cost of the ride

Post by NEvans »

mfpnl wrote:In response to your question NEvans, I assuming here that you're interested in ways of managing the costs of LEJOG as well as some indicative cost?


Hi Mike, yes it is getting a idea of both. First as you say the indicative cost in what we expect to have spent at the end of the ride. And also an upper limit, so we need to ensure we have sufficient funds at hand, reasons maybe couple of extra days, (due to change of route/distance or rest). Maybe cost of accommodation on the day, people may know of areas where there are limited choices making it more expensive.

I think an average of B&B \ Cheap hotels at £60 pn might be a bit hopeful with a higher rate of £80 - £100 for a Double room & breakfast a more realistic price.
Newton's first law; Large body mass and weight equals fast going down hill but slow going up,
So blame Newton not me when you're bored waiting at the top of the hill.
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NEvans
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Location: Wet and windy Woking

Re: Actual cost of the ride

Post by NEvans »

TrevA wrote:If you really want to do it as cheaply as possible, then camping and self catering is the way to go.


30 years ago I would fully have agreed with you, now if I can't afford a hot shower, a decent bed then I ain't doing it!
(As well as a decent meal and beer you mentioned).
Newton's first law; Large body mass and weight equals fast going down hill but slow going up,
So blame Newton not me when you're bored waiting at the top of the hill.
Ben@Forest
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Joined: 28 Jan 2013, 5:58pm

Re: Actual cost of the ride

Post by Ben@Forest »

I did JOGLE for pretty well bang on £1,000 in 2013. 13 nights - one of which was the night before starting in JOG and one was an extra night in Penzance - I'd built an emergency day into the trip just in case. I spent three nights in hostels, one in Scotland and two at the Penzance YHA, the rest were at B&Bs except one hotel. At Falmouth I paid £25.00 for B&B just turning up on the door but in Whitchurch I had to stay in a small hotel which was £75.00.

With B&Bs you tend to get more fuel for breakfast than the rather mean hostel breakfasts (tho of course at hostels you can prepare your own if you want to spend time doing it!). I ate a lot of ice cream at breaks or lunchtimes - cheap, lots of sugar , lots of fat. It was mainly a very warm ride tho. I ate two course meals in sit-down cheap restuarants/pubs every night - I think I had fish and chips three times! Very little beer - probably only 5 or 6 pints the whole trip.

I had a long journey from/to NE England by train but got ludicrously cheap tickets with the connivance of the staff at the station because I had separate tickets for separate parts of the journey without ever stopping (so to speak). I really can't remember what the cost of the section from Inverness to Wick was but told people about it for weeks afterward!
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TrevA
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Location: Nottingham

Re: Actual cost of the ride

Post by TrevA »

NEvans wrote:
TrevA wrote:If you really want to do it as cheaply as possible, then camping and self catering is the way to go.


30 years ago I would fully have agreed with you, now if I can't afford a hot shower, a decent bed then I ain't doing it!
(As well as a decent meal and beer you mentioned).


Yes, also nice to be able to wash your cycling clothes and have have fresh kit to put on in the morning. One way that we cut down costs on food during the day was to buy a Tesco or similar meal deal and eat that at lunch. Remarkable value at £3 for sandwiches, crisps and a drink. We would find a convenient bus shelter or bench and just sit and eat whilst admiring the view. We just used to buy water from petrol stations to keep us hydrated during the day and beer to rehydrate at night!
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
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