Le Jog newbie seeking route and accommodation advice

[okiefromculbokie]

Hello,

As the title of this post suggests I'm looking to undertake the fabled Le Jog for the first time (at some point next year) and looking for some help on a few things.

A bit of background-I have a road bike so will need to stick solely to the road. I'm looking at a 10 day option of Le Jog but willing to go as long as 14 if necessary. I want to avoid major busy roads (where possible) or at least stick to them for the shortest period time but also don't want to be following canal paths all the way. Accommodation wise I'm looking into the Youth Hostel/B & B option. Being from Scotland I should be OK getting places to stay there, so I would really be looking for places to stay in England.

From what I've seen online the 10 day option looks like busy or heavily trafficked roads are a necessity. Has anyone done this on a quieter route?
Similarly if a 10 day quiet option is unlikely are there any routes (specifically in England) that you would recommend? I would be looking to cycle between c70-c100 miles per day. Are there any routes/places I should avoid? i.e. I've seen Manchester and Glasgow as places to avoid (route wise). For when I reach Scotland I have seen routes that go either East or West. Does going either way add considerable distance? I would like to go via Edinburgh if at all possible.

For anyone who has done a B&B option what was the rough price of this? I'm looking to stay fairly budget but not camp (hats off to those that do, I would be far too tired to ever contemplate that).

Any help or advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

[PeterT]

I've seen Manchester and Glasgow as places to avoid

I did LEJOG last year with 3 others and rather than avoid Glasgow we cycled through it on a very well signposted cycleway. Hardly touched any roads at all and in fact it was one of the most enjoyable sections of the whole route. Stopped at a Motor museum for a coffee (free entry to the museum was worth a visit) before going onto a cafe in Alexandria for lunch before cycling along the length of Loch Lomond to Crainlarich.. again another cycleway so no traffic. The garmin route for this section is: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/15536462 .
We did it in 13 days, about 60/70 miles per day. We stayed in B and B and a couple of Premier Inns we more or less avoided main roads. If I was doing it again I would try to arrange the accommodation around premier Inns and Travel Lodges where possible, and book well in advance so you get the best prices. We also had a backup van (actually a camper van + driver) which was useful to carry some of our luggage and bike maintenance essentials. There are many routes for LEJOG so do your homework, meticulous planning to avoid any disasters.

[Ron]

(at some point next year)
Any help or advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Next year? You're overthinking this trip .
Do it in May, long daylight outwith the main tourist season so less pressure on B&B establishments giving more accommodation options.

[Tigerbiten]

I agree with PeterT.

If booked early enough, Travelodge rooms can be booked for around £30 a night.
I don't think you'll find cheaper than that.
Not to sure about Premier Inns, but should be somewhere close.
The downside is they tend to be on bigger roads/city centers.

Luck .......

[robgul]

http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk - loads of resources (and list your ride)

Rob

[nosmarbaj]

Next year? You're overthinking this trip .

+1. You're in the UK. Whatever your opinion of current political goings-on, it's a developed country in the 21stC, and nothing is likely to go seriously wrong. If you're worried, take a credit card (with a reasonable amount of credit on it) and a smartphone; these days most E-to-E cyclists will have both anyway.

Unless you feel you must plan every day's route before you start from LE, I personally think the advance-booked Travelodge idea is too inflexible. Book each night's accommodation, and/or maybe the next night's, using one of the many smartphone apps available - I tend to use booking.com but that's just what I'm used to.

Do it in May, long daylight outwith the main tourist season so less pressure on B&B establishments giving more accommodation options.

+1 to that also.

I agree with PeterT that there's no particular need to avoid cities, but getting through unfamiliar ones is something that may be worth taking some trouble in planning.

robgul's link, and past posts in this forum, will provide lots (and lots and lots...) of possible routes to modify to your own preferences.

[Tigerbiten]

If your on a tight budget then booking Travelodge well in advance could well drop the cost of accommodation by a bit.
As long as you don't overestimate the mileage that you can do day after day, then the only downside I can see is if you get a week of bad weather.

As for navigating out of a town/city, thats what a satnav is for, It's why I have my Garmin.
Once you plug your route in, getting out of town is as easy as getting in .......

[rareposter]

I did LEJOG last year with 3 others and rather than avoid Glasgow we cycled through it on a very well signposted cycleway. Hardly touched any roads at all and in fact it was one of the most enjoyable sections of the whole route.

Surprisingly, a lot of towns actually have some really quite good cycle routes / paths through them it's just that the majority of it is very poorly signposted and you do run the significant risk that it's impossible to determine what the path is like until you're actually on it.
Manchester for example has a decent network of old railway lines, canal towpaths, parkland routes etc but they vary wildly between quality tarmac, reasonable surfacing (compacted gravel, etc) and "unsurfaced" which usually translates to "mud".

Lancaster (a town on a lot of LEJOG routes) has a nice network of routes too, a lot of them tarmaced canal towpath but it's a fair chunk slower than just using the road. Depends what you're after from the journey - fastest route possible, most scenic, most practical.

A lot of the cycle routes, especially if it uses towpath, won't be near shops, cafes etc which can make them a bit less practical.

[okiefromculbokie]

Thank you all for the replies and advice, certainly lots to think about/plan .

@robgul thanks for the link, very useful.

It's good to know that the major cities are ok to navigate on the bike and I will certainly take on board the option to go in May where it can be quieter/cheaper. I have stayed in Premier Inns before and hear they are very bike friendly.

@rareposter would you say accommodation/amenities are better near busier routes?

[TrevA]

It's a few years since we did our Jogle now, but you might find reading my blog (and any others you can find) useful. We did it over 18 days averaging 60 miles a day, but you could easily shorten this to 14. A 10 day Lejog, you are looking at 90-100 miles a day, which is doable if you are fit enough. We used a few Travelodges (Crewe, Ludlow, Taunton, St Austell) but mostly stayed in B and Bs. We budgeted for 100 pounds a day for the 2 of us, which worked out about right.

Our route was JOG, Bettyhill (north coast of Scotland), Bonar Bridge, Loch Ness, Fort William, Rannoch Moor, Loch Lomond, Glasgow (on the riverside cyclepath), B7078/6 to Lockerbie and Gretna, Carlisle, Penrith, Lancaster, Warrington, Crewe, Ludlow, Ross on Wye, Chepstow, Bristol, Cheddar, Bridgewater, Taunton, Exeter, Okehampton, St Austell, Truro, Penzance, LE.