Janand Simon's LEJoG

Specific board for this popular undertaking.
A7 Simon
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Joined: 16 Apr 2018, 10:00pm

Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by A7 Simon »

Hello, everybody

I have enjoyed reading this kind of post whilst planning our ride, so here is my addition to the board.

We are 60-somethings, planning to be at Lands End on the 24th of May and John o' Groats on the 12th of June.

So, taking our time, avoiding A roads and hills wherever possible.

Staying in motels, B & Bs and hotels, not camping or hostelling.

The plan:

Day 1 Train to Penzance, bike taxi to LE, ride to Cambourne.

2 Cambourne to Lifton (just east of Launceston) a tough day, for us.

3 Lifton to Tiverton

4 Tiverton to Winscombe

5 Winscombe to Kidderminster

6 Kidderminster to Nantwich

7 Nantwich to Eccleston

8 Eccleston to Kendal

9 Kendal to Carlisle

10 Day off in Carlisle Roughly halfway

11 Carlisle to Moffatt

12 Moffatt to Whitburn

13 Whitburn to Perth

14 Perth to Blair Atholl

15 Blair Atholl to Carrbridge

16 Carrbridge to Tain

17 Tain to Altnaharra

18 Altnaharra to Castletown

19 Castletown to John o' Groats Bikes on a carrier, us on a day trip to Orkneys, then bus to Inverness

20 Fly to Bristol

Some of the sections dictated more by accommodation than distance or terrain.

Bikes (subject to change) a Dawes Galaxy from the 80's/90's and a Specialized Vita

Routes planned on Tracklogs, because I like OS maps and cannot follow the Google style wishy washy maps.

Routing input from Strava, CycleStreets, RideWithGPS, Plotaroute, etc., several of the usual books, Google Street View and Earth Satellite, this forum, and particular thanks to Mick F.

Simon
whoof
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by whoof »

Sounds like a really nice ride.

Out of interest is there something of particular interest in Camborne that you want to see?

The horses stood still
The wheels went around....

It's just that LE to Lifton is a little over 100 miles and by stopping in Camborne you're breaking it into two legs of ~ 25 miles and ~ 75 miles.
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Mick F
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by Mick F »

LE to Okehampton is 100miles-ish.
Lifton is nearer.
Small point! :wink:

Camborne to Lifton - route?

I would go Camborne A3047 and into Redruth town centre, and up past the station and out to Sorrier and cross over the A30 to Blackwater.
Then from there to Three Burrows and join the A30 - not nice, but ok.
Come off the A30 to go through Zelah and back on again, but come off for Fiddlers Green and St Newlyn East, then head for Gummows Shop and White Cross and the A39 by St Columb Major.
Follow A39 for Wadebridge. Go through the town if you want, but it's a climb coming back out after crossing the river, so you could stay on the A39 and cross over high up.
Follow the A39 through Camelford and turn off east (right) onto the A395 north of the town.
Go though Hallworthy and look for the left turn for Tresmeer and Egloskerry.
Keep on this road and come out in St Stephens at a T junction. Turn right and then left, then down the hill to the Spar shop and turn left.
Up a short bit of hill and first right.
T junction turn right and this will take you to the Old A30. Turn east (left) and keep going.
Lifton is the first village along.

I make that 64miles.
Screen Shot 2018-04-27 at 11.38.38.png


Good luck!
Mick F. Cornwall
A7 Simon
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Joined: 16 Apr 2018, 10:00pm

Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by A7 Simon »

Hi Whoof, Hi Mick F

Thanks for coming back on this.

The Cambourne stop: we wouldn't normally go anywhere in Cornwall over a Bank Holiday, but social committments stuck us with it.

I felt that, with the getting to our station, loading the bikes, changing trains, etc. we didn't want to do too many miles the first day but at least get the journey started. And the Premier Inn in Cambourne made it easy to get bike-usable accommodation the run up to a holiday weekend.

I would not have done so much (Cambourne to Lifton) the first full day, left to myself, but we want to stay with an old friend at Tiverton - which limits what you do over the next two days, and Jan had already started booking, and did not want to start unbooking it.

That day is well outside our riding comfort zone - if we make it through that we will be set up mentally at least for the rest of the ride.

Mick - I have taken your advice for that day from your previous posts, thanks.
The biggest change I have planned is going out from Wadebridge on to the B 3314, running parallel to the A 39. Looking at Google Earth, the '39 seems to be narrower north of Wadebridge - and we really hate A roads, anyway.
I was hoping you would comment on my post, so I can now ask your opinion on this, particularly since it will be the holiday weekend.
Fallback, if everything is busy, is on to the yellow roads to the south of the '39, with the penalty of more climbing - which we do not like, either, but prefer it to A roads!

Cheers,

Simon
bikeandbeer
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by bikeandbeer »

Hi - lots of people "hate A-roads". To avoid the20 unbroken A39 miles to Camelford you might prefer the B3266 option I discussed in "Alan 58 LEJOG setting off 6th May". I'm not flagging it up as "best" or "easiest" but IMHO it is a very pleasant alternative to the A39 for a small mileage increase and a little LESS elevation. Good luck with the tour !
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Mick F
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by Mick F »

Yes, I know that road well. Cycled it, and all round there.
The issue (to me at least) is that to get onto the B3266, you need to go off to the east to get north.
It adds mileage of course, but it's also a tiny bit hillier and much slower.

Here's two routes from Wadebridge to Camelford via BikeHike.UK.
Screen Shot 2018-04-30 at 11.49.48.png
Screen Shot 2018-04-30 at 11.49.04.png
Mick F. Cornwall
bikeandbeer
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by bikeandbeer »

I make my B3266 suggestion within the context of you prioritising "taking our time, avoiding A roads" and to join it at Whitecross, not via an unnecessary A39 dogleg via Wadebridge. The Camel rail trail north from Nanstallon is a particularly pleasant - and easily rideable - section of this route.
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Mick F
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by Mick F »

From Zelah, you can take the back roads to Mitchell - you even get away from Carlands Cross! - and go on the Old A30 over Goss Moor Victoria and then to Bodmin on the Old Coach Road.
Screen Shot 2018-04-30 at 13.28.18.png
Mick F. Cornwall
whoof
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by whoof »

A7 Simon wrote:Hi Whoof,Thanks for coming back on this.

The Cambourne stop: we wouldn't normally go anywhere in Cornwall over a Bank Holiday, but social committments stuck us with it.

I felt that, with the getting to our station, loading the bikes, changing trains, etc. we didn't want to do too many miles the first day but at least get the journey started. And the Premier Inn in Cambourne made it easy to get bike-usable accommodation the run up to a holiday weekend.


Cheers,

Simon


I think most places are worth stopping in for a Premier Inn breakfast. The PI in Camborne is relatively new and is at what used to be the turn on the local 10 mile time-trial coarse.
There's also a Wetherspoon The John Francis Basset opposite Aldi.
A7 Simon
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Joined: 16 Apr 2018, 10:00pm

Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by A7 Simon »

Thank you all for getting back to me.

I thought I had the Cornwall section sorted, but plenty of food for thought there.

I will be back in a day or two.

It would be so much easier if I was one of those who just pick an obvious route and just go....but I like maps and the knowledge they give of our varied country.

I also like to know the "what ifs" of a route. With variations due to time of day and holidays, etc.

We have twice done 100 mile rides out of London, straight down the A roads until about half way.

Lovely and quiet because we started at 4 am on June mornings.

Cheers

Simon
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matt2matt2002
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by matt2matt2002 »

Bus with bikes from JoG to Inverness?
Some bus companies only take bikes wrapped.
Aberdeen to Inverness is ok - unwrapped
Fort William to Inverness, not.

No experience of JoG to Inverness.
2017 Ethiopia.5 weeks.
2018 Marrakech 2 weeks.
2023 Thailand 8 weeks.
Always on a Thorn Raven/Rohloff hub.
A7 Simon
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Joined: 16 Apr 2018, 10:00pm

Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by A7 Simon »

Apologies if not clear: the bikes are collected by a courier company from J o'G.

We go by bus to Inverness, and catch a plane the next morning.

Simon
A7 Simon
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by A7 Simon »

Having looked at the suggestions, I now have two possible routes:

The northerly one, which takes the B 3314 out of Wadebridge, Tracklog figures 70.2 miles, 5034 feet

the southerly one, an combination of inputs from Mick F, bikeandbeer, and myself, which goes to Bodmin and up the B 3266, Tracklog figures 70.3, 4951

Decisions, decisions....this isn't the only day I have major choices.

If the Garmin will take them, I will load the lot in and pick one on the day.

Simon
A7 Simon
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by A7 Simon »

12 hours to go before we get on the train to Penzance.
It has been such hard work to get to this point.

I am geeky about maps and route details, so the heaviest item of kit is the back-up paper copies - I haven't had time to post them to the accommodations in sequence. I expect the whole lot will get binned about half way through Day 3.

We are travelling reasonably light, a change of cycling clothes, wet weather gear, and a top and trousers for the time not on the bikes.

Training rather went to pot, because Jan came off her bike about three weeks ago and took all the skin off one knee, so we only did two rides of 55 miles back to back over this last weekend. We had done several long rides before that, so not the end of the world.

As expected ( Murphy's law), because of the high pressure stalled over the country, the prevailing winds in Cornwall are North Easterly.
Just what we didn't want.

Cheers

Simon
A7 Simon
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Re: Janand Simon's LEJoG

Post by A7 Simon »

Day 1 done and dusted. All went well. Detour through St Buryan made a really good start, just the kind of road we like.
Bit of A30 then sea wall track out of Penzance.
Route 3 to Hayle then old A30 to Camborne.
Hayle in the evening rush hour a bit busy.
A day we enjoyed.
Credits to Anytime Taxis for getting us from the train to LE and Premier Inn for a family room to have our bikes in with us.
Tomorrow is our big day...... :)
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