LEJOG: would I enjoy it?

[1982john]

This is something that has been on my radar to do for some time. I like the idea of the challenge but how much of the time would I be cursing the amount of traffic?

I like the look of the WIMPS route but going solo would it be advisable as a lot of it is on 'a' roads. There is perhaps the Cicerone route but that could face the opposite problem being over convoluted.

[Tigerbiten]

Yes and no .......

Set realistic daily distances and get good weather and you'll probably be fine.
Push the distance on a fixed daily route in 10 days days of bad weather then not so much at the time.
But you can look back on it and say "I survived and did it" .......

You can help yourself by doing things like going early summer before the schools break up for summer, don't cycle in rush hour traffic, be will to alter your route depending on how you feel, etc, etc.

Luck ............

[althebike]

The more rural the route, the less pubs, b&b, cafes and garden centres to snack and sleep. A balance needs to be found, but it should be easy enough to route avoiding any long stretches of A road or too long in big towns. My ride spent half a day going through Edinburgh, but other than that it was a peaceful ride with just a few industrial parks to ruffle the quiet.

[1982john]

The more rural the route, the less pubs, b&b, cafes and garden centres to snack and sleep. A balance needs to be found, but it should be easy enough to route avoiding any long stretches of A road or too long in big towns. My ride spent half a day going through Edinburgh, but other than that it was a peaceful ride with just a few industrial parks to ruffle the quiet.

Don't suppose you have an outline of the route that I could compare it to the others?

[althebike]

My route was based on the UK Cycling b&b route , with some deviations to booked B&B and friends and so my actual route would not be very helpful .I have the route on ridewithgsp but it is in 25 mile segments , which would be a lot of links to post when you can just check the route from the cycling UK end to end pack.

[londoncommuter0000]

This is something that has been on my radar to do for some time. I like the idea of the challenge but how much of the time would I be cursing the amount of traffic?

I like the look of the WIMPS route but going solo would it be advisable as a lot of it is on 'a' roads. There is perhaps the Cicerone route but that could face the opposite problem being over convoluted.

I'd love to do it. But I am 51 and all too aware that there are a limited number of summers left to me.

[Tigerbiten]

This is something that has been on my radar to do for some time. I like the idea of the challenge but how much of the time would I be cursing the amount of traffic?

I like the look of the WIMPS route but going solo would it be advisable as a lot of it is on 'a' roads. There is perhaps the Cicerone route but that could face the opposite problem being over convoluted.

I'd love to do it. But I am 51 and all too aware that there are a limited number of summers left to me.

How many days are you thinking of taking to do the route ??
3 weeks works out to be roughly 50 miles per day.
But the more back roads you use, the longer and more lumpy the route tends to be.

Also are you thinking of camping or credit card touring.
Using a credit card to book rooms makes it easier to cover a good daily distance but at roughly 4x the cost.
If you are going to camp then try to stick to camping unless the weathers very bad.
Otherwise it's not worth carrying the extra weight.

My method of route finding is to link together sections of Sustrans routes that are going in my direction.
Once the Sustrans route starts to go somewhere silly then abandon it and aim for the next section.
By going somewhere silly I mean the likes of .....
..... using three sides of a square ....
... cut across a grass field ......
..... go up and down stairs ......
...... to avoid a short section of main road.
But as long as you've a good sat nav that you can plot your route into, then route finding can be fairly painless.

Luck .............

[londoncommuter0000]

This is something that has been on my radar to do for some time. I like the idea of the challenge but how much of the time would I be cursing the amount of traffic?

I like the look of the WIMPS route but going solo would it be advisable as a lot of it is on 'a' roads. There is perhaps the Cicerone route but that could face the opposite problem being over convoluted.

I'd love to do it. But I am 51 and all too aware that there are a limited number of summers left to me.

How many days are you thinking of taking to do the route ??
3 weeks works out to be roughly 50 miles per day.
But the more back roads you use, the longer and more lumpy the route tends to be.

Also are you thinking of camping or credit card touring.
Using a credit card to book rooms makes it easier to cover a good daily distance but at roughly 4x the cost.
If you are going to camp then try to stick to camping unless the weathers very bad.
Otherwise it's not worth carrying the extra weight.

My method of route finding is to link together sections of Sustrans routes that are going in my direction.
Once the Sustrans route starts to go somewhere silly then abandon it and aim for the next section.
By going somewhere silly I mean the likes of .....
..... using three sides of a square ....
... cut across a grass field ......
..... go up and down stairs ......
...... to avoid a short section of main road.
But as long as you've a good sat nav that you can plot your route into, then route finding can be fairly painless.

Luck .............

I'd probably do 45-50 miles a day.

But my comment was more in the vein of : that would be that year's annual leave blitzed.

If I'm lucky and if whatever deity is real shines upon me, I have 30 summers left. 1/30 of that to do a trip where I would not see my wife, and where she'd either be sitting at home or else doing her own solo holiday that year, isn't feasible.

It's a pity, I know. I'm missing out on what would be an epic jaunt. And I do not presume to judge anyone who chooses to do it. Respect to them.

This easter, we're cycling from Dunkirk to Bruges. And then next year, we're cycling from Bergen to Trondheim.

The year after that, we want to explore Japan by bike.

Happy days.

[F70100]

I'd love to do it. But I am 51 and all too aware that there are a limited number of summers left to me.

How many days are you thinking of taking to do the route ??
3 weeks works out to be roughly 50 miles per day.
But the more back roads you use, the longer and more lumpy the route tends to be.

Also are you thinking of camping or credit card touring.
Using a credit card to book rooms makes it easier to cover a good daily distance but at roughly 4x the cost.
If you are going to camp then try to stick to camping unless the weathers very bad.
Otherwise it's not worth carrying the extra weight.

My method of route finding is to link together sections of Sustrans routes that are going in my direction.
Once the Sustrans route starts to go somewhere silly then abandon it and aim for the next section.
By going somewhere silly I mean the likes of .....
..... using three sides of a square ....
... cut across a grass field ......
..... go up and down stairs ......
...... to avoid a short section of main road.
But as long as you've a good sat nav that you can plot your route into, then route finding can be fairly painless.

Luck .............

I'd probably do 45-50 miles a day.

But my comment was more in the vein of : that would be that year's annual leave blitzed.

If I'm lucky and if whatever deity is real shines upon me, I have 30 summers left. 1/30 of that to do a trip where I would not see my wife, and where she'd either be sitting at home or else doing her own solo holiday that year, isn't feasible.

It's a pity, I know. I'm missing out on what would be an epic jaunt. And I do not presume to judge anyone who chooses to do it. Respect to them.

This easter, we're cycling from Dunkirk to Bruges. And then next year, we're cycling from Bergen to Trondheim.

The year after that, we want to explore Japan by bike.

Happy days.

I wanted to do a Jogle; my wife, who doesn't cycle anyway, didn't want to miss the adventure so we used our small motorhome as accommodation - she drove campsite to campsite whilst I cycled. Might your wife drive a hired campervan/motorhome and do her own thing whilst you pedal?

Mrs F70100 hammered her National Trust Annual Membership card during the trip - I think she had a visit to something just about every day.

My route details (by no means a quick or short route) are in the video description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX8igF4rX-U&t=7s

[Gearoidmuar]

With Chris Ellison and the CTC.
2009, 2010, 2014 and 2017.
This is a well-organised tour with at this stage, all hotels. It takes 16 or 17 days cycling, averaging about 64m a day and climbing 4000ft a day, average.
It's hard and not for someone very overweight or unfit. It's not a race but the length and hilliness takes it out of you.

The route is mostly quiet and correspondingly hilly. Some bit are fabulous scenically and the company can be great.
I won't do it again. One of my knees is iffy (meniscus) so I wouldn't trust it and I am getting old. 69 now.
When I first did it I was 15.12 but have been 13.00 more or less since mind 2014. Lowcarb is my secret.

[Mick F]

Five times?

JOGLE 1994

LEJOG and Back in 2006

2008 ride from Inverness out to the west, then across to North Yorks, then across to Lancs, then through west Wales and central Wales, then down through Gloucester, Somerset, Devon and back to Cornwall. 1,500miles in three weeks.

JOGLE on a Raleigh Chopper in 2010

All of them done by myself carrying my own gear.

[Jamesh]

Any chance of getting unpaid leave?
Or doing overtime to get extra holiday?
Or doing it for charity and your work would agree to you doing it?
Or you have been there long enough to earn a sabbatical?
Or you get v bad flu for two weeks!!!

Just a thought!

[londoncommuter0000]

Any chance of getting unpaid leave?
Or doing overtime to get extra holiday?
Or doing it for charity and your work would agree to you doing it?
Or you have been there long enough to earn a sabbatical?
Or you get v bad flu for two weeks!!!

Just a thought!

My employer is pretty good (insofar as a capitalist entity can be 'good' in any way), but I don't think they'd let me sod off for three weeks to cycle end to end in Britain. A couple of days, sure. Maybe ... maybe a week. But three weeks? Nah. Never going to happen.

[charliepolecat]

These days if an employer reckons they can do without you for three weeks they will probably also recognise they can do without you entirely.

[1982john]

Any chance of getting unpaid leave?
Or doing overtime to get extra holiday?
Or doing it for charity and your work would agree to you doing it?
Or you have been there long enough to earn a sabbatical?
Or you get v bad flu for two weeks!!!

Just a thought!

I work in education so I can use the summer holidays. The downside is everything is 50% more expensive and the roads are very busy!