Return of the WIMPS

Specific board for this popular undertaking.
Jamesh
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by Jamesh »

philvantwo wrote: 25 Sep 2021, 8:38am I rode it both ways in a fortnight, best bit was getting back to penzance and seeing St. Michaels mount!
Was looking at a property in bude yesterday, the selling agents details said ' nearest train station Gunnislake 25miles' . Wow, Mick F and me could be neighbours!! :lol: :lol:
No your not buying a property in bude?!

We have a place up the coast in hartland.

We could be neighbours!

I'm scared of cycling there now!!! I only have my MTB down there so you won't recognise me!

Cheers James
Jamesh
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by Jamesh »

Mick F wrote: 25 Sep 2021, 6:27pm Spot on.

I've said many times on here, that after a LEJOG, what do you do then?
Camel hike back down south?
Most people in UK live in the south, so get the boring bit of the journey done first, and then enjoy the cycle south.
Get to LE and it's easy for friends and family to meet you.

Not that I'm decrying getting to JOG.
Maybe you're Scottish and your friends and family could get to JOG to meet you more easily.

Best thing, is to end up at the End which is nearer to home for you.

The Even Better thing, is to do the double. LEJOGLE or JOGLEJOG as after all, when you get to the END, you're sitting on the finest transport known to man .................... so ride it home! :D
Yeap lejogle for me!!!

Traveling before and after lejog was the most stressful 2 days!

I really don't mind either way! I think the Cornish hills are easier with fresh legs and Scotland is a joy to behold.

Cheers James
rareposter
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by rareposter »

Jamesh wrote: 25 Sep 2021, 7:54am Why jogle?

Unless you like headwinds!

Cheers James
I did LEJOG the other week (working on the Ride Across Britain event) and we had headwinds pretty much every day apart from the last half of Day 5 over Shap, through Penrith and onto Carlisle.

High pressure was just to the west of the UK so the clockwise air flow was bringing wind in from the NE. Basically out of Cornwall and Devon it was a solid headwind - not strong but enough to know it was there. As the high pressure moved eastwards, it briefly dragged in some air from the south, just enough to help us on the Shap - Carlisle section. Next day, low pressure had moved into the north and the anticlockwise airflow gave use a headwind from the NW. Just relentless, the whole ride. It was never gale force or anything and generally (apart from a couple of notable exceptions) the weather itself was fairly decent (the first 5 days was wall-to-wall sunshine and hot!) but that headwind barely let up.

We got a bit of respite on the last half of the final day where it was mostly a cross/tail wind along the north coast to JOG.

Sometimes weather systems move across the UK so rapidly that you can have a circular ride of all headwind! Somehow it never seems to be all tailwind...
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Mick F
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Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall

Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by Mick F »

Said this many times about this subject.

Weather systems come in from the SW generally, but weather systems have circular winds of course.
As they move across, the wind changes direction nationally.

Meanwhile, hills and valleys alter the wind direction and speeds.
Windy and chilly today up out of the valley, but calm and peaceful and mild down here ................. though lots of rain up there and down here. :shock:
Mick F. Cornwall
geocycle
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by geocycle »

Prevailing winds on average in the uk are from the south west, but there are local modifications due to topography and more importantly seasons. The most difficult time to predict is summer where winds are lighter and the southwest trend is not as strong.

Just for Mick, here are some wind roses from the SW!

https://www.southwest-environmental.co. ... ilton.html
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Mick F
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by Mick F »

Sorry, but that graph thingy "rose" doesn't tell the whole story at all.

It may do a couple of hundred feet up, or in a flat open area like RNAS Yeovilton airfield, but I can tell you for definite and from experience, that weather and wind directions vary depending on where you are and the topography.

Today for instance, and on Friday the week before last, the weather and the wind direction and speeds and the temperatures, were completely different to home, Callington, and Launceston.
That's just in the the last five or six days.

Don't get me onto the subject generally please! :wink:
Mick F. Cornwall
philvantwo
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by philvantwo »

I'm still using the 'Windy' app as recommended to me by the legendary Mick F, the wind direction is accurate about 90% of the time for me here in south staffs, the rainfall isn't so accurate though but if it looks like rain I don't go out!!
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Mick F
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by Mick F »

Windy.
https://www.windy.com/50.524/-4.216?202 ... ,m:e3naf17
Notice that tomorrow, the wind is from the NW.

Only a week or so back, we had easterlies for days on end.
Mick F. Cornwall
geocycle
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by geocycle »

Mick F wrote: 28 Sep 2021, 8:48am Windy.
https://www.windy.com/50.524/-4.216?202 ... ,m:e3naf17
Notice that tomorrow, the wind is from the NW.

Only a week or so back, we had easterlies for days on end.
Yes, the Atlantic depressions typically bring wind from the SW and then swing to the NW or N as they move away. In the winter these dominate much less so in summer where winds are lighter and less consistent. We can get weeks of easterlies if high pressure gets locked over the continent or strong northerlies from the Arctic but for the majority of the time the wind direction is the SW. You are correct that topography has a big role in some locations, eg the Pennines play a major role in blocking easterlies or flows can get deflected so places like Penrith often get southerlies rather than westerlies due to the Eden valley rain shadow.
puffin
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Joined: 15 Aug 2010, 3:29pm
Location: Bicester / Aylesbury

Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by puffin »

LEJOG vs JOGLE

I've done both ways and I can say they are both horrible. Really horrible. Exhaustingly really horrible.

Hope that helps.
Nickeveson
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Joined: 25 Nov 2014, 5:15pm

Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by Nickeveson »

Love this post by Puffin! It did make me chuckle. On my last day of Wimps lejog I made a promise to myself that this challenge was completed, I was an End to Ender so I would NEVER try and do it again.....but 3+ years later the painful bits are forgotten....and again I am riding it!
Oldjohnw
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by Oldjohnw »

Can someone tell me the appeal of it? The thought has not yet done anything for me.
Last edited by Oldjohnw on 29 Sep 2021, 1:22pm, edited 1 time in total.
John
Jamesh
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by Jamesh »

puffin wrote: 28 Sep 2021, 5:09pm LEJOG vs JOGLE

I've done both ways and I can say they are both horrible. Really horrible. Exhaustingly really horrible.

Hope that helps.
I did it in 8 days and really enjoyed it.
First real tour in 20years.

Ok there were aches and pains on the bike. A sore bum, a knee niggle etc.

Getting to/from lejog was the most stress full part followed by finding accommodation each night.

Weather was fantastic do that helped.

Would I do it again yes, in company, slower and see more of the sights.


Cheers James
philvantwo
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by philvantwo »

Did you sort your creaking push fit bottom bracket out in the end?
Ron
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Re: Return of the WIMPS

Post by Ron »

Oldjohnw wrote: 29 Sep 2021, 5:35amCan someone tell me the appeal of it? The thought has not yet done anything for me.
I only did it after a proposed tour of Cornwall and Devon did not live up to expectations and decided to cycle home safe in the knowledge that I could jump on a train to get home when I got tired. I got home under my own power and decided to carry on to JoG.
The thought of a LeJog had never appealed to me, mainly because I had imagined it would require more fitness and stamina than I could muster. After completion I realised I had sufficient fitness and with that knowledge came the confidence to undertake longer tours.
I wouldn't be interested in doing another End to End, but would still recommend it for anyone as a good starter and confidence builder for more adventurous cycle touring in countries more sympathetic to the needs of cyclists.
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