How to Ride LE to JOG

[Mick F]

There's a DVD out.
(I know I'm in it, but that isn't the point of my post!)
It's a good explanation of how to do the ride. Route suggestions, physio and fitness, diet and food, bikes and equipment.

Buy the DVD and some of the money goes to charity:
The Newbury & District Cancer Care Trust and 20% of the sale price of each DVD sold will also be donated to the trust.
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=24034&start=0
http://www.jollygoodtv.co.uk/lejog.html
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lands-End-John- ... 422&sr=1-1



LAND'S END TO JOHN O'GROATS
A Cyclist's Guide

The story of a cycle ride from Land's End to John O'Groats - the route, what to eat, how to prepare and what to take.
2 people, 7 days, 872 miles, a total ascent of 37,620 ft, 51,344 calories and no punctures.
Following two cyclists on the UK's longest journey and passing through hundreds of miles of Britain, we see sun and rain, hills and valleys, towns and countryside and the highs and lows as we make our way across the country in seven days of cycling in all conditions.
We hear from experts about route planning, diet & nutrition, training & exercise and bike preparation.
The two cyclists - Simon Tillyer and Trevor Howard talk through their own preparation and make daily video diaries.
There are route details and elevation cross sections for each day as well as useful facts about the journey.
This is an excellent guide for anyone who is considering making the trip themselves.
Simon rode to raise money for a charity - The Newbury & District Cancer Care Trust and 20% of the sale price of each DVD sold will also be donated to the trust.

Running time: 1hr 46mins
Format: PAL DVD 16:9 - Region 0
Certification: Exempt

It's a professional and refreshing view without being full of acronyms and jargon, and to me it felt like it was being aimed at Anybody and not just Hardened Cyclists.

[Gearoidmuar]

Seven days.
124 miles a day on this terrain?
Shouldn't this be posted on the Cycling Torture Club's Website rather than on the CTC's website?

This is how NOT to do such a trip.

[Mick F]

This is how NOT to do such a trip.

Why not?

If you wanted to ride LE to JOG in seven days, how would YOU do it?

[RobM]

Seven days.
124 miles a day on this terrain?
Shouldn't this be posted on the Cycling Torture Club's Website rather than on the CTC's website?

This is how NOT to do such a trip.

It really doesn't matter how many miles they covered in one day and i say fair play to them, I've spoken to Simon quite a few times and found him nothing but helpful always willing to offer advice for my pending trip.

They have gathered all the information required from what to eat to what to take, no-one has to follow their plan, after all LeJOG or JOGLE is how you want to plan it how you want to see Britain, but like many we come on this broad including myself, we come to speak to those that have done it and are willing to give advice for free,

I say Good luck and well done and i hope the DVD is a great success

[pwillis]

Just ordered the DVD and can't wait for it to arrive.

I find the comment criticising this as being in thr wrong forum ridiculous... as someone else has posted, each lejog is a personal adventure and you design it yourself... but information such as this DVD and numerous posts on this forum are invaluable whether you are planning to do it in 1 week or 1 month!

[Si]

Seven days.
124 miles a day on this terrain?
Shouldn't this be posted on the Cycling Torture Club's Website rather than on the CTC's website?

This is how NOT to do such a trip.

Thing is, if you show someone how to ride it in three weeks and they then try to do it in seven days they'll suffer mightily and may not finish. If, on the other hand, you show someone how to do it in seven days and then they decide to do it in three weeks they ought have little problem.

Different people want different things from the ride. I'd prefer to take three weeks, others would prefer one week - showing people how to do the toughest option will help everyone, showing how to do the easier option will only help some.

[2Tubs]

Different people want different things from the ride.

How true.

Sheila’s Wheelers are planning an E2E next year. This time it’s a holiday, not a fund raising event.

With a man down the team is down to just 3 of us. But we can’t agree on how to do it.

One of the guys wants a 7 to 10 day JOGLE while I and the other guy want a tour, we want to soak in a bit of the countryside and sights as well as pass the time with a few strangers we meet along the way. With holiday with the missus at the end of the ride, I’m looking at a 15 to 17 day JOGLE.

A 7 to 10 day JOGLE is entirely possible for us all but it then becomes a test rather than something to be savoured.

Perhaps we could do it twice, a tour and then later an endurance event pushing a sub week E2E?

Gazza

[wheneverican]

I thought I’d just input a few lines from the horse’s mouth regarding the 7 day / A road issue as I’d hate this fact to put off potential viewers who may be considering watching the DVD.

Firstly I think we are agreed that everyone’s LEJOG is different, very few are the same and most have great personal motivation behind them from testing yourself to raising money for a charity.

I am new to road cycling/touring and at the end of 2008 and had never cycled more than 20 miles on a bike not alone contending with main A roads, city centers and a 900 mile cycle – all of which filled me with self doubt and intrepidation

For me the trip was a combination of:
*Showing first hand to my children that anyone can achieve what they want with determination
*Raising money for a charity close to our family
*And finally (and this was not apparent until I had invested in numerous books on LEJOG) to create a reference that answered all the questions I had been asking myself. Nothing against the books available and they did further inspire me but also left quite a few questions unanswered.

I’m a great believer in a picture speaks a 1000 words so a DVD should hopefully speak many more!

It must be said that this DVD is not two cyclists preaching what to do and how to do it! It is about 2 normal chaps who seek advice from experts (route / bike prep / diet / physio) leading up to the trip and also give personal accounts of their experiences on route, how they are dealing with the roads, the pains and other notable route facts.

Graham, the cameraman, did not spend all his time filming two blokes on bikes (not very interesting!) he went ahead and off track to film towns and routes that end to enders may like to visit or go via so although the film shows us on main roads it does show many other parts of the countryside. It has to be said that he has done a cracking job.

On the note of countryside there may be a misconception that A roads mean bleak landscape. From my experience we took in some awesome sights along the way and the scenery was great. Yes I know it could be better but we did have two or three days of mist, fog and rain where if we had chosen a particularly picturesque route we wouldn’t have seen anything anyway - the British weather eh!

For our aims the goal was to get to JOG in the most direct way whilst avoiding as many of the main roads as possible. Mick spends a lot of time on the film explaining the pro’s and con’s of a number of routes and also tracks and minor roads running parallel to the main roads that are very easy to miss.

I’m not super fit and I think proved that you don’t have to be, our prep was just about right and we took onboard most of the advice given to us by the experts that freely gave up their time to contribute to the film.

I only wanted to spend a week away from the family and my goal was to return to them in one piece with a pot of cash for the charity as quickly as possible. Without the help of the expert advice, now available on the DVD, the whole experience would have been a lot harder and certainly not so enjoyable.

Hopefully this goes a little way to explaining our trip and dismissing any thought that it was torture - we had an absolutely terrific time.

Best wishes
Simon

[Gearoidmuar]

A Roads are main roads with lots of traffic.

There is an international statistic which shows that per mile cycled, cyclists are 6 times as likely to be killed on a main road as on a minor road.

I avoid main roads where possible, as do my friends.

[toontra]

There is an international statistic which shows that per mile cycled, cyclists are 6 times as likely to be killed on a main road as on a minor road.

Do you have a link to that statistic please? I'm interested in the figures - I commute on the A1 every day, regularly use the A4 from London to Bath and completed a LEJoG on A roads. I must be a suicidal maniac!

[ferrit worrier]

There is an international statistic which shows that per mile cycled, cyclists are 6 times as likely to be killed on a main road as on a minor road.

Do you have a link to that statistic please? I'm interested in the figures - I commute on the A1 every day, regularly use the A4 from London to Bath and completed a LEJoG on A roads. I must be a suicidal maniac!

Me too , A6 A34 A560, A 523 Stockport to Macc down the silk road, brill!!!!+ LEJoG on A roads

Malc

[Mick F]

A Roads are main roads with lots of traffic.

Not necessarily.

There is an international statistic which shows that per mile cycled, cyclists are 6 times as likely to be killed on a main road as on a minor road.

Let's see it please!

I avoid main roads where possible, as do my friends.

Great. I'm happy for you all.
I don't 'avoid' them per se, but I never find any problem with them.
Perhaps you and your friends have different main roads that I'm familiar with.

Me too BTW:
A30, A38, A49, A6, A7, A90, A9, A99 .......
...... on more than one occasion.

[Gearoidmuar]

I read a long article 15 or so years ago, brimming with statistics which quoted that. I cannot find it so I can't reproduce it, but its point was that it's a function of much more traffic. Most cyclists who are killed are hit by cars. I've noted down the years that the majority I hear of have indeed been killed on main roads.
Trying to find something on the net is not as easy as it appears. I was trying to find a solution to a computer programming problem and the IT department at work could not help. I spent the guts of eight or nine hours on line trying to find what I knew someone must have done before, before I hit it.
If anyone finds it let me know.

[amaferanga]

I thought (something I read several years ago that I can't find now ) that more cyclists were killed by left turning traffic, particularly lorries and buses, in towns and cities than are killed on rural A-roads.

[boink]

I ride 16 miles of A road three times a week, because the alternatives are pretty horrible and I haven't had a problem yet.
A roads are clearly more direct, generally well maintained, but do unfortunately also cater to motorists travelling at 60+. Gerardmuir might not be able to find the article mentioned, but its pretty obvious that he has a point about deaths and the downside of A roads. The number of cyclists dying on our roads every year is a national disgrace. The DVD sounds great by the way!