10 day LEJOG
10 day LEJOG
I'm not able to do my usual European tour this year so instead I am going to do LEJOG for the second time, and really looking forward to it.
I leave on Friday. I did it in 14 days as a group ride after failing it solo due to knee problems. Hopefully that's all behind me now as I've done many long tours since. But I realIse 10 days will be tough. Staying at BnBs and hostels (all booked), taking the road bike with small rear panniers only.
I'm going to be using tech for the navigation, using the excellent Wahoo Bolt with the Komoot app. I'll have my phone of course for backup. My route is LE, Okehampton, Cheddar, Leominster, Chester, Arnside (Lancaster), Tushielaw (Selkirk), Perth, Kingussie near Aviemore, Golspie, Thurso (via JOG). You can select either touring or road bike on Komoot and it adjusts the route accordingly. I've used the road bike setting. I'd be grateful for any route advice, particularly through the southwest. It looks a bit 'A30' heavy through Cornwall but does deviate south of Bodmin and then just north of Liskeard.
Other difference this time is going up eastern Scotland via Edinburgh and Aviemore for a change, fewer midges this side
https://www.komoot.com/tour/34686599
You may have to register with Komoot to view the route, so no worries if you don't.
I leave on Friday. I did it in 14 days as a group ride after failing it solo due to knee problems. Hopefully that's all behind me now as I've done many long tours since. But I realIse 10 days will be tough. Staying at BnBs and hostels (all booked), taking the road bike with small rear panniers only.
I'm going to be using tech for the navigation, using the excellent Wahoo Bolt with the Komoot app. I'll have my phone of course for backup. My route is LE, Okehampton, Cheddar, Leominster, Chester, Arnside (Lancaster), Tushielaw (Selkirk), Perth, Kingussie near Aviemore, Golspie, Thurso (via JOG). You can select either touring or road bike on Komoot and it adjusts the route accordingly. I've used the road bike setting. I'd be grateful for any route advice, particularly through the southwest. It looks a bit 'A30' heavy through Cornwall but does deviate south of Bodmin and then just north of Liskeard.
Other difference this time is going up eastern Scotland via Edinburgh and Aviemore for a change, fewer midges this side
https://www.komoot.com/tour/34686599
You may have to register with Komoot to view the route, so no worries if you don't.
Last edited by robing on 13 Jun 2018, 5:22pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 10 day LEJOG
My off-date is early in September and I still have yet to book anything - air flight, accommodations, rental car, etc.
I'm really behind on all of this and I suspect it is as much to do with a reluctance to make the effort to actually get to the start - what with arranging flights, packing up the bike, and so on - as to actually doing the ride itself, so good luck, hope it all works out well for you.
Charlie.
I'm really behind on all of this and I suspect it is as much to do with a reluctance to make the effort to actually get to the start - what with arranging flights, packing up the bike, and so on - as to actually doing the ride itself, so good luck, hope it all works out well for you.
Charlie.
Re: 10 day LEJOG
I booked trains, no packing up the bike! It was fairly last minute so had to get on with it.
Accommodation was all quite straightforward, half hostels and half BnBs. Feeling pretty good,
I'm fitter than when I last did it and a good stone lighter, so fingers crossed!
Good luck with your ride. Have you got a route planned?
Accommodation was all quite straightforward, half hostels and half BnBs. Feeling pretty good,
I'm fitter than when I last did it and a good stone lighter, so fingers crossed!
Good luck with your ride. Have you got a route planned?
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Re: 10 day LEJOG
I'll do the Cicerone route - mainly because I really can't see any point looking at other routes until I've done it at least once and can comprehend the benefits of one route over another. Besides, I like the challenge of reaching a hill and going up it rather than working out before hand how to avoid it.
The other thing about booking accommodation en-route is I really don't want to commit to a particular time schedule. If I do book each night in advance I am then committed to that location, whereas I prefer the freedom to decide as the day progresses. For this reason I am very tempted to take a bivy and wild camp - although admittedly, wet weather could make that choice much more unpleasant.
The other thing about booking accommodation en-route is I really don't want to commit to a particular time schedule. If I do book each night in advance I am then committed to that location, whereas I prefer the freedom to decide as the day progresses. For this reason I am very tempted to take a bivy and wild camp - although admittedly, wet weather could make that choice much more unpleasant.
Re: 10 day LEJOG
Presumably you're doing JOGLE then and flying up to Inverness to start?
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Re: 10 day LEJOG
No LEJOG. Flying into Heathrow, then renting a car for the one way drive down to Penzance. At the other end, cycling back to Inverness (or finding some other means of transport) and renting a car to drive back to Heathrow.
I had planned to take the Paddington Express from Heathrow and then the train down to Penzance but in every case the question of having space on the trains for the bike was so much of a question that I decided to forget the trains and rent a car.
I had planned to take the Paddington Express from Heathrow and then the train down to Penzance but in every case the question of having space on the trains for the bike was so much of a question that I decided to forget the trains and rent a car.
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Re: 10 day LEJOG
By the way, and just for a 'Gosh', I have just finished a 40 mile ride and now at 4:00 PM the temperature has just hit 100 degrees.
It is bloody hot and over the 2 1/2 hours for the ride, I lost 2 1/2 pints of fluid. At these temperatures it is impossible to take in enough fluid not to drag if not to actually bonk. I am so looking forward to cooler temperatures for my LEJOG.
It is bloody hot and over the 2 1/2 hours for the ride, I lost 2 1/2 pints of fluid. At these temperatures it is impossible to take in enough fluid not to drag if not to actually bonk. I am so looking forward to cooler temperatures for my LEJOG.
Re: 10 day LEJOG
Best wishes for your ride.
I have tried a dozen trains from Kings cross on the overnight sleeper and the bike was the problem each time. So I think a phone call is on order and get the rail people to find me the space.
I have tried a dozen trains from Kings cross on the overnight sleeper and the bike was the problem each time. So I think a phone call is on order and get the rail people to find me the space.
Re: 10 day LEJOG
10 day lejog completed
It was tough but very enjoyable. I particularly liked the route up through the Scottish Borders which I hadn't been to before. Weather was good, a couple of showers in the beginning, but then dry and increasingly warm from Lancashire. Not so lucky with the wind though, pretty much against me from Chester.
Navigation with the wahoo bolt and Komoot app was flawless and didn't let me down once. Great at getting through Bristol and Edinburgh.
It was tough but very enjoyable. I particularly liked the route up through the Scottish Borders which I hadn't been to before. Weather was good, a couple of showers in the beginning, but then dry and increasingly warm from Lancashire. Not so lucky with the wind though, pretty much against me from Chester.
Navigation with the wahoo bolt and Komoot app was flawless and didn't let me down once. Great at getting through Bristol and Edinburgh.
Re: 10 day LEJOG
Good stuff!
Yes, the weather has been nice but there's also been a nagging NE wind and looks set to stay that way for a few days more (otherwise I'd have been having a stab at a 4-day). It gets to you after a while when doing straight-line routes.
Glad you found the Bolt up to the task. The long battery life and low weight are ideal for such rides. I love mine!
Yes, the weather has been nice but there's also been a nagging NE wind and looks set to stay that way for a few days more (otherwise I'd have been having a stab at a 4-day). It gets to you after a while when doing straight-line routes.
Glad you found the Bolt up to the task. The long battery life and low weight are ideal for such rides. I love mine!
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Re: 10 day LEJOG
charliepolecat wrote:By the way, and just for a 'Gosh', I have just finished a 40 mile ride and now at 4:00 PM the temperature has just hit 100 degrees.
It is bloody hot and over the 2 1/2 hours for the ride, I lost 2 1/2 pints of fluid. At these temperatures it is impossible to take in enough fluid not to drag if not to actually bonk. I am so looking forward to cooler temperatures for my LEJOG.
Be careful indeed - I got heatstroke after a long (long) day in the W Highlands, of all places.