You will have a great time, and I reckon June is a great month to do it, with a balance of good weather and school holidays. A really good thing to hold onto, the first days are tougher than most of the others...if you can get level with Bridgewater you're going to get to JOG.sparnel wrote: ↑28 Jan 2024, 5:14pm Hi Puffin - been reading your posts and well done on getting your arrangements well to the fore.
Two of us are planning a June start from LE. Can I ask did you find accommodation easy to get on the route
you have planned? Perhaps we should firm up on some dates and get booked!
Here's what I do. I work out my daily mileage and then plan my routes using (in my case) ridewithgps
Then I sit at the computer with four pages open, booking.com, hotels.com. airb&B and the ridewithgps page for that day's route.
So first off, work out your daily routes. Then find accommodation on those sites as near as possible and in the right price rage. To make finding the best choice easier I initially pick an accommodation near where I want to finish, then use the "see on map" feature, this shows it and other ones near it with the prices. Usually you can reserve without payment which makes the process much easier.
My route is well trodden (ridden?) by me and I will happily share it as a suggestion but it may not suit your style or wishes. For example its quite hilly ,eg it goes through the high part of the Cairngorns, mostly little roads but with an a%%%hole stretch of a few miles on the A9 north of Inverness, and I average between 60 and 70 miles a day. with a couple of 80+ milers
Individual snippets of feedback from my route;
Cornwall and Devon were designed by a hill lover, don't be disheartened, it gets better and you inevitably get fitter. They are followed by the Somerset Levels...yea!
Try to build the Cheddar Gorge into your route.
Herefordshire and Shropshire are beautiful, Cheshire is flat. Lancashire gets hilly again but in a moment I'll tell you about a good descent.
After a few miles north of Teebay (which has big hills and descents before you get there) you climb a long hill, then turn left at the top onto miles and miles of essentially downhill roads.
Try to use the old Forth Bridge, as for a few moments you sometimes get it effectively to yourself which is amazing, you feel like you're in a post-apocalyptic Zombie film. My route takes me over the Severn, the Forth and the Inverness bridges.
My Cairngorns route has four big climbs, the first is from the Spittall of Glenshee and this takes you on the highest A Road in the UK. You then descend into Braemar followed by a generally downhill stretch till you hit the next climb, which is the shortest of the four. A few miles after you descend, there is an excellent coffee and cake shop on the right.
Then you hit the climb at Cock Bridge which starts with a very steep section, then opens out into an Alpine looking road which stretches ahead of you...get a photo. You descend (rapidly) into Tomintoul after which there is a shorter climb followed by a brilliant long descent towards Grantown on Spey.
Here's the weird thing, after Grantown there are very few big climbs left, perhaps the approach to Bonar Bridge but probably until you get to Bettyhill on the North Coast and even these are nothing to what you've encountered already.
Once you're in the Highlands (if you go that way, some use the coast road which I reckon is horrible) its all quite easy going, you'll make good time. If you go past Altnaharra don't continue North to Tongue, hang a right and follow the loch and subsequent river to Bettyhill. After Bettyhill there are a few steep climbs. Before Altnaharra is the famous Crask Inn, well worth a stop if it fits in, you book directly with them.
JOG itself looks remarkably like Land's End, though without the cliffs. There is a book to sign, ask around because its presence seems to move around. There will be no shortage of people who will take your photo by the pole, folks seem really happy for LEJOG'ers.
General points:
B&B's have breakfast times which can make it hard to get away early. I chuck a couple of powdered porridges in my bag and munch those if I need to miss breakfast and get away.
The biggest (and most easily avoided) threat is saddle sore, so get as much saddle time under your belt as you can, and this can be in short manageable chunks. Next, get some times on hills, I only have one big hill near me, so guess what? Yep, I do the most boring 5 X Circuit. Next, if ever you get really knackered...and you will...remember that a short break and some grub puts you back on course. Finally, remember you will get fitter as you go on the adventure.
Let us know how you get on.
