Jogle worst parts???

[Adders75]

Hi guys,

Will be doing jogle in July and was wondering what are the worst/ hardest parts of the journey???

Cheers
Andy

[Mick F]

Are you asking worst AND hardest or worst bits and the hardest bits as if they are separate?

I'll answer the latter.

Worst for me is a couple of days in when you begin to doubt yourself and worry about the distance. The traffic in cities I can cope with, the noise of the traffic I can cope with too, but it's the self-doubt that is worst.

Hardest for me is the long leg from Inverness to Pitlochry over the Grampians. 1,400ft over Slochd followed by 1,500ft over Drumochter. 90 miles of hard work. It's a terrific achievement to do it, but it's hard work when you're carrying all your own stuff.

[Deckie]

The worst moments were:
- coming down off Rannock Moor seeing a sign saying road closure with a 50 mile detour. We beat the closure by about 90 minutes, to say I was relieved was an understatement, my wife on the back of the tandem hadn't been aware of our impending doom...
- brake failure going down a 1 in 5 hill towards a T-Junction.

The hardest day was going round Bristol - I was running on empty as I hadn't eaten enough in the previous 36 hours, our route changed as we followed someone's suggestion (started wonderful & then felt like cycling up cliffs!). Joules ran out of steam later in the day & I don't think I've ever dug deeper to get us to our accommodation for that night.

[vernon]

The worst and hardest bits of the ride happen in the head.

Coping with split rims, broken frames and snapped spokes cause fewer problems than bouts of self doubt.

[rualexander]

Worst - making the mistake of trying to follow the cycle route through Bristol towards the Severn Bridge.
Hardest - the roller coaster ride through Cornwall and then getting through Caithness in extreme wind.

[JohnCKirk]

Worst - making the mistake of trying to follow the cycle route through Bristol towards the Severn Bridge.

Can you elaborate on that? I assume you mean NCN 4 (as part of LEJOG), and the CTC YHA route recommends using that from Easter Compton onwards, so I'm planning to do the same. However, I may go a different way if there are problems with it.

[Mike G]

Will be doing jogle in July and was wondering what are the worst/ hardest parts of the journey???
Andy

Other than Preston, you mean?

We had heard so much about Bristol that we decided to bypass it altogether, and pootled around in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire instead.........much nicer, and added barely 30 miles to the trip.

If you are properly prepared, then you will know what mileage you are capable of. Staying within your capabilities will eliminate some of the potential "worst bits". Hills aren't bad, even the most fearsome. You know there will be lots of hills, and that you have to get up them..........so you just get on and do them. Get into low gears early and plod on.............it isn't a race. One macho high-gear attempt at a hill early in the day can spoil the whole of the rest of your day.

For Jogglers, Devon and Cornwall will arrive when you are at your fittest, and unless you have really overdone your daily mileage you should just enjoy the beautiful scenery and barely notice the hills. One little nuisance for Jogglers would be the ride back from Land's End to Penzance, which is actually a reasonably tough little 11 miles, with one or two cracking hills.

No, Preston aside, the worst bits of the trip, in my view, are headwinds. There is nothing you can do about them, but they can be really sapping........particularly mentally, because you put a lot of effort in and get very little distance done in reward. Headwinds are of course far worse if they are blowing rain into your face.

One final thing. I can imagine that getting lost would be horrible. Doing pointless miles in the wrong direction would be a good way of wrecking your day, so get your navigation sorted out, and don't be afraid to stop and study your maps for a while, or even ask a local, if you are in doubt.

Mike

[edward1948]

hello

i did 'lejog' in june '10-solo unassisted-for charity.

i'm 62. i returned to cycling in 09 after a long absence.

hard bits? for me it was 'Berridale Brae'-steep and in the middle of a long day invergordon/jog into the wind, shap fell against the wind in a downpour was a bit 'naughty' too!

best bit? undoubtedly the climb out of Moffat and the subsequent delightful descent to tweedsmuir.

used my 'shorter', a pure road bike, 53/39 and 11/25. in retrospect i should have fitted a compact c/s.

no mechanical issues whatsoever-700c x 23 'gatorskins'. used ncn routes when practicable. not a missed gearchange, not a squeak from wheels, nothing-oh, i replaced my campag brake blocks(worn down due to rain/grit, useless really) in taunton (ian's bikes-great guy) with a brilliant replacement set-they're still fitted-only £19.99!

avoid a30 at all costs, and the a9 south of inverness. the ncn route over the grampians 7/77(?) is brilliant.

took me 12 easy(ish) days.

getting back from JoG can be a bit of a problem. I managed to get a lift to Inverness, got my bike boxed up by 'highland cycles' - lovely, lovely people, and hopped on easyjet to Luton - cheaper than the train!!

I've read so many blogs wherein people suffer all sorts of 'issues'-broken spokes/chains/cables-even frames!! what are they DOING? 1000 miles (i did 923) is, after all one mile x 1000. PREPARE YOUR BIKE, travel light, ENJOY YOURSELF!

Be quick, be safe. Good Luck!

[rualexander]

Worst - making the mistake of trying to follow the cycle route through Bristol towards the Severn Bridge.

Can you elaborate on that? I assume you mean NCN 4 (as part of LEJOG), and the CTC YHA route recommends using that from Easter Compton onwards, so I'm planning to do the same. However, I may go a different way if there are problems with it.

Yes it was NCN 4, getting in to Bristol on NCN 3 was fairly easy, but following NCN 4 out from the city centre was a pain in the neck. Usual story of no signs when you most need them, hopelessly convoluted route 'round the houses' and up steep backstreets, etc. Took us about two hours to cover around ten miles, which had we just followed the main roads would have taken half the time.

[ferrit worrier]

Worst - making the mistake of trying to follow the cycle route through Bristol towards the Severn Bridge.

Can you elaborate on that? I assume you mean NCN 4 (as part of LEJOG), and the CTC YHA route recommends using that from Easter Compton onwards, so I'm planning to do the same. However, I may go a different way if there are problems with it.

Yes it was NCN 4, getting in to Bristol on NCN 3 was fairly easy, but following NCN 4 out from the city centre was a pain in the neck. Usual story of no signs when you most need them, hopelessly convoluted route 'round the houses' and up steep backstreets, etc. Took us about two hours to cover around ten miles, which had we just followed the main roads would have taken half the time.

I was fortunate in that I had a suprise guide through Bristol. he was an end to ender who was staying at my overnight stop at a friends house, Martin volunteerd to guide me through Bristol, and very welcome it was we ducked and dived through housing estates this road that road, even foot paths next thing we were at the severn crossing amazing.

For me the worst part was at the end. that was it! done! I found it played havock? with my head, I was a jibbering idiot some would say "Nowt unusual there" the first couple of days are the hardest while you settle into the ride, once you learn to pace yourself and forget the 100's of miles in front of you you'll enjoy it. even now I look at a map of the UK and think, Hmmm? I rode all that way. The good parts are too many to mention but meeting up with other cyclists on the way is brilliant. I'm just in the stage of finalising my accomodation for a return trip. Home to LE and back via JOG ...... a double see I told you I was an idiot

Malc

[sedda]

Worst: Cycling through the Pentlands in heavy fog followed by a thunder storm in the borders. I was cycling alone and unassisted and live in Edinburgh so the fact that I was almost at home made giving up seem a real possibility and everything seem twice as tough. It had rained heavily every day since I left JOG and for the first few there had also been gale force winds (against me naturally) so really, I was exhausted. I couldn't see more than a few metres ahead and seemed to be on a HGV route so every few minutes great big lorries were passing me and I was fairly sure they couldn't see me until they were almost on me. By the time I got to my pre-booked (thank god I pre-booked or else I would probably only have done 20 miles that day) B and B my map (in it's water proof case) had got so wet it had disintegrated. Looking back, I think I hit 'the wall' where the whole thing seems impossible and in fact, bloody stupid. After that day, when I had a hot cuppa and a meal inside me, I knew I'd finish.

The hardest was around Consett. There are hundreds of little lanes and some weren't on the map I was using. Signing was not an issue as there weren't many and if there were they were to little hamlets also unmarked on my map. I relied heavily on the compass someone on this board had recommended so, who ever that was-thank you! The hard part wasn't the navigation but the silly hills. There were steep and short so, you'd struggle up one and immediately be going down just as steeply. It was impossible to get any sort of rhythm going and so frustrating, I like a long steady climb with a nice view at the top: to me that gives the whole struggle purpose.

Having said all that, the joy of getting to my destination each day relatively unscathed and then of finishing, (at a very foggy LE, so foggy I didn't know I'd got there 'till I was in the complex. Bad weather was an ongoing theme.) more than made up for any horrible or difficult moments.

[thirdcrank]

The worst and hardest bits of the ride happen in the head. ....

I find this applies to all distance cycling - a point I frequently make on here. It's not so much the problem bits as the anticipation of them.

The posting of this thread is a broad example of what I mean - asking about what to worry about. Half a dozen more posts and there'll be something to dread nearly every inch of the way. It's the recipe for magnifying the self doubts out of all proportion.

[Mick F]

Worst for me is a couple of days in when you begin to doubt yourself and worry about the distance. The traffic in cities I can cope with, the noise of the traffic I can cope with too, but it's the self-doubt that is worst.

[Adders75]

Thanks for the replies guys, lets hope we get some good weather, I dont mind the hills as I am doing all my training down here in Cornwall, the thing that is bothering me is the odd inconsiderate motorist, also out of 4 of us I am the only one that will be riding on a mountain bike so dont know if I will be able to keep up with the others who will be on road bikes well I cant afford to buy a road bike so I'm just going to do the best i can and eat loads of carbs.

[thirdcrank]

I can't help much with any concerns you have about traffic, except to say that inconsiderate drivers are not confined to a particular type of road or part of the country so I can't see you would be likely to meet them more often as you travel further afield.

I think the group riding thing needs a bit more thought than hoping it will be OK. Going off as a group on any sort of a cycling tour means being in the company of sevral others for quite a long time. Riding as a group can make distance riding much easier because the mutual support, chat, sharing the luggage, potential for shelter from the wind etc., can help the miles to slip by. OTOH, any disagreements, pet dislikes, and so on will tend to be magnified. It's possible to end up not talking. The best group will have shared goals (which you have in the End to End,) a shared plan for achieving them and broadly matched riding speed. If a group does not stick together, the benefits tend to disappear and the problems grow. The rider who is always tearing off up the road is as great a pain as the rider who is always off the back.

I suspect that the concern about the bike is just another of the self doubts mentioned above, which most people have and those who don't are just keeping quiet about. I'd expect that if you were fit enough for the ride you would be OK but the best way to get rid of these demons is by preparation. I'd suggest that as part of that preparation you need to do a couple of all day rides as a group to see how things go.