LEJOG - safest route

Specific board for this popular undertaking.
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shy147
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Joined: 18 Mar 2013, 9:43pm

LEJOG - safest route

Post by shy147 »

Hi guys,

New to the forums.

Myself and two friends from work will be undertaking this challenge hopefully end of August or the first few weeks of September to raise money for numerous charities.

The plan will be do achieve it within 10-12 days - planning and training all start now.

During my research I have come across some very sad and worrying articles featuring the deaths of riders throughout recent years.

The team and I want to bypass as many busy roads as possible, mainly because we are not in a rush to complete the route, and also because none of us are serious cyclists like many of you here on the forum so busy A roads are a concern!

I was hoping some of you could spare 5-10 minutes and help us plan the safest route possible?

I know this could be a big ask as it isn't simply sitting down for 5 minutes drawing lines on a map and we understand safe doesn't always mean flat!

Any help/tips/advice appreciated.

Cheers!

Shy
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robgul
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Re: LEJOG - safest route

Post by robgul »

Standard reply : www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk has stacks of resources and even ready to ride routes.

I have no evidence but I would suggest that the statistic for deaths riding the E2E* is rather lower than the deaths that occur just by riding a bike, when measured on a "deaths per mile basis"

Rob
Cycle E2E webmaster

* I doubt that there is information available/recorded that is so specific.
E2E http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk
HoECC http://www.heartofenglandcyclingclub.org.uk
Cytech accredited mechanic . . . and woodworker
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Mick F
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Re: LEJOG - safest route

Post by Mick F »

Safest usually means quieter and away from traffic ......... or as much as possible.

10 to 12 days is not conducive to the above. It's hard enough to do an End2End in 10days on normal roads, let alone trying to find quiet roads.
Mick F. Cornwall
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robgul
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Re: LEJOG - safest route

Post by robgul »

Mick F wrote: > snip

10 to 12 days is not conducive to the above. It's hard enough to do an End2End in 10days on normal roads, let alone trying to find quiet roads.


Indeed the two statements "10 or 12 days" and "not in a rush" don't quite work together .. a realistic mostly quiet roads route would be fairly comfortable in 14 days (no mention is made of supported/unsupported ... that makes a difference)

Rob
E2E http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk
HoECC http://www.heartofenglandcyclingclub.org.uk
Cytech accredited mechanic . . . and woodworker
tuftyrowlands
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Joined: 18 Jul 2011, 1:54pm

Re: LEJOG - safest route

Post by tuftyrowlands »

Our experience was that quiet roads/lanes tended to be quite windy and potholed. This isn't so bad going uphill but when you get a downhill, you can't get any speed up because the surface isn't up to it and you can't really see far enough ahead. We also concluded that 'A' road doesn't necessarily mean dangerous! We initially followed the CTC quiet route but eventually bought a book of road maps and followed that. Having said that, dual carriageways aren't much fun, they're fast and there's always the danger that you'll be hit by someone fiddling with a phone at 70mph and not paying attention. We kept off them! But as for A roads - it depends on the road and you make a judgement at the time.
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