Unsupported LEJOG this summer!
Posted: 17 Jun 2011, 2:10pm
Well I’ve bitten the bullet and I’m going to do a completely unsupported LEJOG this summer. The only help I’m getting is from my friend Andy who wanted to do LEJOG on his motorbike and has insisted on shadowing me day by day – he’s also offered to carry all the heavy bike tools so that’s a relief. His own motorbike is over ten years old so he’s enlisted his mate Bob to drive behind him with his Transit van – any problems and it’s in with the motorbike and off to the nearest garage (I’ve made a mental note of the same being applied to my ten-year-old Dawes Galaxy!). Bob has offered to do the teas along the route from the back of the van so I will be able to share in that. Bob is apparently also handy with sandwich making so that’s lunch sorted each day. Bob’s Transit van I’m told is part of a garage fleet and he normally drives a flat bed car transporter – you know the one that the AA uses to reel them in on. He’s got his wife to drive that behind him so that if the Transit goes pear shaped, it’s onto the relay truck. Update: Bob’s wife has refused to come without their motorhome so it looks as though Andy’s wife is going to drive the relay truck and Bob’s wife will drive the motorhome and I’ve been offered a berth in it (it’s a six berth Hymer) so that’s accommodation sorted, as well as those early morning cuppas. Bob’s boss is also bringing the 44 ton lo-loader so basically if anything goes wrong with any of the vehicles (including my bike luckily) it’s straight onto the back of it. It’s going to be quite a convoy as they’ve agreed to go roughly at my pace (a whirling yellow light job I’m told), though the Hymer will go ahead and set up camp for the night. While writing this, I’ve had a call from Andy: he has been contacted by one of his army friends who want to do the ride with him – they are going to give us a proper military escort (so they say) all the way with two trucks and, wait for it, a lightweight Scorpion tank – apparently they're using it for recruitment along the way. I can just imagine all the two-way radios going as we proceed up the A38! Update: the military involvement has caused some problems – the tank won’t be allowed without some air cover so we are getting helicopters from Culdrose in Cornwall to cover us as far as the Lake District then RAF Lossiemouth will take over from there to John o'Groats. I told Andy that I wasn’t worried about a missile attack - I’m more worried about a puncture - but he said that it’s normal procedure. The only further development so far is that when I said I was worried about western Scotland (I was talking about the westerly winds and rain), he took it a bit further and it seems we now have the US Second Fleet covering that part of the Atlantic for us (was it really necessary?) as we head up through Scotland. However this has triggered (I’m a bit worried about using that word now) a problem in that some general or other has questioned my ability to keep up with the convoy. The net result is that my bike will go on the back of the Hymer and I’ll travel inside – I won’t be doing nothing though, I’ll be map reading. Anyway I’m going to start my training today. Whatever the weather.
