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Lands end to John o groats
| Neely-Hayes | 11 Apr 04:23 |
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Joined: 11 Apr 2012 Posts: 2 Bike: | Hello, I am new to this forum. I am looking for some advice for pre LEJOG training. We are planning to cycle it aug 2013 so I am thinking I have plenty of time to get saddle fit. We are currently doing rides 30miles per day and during our holidays (teachers) we do longer rides 50-70miles. During a normal week we go to the gym 3-4 times and with the brighter evenings we will be fitting in more week riding!! My main thing I want to get right is what I am doing in the gym! If anyone has any good gym exercise plans that support cycling that would be a great help, also how to build up cycling over a long period of time! We are looking to do LEJOG independently, we are based in Bedford so if anyone is keen to also get involved, more the merrier. We have two charities to raise money for!! Will be keen to hear people's advice and suggestions! Many thanks Donna |
| petenlinid | 23 Apr 06:22 |
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Joined: 23 Apr 2012 Posts: 1 Bike: | Hi Donna, looks like you are taking on a commendable challenge. I am e 71 years old Englishman, who has been in Australia since 1970 and shall be returning home for the first time in the not to distant future to do a number of things including the same trip that you plan. I have been a bike rider for sixty years. I have also undertaken numerous other other athletic activities. In my experience the best training for any of them, assuming one has access to actually undertaking them on a regular basis, say 5 days a week is to do the activity itself. Bicycle riding lends itself magnificently to this process. With the exception of the inane function of training on rollers or one of those cycling machines, both of which have little value to condition you for what you propose to do, you must ride the road, again and again. If you can ride off road e.g. MTB you should. It will take you beyond the simplicities of mere road riding and will not only improve your technical skills but will make you physically and mentally tough. Well that's what I think and you know what the say "there's no fool like an old fool". Good luck with your venture, who knows, we may pass, I plan to go the other way JOGLE. Salutations Peter Dixon Mildura AUSTRALIA |
dawes-rider 
| 17 May 17:06 |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2011 Posts: 38 Bike: My Profile | hi donna good luck with the training, when we did LE-JOG we tried to put in as many miles in training as we planed to do on the tour(1200) if you want a copy of the route we took i'd be happy to send you a copy. the route took us mainly on side roads trying to avoid busy roads as much as we could but still only done 1120 miles in 16 days are you doing it unsupported (carrying your own kit) we camped and had a great time on route. the kit weighed 21kg but when you consider the amount of useless stuff we took & ended up posting back, some days it was even heavyer as we cramed in our evening meals suplies & the two bottles of red wine that fits nicely in your water bottle cage, had some strange looks as we arrived on the campsites they thought we were French. we now have a kit list with what we consider to be the least we can take & still look ok to enter the pub at night( not wearing your cycling kit) met some great people on the way, like the girl in the petrol station who offered her car to pick up bike parts after mate was knocked off, to the couple who did't look like they had two pennies to rub together who when we told them we were riding for a spina bifida charity along with two others rushed to give us a £10 chacque! once again if you want to look at the route we took (you will need to read it on a good road map or the 30 OS maps we took with us)or any advice then get in touch. clivebeach@yahoo.co.uk good luck and most of all enjoy. |
| My Latest Route: May 2013 Newark Route 64 | |
| chellebelle | 10 Jun 13:00 |
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Joined: 10 Jun 2012 Posts: 1 Bike: | Donna (andClive I think!), I have just decided to attempt LEJOG next summer in celebration of my 50th year on the planet along with my husband, brother sister, son and possibly other friends. We plan to take 15 days on small roads where possible with my Mum and Dad and daughter as support in their camper! Clive your route would be much appreciated if available?? At the moment the best one found is Pewsley et al...it seems to fit our adventure the best. I plan to hone my bike repair skills before then as long trips completed have all been supported by mechanics... I simply stood at the side of the road and waited like a damsel in distress until help arrived. Hope to raise funds for local hospice here in Jersey and in my home county of Shropshire.....training is always interesting as once around Jersey is 36 miles! Any advice or suggestions welcome, Michelle |
| Wuffy | 10 Jun 13:27 |
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Joined: 10 Jun 2012 Posts: 1 Bike: | Hi Donna. Just browsing the internet as my partner and I also plan to take on a similar type of challenge after both coming out of a messy divorce and want to do something constructive. Samantha and I are both keen amateurs but due to the rain we are having, we tend to do quite a lot of spinning at home in an effort to get some miles under our belts. I note the very wise comments from the gentleman from Australia and I think he has hit the nail on the head in that there is no substitute for experience! If you are looking for another couple to join you on your venture then please bear us in mind. Sam has quite a demanding job and I am a self employed accident investigator so we both need to knuckle down and step up with the training around our work commitments. That said I suspect a vast majority of people are in the same boat as us! I hope you don't mind if we "look over your shoulder" so to speak, to see what advice is given about training and so forth so we can take it on board too. Sam and I live in Essex. Too near Lakeside shopping centre for my bank accounts liking so you are not too far away from us in the great scheme of things. We would like to hear back from you should consider us viable!! Kind regards Nigel & Sam Nigel@gla.co (not .com or .co.uk - just .co) |
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rustyspoke
| 11 Jun 02:31 |
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Joined: 28 Aug 2011 Posts: 244 Bike: My Profile | Look on web at CTC Web pages British Cycling and the end to end web pages. I have done this JOE TO LE and there are numerous post on here about it. I have offerd advice on here about it as well just do the homework no pun intended there. Key word on this PLANNING plan for everything and if your going supported get a good back up crew and make feel part of the ride as well and have meetings to talk about the plans. We thought we had covered everything but we still had things crop up that we had not planned for but still got there. Good Luck. |
| Swiss | 09 Jul 07:58 |
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Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 4 Bike: | Donna As with all great challenges in life, alittle preparation goes along way. We completed the JOGLE (Top to Bottom) last June, and with none of us really doing a great deal of cyclig before hand. I can firmly say you definetly do it the LEJOG way as the Winds can be an issue. We had a head wind from 3-20mph for 9 out of 10 days (not funny) and rain for 8 of the days, in varying forms (If you've seen Forrest Gump you will understand). As stated we covered the 1000 miles in 10 days with distances ranging from 80-120 miles with hills etc playing their part in the distance decisions. The answer is Saddle time and the right shorts with padding - we prepared 6 months out by starting to up the levels of distance and altitude. Ensure your bike is set up right and the skinniest puncture proof tyres are on the bike. The others have already stated minmise the things you NEED. Weekend training - 1st month we moved from 30- 50 miles regularly at weekend on the flat, picking up the pace as we move through the month 2nd month introduced some serious hill work through out the month 1 hill in 30-40 finishing the month on 3-4 hills in 50 3rd month went back to flat work for the 1st 2 weeks then with hills introduced in the latter part but we were now up to 60-70 miles 4th month 70 milers with hills 1 through to 4 in the month 5th and 6 th month we moved into distance moving upto 80-90 miles in month 5 and doing our first 100 miler in month 6 - with the last 2 weeks of the prep before the event being quiet 30-40 miles just to let the legs turn. Daily - If you can get out for 10-30 miles just to keep the legs turning just do it. Food - We all started on top bar tri bags full of chocolate and mini eggs, and thinking we were out for a bit of a boys jolly and a laugh - by month 2 we realised this was alittle more serious when the hills came into play. Look into SIS Berry Hydration powders (Stops cramp), and energy powders to mix with water, both are light to carry and you can pick water up as you go. On the ride we were eating full breakfasts followed by porridge (with berries, nuts, syrup, and pretty much anything else we could shovel in), and after 3 days we stopped eating healthy and just ate what ever was available and not nailed down. We all still lost weight - the hills, the wind, the weight of your stuff (particulalry when wet), the friction from tyre choice will all play a part. But even through all that I have to say it was a FANTASTIC experience, and I would not have missed it for the world - all the people we met along the way who were doing it going both ways, and every single one was loving it - SO ENJOY!!!!! |
