How fit do you need to be to do LeJog
- Thread starter jdrussell
- Start date
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Cush
Veteran
- Location
- North Cumbria but still a Geordie
Hello Junior. When I did the LEJOG five years ago I was doing a lot less mileage per week than you + I had never realy ridden any thing longer than thirty miles BUT I was walk fitt and a regular gym user and I had spent the winter on as many weekend runs as possable. I did find it tough at times and at the end my backside felt the same as it when I was first caught smoking. So plann well and go for it.
cool, the name's Jon by the way
Dave Davenport
Guru
- Location
- Hampshire
It really depends on how long you want to take doing it.
Quite so.
I've not done it, but folk i know have done it in 8/9 days = for the super fit only and others in 3 weeks = possible for fit leisure riders
AlanW
Guru
- Location
- Not to sure?
It also depending on your route option as well. I have just done it in eight days, straight up the centre of the UK and God was it hard!! 66,478 feet of climbing and 933 miles, speaks for its self really
However, if you go the normal way and up the West coast, its only about 44'000 feet of climbing.
Leading up to the ride I had been riding around 300 miles per week, but it didn't seem to make the trip any easier!
The most important thing as far as I am concerned now that I have done it is that you must have the will to do.
Dayvo
just passin' through
- Location
- 59° 50′ 5.55″ N, 10° 47′ 41.89″ E
In a nutshell, you'll quite quickly ride yourself into fitness!
As long as you are used to your saddle and have a fair amount of miles in your legs, then 60-80+ miles a day (depending on terrain and weather conditions) shouldn't be beyond your reach.
It is important (to help aid recovery) that you are able to sleep well, and that you have access to showers each day after a long ride.
Also, you'll need to eat and drink sensibly to fuel your body for the duration of the ride.
Good luck!
As long as you are used to your saddle and have a fair amount of miles in your legs, then 60-80+ miles a day (depending on terrain and weather conditions) shouldn't be beyond your reach.
It is important (to help aid recovery) that you are able to sleep well, and that you have access to showers each day after a long ride.
Also, you'll need to eat and drink sensibly to fuel your body for the duration of the ride.
Good luck!
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
I didnt find any problem going from regular weekend rides of 40-60 miles (and no commute) straight in to riding average 50 miles/day over a 20 day JoGLE - in fact by the end I was wishing we could have upped the mileage considerably, but our accomodation was set in stone.
Going LeJOG - plan to start with a few gentle days (50 mile max ?) because as you will no doubt have read, Cornwall & Devon are hillier than Scotland ! Therafter you will probably be able to wind your mileage up to 80+ per day with little extra effort, as Dayvo says - you'll ride yourself fit.
Going LeJOG - plan to start with a few gentle days (50 mile max ?) because as you will no doubt have read, Cornwall & Devon are hillier than Scotland ! Therafter you will probably be able to wind your mileage up to 80+ per day with little extra effort, as Dayvo says - you'll ride yourself fit.
Thanks for all the advice guys. For the people who have done it, did you do it unsupported ? Or did you have a support car with you ? Also, booking accommodation, did you do that on the fly ? Or book in advance and make sure you hit your targets ?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Cush
Veteran
- Location
- North Cumbria but still a Geordie
Because of Bank Holidays (it was in May) I booked some in advance but took a chance on other days but I did book seats and bike on the trains back home and it was just as well I did as the trains from Inverness & Edinburgh had a full quota of bikes on board, all booked in advance.
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
Unsupported, used the train to get to the start. By around 14.00 each day I would be thinking about which town I might stop that night and found a bed with the assistance of the local tourist information offices who charge a small fee, but it saves a lot of time searching. Sometimes I found a B&B myself. I did LEJOG outwith the peak tourist season, so accommodation may have been easier to find.
when did you do it ?
robbiep
Über Member
- Location
- Bournemouth
Hi Jon
2 of us have just finished (Thursday) a 9 dayer, 881 miles in total, pretty direct.
We went unsupported but carried very little, staying in B & B's along the way. I had a max weight of 3.5kg's.
I'll pop the route and B & B's on soon and had them all pre booked. Our shortest day was 75 and our longest 122 (got lost after the Forth Rd Bridge - in torrential rain!!)
I started cycling in mid April and just before I left I had accumulated 2500 training miles, the lad I went with did less but did better 'quality' training, he worked on power and speed sessions when I did distance. By the time I left I had done back to back 100's with weight which I found served me well on the challenge.
As others have said it really depends on the number of days you plan to complete it in. If say 9 was your target the first few days will be challenging but you definately settle into a pattern and your body becomes accustomed to the mileage. By the time I got to JOG I felt as if I could turn round and go back down, your body adapts amazingly well.
Eat lots drink more (water!!) and keep the pedals turning, sounds simple but there will be times when you'll feel low but grind on. We went LEJOG instead of JOGLE for the prevailing winds, we set off from LE into a 20mph headwind which persisted for 3 days
and the riding was really tough.
'User3143' has said before 'keep your head together going through Cornwall and Devon and you'll certainly finish' this is the best advice to heed, I thought about it lots when ploughing through the headwinds!!
After Devon the riding is much more sedate up to Ludlow through Chepstow, nice riding and you can make good progress.
We did not find any hills that worried us at all, we actually got to Penrith waiting for Shap when we had already been over it
It seems to have attained legendary status but it really was nothing (sorry if this sounds arrogant) but that's what we found.
By far the hardest point was reaching the climb up to Bristol Airport after circa 88 miles in the hot sun, that was murder! Dropping into rush hour traffic a little 'bonked' made life pretty difficult.
Scotland no problem either not as bad as Cornwall by any stretch, lots to look at to keep the mind occupied. Cornwall is tough due to the relentless nature of the hills, they're not 'big' but they come at regular intervals, if you stop at Okehampton you miss the mother of climbs after you've done around 100 as you turn off the A30 just before it.
Really, set your training up depending on the length of the challenge and go for it - oh and pray for good weather, we had 1 day (122 miles from Edinburgh to Newtonmore in storm winds and relentless rain) out of 9, 8 lovely days of sunshine in September, very very lucky!!
Good luck.
Robbiep
2 of us have just finished (Thursday) a 9 dayer, 881 miles in total, pretty direct.
We went unsupported but carried very little, staying in B & B's along the way. I had a max weight of 3.5kg's.
I'll pop the route and B & B's on soon and had them all pre booked. Our shortest day was 75 and our longest 122 (got lost after the Forth Rd Bridge - in torrential rain!!)
I started cycling in mid April and just before I left I had accumulated 2500 training miles, the lad I went with did less but did better 'quality' training, he worked on power and speed sessions when I did distance. By the time I left I had done back to back 100's with weight which I found served me well on the challenge.
As others have said it really depends on the number of days you plan to complete it in. If say 9 was your target the first few days will be challenging but you definately settle into a pattern and your body becomes accustomed to the mileage. By the time I got to JOG I felt as if I could turn round and go back down, your body adapts amazingly well.
Eat lots drink more (water!!) and keep the pedals turning, sounds simple but there will be times when you'll feel low but grind on. We went LEJOG instead of JOGLE for the prevailing winds, we set off from LE into a 20mph headwind which persisted for 3 days
and the riding was really tough. 'User3143' has said before 'keep your head together going through Cornwall and Devon and you'll certainly finish' this is the best advice to heed, I thought about it lots when ploughing through the headwinds!!
After Devon the riding is much more sedate up to Ludlow through Chepstow, nice riding and you can make good progress.
We did not find any hills that worried us at all, we actually got to Penrith waiting for Shap when we had already been over it
It seems to have attained legendary status but it really was nothing (sorry if this sounds arrogant) but that's what we found.By far the hardest point was reaching the climb up to Bristol Airport after circa 88 miles in the hot sun, that was murder! Dropping into rush hour traffic a little 'bonked' made life pretty difficult.
Scotland no problem either not as bad as Cornwall by any stretch, lots to look at to keep the mind occupied. Cornwall is tough due to the relentless nature of the hills, they're not 'big' but they come at regular intervals, if you stop at Okehampton you miss the mother of climbs after you've done around 100 as you turn off the A30 just before it.
Really, set your training up depending on the length of the challenge and go for it - oh and pray for good weather, we had 1 day (122 miles from Edinburgh to Newtonmore in storm winds and relentless rain) out of 9, 8 lovely days of sunshine in September, very very lucky!!
Good luck.
Robbiep
Hi Jon.
Well done on the 65miles with no bother. Not the case for me.
The best advice I can give is to take your time on the tour, if you are doing 100miles or whatver, just do it at comfortable pace, dont over exert yourself and with a good fitness level you will be fine. It doesn't matter if it takes you 5 hours or 11 hours, you have all day to do it. Your body will thank you for the lower intensity riding. By the time you are half way through you will be fitter anyway but still fresh.
On Training I did a couple of back to back 100s, couple of hilly 100's with mid week rides of 50-70miles or 45-60min high intensity intervals on stationary bike. Weekend 100's I would do the first 50 fast, last 50 slow and next ride the other way round or 20 fast 20 slow and so on. Try to mix your training up, keep it interesting, which keeps the body guessing and also be consistant.
It was all waste of time for me anyway as I started the tour with a back injury which caused other issues. I managed to finish but it wasnt pretty. Last day was nice though, injury wasnt as painful and weather was fantastic.
I had a few spokes pop out on the tour, if you have a spoke come out before the tour, just get a new wheel as once one goes they start going. I had two spokes snap on the way into Tain, no bike shop but managed to find a top guy (70years old) who did my bike out of his garage for free. A lot of thanks goes out to him as I may have had serious problems getting up to O'Groats.
The hills on the tour are OK, my friend and I had no bother with any of them. We did do a lots of hills in the stroud area and hills at the end of long rides, we also travelled light. It helps to travel light or if your not my comment earlier about taking your time is more important. If you get good quality rides in incorporating all the above you will be fine. You are already fit with 65miles in your legs so just keep pushing on.
Also good waterproofs are essential. I never took overshoes or trousers or good gloves. On the leg from Edinburgh to Newtonmore it rained for 7 hours. I had to buy Marigolds for my hands and feet(I know) which were taped on with Celetape. I would suggest looking into getting kit which will keep your feet dry, once they get wet they get cold and feel like planks of wood, it becomes difficult to pedal. I would suggest goretex socks along with good overshoes.
Hope this helps, enjoy the ride.
Col
Well done on the 65miles with no bother. Not the case for me.
The best advice I can give is to take your time on the tour, if you are doing 100miles or whatver, just do it at comfortable pace, dont over exert yourself and with a good fitness level you will be fine. It doesn't matter if it takes you 5 hours or 11 hours, you have all day to do it. Your body will thank you for the lower intensity riding. By the time you are half way through you will be fitter anyway but still fresh.
On Training I did a couple of back to back 100s, couple of hilly 100's with mid week rides of 50-70miles or 45-60min high intensity intervals on stationary bike. Weekend 100's I would do the first 50 fast, last 50 slow and next ride the other way round or 20 fast 20 slow and so on. Try to mix your training up, keep it interesting, which keeps the body guessing and also be consistant.
It was all waste of time for me anyway as I started the tour with a back injury which caused other issues. I managed to finish but it wasnt pretty. Last day was nice though, injury wasnt as painful and weather was fantastic.
I had a few spokes pop out on the tour, if you have a spoke come out before the tour, just get a new wheel as once one goes they start going. I had two spokes snap on the way into Tain, no bike shop but managed to find a top guy (70years old) who did my bike out of his garage for free. A lot of thanks goes out to him as I may have had serious problems getting up to O'Groats.
The hills on the tour are OK, my friend and I had no bother with any of them. We did do a lots of hills in the stroud area and hills at the end of long rides, we also travelled light. It helps to travel light or if your not my comment earlier about taking your time is more important. If you get good quality rides in incorporating all the above you will be fine. You are already fit with 65miles in your legs so just keep pushing on.
Also good waterproofs are essential. I never took overshoes or trousers or good gloves. On the leg from Edinburgh to Newtonmore it rained for 7 hours. I had to buy Marigolds for my hands and feet(I know) which were taped on with Celetape. I would suggest looking into getting kit which will keep your feet dry, once they get wet they get cold and feel like planks of wood, it becomes difficult to pedal. I would suggest goretex socks along with good overshoes.
Hope this helps, enjoy the ride.
Col
