gavroche
Getting old but not past it
- Location
- North Wales
Has anyone ever done it using no maps, no gps or any other electronic device but only a compass for direction ?
Just a question about LeJog which has bugged me for a while.
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Landsurfer
Veteran
Not anyone that has finished it I suspect .....
oldwheels
Legendary Member
- Location
- Isle of Mull
Never done LeJog but when I stared touring there were no electronic devices. We used a road map from a filling station and on one occasion I left it behind at Inveraray hostel but just carried on regardless. Mind you the road systems were less complicated so far as main roads were concerned. No reason why it should not be done with no electronics.
It's easy, start at lands end and as long as you're going uphill you're headed in the right direction
Landsurfer
Veteran
We had Garmin’s and Lezyne’s on mine ... but usually about mid afternoon we would turn to Alister and ask for guidance from his OS map .... as the devices never agreed on where we were or where we were going. Ever ....
chriswoody
Legendary Member
- Location
- Northern Germany
It's easy, start at lands end and as long as you're going uphill you're headed in the right direction
Why an earth would you do that?
Surely you would start at John O'Groats and keep going downhill?
Yes, I did JoGLE in the pre-smartphone era, had an NCN guidebook with a map of northern Scotland which allowed me to bypass most of the A9.
For the rest of the route, I had a rough idea of what towns I needed to pass, having made the journey to Devon dozens of times when I lived down there. No mobile phone at all. No compass. Navigating by following road signs and the sun. Looking for accommodation on arrival in a likely looking town. Which is how I ended up sleeping rough in Exeter
But with no major routing issues.I did another tour a few years later without the benefit of general geographic knowledge, from Brighton to Glasgow. I had upgraded to dumb mobile phone technology - still no maps - and I got lost several times as I zig-zagged my way up England.
I wish I had written a journal because I had an undiagnosed TBI at the time, so I'm left with only fragmentary memories of the later parts of the trip.
OP
OP
gavroche
Getting old but not past it
- Location
- North Wales
In the old days, they could cross seas with just a compass and the stars so can't see why it couldn't be done on land. My spirit of adventure has long gone, mostly due to age, but surely, a young, fit person could have a go at it, that would be a good challenge.
matticus
Guru
Is one allowed prior knowledge? For example, I'd be confident of navigating from the border up-to JOG on A-roads. (Some of them safe!)
Experienced tourers based in - say - Bristol might have the knowledge to do the English bits from memory + road-signs.
Oh yeah - is one allowed to read road-signs? :scratches beard:
Experienced tourers based in - say - Bristol might have the knowledge to do the English bits from memory + road-signs.
Oh yeah - is one allowed to read road-signs? :scratches beard:
Relying on the sun for navigation in Scotland is a remarkably poor idea, for reasons that are clear to anyone who has ever been here. I think I saw it once between JoG and Glasgow...
Landsurfer
Veteran
We had glorious sunshine, 25 - 30 degrees C all the way from LE to JOG ... apart from a overcast single day ... 2nd of July ... Remember it as i had my 60th birthday the previous day ..... What a way to spend it ..Blair Atholl to Abington ... The Wimps, Cally, Linda ..my wife and our youngest, at Abington campsite .... Birthday party started just after 1700hrs when we cyclists arrived at the site ..Balloons , barbecue and beer, .... we were all in bed for 2100hrs .... 
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Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
It would have been fairly straight forward in decades gone by. You’d jump on whatever road you wanted including the A roads. In fact you could just ride one A road to the next. But traffic levels now…
I have an old LEJOG guide from the 80s and you wouldn’t touch a number of those roads any more.
I have an old LEJOG guide from the 80s and you wouldn’t touch a number of those roads any more.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Compass? What is this new fangled luxury?
The Vikings sailed around OK without them.
The Vikings sailed around OK without them.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
I once did ot both ways using only divining rods and a theodolite.