LEJOG 2023: BARRETT CICERONE BOOK REVIEW AND LESSONS LEARNED
I used this book, in its third/ 2021 edition, for a self-guided LEJOG tour with one mate in May 2023. I found it to be quite good, and an excellent value, with a few notable exceptions. I chose this guide for its use of “quiet roads and traffic free paths”, and because the author had previously ridden the route twice and made multiple route revisions to arrive at this route. We chose the 14-day option, using hotels, no camping. We added 2 days for rest and sightseeing, so our total was 16 days.
ABOUT ME: I’m 65, have ridden in excess of 150,000 miles in 45 years of serious cycling, and have done at least 20 different extended tours during that time. Although certainly not an elite athlete, I’m 6’1” /185 lbs and pretty fit.
KIT: I rode a Ritchey Breakaway Cross with 32mm Panaracer Pasela Protite tires, and started the trip with a 1X, 40/42 drivetrain. My bags were Topeak handlebar bag and Topeak MTX trunk bag with retractable panniers.
PROS
CONS
LESSONS LEARNED
I used this book, in its third/ 2021 edition, for a self-guided LEJOG tour with one mate in May 2023. I found it to be quite good, and an excellent value, with a few notable exceptions. I chose this guide for its use of “quiet roads and traffic free paths”, and because the author had previously ridden the route twice and made multiple route revisions to arrive at this route. We chose the 14-day option, using hotels, no camping. We added 2 days for rest and sightseeing, so our total was 16 days.
ABOUT ME: I’m 65, have ridden in excess of 150,000 miles in 45 years of serious cycling, and have done at least 20 different extended tours during that time. Although certainly not an elite athlete, I’m 6’1” /185 lbs and pretty fit.
KIT: I rode a Ritchey Breakaway Cross with 32mm Panaracer Pasela Protite tires, and started the trip with a 1X, 40/42 drivetrain. My bags were Topeak handlebar bag and Topeak MTX trunk bag with retractable panniers.
PROS
- Very well organized, with lots of tables, appendixes, and maps, as well as detailed descriptions of the route and points of interest. Loved the sprinkling of history throughout.
- Small enough to fit in a handlebar bag.
- Several days (“stages”) offered multiple route options, which was much appreciated.
- Came with gpx files included in the $16 price of purchase. I was able to download them all to my Wahoo computer using Ride With GPS prior to departure, which made navigation pretty seamless.
- His recommendation to “keep your bike as light as possible” should be taken seriously! Although a 7 kg max for a trip lasting 2 weeks seems a bit unrealistic, my initial load of 14 kg was far too much. I was fortunate to be able to offload about 4 kg of that gear with a friend who met us at the halfway point in Moffat—much reducing my suffering on climbs.
- His advice to be careful about your choice of group size and travel companion(s) was excellent. We chose to keep it at two people, and economized by sharing a room. It couldn’t have worked out better.
CONS
- Gearing ratio: p. 26 has a couple paragraphs about what type of rig to ride, including the following about gearing: “Fit a cassette with a 30, 32, or 34-tooth sprocket to make climbing easier”. Notably absent was any mention of chain ring size, which is obviously necessary to determine what your lowest gear ratio is (that being the ratio of crank revs/ wheel revs; lower ratio = lower gear). One need only take a brief glance at the cover photo of Mr. Barrett to determine why this might have been omitted. He’s triathlete-level thin! My bike initially had a 1X gravel setup with a 40/42 low gear (ratio .95). Which would have been ok if I was riding gentle rollers without a load. But he ommitted any discussion/ warning about how steep the climbs in Cornwall and Somerset are-each day had multiple climbs > 15% gradient, and some were 20%. So I ended up pushing up many of those. After the first week, I found a bike shop that had a 34-tooth chain ring (34/42=.81), and I never had to push again. (Shout out to Anthony English of Ghyllside Cycles in Ambleside!) HUGE difference.
- Unrealistic Riding Time estimates (p. 6-7): Mr. Barrett’s superior conditioning and asthenic build may have allowed him to average 12 mph, but for less elite athletes like me, it went slower. We averaged about 10 mph on the hilly days in Cornwall and Somerset. The climbs there were steep, and because the lanes were narrow, full of potholes, and had blind curves, you couldn’t make up much of the time you lost grinding (or pushing) uphill on the descents. For example (p.7), the first five days were given estimates of 8-9 hours—it took us 10-11, including stops for photos, lunch, etc. So in order to arrive at our lodging at a reasonable time, (usually between 6 and 7 pm) we were unable to stop at many points of interest. Unfortunately, most of the lodgings we used didn’t serve breakfast until 0800, so we couldn’t get on the road until 0900. So unless you’re an elite athlete under 40, and don’t care whether you have time to stop, I’d recommend taking three weeks instead of two, or using an ebike.
- Route Fail: Day 6, Nantwich-Garstang was pretty awful. Although I understand the challenge of finding a low-traffic route that threads the needle between Manchester and Liverpool, I can’t believe this is the best option. Canal towpaths sounds like a romantic notion, but the reality is quite different. Many of these were unimproved narrow footpaths, with surfaces that would be best done on a MTB with front suspension. Even worse were the numerous towpath gates--we counted 18 on this day, with 5 of them in the last 5 miles (that last 5 miles took us an hour). And that was only half of the route, as we abandoned it out of frustration when we reached Adlington. Getting a loaded bike through them often required two people—not sure how one traveling alone could even do it. The closest I came to being injured was when a man fishing the canal nearly clocked me with the butt of his 15-foot long pole…turns out he was deaf so couldn’t hear my shouts of warning.
- Day 7: we decided to take on some climbing, and diverged from the route, riding through the Lake District and overnight in Ambleside. This added a day to the trip, and some tough climbing, but it was worth it. The next day we did 25 miles into Penrith—but be advised this route had 1500 ft of vertical in the first five miles over Kirkstone Pass, so not for the faint of heart. But it also offered the best views of the entire trip. For my money, the Lake District was the prettiest part of the ride!
- Although it meant more climbing, we opted for Stages 9A and 10A. It was lovely, so I highly recommend that option.
- P. 153 Queen Elizabeth Forest Park (Stage 10A): We ignored Mr. Barrett’s reassurance that the signage warning off road cyclists could be ignored. Instead we opted for the alternative route 10A at Mile 28 (p. 156), and really enjoyed that segment. We could see the gravel option terrain across the loch, and were glad we avoided it. We overnighted in Killin at mile 55 rather than pressing on to Pitlochry, choosing to ride the missed miles the next day instead. Leaving Killin, we diverged from the route to the north side of Loch Tay based on local advice, and that stretch of road was one of the prettiest I’ve ever ridden.
- Ignore his advice not to take any rest days. It’s not boot camp. We took two rest days in Penrith, and rented a car to tour the Lakes District and Yorkshire Dales. Our legs were grateful for the break.
LESSONS LEARNED
- GEARING: can’t stress enough the importance of getting this right. Aim for a lowest gear ratio of .85 or less. You might lose at the top end (I spun out at about 27 mph), but won’t miss it. It’s a tour! You can coast!
- KIT: won’t go into too much detail here. Less is more. Shoot for <10 kg. We had the good fortune of two weeks of brilliant sunshine, so we didn’t have to break out the waterproofs until the last day at JOG. And we never had a mechanical. But you might have a different experience. It rains in Britain! I should have taken two kits instead of three, and should have left out the bikepacking sleeping bag and bivvy sack (brought in case of emergency). I’d encourage you to bring lightweight items for mechanicals (extra spokes, duct tape, spare tire/ tubes, patch kit, etc)
- ENJOY THE RIDE: this means not being over-ambitious about daily mileage, so you can make stops for coffee and points of interest. If I was going to do this again, I’d take three weeks instead of two. If limited to 14 days, I’d use an ebike.
