LEJOG August/September 2021

[Ming the Merciless]

Well done.

Stop being boring. He's less than half your age!
But I do agree that having support does make it less of an adventure. So does the direct A9 option from Inverness.

Nope he is not less than half my age 😂

 

[Ajax Bay]

I'll rephrase that: he looks less than half the age you do.
Edit to add: To be fair I think the last time I saw you you'd just ridden 1000km across Scotland and were several free beers in.

 

[Solocle]

Nope he is not less than half my age 😂

23

Well done.

Stop being boring. He's less than half your age!
But I do agree that having support does make it less of an adventure. So does the direct A9 option from Inverness.

I have to say, the A9's reputation preceded it, but I quite liked it! It may have been a different story a month ago.

Of course the fundamental reason was logistical, a lack of cheap hotels north of Inverness and a lack of desire to add another day to a tight schedule.

But somehow it felt appropriate to be treading the tracks of those famous record breakers. Tackling Helmsdale and the Berriedale Braes as countless have done before, all while following the coastline, until finally you saw it ahead of you as well.

From gentle rolling plains

to cliffs beneath you

Of course you could do something more outlandish like a fully loaded camping LEJOG doing the other 400 of the NC500.

But at the end of the day, I don't have a lot of experience with touring... as in, I'd previously done one looong ride after a reasonable ride the previous day. Sure, a couple of audaxes too, but never made those as far as multi-day. So this was effectively completely unknown territory for me!

In retrospect, I could probably have done 75-80 mile days instead of 60 (there were two 80ishes, and they weren't too bad). Or 60 with more luggage.

The other factor was fitness. I definitely got a fair bit stronger as the ride went on!

 

[Solocle]

A compilation of clips showing what the roads were like.

Day 1:
Land's End to Fraddon, daylight, A30 - old A30 Hayle - A30 (C2CC) - back lanes:

View: https://youtu.be/X-NYe2Tem_I

Fraddon to Sourton Down, darkness - A39, A395, A30, old A30, A30

View: https://youtu.be/UnG_yqDmQhE

Day 14 - Finale:
Cromarty, A9, A99

View: https://youtu.be/VW7WKfujtbY

Spoiler: Probably Irrelevant to you

Day 2:
Exeter to Dorset (venturing off piste), Bank Holiday Monday
Old A30, A30, A303, back lanes, semi-retired A30

View: https://youtu.be/3Ss-D0FbYKM

Day 3:
Back roads to Cirencester

View: https://youtu.be/W3kcBd2DrRU

Day 4:
Across to Leamington Spa
https://youtu.be/uxm5PTsmeEw

 

[Solocle]

I finally finished uploading the footage into one gigantic youtube playlist. Some videos still need [better] timecoding, but have at it!

View: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLju3kfo-LQwN6Dkc9V1wMjonvub2yQwv7