LEJOG During Easter

[hubbike]

nice reply dellzegg!

 

[SeanNW6]

Sean - what do you want from the ride? Is it a finer and deeper appreciation of the people and geography of England and Scotland (a worthy aim) or is it the challenge and (hopefully) the accomplishment (an equally worthy aim)?

If the latter then 13 days is easy-peasy, and the A30 is fine if you fancy it, although you'll have to come to terms with the idea that the most straightforward LEJoG route is not neccessarily the most entertaining. If the former then it's time to start looking at maps and doing a bit of dreaming.

Hey dellzegg, great post, thanks.
I guess I would like the scenic route, but have a fear I'll be taking too much on, if I select the longer scenic route.
My feeling is that I may tackle the A30 early on the Sunday I intend starting the route, thereby missing the heavier traffic.
Must admit I'm in the early stages of my planning, so will have to give how I plan the first couple of days a lot of thought.
Thanks again.

 

[TwoTired]

On a 13-day schedule you should consider the "old" A30/A38 roads - in parts now declassified and almost as flat as the new roads. So inland from the N coast to Camelford then across to Launceston Bridestowe South Zeal Exeter Cullompton Wellington etc, etc.

 

[Kirstie]

Do you want to go east or west of the pennines? The former is longer but I think much more scenic, the latter, still scenic but you have some major conurbations to contend with on the way. Also regarding 'training' (or whatever you want to call it), think about the number of hours you'd want to spend in the saddle each day (e.g. 6-7 hrs would be a reasonable time). When you prepare, do plenty of training rides of that length of time, and do it until you recover well enough to get up and do exactly the same the next day. If you're touring with a load, you'll probably ride at around 12 mph, maybe more, thereby enabling you to cover between 70 and 80 miles per day. That's plenty even if you want to do the long way round.

My lejog was around 1,100 miles and daily distances varied between 54 and 84 miles, depending on how we felt. We were riding for 14.5 days.

 

[bygone era]

Thanks for all the encouragement and the advice.
It's been great reading your posts.
Right, the plan is to depart from LE on Sunday 17 April.
Just starting my research now, regarding the route.
Plan is not too book ahead for accommodation. Am riding on my own, so hopefully getting a room is not going to be too difficult.
Am aware that I'm riding during the lead up to Easter holiday, but I want to maintain a degree of flexibility.

First task to tackle (of many.....), is do I tackle the A30 for my first day.
Live in central London, so am used to cycling in heavy traffic. But am I missing some fantastic scenery in sticking to the A30???

Hi i have cycled lejog but back in 1984 i went up the a39 to minehead near the coast and not as busy as a30 went through preston a49/a6 if i did it again i would go east of pennines.
cheers mick.

 

[lohezm]

Hiya Sean,

Just to say you're right to go for it.

If you're a little worried about going it alone I'm looking for some bods to to the same with - although my dates are flexible (picked End of May, so miss the bad midges but it's still a chunk warmer).

If you want to buddy up let me know - I've been fixing bikes on the road for a while now so I hope I'd be useful!

Marc