LEJOG with no preplanned route.

[GuyBoden]

I was cycling near Crewe yesterday when a fellow cyclist rode along side me and told me he had been riding from Land's End. He asked me where I was going and I told him Warrington, he said "Great, can I follow you".

He had no preplanned route, he was just riding north and looking at google maps now and again on his phone.

I rode with him to near Leigh and wished him the best of luck with his Lejog.

 

[Ian H]

Many years ago a friend and I rode from Reading via London, York, Preston, the Lakes, Glasgow to Inverary, navigating by the enamelled Michelin maps you used to see on garage walls. We just happened to end up at Inverary - it wasn't that planned a route.

 

[robgul]

From experience with people that have submitted their rides and/or journals to my website at www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk that approach isn't that unusual! I guess as long as you have some sort of map/mapping facility to give you a rough idea that would work.

 

[GuyBoden]

From experience with people that have submitted their rides and/or journals to my website at www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk that approach isn't that unusual! I guess as long as you have some sort of map/mapping facility to give you a rough idea that would work.

I asked him where he was sleeping and he told me he rang local Hotels and B&B's when he got tired.

 

[cougie uk]

Blimey. That's a bit too relaxed for my liking but each to their own.

 

[Oldhippy]

I was cycling near Crewe yesterday when a fellow cyclist rode along side me and told me he had been riding from Land's End. He asked me where I was going and I told him Warrington, he said "Great, can I follow you".

He had no preplanned route, he was just riding north and looking at google maps now and again on his phone.

I rode with him to near Leigh and wished him the best of luck with his Lejog.

If you have time and the adventure spirit, fabulous.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

I quite admire people who have the confidence to do this kind of thing.

I have to plan everything in advance, maybe because of spending 25 years in the military.

Over the years I have noticed people who just seem to breeze through life with no planning and nothing bad ever seems to happen to them?

I may have to give it a go sometime. Just pack a small pannier, pick a direction and start peddling. 🤔

 

[ClichéGuevara]

Why would you need a map at all if you have no destination in mind.

 

[further]

I used to do this in the early 70s hitching, never new where I would end up.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I may have to give it a go sometime. Just pack a small pannier, pick a direction and start peddling.

My suggestion would be to start small and take it from there. It may not be for everyone, and certainly the where you're doing it is a very important factor (we all need water and food!) but it can be very liberating and a lot of fun.
We can learn a lot about what we can and cannot do and appreciate the things we often take for granted.

It may sound trite but it all becomes about the journey, not the destination. When there isn't a ticking clock and a destination to be reached by x time we're much more open to the here and now whether that's scenery, history, culture, food, drink or personal connections.

And the fact is that with a smartphone somewhere around there's no shortage of backup to ease anxiety.

The flip side though is that long, directionless journeys can be more mentally challenging.
LEJOG is a destination though, no matter how unplanned. A two, three four week meander presents different challenges. And unless people are completely in sync it's most likely a solo adventure.

Think of it as exploring rather than going from A to B.

---

If you have time and the adventure spirit, fabulous.

You're currently planning a short tour, no? Why not just be spontaneous and see where you end up?
What's the worst that can happen?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

REminds me of a bloke I met in the Windermere Youth Hostel many years ago
He had left school intending to join the Army - all his pre joining stuff sorted - start date and Sandhust received - been training for months
Everything looking good
Then he fell of his Motorbike and broke his leg - only a couple of week before going to Sandhurst
He got sorted out and - at the first opportunity - he rang Sandhurst and explain what had happened - they told him to wait until his caste was off and then wait another couple of week and ring them again
The Army Doctors went over him - and his leg - with a fine toothcomb to see if he would be able to carry on
answer - Yup - no problem but not until next year - he would be too much at risk on the trainign regime until then - so come back in whatever months

so - he was mooching around the house getting on his parentts nerves for a few weeks
then he went on a walk with a back pack and lunch etc etc - for several hours - to the South coats beach nearest to his house
WHen he got to the sea he say down and ate his lunch and was thinking

When he got home he had a plan

He sat his Mum and Dad down and said he had decided to walk around Britain - all around the coast
no plans - just basically head south to the coast and turn right - keep the wet bit on your left until you get back to where you started

He just needed his parents to help out with money (he would need replacement boots from time to time - plus lots of other stuff)
He also planned to buy an OS map for every place he went through to document the route and post them home when he moved on

He set up in Winter and I met up with him in Windermere at Easter
He had been sleeping in his tent from sunset to sunrise until then but the night were getting shorter so he had stopped at WIndermere to get some sleep

Those fo you who have not fallen asleep yet - and have a grasp of UK geography will realise that he was taking a rather liberal definition of 'round the coast. For example he had done the whole of Anglesey but had taken the ferry across the Mersey (bet you have th esong in your head don't you??) just because

seemed like a great idea if you have the money and time

and it would have looked great to the Army when he went back and said when he had been doing

 

[steveindenmark]

This is how we used to travel when we were kids and we always got there...eventually. The main 2 things with gps and heatmaps is that you now get there a lot faster and hopefully a bit safer. But with less suprises along the way.

 

[Tenkaykev]

I asked him where he was sleeping and he told me he rang local Hotels and B&B's when he got tired.

I did that when I walked the SWCP back in 2007. Walked till about lunchtime then looked at where I thought I could reach that evening. The SWCP Association published a yearly guide of walker friendly accommodation and I’d phone ahead and try to book digs. I had a one person tent for backup but only used it a few times.

 

[Jameshow]

Having done lejog in 8 days,

That's the way I'll be doing it next time, in fact I'll be doing lejogle just for fun of it, but before that I want to do the coast of the UK. Excluding NI.

Just need the ankle snappers out the way first!!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I had something similar when travelling round the world. I’d land on a continent, buy myself a 1;4,000,000 scale map for instance for South America. Then down the bus station and find out where the buses were going, and how long the journey was. Then 3-4 months on a continent and fly to the next one.

I had a plan for timings of continents , flights in and out booked, to tie in with the climate. Plus a few things I’d like to see. But essentially I’d have a few months to get between the location of my in bound flight and outbound flight.

The approach works very well when you don’t have tight deadlines to meet, restricting your choices. In contrast I met a couple of Dutch lads who had a very detailed plan and it had gone wrong in the first couple of weeks. They couldn’t cope now they weren’t on a detailed schedule, with the uncertainty, and were now looking to fly home.