Preparing For a LEJOG....

[Kitty_Lincs]

How many months or years should you give yourself to physically train and prepare for a LEJOG?

At present, I'm in a reasonable physical condition after major surgery last November and almost ready to hit the roads. I have about a stone and a half to lose weight-wise.

What distances and targets should I aim for in my first few months, and how do you prepare for steep inclines when you live miles and miles from the nearest hint of a hillock?

 

[Big T]

My wife had a major operation around this time last year and we start our JOGLE on Saturday.

I'd say just keep riding your bike, gradually extending the distance you do until you can ride 60-70 miles a day. Do some back to back rides on a Saturday and Sunday to get used to riding on consecutive days.

We ride at least one day at the weekend, sometimes both, and also cycle to work during the week. If you're basically fit then you'll be OK at climbing hills anyway, without having to practice them too much.

If you live in Lincs, are you far from the Wolds or the Lincoln "cliff"?

We recently had a weekend away in the Peak District to hone our climbing skills and did some touigh climbs including Monsal Head and Winnats Pass.

We're taking nearly 3 weeks for our JOGLE, averaging about 55 miles a day.

It's a step into the unknown for us, but I'm confident we'll be OK.

If I were you, I would aim for Summer 2010 for your LEJOG.

 

[Kitty_Lincs]

I'm probably about 40-50 mins cycle ride from the Wolds, and about the same again for the Lincoln Edge.

During my convalescence, I had great fun plotting my ideal LEJOG route. It takes in St Just, St Ives (Cornwall), Hayle, Redruth, Newquay, Bodmin, Okehampton, Crediton, Taunton, Street, Glastonbury, Wells, Midsomer Norton, Radstock, Bath, Chippenham, Cirencester, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stratford, Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield, Lichfield, Uttoxeter, Ashbourne, Wirksworth, Matlock (valley of River Derwent), Chatsworth House, Sheffield ring road, Shelley, over Emley Moor, Morley, Leeds etc.....

 

[Big T]

I wouldn't go through Birmingham. From Moreton in Marsh, take the Old Fosse Way up to just south of Leicester, then cut across country towards Ashbourne.

Our JOGLE route is further west-

From JOG, along the north coast to Bettyhill, then down to Loch Ness, Fort William, Glencoe, Loch Lomond, Glasgow, Lockerbie, Shap, Preston, Crewe, Ludlow, Monmouth, Bristol, Tiverton, Okehampton, St Austell, Penazance - LE.

 

[PaulSB]

I'm very interested in ths topic. I've been planning LEJOG for three years now. April 2007 I fell off the garage roof injuring an ankle and eye, all OK now but I was off the bike for sveral months. August 2008 got knocked off the bike breaking my hand but more seriously damaging my confidence on a bike. So for the last two years I haven't ridden anyhting like I used to - I was regularly doing 70-80 on a Sunday club ride.

My confidence has returned and I've been building up the mileage, ten days ago I did 58 miles in just under 4 hours. This weekend, very windy, I did back to back 50s on Saturday and Sunday in 3 hours 15 minutes. Both rides included at least 20 miles into a headwind and were cold. I'm not sure how much further I could have gone on the 58 miler.

In early July I have the chance to head off for LEJOG. I've been reckoning on 80 miles a day, 50-60 in the morning, couple of hours rest, 20-30 in the afternoon. I really want to do this but am still worried about being fit enough. next weekend, weather permitting I'm planning to go for an 80 as described.

Any views?

 

[Kirstie]

my view is that it sounds like you'll be fine...!

I don't know if you want to take anything from my experience but my preparation didn't focus on the mileage aspect it focused on daily hours in the saddle. The fact that we finished the ride as planned indicates that this worked for us.

For preparation I based what I wanted to achieve each day on my average loaded touring speed. This is around 10 - 11 mph. So, in order to cover the average 75 miles per day I would need to be able to pedal for 7 - 8 hours per day, get up again, and do the same the next day.

So my preparation rides basically worked up to 7 hour rides, and I did it until I didn't feel wrecked the next day. As I was doing these rides on my regular road bike (average speed 15 mph) then it worked out that I was doing around 100 miles in order to get the hours in.

The only other piece of advice I'd give is take a rest day. We didn't do this and we were destroyed by the end.

In terms of the length of time in preparation we started the 100 mile rides on our road bikes in April and continued them on a bi-weekly basis until July, then tapered it down to 75 on our tourers until two weeks before (we went in August).