What's the fascination with LeJoG?
- Thread starter Crackle
- Start date
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Bodhbh said:
I did something very similiar. I toured the West Coast of Scotland, island hopping with a pair of boots in my panniers to take in a few mountains too. I did 600 miles and barely saw half the West Coast with fleeting visits to a couple of islands were I would've liked to stay longer. Mind you I cycled from Preston to get there (money, I was a student then) and loved bits of Yorkshire but there was a lot I'd have happily skipped.
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
Dannyg said:
As can England,Wales and Northern Ireland.
jack the lad
Well-Known Member
How much of Britain have you seen?
It is a fascinating and surprising country and if you haven't seen all of it, cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats is a damn fine way of seeing quite a lot. You take whatever route you want and do it as fast or slow as you want, but the 'end to end' longest route in Britain bit gives it more purpose - a target that sort of makes sense (to others as well as yourself) and drives you on.
One of the nice things about a ride like that and doing it within a reasonably short space of time is that the contrasts between different parts of Britain (and the people in them) are much more apparent than if you 'do Cornwall' this year and 'do the Scottish Highlands' next year. Even the shitholes that you didn't know were there and wouldn't normally have gone anywhere near are part of the experience.
One of the things I remember is how brilliant some of those lay-by bacon buttie vans are (cf Lesmahagow Truck Stop) - and I'd never stopped at one before. The people you met in every pub, cafe and shop who wanted to talk to you, many who had done LEJOG or knew someone who had. Then there was the Glasgow City Council Cycling Officer who talked us through a safe route from a particularly shitty suburb to the Clyde cycle path on the mobile phone, then dropped round later to our hotel with a wad of cycling maps, top geezer. The breathtaking beauty of East Lancashire that you bypass on your way to the Lake District and the middle bit of Scotland that you whizz past on your way to the Highlands The great party at John O'Groats because we arrived at the same time as the first JO'G local ever to have done the route.
It might only be 'boring' Britain, but a great experience.
It is a fascinating and surprising country and if you haven't seen all of it, cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats is a damn fine way of seeing quite a lot. You take whatever route you want and do it as fast or slow as you want, but the 'end to end' longest route in Britain bit gives it more purpose - a target that sort of makes sense (to others as well as yourself) and drives you on.
One of the nice things about a ride like that and doing it within a reasonably short space of time is that the contrasts between different parts of Britain (and the people in them) are much more apparent than if you 'do Cornwall' this year and 'do the Scottish Highlands' next year. Even the shitholes that you didn't know were there and wouldn't normally have gone anywhere near are part of the experience.
One of the things I remember is how brilliant some of those lay-by bacon buttie vans are (cf Lesmahagow Truck Stop) - and I'd never stopped at one before. The people you met in every pub, cafe and shop who wanted to talk to you, many who had done LEJOG or knew someone who had. Then there was the Glasgow City Council Cycling Officer who talked us through a safe route from a particularly shitty suburb to the Clyde cycle path on the mobile phone, then dropped round later to our hotel with a wad of cycling maps, top geezer. The breathtaking beauty of East Lancashire that you bypass on your way to the Lake District and the middle bit of Scotland that you whizz past on your way to the Highlands The great party at John O'Groats because we arrived at the same time as the first JO'G local ever to have done the route.
It might only be 'boring' Britain, but a great experience.
I agree good answer Jack.
I've seen quite a lot of the UK but what's left probably wouldn't be on a LEJoG route but I can totally see the, having an aim bit and keeping the aim focused which I think a LEJoG would do but beyond that I think you can get the same other experiences elsewhere. Once again though, hats off to anyone who has done it. I think it's a fabulous achievement.
I've seen quite a lot of the UK but what's left probably wouldn't be on a LEJoG route but I can totally see the, having an aim bit and keeping the aim focused which I think a LEJoG would do but beyond that I think you can get the same other experiences elsewhere. Once again though, hats off to anyone who has done it. I think it's a fabulous achievement.
Kirstie
Über Member
It's really interesting to see the landscape change. I found the rural beauty spot as equally fascinating as the old yorkshire coalfields/cornish mining landscapes we cycled through. I like the sense of history gained from seeing different areas, how the landscape has formed and changed. I really like industrial landscapes and infrastructure as much as I like mountain scenery and Britain has it all. It's nice to ride abroad but also touring your home country by bicycle really helps you to appreciate what you have on your doorstep.
Next year I hope to ride 1000 miles in mainland Europe...
Next year I hope to ride 1000 miles in mainland Europe...
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
Wot Jack and Kirstie said. There is the North Sea Route for a nearby and even longer challenge, including but not limited to Britain...
It looks like I will not have the chance to do either now... I am planning my shot at riding across Canada instead.
It looks like I will not have the chance to do either now... I am planning my shot at riding across Canada instead.
Fnaar
Smutmaster General
- Location
- Thumberland
Are you definitely going to Canada then, FM? Big move! Life changing and all that...Flying_Monkey said:
BTW, I was at Lordenshaws car park (nr Simonside) last Sunday am, having a break, when a Gosforth-clad group went past... were you in that lot?
robgul
Legendary Member
yenrod said:S'pose a good un would be from england to the south of france !
'Meaty'
Yep - just done that in September - Calais to Montpellier via Champagne & Burgundy - fantastic ride - just about 900 miles.
Did the JOGLE (see www.beewee.org.uk ) in 2005 - to some extent "because it's there" ... but a great ride. And as said elsewhere it has a surprising WOW factor amongst non-cyclists ... truth was it was pretty tame!
Rob
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
Fnaar said:Are you definitely going to Canada then, FM? Big move! Life changing and all that...
BTW, I was at Lordenshaws car park (nr Simonside) last Sunday am, having a break, when a Gosforth-clad group went past... were you in that lot?
Not this week, I wasn't. And it's still not 100% certain, but getting one step closer this month. I'll be able to tell you for sure in March. Mind you, one way or another, we'll be going sometime over the next couple of years regardless.
Arch
Married to Night Train
- Location
- Salford, UK
yenrod said:
To be pedantic, it's the longest the Mainland has to offer. British Isles would be somewhere in the Channel Islands (or Scilly, I can never remember if Channel Islands count as British Isles, or only as part of UK or Great Britain...), anyway, somewhere like that, to the top of Shetland...
I met some out-for-a-days-pootle MTB riders once, as I was heading to Winchester, and when I said I'd come from Newbury that day, and York orignally, about a week before, the girl said "ooh, are you one of those who could do LEJoG, and I started to say "oh, no..." before I realised that given enough time, I could....
Maybe I will one day, but I have other themed rides I want to do first...
