Posts Tagged ‘LEJOG’

LEJOG – Day 5 (St Briavels > All Stretton)

// September 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // Events, Fitness

After the late finish the day before we had a lie-in at St Briavels and left at around 10am. Another sunny day with passing cloud cover so we had to put loads of sun block on. By this point the bum cream was still working, but we’d begun to start conditioning to saddle rub. It would still take another few days though until it wasn’t so much of an issue. It’s not something you can totally get rid of, but you get to a point where it’s not much of an issue.

The ride was quite pleasant up through Gloucestershire and into Shropshire, although not as interesting or enjoyable as Cornwall and Devon. We passed through fewer villages, most of the route being roads with farms either side. There were some excellent roads at the beginning of the trip, very fast and plenty of bends so quite exciting. We just had to be careful with oncoming cars which nearly caught me out at one point. The day was one of our shorter ones in the UK, so passed by quite quickly.

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LEJOG – Day 3 (Boscastle > Exmoor)

// August 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // Events, Fitness

One of our longest days that turned into a bit of a nightmare. It started off with some very light drizzle in Exmoor but eventually became a sunny day (a little worrying for the sun burn) with a high of around 27C. We set off quite early at around 8:30am (early in the sense the hostel didn’t serve breakfast until 7:50am) and made our way down out of Exmoor. We changed the route slightly and added some more distance in favour of smoother, faster roa

ds. The roads coming out of Exmoor were quite amazing first thing in the morning. Trees overhanging the road with the sunlight cutting through.

Once we got into Somerset the hills disappeared and it became very flat, meaning on a slight hill you could see way across the county. We got to Ashton Court Estate park overlooking Bristol quite late, at around 5pm. As we left the park the GPS cut (it hadn’t got a proper charge the night before) so I had to navigate from memory and using my Nokia 5800 which has GPS and maps installed on it.

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LEJOG – Day 2 (Penzance > Boscastle)

// August 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Fitness, Travel

One of the hardest days of the whole trip. Mainly because it was our first full day, but also the amount of ascent, and also the steepness of some of the climbs. It was one of the most enjoyable routes though. We set off from Penzance YHA hostel after breakfast at around 9am and were quickly on our way. It was a cloudy start but turned very sunny (high of around 25C). We didn’t put on any sun block so got caught out and quite badly burnt which was a problem for a few days. The roads were generally very good, even the country lanes. It wasn’t until around 70km that we started hitting really step hills. We even found a 33% hill, the steepest of the whole trip. Prior to it there were hills, but not the unbearably steep ones.

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LEJOG – Day 1 (Penzance > Lands End > Penzance)

// August 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Fitness, Travel

Our first day. We got up at 7am to catch the train from Paddington at 10am, first class, which was really nice. It cost around £32 as we booked a couple of months in advance. It was well worth it though, standard class was only £4 cheaper, and we got a lot more space. It was generally a really nice train journey. Having never been beyond Exeter on the train, when it went along the coast line it was great to be so close to the see on a train.

We arrived in Penzance to fog/mist and drizzle. The hills out of Penzance on the way to Lands End are a bit of a shock, especially after having been sat in a first class train. It was easiest gear straight away, and we built up quite a sweat with jackets etc… on. The roads were quite pleasant and not busy at all. The fog/mist meant visibility was poor though so we couldn’t see the sea, or any real scenery which was a shame.

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LEJOG – Routes

// August 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Events, General

When planning Lands End to John O’ Groats we decided upon a scenic route, and one that would challenge us. We also wanted to avoid as many A roads as possible as it’s not the sort of cycling we enjoy. I have a Garmin Edge 705 GPS unit, so we were able to plan and draw out our routes using Google Maps. Street View was essential for checking the quality of country lanes to ensure they were suitable for our road bikes. There were a few we missed, but on the whole the routes worked out very well.

Our route deviated from typical LEJOG’s. We went through Exmoor, and also cut across into the Peak District. From their we went up to the Yorkshire Dales and then cut across to the Lake District. Not a very direct route but certainly very scenic and challenging. We then went up the west side of Scotland before cutting across to Loch Ness.

I’ve put up all the photos on Flickr.

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