[Closed] John o Groats to Lsnd's End - info, books to read. advice

There's a Sustrans route, I think, and iirc the Cycling UK, formerly CTC, forum had a separate Lejog section

My wife did the CTC LEJoG route a few years ago. It's based on two longer days followed by a shorter one and takes 13 days. It uses hostels of various persuasions for accommodation but I think the one just over the Scottish borders had shut.

She just used a saddle bag with evening stuff, no need to take loads of kit, one set of clothes with a wash or two when you can will do the trip.

Summer's obviously the best time as you've most hours of daylight and May will have fewer midges. Training wise, just do as many long back to back days as you can.

Cycling UK (CTC) Forum:
https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewforum.php?f=22

The riding isn't the issue really, the thing that gets most people is the logistics - travel to JOG / from LE and then working out where to stay en route. 9 days is probably the cut-off point; trying to do it quicker than that results in some very long days, doing it much beyond about 14 days drags it out interminably.

Route: avoid the main roads wherever possible, it'll be an exercise in smashing it along a boring carriageway while lorries thunder past. On the opposite end, avoid Sustrans routes as they're extremely variable in quality, often badly signed and quite routinely add miles to a route just to avoid one junction or 200m of main road.

My wife and her friend (who quit at Carlisle) got the train to Penzance. They rode out to LE and back that evening then started from Penzance the following morning.

I picked my wife up from JoG as I had spent that week Munro bashing. @scotroutes used to work for a company who brought folk down from JoG to Inverness. No doubt he'll be along shortly to advise.

Thanks all, and that sounds pretty encouraging.

- 12-13 days sounds like a target ... I was mentally calculating what I reckoned I could feasibly do over c.1000miles, and I'm no spring chicken, nor is endurance my forte (I regularly ride 1-2hrs promptly, but seldom do more than 2+), but c.75miles per day sounds within the realms of feasibility!

- carrying evening stuff in a saddlebag is perfect. I'm happy travelling light

- training ... for my own peace of mind, reckon I'll need to feel I've done an 'appropriate plan', whatever that may be

- logistics ... yep, this looks like the tricky part so need to delve into this

- bike? My road bike is a 15+ year old titanium Airborne, which I find v comfy. I can run 25c tyres, and a 34/50 chainset. I like this bike but ... would a gravel type bike, wider tyres, disk brakes, wider range of gearing possibly etc be comfier over the journey?

Thanks all again

Have a good read through this recent thread.

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/jogletrackworld-what-do-i-need-to-consider/

I'll respond in more detail later.

– bike? My road bike is a 15+ year old titanium Airborne, which I find v comfy. I can run 25c tyres, and a 34/50 chainset. I like this bike but … would a gravel type bike, wider tyres, disk brakes, wider range of gearing possibly etc be comfier over the journey?

Two things the bike needs to be.
Comfy. Reliable.
So long as you're happy riding it long distances, can get up hills on the gearing it's got then it'll be fine. Mudguards are a wise addition!
And before you go fit some new tyres and brake pads, bed it all in and you're good to go. It really doesn't need to be anything special or ultralight or aero.

Thanks Scotroutes ... sounds like it's a 'get on with it'!

- I'd be travelling solo/unsupported.
- Probably late May would be a start date - so northwards or southwards re prevailing wind? (Or pot luck!)
- Home is Kent so JOG or LE equally difficult to get to I think re where to start.

If you are using the train to get to or from either end bike spaces are limited. Check when cheap tickets are released (around 12 weeks ahead) and be ready to book asap that day. When I went to lands end from Glasgow this year I booked the same day but wasn't fast enough for a direct train. Had to go Glasgow , Edinburgh , Taunton Penzance. Tickets and bike spaces can be booked online and GWR.com

I used a mix of hostels and Travelodge.

Very random aside, and you'd have to be retired to do it this way, but I've been following a couple who have done Lejog riding it over 22 days. Partly as she uses an ebike, so an hour or two each day were spent charging the battery in cafes, but mainly so that they could pop on and off the route to visit friends/family/places of interest on the way. Think they averaged 50 miles per day, but they've been to some fantastic places, had quite a few free nights accommodation with family and friends and generally had a great time doing it.

I had fixated over this as a bucket list type wish. Recently though my desire has cooled. I just can't be arsed with the traffic and truth be told other lejoggers.

I've been harbouring a new idea about setting out from Shetland, down to Orkney then back to Glasgow via the least obvious route perhaps that recently announced off road lejog route home.

I take nothing away from folk who want to do it, have done it.

It just feels like I don't need to do it to prove anything to myself.

OK - dinner finished.

As Bob says, I've been working for a bike hire/cyclist transport company based in Inverness. A huge part of the work os handling (oo err missus) JOGLErs/LEJOGers. As a result, I've spoken to hundreds of riders, some solo, most in small groups, some in large groups. They've bivvied, camped, hostelled, B&B'd or even used expensive hotels. They've taken between 4 and 24 days. I can't think of one person I've spoken to who regretted it.

Sounds like you have the bike sussed. There's no need to go changing anything. A thorough service would be a good idea, check brakes, cables, bearings and all of that. Makes sure you've done a decent ride on it post-service too. Assuming you are heading north (I reckon it's 4 to 5 in favour over Southbound) take spare brake pads for Cornwall and Devon.

The Sustrans route has a lot going for it, especially as a solo traveller. You will likely meet other folk en route if you're the sociable type, especially at each end of the country where route choices are sparse. Most comments I get are that the surfaces on the Sustrans route are "variable". Something with 28-32mm tyres would be ideal though. Just be aware that you might need to consider a coupe of diversions or suffer a little 🙂  The Sustrans route also gets better as you hit Scotland. That's not a personal opinion, that's sustained and repeated feedback.

Some folk book everything ahead. That can be reassuring as you know you have a bed for the night but does mean that you are stuck to a schedule regardless of weather, fitness and inclination. Throughout most of the UK, and at shoulder seasons you can likely wing it, booking as you go. That is a risk in the remote areas like the Scottish Highlands though where accommodation is sparse and can book up quickly. Some folk opt to book 2 or 3 nights ahead. That gives some flexibility for changes en route.

Train back from JOG can be a problem. There are few trains and few spaces on each. That might/should change at some point next year as Scotrail are commissioning special carriages that will take 20 or 30 bikes. Otherwise you can try my old team at www.johnogroatsbiketransport.co.uk who have a range of services, including a full taxi service and a bike-only transport service (allowing you to make your own way home) followed by a courier service to your home/place of work etc. A solo taxi back to Inverness will be expensive but they can advise on sharing to reduce costs as much as possible.Again, flexibility will help.

I may return to this thread with more thoughts, but anything else I can help with just let me know.

@Merak - Re: other LEJoGers. I got a text from my wife to say she was at Thurso. The problem was: I was at Altnaharra! Cue some, errm, making progress and I drove past her when she had about three miles to go. What was interesting were the number of obvious LEJoGers that I also passed. My wife hadn't met or even seen any of them until they turned up at John o' Groats.

I did it 20-odd years ago, solo, on a mountain bike with slicks carrying 2 days worth of kit in a rucksack.

Solo = boring (and I'm quite happy on my tod). Like really really boring. Service bike beforehand is a good idea, I had a pair of pedals explode en route necessitating a trip into a city to find new ones.

Worst part was getting very sore gentleman's bits about 5 days in (Carlisle I think it was). Had a day off to recover and then was fine - so a flexible approach works best. Some days it is going to just piss down and, frankly, you can just have a day off or rethink your distance.

Rucksack = bad idea.

I did the CTC route at the time and it was fine, excepting the old A74 in the pissing rain squeezed onto the hard shoulder as 37 tonne trucks blasted past. My inky dinky flashing led back light didn't feel adequate!

I did some of Dave Barter's route this summer, I'd love to do it again. There are almost no big/busy roads, lots of hills and some stunning bits. I got to Carlisle then turned right and went off to a mate's in Melrose via Alston. i then started back south via Berwick and Newcastle (all of this was lovely) before running out of time shortly after, in Middlesborough (iirc).
When are you doing it?

If you have Kindle Unlimited then "Free Country" is—er—free (or it's £3 if you don't). Worth a read, not because it'll be informative in any substantial way, but simply because you'll think "well, if these guys manged it…" 😉

Avoid the A30 through Cornwall and Devon. It might be an "A" road but it's effectively a motorway.