End2End LeJog Fixed?

Hi,

Just interested to find out if anyone has done Land's End to John o' Groats on fixed gear?

If so what distances were travelled and how long did it take, any problems etc.

Thanks.

A friend of mine just did a JOGLE this weekend. That was 880+miles in 77hours of non stop cycling. He was geared and I joined him on some of the stages and believe me it is very tiring.

If you do want try it I reckon over a period of 7-9 days will be good. A support vehicle will also be useful to carry all your spares, food, water and a place to sleep/change if it's pissing it down.

I'm sure people have done it fixed before and there is a forum for it somewhere so that's probably your best bet at getting more information.

I've been thinking about it as an Audax (there's a Perm version of the End2End) at Randonneur pace. That gives you 116h40m to do it (a nominal 1400km distance). I've done LEL (also 1400km) at that pace and that's enough to get 4-5 hours sleep a night if you plan ahead.

Doing it fixed isn't that special. I'd probably use 67" and stick with that the entire way (I don't believe in changing sprockets mid-ride, the challenge is picking a gear that will cover all of the terrain). That should be enough to get the worst of the climbing out of the way (Cornwall and Devon) by the end of day 1 (my original plan was to get to the Severn Bridge at the end of the first day).

67" got me through LEL (varied terrain from the flatlands of Lincolnshire to the Moorfoot Hills just south of Edinburgh) and some very hilly rides in Wales (Bryan Chapman 600 and Elenith 300) along with some flatter rides.

From memory, the terrain of day 1 isn't too bad anyway (if you're used to hills).

I did the Kernow & South West 600 last weekened (on gears) and there wasn't that much to contend with that would trouble fixed.

The K&SW 600 went: Exeter, Bude, Looe (via Liskeard), Penzance, Newquay, Bude, Taunton, Yeovil (well West Coker on the A30), Seaton, Exeter

My probable day 1 would be very similar to the route from Penzance:-

Penzance, A30 all the way to Okehampton, then head for Tiverton, Taunton, Bridgwater, pass Weston-Super-Mare to the Severn Bridge.

A return to this question. Anyone else done it fixed? I am doing it next year, but at a very leisurely pace (14 days! and they carry our crap) 'cos I'm accompanying my old man, who's basically doing it before he can't any longer. So I figured fixed would make it more interesting for me... So I'm mainly asking if there are any climbs that aren't feasible fixed, or if you have any gearing recommendations. The miles should be easily doable at that pace.

Quick edit to say - I've had a couple of knee ops so the hilly stuff is what I'm most curious about...

http://www.lfgss.com/thread72602.html

This thread has a decent amount of information in it.

Ta!

Hmmm.... Maybe over ambitious. We'll see.

I wouldn't go through dartmoor fixed ull rip your knees off. Otherwise shap fell isn't particularly steep but there is one nasty climb like 40miles or so from the end that has a couple of s bends that will definitely test you. Overall I'd give it a go but be careful with your route down the Devon and Cornwall as the hills are savagely steep there

I wouldn't go through dartmoor fixed ull rip your knees off. Otherwise shap fell isn't particularly steep but there is one nasty climb like 40miles or so from the end that has a couple of s bends that will definitely test you. Overall I'd give it a go but be careful with your route down the Devon and Cornwall as the hills are savagely steep there

I went through Dartmoor fixed in January from Barnstable to Exeter. On the way out I thought I'd hit the lanes and see some countryside, big mistake. Walked every other fucking hill... Way back stuck to the A roads and found life very pleasant... The newer main roadds generally don't have that bad a gradient, or at least the few I found didn't.

I had a chat to the organisers who have warned me off doing it fixed - not sure if we go though Dartmoor on this route, but I went though there over the summer and would have struggled fixed I think, so going to stick with the geared bike for this one.

I went through Dartmoor fixed in January from Barnstable to Exeter. On the way out I thought I'd hit the lanes and see some countryside, big mistake. Walked every other fucking hill... Way back stuck to the A roads and found life very pleasant... The newer main roadds generally don't have that bad a gradient, or at least the few I found didn't.

haha yes those hills are brutal!

All the early records must have been done on fixed.

I'm not sure who was the first to use a variable gear. Opperman (1934) used a cyclo derailleur, and I'm fairly sure that Ferris (1937) was riding as a pro for Sturmey Archer. Keeler (1958)* used a 'Paris-Roubaix', which probably created more difficulties than fixed - he certainly complained of severe back ache caused by twisting round to change gear. I believe all subsequent rides were done with conventional derailleurs.
All these 'facts' are off the top of my head, so I'm prepared to be corrected.

• This was a remarkably long gap between records. Reg Randall beat Keeler's record about three weeks later.
  

"W Welsh in 1907 was the first man to break the end to end a retrace his route for the 1000 mile record. He rode a New Hudson with 3-speed Armstrong Triplex gears." from John Taylors book "End to End Story"

Hmmm.... Maybe over ambitious. We'll see.

A friend of mine has done it on a skateboard. he pushed up and rode down every single hill. And it took three weeks. If that can be done, then you'll be absolutely fine on a fixed gear bike!

Been Googling this for hours. Still no closer to an answer. Weird thing is I'm pretty sure I remember finding a number about 5 years ago on a previous search. Anyone?

What do you mean? A record time for someone who did it fixed?

Yessir

I wonder if that's something that might have to be looked up off-line.

Out of interest, five/six years later, how did @h2o get on?

I used gears. Was thankful while swearing my way up the Lecht in my granny gear.