The Lands End to John O'Groats thread

I'm starting LEJOG on Tuesday. Got a 9 day plan, all accommodation (hotels and B&Bs) booked so we can't change our routes that much, but if anyone has any comments on the following I would appreciate it:

LE to Okehampton: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26943611

Okehampton to Bristol: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27475771

Bristol to Ludlow: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27476876

Ludlow to Haydock St Helens: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27480575

Haydock St Helens to Penrith: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27664580

Penrith to Largs: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26948303

Largs to Fort William: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26943221

Fort William to Inveran: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27147126

Inveran to JOG: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27147339

We're doing it with very minimal luggage (large saddlebags), unsupported, on road bikes.

Enjoy the descent after Fort Augustus :)

Is there any reason you're going via Beauly after Inverness? You can get to Dingwall crossing the Beauly Firth at Inverness, then on to Dingwall via Tore, to knock a good few miles off. There's a small stretch of cycling on a segregated cycle path alongside the A9 but otherwise some pleasant country lanes:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1616343087

Will take a closer look at your other routes over lunch.
And good luck!

Got a week or so off at the start of July and thought about doing this ride but just borked at the train fare. £180 seems to be the going rate to JOG. Do people just book a lot further in advance?

No reason really I don't think - I was thinking about that! I will probably amend that route, thanks :)

Just to add that there is a really lovely road right along the north side of the Firth between North Kessock and Muir of Ord - a bit further but bit more scenic than the A9 bike paths

Most of the major diversions between your route and what we did recently involve going round hilly bits, which is fair enough. I'm glad we did Dartmoor and the Lake District, but I'd probably choose something a bit more direct for a 9-day trip.

One minor point of suggestion is a Plan B option approaching Fort Augustus; if the A82 is particularly busy, the path up the side of the canal from Bridge of Oich up to FA is flat, pretty smooth fast surface and very quiet w.r.t. other cycle/pedestrian traffic. Save something for the climb up General Wade's Military Road. Well worth the effort for the views at the top!

Day 2, your route goes up a hill (coming into the Quantock's) called Cothelstone. It's a beast. Like Toys from the South.
Looks like a good route. Enjoy, I still have incredibly fond memories from our 2014 trip.

I rode the north side of Loch Ness and really didn't find it that bad. Traffic was considerate, fast and straight road, lovely views. Hear mixed things about the roads on the south side, if you're doing a big day I wouldn't hesitate to ride on the north. The bits after Inverness up and over to Bonar Bridge were an absolute highlight of the whole trip so wouldn't want to be doing them late/rushed...

Can't wait.

(Oh god)

Have fun. You might see these boys. I know 2 of them, and they are making decent progress

https://simplybusiness.everydayhero.com/uk/3-men-1-bike

Well I had a bloody great LEJOG. Wrote a little bit about it here:

https://medium.com/@plasticniki/leblog-or-a-celebration-of-a-little-bike-ride-5d30fb3da1da

Best bit was Scotland, obv. Really glad we decided to take the road to the south of Loch Ness. Was the best bit of the entire trip!

South side is gorgeous. I love the bits where you find yourself at water level with only a little stone wall between you and the water. And near the end when you go winding through this, what feels like, and ancient woodland with lots of lush green. Fantastic road, and super quiet too.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/carla-molinaro-meet-woman-just-ran-length-britain-record-breaking/

joggle running record

12 days!

Hey guys. Anyone happy to share a route for this? I'm going to be doing this next summer!

Many many routes available, depends on how long you have, what sort of trip you want etc

I would have a look at the Audax uk route.

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=214127

Did mine about 10 years ago. Planned the route and thought it was great! I can send you the RWGPS links if you want, BRT doesn't work any more! Send me a PM if you want them @Foreverrolling17

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34849205

If you could do this before me and let me know which bits to change, that would be great.

As direct as I dare, I'm from Scotland so can miss out the spectacular bits.

I've been brewing the idea of doing a LEJOG, fixed, in about 13 days, taking in a route that minimises climbing, like here:
https://cycle.travel/route/lejog_east_coast
It has the benefit of less climbing while also hitting lots of stops where I have friends and family.
Has anyone done this route?

No, but I would just offer the counterpoint that you would miss so many of the highlights of the route, at least personally when I did it a few years back. I drew my own route to hit places I wanted to ride and stay with some friends along the way, but massively recommend all of the black mountains/gospel pass, wye valley, the peaks, north york moors, the lakes, the trossachs - you don't have to take extreme climbs in any of them, but these are some of the most beautiful parts of the UK and would be very reluctant to lose them from a ride like this. The Northumbrian/Eastern borders are both lovely, but personally far less interesting/beautiful than what you'd be missing out on. Obviously I wasn't doing it fixed, which clearly impacts your approach to hills, but from a purely scenic perspective I would recommend taking in the hills if at all possible.

You've really annoyed me with this post. Mostly because I think you're right, but I'm unsure about how I'd manage big climbs riding fixed and I don't have the finances to do it geared I don't think.

Worth pondering.

Also I need to post more, because I can't open this page of this thread on my phone currently, as there's too many ride with GPS links and it crashes the browser, lol

Yep crashing for me also