It's All About the Bike

LEJOG countdown : 1 month to go.

Like many keen a cyclist I have a few bikes. Each of them is good for different things, but it's often futile trying to convince others that anyone should need more than one. So I won't try.

 

Anyway, for this trip it's a two horse race between my current oldest and newest bikes:

- My faithful old Ribble. The Ford Model T of bikes (any colour you like, as long as it's blue), and with its mudguards and rack is the obvious choice. Except that it's my shamefully neglected commuter bike (the fate of many a spurned pride and joy), and will need a ton of new parts and TLC if I'm to take it with me.

- A Vitus Substance, bought last spring and baptised on the South Downs and the King Alfred's Way. Lower geared than the Ribble and the disc brakes are a joy. With some different tyres, a rack and some mudguards I can flip it from "gravel/adventure" bike to a capable tourer. 

The usurper wins this one.

The Only Way Is Up

Which way for the end-to-end? Land's End to John o' Groats (LEJOG), or the other way around (GOGLE)?  East, west, or through the middle? 

For me it's a no brainer :

    South to north, to maximise the daylight hours as hit Scotland in the 10th week of the year.

    East coast - to drop in on family and friends along the way. 

There's plenty of published routes out there, but cycle.travel has just what I'm looking for - a ready made east coast route that I can tweak, save and export exactly as I want it.

And kudos to the excellent cyclelejog.com (another east coaster) for the hints and tips that are worthy of a small donation.

Fun fact: when I depart Land's End the sunrise will be a few minutes before sunrise in John o' Groats. By the time I arrive at John o' Groats, that will have been reversed.

I just hope the north sea wind will be kind to me.

The Water in Majorca Don't Taste like What it Oughta

"If I were you I'd sack off the whole LEJOG thing and go cycling in Mallorca!"

It's always good to know your mates are looking out for you. 

They have a point though. Early March is still winter* - and I'm heading for Scotland.

But...

I have the time to do this now, not later.

I need an adventure, not a holiday.

I've cycled in Scotland in the summer. I still got cold. I still got wet.

It has to be LEJOG. I'm leaving in 5 weeks.

Sept '21, The Lecht in the Scotch mist. What a great climb.

Finally, is it just me or...

Saying Mallorca always reminds me of the classic 1980's Heineken ad, in an age before booze and fags adverts were banned (and online casino ads hadn't taken their place).

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* astronomical winter for the pedants out there. You know who you are.

What? Another LEJOG blog?

10 days ago my mind woke up at 3am and planted the random thought of cycling from London to Durham. By the time I re-awoke at 7, that idea had been upgraded to cycling the infamous Land's End to John O'Groats route (LEJOG) - the 1000 miles or so from the south western tip of England to the north eastern tip of Scotland.

So here it is, my blog, which starts today with the planning and pondering, and sometime soon we'll get to the epic journey itself.

I pledge to keep my posts short and sweet... even when I'm miles from home and lonely.