Thanks to everyone for the donations, comments and support.
Rob B and myself completed LEJOG on Saturday around mid-day (9 very full days and 2 half days).
Those that followed Strava probably thought I wasn’t having much fun, but that was really my dry sense of humour!
We did have horrible weather and this made it much harder, but it also elevated the sense of achievement.
It was a fantastic experience riding in a straight direction through some cracking countryside, villages, towns and even cities.
We camped as much as health and safety would permit – Bivvy tents and tarps are great…… but only in milder conditions (otherwise just emergency shelters!).
The stats….
1033 miles
81 hrs and 52 mins on the bike
54,000ft of ascent
Mechanicals….
2 bottom brackets
2 rear tyres
6 punctures
1 snapped tubeless valve
1 rear mech retune
Broken rear spoke
Accommodation…..
4 nights camping
3 nights pods
3 nights hotel/B+B (these were genuinely our only options!)
Ailments…
Sore Achilles
Sore knees
A few others that won’t be mentioned
Food highlight…. Dirty mac and cheese!
Lessons….
Garmin routing needs to be double checked (it went through a stone terrace house at one point on a popular “road” route) and battery save is often too slow to react at anything above 10mph.
Don’t need to pack as much food….. lots of places enroute.
Gortex waterproof is essential (not just standard “waterproof”)
Nutrition – give more thought if slightly sensitive to sugar/salt!
A massive thanks to Mr and Mrs B senior for the lift to Lands End and the surprise collection at John O’Groats, and to Amy and Ange for the emergency chamois cream drop off (just over halfway – Halfords and GoOutdoors didn’t stock it for some reason).
Defo do more of this type of thing in the future (in better weather).
Rob was strong as an ox and a great cycling buddy – he seemed to love riding into a head wind so I was kind enough to let him as much as I could
Cheers BR