For anyone interested in riding along, (or anyone who wants to offer revisions to routes based on good personal experience) we have finalised the daily route plans as follows:

Day 1, 22nd May: Lands End to Boscastle (83 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=qeowcmarqobmcaka

Day 2, 23rd May: Boscastle to Halse, Bishops Lydeard (84 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=qdrdjsycitngimkz

Day 3, 24th May: Halse to Tintern (86 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=acefnbrvidcyfspo

Day 4, 25th May: Tintern to Ironbridge (86 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=yayyknpsujywdpck

Day 5, 26th May: Ironbridge to Charnock Richard (98 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=waidqkzdlrkzujtm (I'm already revising this route to get us off the A530 as we approach Middlewich)

Day 6, 27th May: Charnock Richard to Edenhall, Penrith (97 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=cezxfohqkewwfwcq

28th May: Rest day

Day 7, 29th May: Edenhall to Moffat (68 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=shmwanhxhauepdgh

Day 8, 30th May: Moffat to Stirling (90 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=hzjtoabjkbyikkhd

Day 9, 31st May: Stirling to Fort William (97 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=rghpjaffzlyelsmq

Day 10, 1st June: Fort William to Tain (96 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=qzdajibmxvystnby

Day 11, 2nd June: Tain to John O’Groats (85 miles) http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=tzadfqhaykxkprji

We generally intend starting out each morning at 8.00 am, mid-morning break at 10.00, lunch for an hour at 12.30, mid-afternoon break and then into evening accommodation by approx 5 to 6pm.

If you are joining us on either of the days below then the start points are as follows:

• Ironbridge we are setting out from the Tontine Hotel http://www.tontine-hotel.com/

• Charnock Richard, setting out from Lavender Park Hall Hotel, Chorley http://www.lavenderhotels.co.uk/Park-Hall

• Finish point on Friday is Edenhall Country Hotel near Penrith http://www.edenhallhotel.co.uk/

Good luck Andy, going to be a tough 11 days.:twisted:

May join you on the 26th May, if I do will pick you up around Market Drayton and stay with you until Tatton Park area, will all depend on work commitments, but I should think I will be there

Good luck Andy and work colleagues
your day 6 looks harder than it needs to be. My early cycling was done in Lancashire and I know some of these roads very well. I can see why you are skirting Preston as it will be difficult first thing in the morning; not sure if there are suitable cycle paths there.

First problem? is Samlesbury Bottoms!! you seem to drop down the side of a house before climbing back out

Bowland Forest is lovely but there are some big climbs particularly from Slaidburn to High Bentham (Cross o'Greet a feared Milk Race climb) - beyond here you are in rolling country towards Barbondale and it then gets tougher up beyond Sedbergh.

An easier route early on would be to head for Longridge or Goosnargh and then Inglewhite and Garstang, this would keep you off the A6. Short distance from Garstang to Scorton where there is a long standing cyclist friendly cafe (Priory Cafe). Head up in to the fells to The Fleece Inn at Dolphinholme and through the Quernmore Valley to Caton - this is a lovely ride and you can take a slight detour to a beauty spot at Crook o'Lune before heading to Hornby and onto Kirkby Lonsdale where you rejoin your route.
If your'e not bothered about going to Garstang and Scorton you can head from the Inglewhite area over Oakenclough (bit of a climb) and Harrisend Fell to pick up the Quernmore Valley at the Fleece Inn.

Hope this helps, if you need any more info on this area give me a shout - I may be tempted to join you that day!!
all the best
Dave W

Dave, thanks for the expert advice - I will review with my colleagues and almost certainly take your advice. There's absolutely no reason for making the challenge any more difficult for ourselves than need be. Thanks for the feedback and you'll be most welcome to join us if you can.

Cheers,
Andy

Hi Dave,

One of our team took a look at your recommendations and came up with the following alternate route:
http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=pwdiogzquaufedqc

It takes the day 6 leg from 97 miles and 6,811 ft climb up to 106 miles and still 6,060 ft of climb.

The consensus is to avoid Preston at morning rush hour, so I'm not sure what other alternative route we could come up with to improve on the first route suggested. Have we misinterpreted your suggested route or do you have any further suggestions?

Cheers,
Andy

Would appreciate some further advice from club members. Not been insured before and doing LEJOG would seem as good a reason as any to rectify the situation. What do people recommend - insurance via membership of CTC or of British Cycling? ❓ Is either one particularly better than the other?

Hi Andy
you got my route roughly right, getting round Preston is obviously a big problem; you don't need to go so far East to get to Longridge and at Caton you can go down the main road to Hornby, although not sure what traffic is like now.
I was surprised the distance went up so much but will see if I can tweak the route for you. I think the problem on that day is it's very hilly, particularly the second half of the day(good job you plan a rest day next day)
If you go with your original route I believe thers a good cyclist cafe in Slaidburn

Dave

OK Dave - I look forward to your route tweaks. 😀

I've also set up a Twitter account to provide daily progress updates from the route: http://twitter.com/ Emerson_LEJOG

Until the 22nd May it might be a little dull reading but any followers will all help boost the resolve for the challenge ahead.

Cheers,
Andy

Andy

CTC certainly done me and mine favours using them for compensation if you have the misfortune to be hit. Also includes third party liability should you be unfortunate enough to cause a problem. Family membership options available.They also have a wealth of information like LEJOG routes you can tap into. Discount at Wiggle. I don't know enough about BC perhaps someone can add to this for you. Enjoy trip I did it a while ago and had a great time. My route was a bit less direct over 13 riding days. Start was the worst for hills, Dartmoor & Exmoor can be very lumpy. Scotland more gentle in terms of frequency and gradient.

Thanks for the feedback Derek. Looking like CTC then unless anyone has good experiences with BC.

Sorry to miss you all on the weekend club run but I spent the w/e in Yorkshire with work colleagues putting in some serious prep for LEJOG. Did my first 88 miles followed the next day by 62 with very serious +20% hills. Not ashamed to say I had to walk many of the steeper sections. But a great weekend of practice and proved my capabilities for going the distance. Just need to get the regular Sat/Sun combo going (I can't get the regular mid-week exercise because of European work commitments) to increase the fitness and stamina.

OK my bike computer and GPSies seem to have some disagreement on distances and I guess GPSies wins out!

First day, 87 miles:
http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mkceiroyqbhbhdqw

Second day, 60 miles:
http://www.gpsies.com/editTrack.do

OK, technical expertise would be appreciated from those of you in the know. I can't tackle hills like I'd like to 😳 so I need to consider gears to help me out.

I have a full Ultegra compact groupset 50/34 11-25 and would like to change as little as possible for reasons of quality, cost and appearance. I've seen recent SRAM Apex 11/32 reviews and was immediately interested. I also note that Shimano do a Ultegra cassette 11-28 that should be a simple swap over, or Mountain Bike cassettes at 11-34 and 11-36. However, I don't want to spend loads of money (LEJOG is costing me approx £1K already).

So my questions:
1) Assuming the SRAM and Shimano cassettes are equally interchangeable - isn't the SRAM Apex aimed more squarely at road bikes than say the Shimano Deore / SLX?

2) Would there be a difference in performance between the two on the road? Won't the gear ratio spacing on the Deore / SLX be based on mountain biking rather than road riding? And if going with the Shimano mountain bike solution why not go the whole hog with 11/36 - in fact if either is such a great option why aren't Shimano publicising it as a road rival to SRAM Apex? The way SRAM Apex publicity goes you'd be forgiven for assuming this is ground breaking new road technology but the posts on the internet suggest no such thing & that the Shimano mountain bike gears will do just fine on a road bike.

3) Whats best for my purpose?
a. Just a swap out Ultegra 11-28 cassette
b. SRAM 11/32 + Shimano Ultegra 6700 GS (med cage) - appearance will be all Ultegra which would be nice and I read one person's review of the SRAM 11/32 and he said his Ultegra 6700 GS worked fine with 32 teeth despite stating 28 max
c. SRAM 11/32 + Shimano Deore / SLX derailleur
d. Shimano SLX 11/34 (or 11/36) + Shimano Ultegra 6700 GS (med cage)
e. Shimano SLX 11/34 (or 11/36) + Shimano Deore / SLX derailleur

I guess each option above will need a new chain - anyone care to recommend a suitable length? And if going to a Deore or SLX config, I guess there's no point in spending out on a longer Ultegra spec chain?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can share.

Hi , just one thing, if you start to increase the size of the rear sprockets, say over 27, you may need a long arm rear mech, unless you already have one on your bike. From previous experience if you start changing odd items you get problems. New block, new chain. ( chains always come in the same length 114 links as a rule ). Les