[Closed] £1600 for a supported ride - end to end Lands End to John o' Groats.

£1600?!

I'm doing the LEL in a fortnight. Same distance (1400km), costs £200 as a semi-supported audax. And it'll take 4 days hopefully.

I did LeJog with a Marie Curie group a couple of years ago. Minimum donation was £2,250 of which around half was the "cost" of supporting it. That included hotels and hostels, food, backup van, physios, signing etc. There were 25 in our group. I imagine it could be cheaper (per head) for a larger group.

I did LeJog with a Marie Curie group a couple of years ago. Minimum donation was £2,250 of which around half was the "cost" of supporting it.

I organised everything myself (staying in B&Bs and YHAs) and asked for donations to MacMillan. I reckon more money goes tot he charity that way.

[quote=zilog6128 ]Out of interest did you pay for any of that yourself or did people who thought they were donating money to the charity end up funding your holiday?
I paid [i]the whole lot [/i](£2,250) out of my own money and then had folk give me money over and above that.

Good going Ransos, how much do you reckon it cost for travel to and from end/beginning and accomodation?

See, that sounds like a lot, but, if it's being done by 'normal' people, who can do 50miles a day for 18 days, then it's <£100 day, which doesnt buy much hotel.

Even going for it in 4 days carying just a credit card you'd need

4x hotels ~£240
4x evening meals £100
4x lunches £40
4x mid morning coffee/snacks £20
4x mid afternoon coffee/snacks £20
4x breakfast £40
2 train tickets ~£300?

I would want hotel accommodation every night for £1600

£10 breakfast
£25 evening meal

You must eat in posh pubs and cafes

[quote=thisisnotaspoon ]See, that sounds like a lot, but, if it's being done by 'normal' people, who can do 50miles a day for 18 days, then it's <£100 day, which doesnt buy much hotel.
Mine was a 10 day trip @ 100 miles per day and there were some [i]very[/i] ordinary people on that ride, including two older ladies (and I mean older than me) on quite low-spec hybrids. They weren't seasoned cyclists either.

pub meals are £5 to £15 ! in most pubs I go to

For 3 courses?

You must eat in posh pubs and cafes

Depends, if you were doing it in 4 days

a) wouldn't have time to do a calories/£ analysis of every restaurant in town
b) would probably be eating 2 meals

I'm picturing tinas rucking up and saying 'well I'm not doing it if there's no mid afternoon coffee/snacks, to hell with Cancer research'

Good going Ransos, how much do you reckon it cost for travel to and from end/beginning and accomodation?

It was a while ago, but at a guess:

Train from Bristol to Penzance ~ £25.
12 nights' accommodation average say £15-20/ night - mix of B&B and hostels, two people sharing really keeps the cost down. Bunkhouses in Scotland usually cheap and clean.
Minibus from JOG to Inverness - can't remember, it wasn't much
Sleeper to London - £75 (got a bargain fare)
London - Bristol ~£25.

Plus all your food. That can add up if you're eating in the pub and sinking a few beers each night, as we were! If you're trying to keep the cost down say £15/ day.

Looking at that, £500 is the bare minimum unless you're camping, and/ or you're going to ride a lot faster than we did.

I paid the whole lot (£2,250) out of my own money and then had folk give me money over and above that.

I'm picturing tinas rucking up and saying 'well I'm not doing it if there's no mid afternoon coffee/snacks, to hell with Cancer research'

Dam straight, the only reason I've not turned pro is I heard they don't stop the TDF for coffee at those Chateaux they show on the TV! I bet they do lovely cake.

[quote=ransos ]
Plus all your food. That can add up if you're eating in the pub and sinking a few beers each night, as we were! If you're trying to keep the cost down say £15/ day.
I reckon you'd struggle to get enough food (and drink) in you for £15 a day. Mind you, some of the folk that I cycled with were probably spending that on painkillers 🙂

when it was being drunk discussed a few weeks back we were thinking 6 days @140 miles ish per day, self supported i.e. wild camp / bivi with maybe 1 hotel in the middle.

would be annoyed if, having all the kit (bike and camping stuff), the bill came to more than £400

[quote=scandalous ]when it was being drunk discussed a few weeks back we were thinking 6 days @140 miles ish per day, self supported i.e. wild camp / bivi with maybe 1 hotel in the middle.
would be annoyed if, having all the kit (bike and camping stuff), the bill came to more than £400
Have you factored in getting to/from the start and end points?

I reckon you'd struggle to get enough food (and drink) in you for £15 a day. Mind you, some of the folk that I cycled with were probably spending that on painkillers

I reckon it's doable as you can cook your own in YHAs. But I certainly spent a lot more than that - it's supposed to be fun, and there's nothing better than a good meal and a couple of pints after a full day's cycling.

For a comparison - I'm doing a two week tour, maybe upto 18 days if the weather is on my side. My budget for that is around £10-15/day. It's amazing how little it can cost you if you're slumming it.

Pubs I go to dont do 3 courses! Thats for special occasions only probably wearing a tie !!!

If I were to do it then it'd be B&B and hostels all the way. I've done 3/4 day charity rides and it's beats all knowing you've got a bed and a hot shower at the end of every day. If it's raining there'd be nothing so dispiriting as having to pitch your tent in the rain after cycling all day. Also, I've often found that if you are doing it for charity the B&B owners will wave all or part of the cost.

[quote=Edric 64 ]Pubs I go to dont do 3 courses! Thats for special occasions only probably wearing a tie !!!
🙂 My point is that you'll be so hungry you'll need 3 courses!

I reckon he cheapest way to get home if there are a few of you is buy an old estate car up there before you leave from Cornwall .Drive it home and flog it again .If it breaks down the AA is your friend

I know what you mean .I had a weird look the night before the national 12 hr when asked chips or new spuds ,both was the answer and 2 desserts followed that!!

My point is that you'll be so hungry you'll need 3 courses!

What you need there is an Audax Picnic (TM)

If I were to do it then it'd be B&B and hostels all the way. I've done 3/4 day charity rides and it's beats all knowing you've got a bed and a hot shower at the end of every day.

Yup. I've done a fair bit of touring over the years, and the last thing I would want to do after a tiring day is pitch a tent in the rain. Plus it's a load of extra weight to carry.

Shower of soft tarts...

where are you riding glutpon? & when?

Depends how you look at it, I'd see the challange in riding it quickly, which means long hours in the saddle, good sleep and a minimum of faffing.

Say 250miles/14 hours, 8 hours sleep, leaving 2 hours to eat and find a bed. I'd not see a challenge in riding it in 10 days and spending half that time cooking pot noodles ona trangia and searching for bivi spots.

Wild camping is feasible in scotland but in England not so much. Plus for me the amount of bedding I'd want to carry to make sure I got a decent nights sleep would mean I wouldn't be able to get very far on a bike. I am very envious of people who can fall asleep on those thin camping mats because bikepacking is something I would love to do.

In defence of the RAB...

They do [b]everything[/b] for you.
Route signage, feed stations, breakfast & dinner (as much as you can eat, full cooked breakfast, the works), mechanical support, luggage transfer, tent pitching and de-pitching, they supply laundry service, showers, toilets, charging points for phone/GPS.
You don't need to spend anything for the 9 days that you're doing it.

All you need to do is ride your bike. It's like doing 9 Sportives in 9 days.

Downsides:
you're working to someone else's schedule - you HAVE to reach the end point, there's no bailing half way and sorting a B&B if the weather is shit one day, likewise if you're feeling good/have a tailwind, you can't just keep going.
sleeping in tents isn't for everyone but they're decent enough.
riding with 700 others of wildly varying ability (although once out on the road, you tend to form your own little groups and it's pretty quiet).
No choice over the route - you follow the arrows, you can't wander off into a little village or decide to take that road instead.

Depends though - it's always oversubscribed, there are plenty of cash-rich, time-poor people who don't have the time/inclination/confidence to do their own planning and navigation and logistics or who want to do it but can't find any mates who are interested. They don't want to do it alone so this is a way of getting some company.

Depends how you look at it, I'd see the challange in riding it quickly, which means long hours in the saddle, good sleep and a minimum of faffing.

Whereas I'd rather take my time on quieter, less direct roads and enjoy the countryside. Each to their own!

I think we're on the same page ransos, wanna do it again? but.... there's no way the wife would let me have 2 weeks away cycling. 😡

The RAB seems very well organised, they pitched up in the field next to me this year, spent 3 days putting up the marquees, very well marked out, and very professional.

for what you get I think it's a bit of a deal really.

I think we're on the same page ransos, wanna do it again? but.... there's no way the wife would let me have 2 weeks away cycling.

Yes, I do, but it's not going to be any time soon. 2 year old daughter and a baby on the way, plus I dragged them to the French Alps last week so I could ride La Marmotte. I suspect my good will is exhausted for the forseeable!

I reckon I could persuade them for my 40th...only five years to go!

£1,600 [i]and[/i] I get to sleep in a tent? I'd love to see a breakdown of how much of the cost is going to British Paralympics, especially as they have some corporate sponsorship going on too

2013 Event Suppliers:
adidas
Bath Rugby
Halfords
Map My Tracks
Mondel?z International
Powerade
Virgin Money Giving
Volvo
Whole Earth

It's amazing how little it can cost you if you're slumming it.

Or, it's amazing how much of the fun can be squeezed out of it if you try hard enough...

I'd love to see a breakdown of how much of the cost is going to British Paralympics

Have you tried asking them?

Incidentally, does anyone know of any other support companies who do the big one? I'd love to have a go sometime and doing it supported would be more attractive than wild camping.

[quote=edlong ]I'd love to see a breakdown of how much of the cost is going to British Paralympics
Have you tried asking them?
If I was considering doing it, I certainly would.

Sorry boys and girls, I just don't get it.

There's trains from/to the start and finish (well near enough as you'll have a bicycle with you for the last bits).

There's all classes of accommodation all the way along the route from camping in a hedge to 5* s**** mansions.

There's loads and loads of material on the various routes for background and planning.

We don't live in Outer Mongolia or some such and it's reasonably civilised all the way up (or down if you really must).

Why go organised?

JFDI