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Simply because it'd be easier. I would quite prepared to do all the research and booking but if a company had done all that and the cost was not very much more than I'd spend then it would be very attractive. Espicially if it means I could cycle without a backpack or panniers. But I do get your point, we don't live in outer mongolia.
I reckon by bivvying or using hostels I could get by with a saddle bag and bar bag for kit
But bivvying for 9 days would be a bit, errrr, shit wouldn't it.
Certainly staying in accommodation (rather than camping), a saddle bag/bar bag combo would be enough (for me at least).
I do lots of cycle touring - usually solo.However I enjoyed being part of a larger group, chatting before, during and after each days ride. It took a bit of getting used to not having planned it all myself but it was quite liberating not needing to think about when and where to stop, eat etc. It's certainly encouraged me to try another organized tour in future, though that one might be nearer Mongolia too.
I would only bivvy if I couldnt find anywhere cheap to stay
I youth hostelled, ate in Lidl and took the train, I think it still cost about £800 in 2006, call it £1k today and I spent hours organising it. It's not really a bad price tbh.
I enjoyed the freedom of picking a route though, we met some friends, did a corner of Wales and ticked off more interesting river crossings like chain ferries and little harbour taxis.
Edric 64 - Member
I reckon by bivvying or using hostels I could get by with a saddle bag and bar bag
Yep, I do it loads. Did an 11 day unsupported scenic Lejog using this method. Just back from another 9 day lightweight tour on and off road. So much B&B accommodation to chose from as well
if you use a recumbent, you could kip in it as well.... 😯
don't think andy wilkinson's record is in peril-- fwiw, i will do it some day, nice and relaxed, fully flexible, with tent n tings, but at my pace, on quiet roads....
where are you riding glupton? & when?
Depending on the weather and the notion I have for visiting certain parts of the country I'll be heading from Edinburgh to Campbeltown, Oban, Iona, Ardnamurchan, Mallaig, maybe into Knoydart (for a two day hike a bike if the weather suits) or through Skye if the weather doesn't, Kyleakin, Applecross, Torridon, Fisherfield to climb a munro or two, Ullapool, Sandwood Bay, Tongue, then head back down to Inverness, and back to Edinburgh via the Cairngorms and the Fife coast.
Or, it's amazing how much of the fun can be squeezed out of it if you try hard enough...
There's absolutely no link between fun had and money spent. Fun is losing yourself in a ride, stopping wherever takes your fancy, following your nose and exploring this wonderful country that we have.
bang on glupton-- them bread heads always equate money with everyting-- the cost of all , but the value of nowt !
don't think andy wilkinson's record is in peril-- fwiw, i
You mean Gethin Butler, 44 hours 4 minutes. Insane.
wilko holds the record--on a kingcycle-- 41 plus hrs !!
So he did. Wonder why the RRA don't recognise it?
no idea --because its a recumbent ?
It's surprisingly easy to do the LeJog without much planning. I bought an atlas and used the big map to work out roughly where to stop, then hotels.com to book things in the vicinity, and finally Google Maps on walk mode to route map it and get distances. Navigation was by iPhone, food was chosen by necessity. 40 miles after breakfast, stop for second breakfast, then lunch after another twenty or so, and finally bash out the remainder of the day with perhaps a stop for more food. I reckon £20 a day for food not counting breakfast, making use of supermarkets and cafes along the way, and £25 each for B&B if two of you, at the most. Cheapest was £32 between two in an Ibis near Preston, most expensive £65.
We got the train from Edinburgh to Penzance for £67, as I booked the tickets exactly 12 weeks out from our departure. All in, about £500 plus beer, over ten days.
Bread head! LOL 🙂
Surely there must be something between living in a glupton sized bush and the standards enjoyed by the Sultan of Brunei??
When touring, my default is camping, usually on sites if available. This is mainly to get a good shower at the end of each day and to be able to keep kit clean. Missing either for more than a couple of days will have a detrimental effect on the undercarriage.
Failing that, anything goes depending on what is available/how I'm feeling and the weather. IME everything/anything from a mad womens floor up to a 5* hotel. Committing to camping gets a bit wearing after the 3rd day of rain and everything is piss wet through.
Enjoy your trip however you do it.
Bread head <s****> 🙂
@alasdair How much did [i]you[/i] spend on mid afternoon coffee/snacks?
I'm taking a good tent with me, know the country like the back of my hand and therefore the best wild camping spots. I also like swimming in rivers and lochs, so I'll be clean enough as will my kit. I know where there are some really good mussel beds, I'm good at fishing...
It'll be an adventure.
did it with my best mate on bromptons over 8 days (well 7.5), took a 3 litre saddle bag + 10 front bag and stopped at reasonable priced BBs + food/water stops along the way (pubs/shops and peopel in gardens for water). No need for support and def not £1600!
Your tent will keep you nice and dry when you're cycling all day in the rain. LOL.
Enjoy yourself [s]catweazel[/s] glupton.
@rootes. Did you do the ~800 mile route. That's some going on Brommies.
I love riding in the rain. There's nothing better than riding in that big fat heavy rain that you get now and again.
I'll certainly enjoy myself - cheers.
Back on track. One of the big attractions of touring is the freedom to do as you wish. Direction, length of day, where to stay, where to eat etc. All this is taken away if you go on one of these organised rides.
I could understand it if you were passing through bandit country and were worried about the natives eating you but LeJog? C'mon, get a bit of spirit and get on with it.
as much as i love bike packing i have to admit threshold sports (they also do the ride across britain) did a great job when we did the london revolution. really all we had to do was turn up ride, get off bike pick you bag up shower massage eat drink and sleep - no thought required which was a luxury compared to my usual events.
lovely break from the norm - can't say i'd want to do such a mammoth event like lejog that way as i like to feel i've earned it properly, but maybe when i'm a bit older and more delicate i will appreciate stuff like that more often 🙂
I could understand it if you were passing through bandit country and were worried about the natives eating you but LeJog? C'mon, get a bit of spirit and get on with it.
A lot of the people doing LEJOG through Ride Across Britain weren't "cyclists" in the sense that STW would recognise. They weren't kit freaks or club riders averaging 300 miles a week.
They were normal everyday people who happened to own bikes - commuters, people who'd got into it by doing an event like the London Triathlon, corporate folk who wanted a challenge. Some of the people who turned up at Land's End had never ridden more than 20 miles in one go. Some of them had given their secretary/PA £5000 and said "get me a bike and all the kit, here's my sizes" hence the absurdly high proportion of top-end Boardman bikes there - the PA had said "where sells bikes - Halfords obviously". Some of the people there barely knew one end of a bike from the other and to be honest they'd never have made it without the route arrows, the mechanical support from Halfords, the medical support/massage on offer and the ride leaders/chaperones.
That's who it's aimed at.
And in those terms, it's pretty reasonable value for money.
And if you're wondering why I did it - I was one of the ride leaders. 🙂
Tell you the best part of it. When we left LE, it was a disparate group of individuals, most of whom knew nothing about the finer points of road riding - drafting, teamwork etc.
7 days later, I brought a group into Fort William across Rannoch Moor in the rain and the wind after a 135-mile day and there was a team working there. Through and off, 30 riders, no egos, everyone helping everyone else. THAT was cool - proper highlight of the ride for me. At the start of that week, none of them would have managed 135 miles.
At the risk of sounding corny, it's not really about touring, seeing the sights etc, it's about finding & challenging yourself. And yes, that message, combined with the "inspirational music" (think Eye of the Tiger, We Can Be Heroes etc) being blasted out across the campsite every morning at 5am really wore thin after a while...
I love riding in the rain. There's nothing better than riding in that big fat heavy rain that you get now and again.
There is. Riding in the dry.
@crazy-legs. Fair enough. My responses were really aimed at the typical keen cyclist rather than the corporate bore trying the latest organised challenge. I don't mean to denigrate what they achieved but it's a world away from the sort of stuff we write about on here. Maybe 'we' are more inclined to rough it a bit and take a few risks but perhaps we're more conditioned to doing this.
Having written this, sadly it was a couple of corporates that were flattened on the A30 a couple of weeks ago wasn't it? I'm not sure what that says apart from however you do it, there's still an element of risk/reward and you still have to push the pedals and sit on the bike.
I like the faff, freedom and routine that comes with multi day touring and that's why an organised ride is anathema to me. I won't even ride sportives (however I have been eyeing up audaxes as they might just pass the test...).
boblo-- was referring to the corporate types(bread heads)--surely you not that sensitive 😉
the whole point of touring is adventure, from the planning/anticipation to the actual doing, others will have different takes, but whatever you do , it must be enjoyable, even sometimes retrospectively !
@rudebwoy. Not sensitive at all, just thought It was funny in a Neil from the Young Ones sort of way 🙂
100% agreed on your summary.