The Challenge that is LEJOG
Land's End to John O'Groats (LEJOG). If you look at the famous signpost at Land's End it will tell you that it is 864 miles (1390 km) to John O'Groats. But, that is if you are travelling by car and using motorways. We will be travelling using pedal power and we are pretty sure that regional police forces wouldn't be too happy if we were pedalling along the hard shoulder.
So, our route will be slightly longer! It also includes cycling from Penzance to Land's End at the beginning of the ride and also cycling from John O'Groats to Thurso at the end of the ride. We both think (FH more than PH!) that it would be pretty annoying if we did all that cycling and only clocked up 997 miles. So, we are making sure that we reach the magic milestone and cycle at least 1000 miles (1609 km), even if that means not taking the most direct route.
We will be doing this unsupported, which means we have to carry everything we need for the challenge on our bikes or on ourselves. We aim to do all this in 16 days, which averages at 62.50 miles (100.50 km) per day.
The journey will start on Saturday 4th September when will get a train from London Paddington to Penzance. We will spend a night in a B&B, then cycling begins first thing Sunday morning. We will cycle to Lands End, to get a card stamped and photos by the signpost, then set off on our journey north. Fast forward 16 days, we should arrive at John O'Groats for the card to be stamped and more photos. Alas, our cycling will not end there, as after another night in a B&B, we have to cycle the following day to Wick, to catch a train to Inverness to then catch a train back down to London.
UPDATE 4th July
We have decided, (well Fathead has) to also include the northern and southern most points of mainlaind Great Britain into the ride. (Land's End & John O'Groats are the 2 place furthest apart, not the most southerly and northerly)
Also due to train ticket availability, we will now starting cycling on the Saturday rather than the Sunday as initially planned, which means we will be getting the train down on the Friday now.
By the way, the quickest LEJOG by bicycle (conventional 2 wheel bike) was completed in 44 hours, 4 minutes and 20 seconds in 2001 by Gethin Butler. Andy Wilkinson completed the journey in 41 hours, 4 minutes and 22 seconds, however that was on a Windcheetah recumbent Tricycle.
Please join our Facebook Fan Page by clicking here
