Long Distance Cycling Ordinary People

Still stormy, still stunning Almost back - just 7 miles to go! A bit sore this morning (to say the least!), we had to pedal hard yesterday to get over all those hills in all that wind!  Usually up early, pack up and a half full English before heading out, but no breakfast until 8:00!  It was a good one though!  Afterwards, back up the hill(s) out of Threshfield to Hetton.  Stopping in Gargrave to having the bike squeak looked at, as there’s something going on with the front wheel. I hadn't wanted to go back through Hetton as the hills were so 'challenging' yesterday, but aside from going along a very busy, truck laden road there was no way around it so 'suck it up, Buttercup' and get on with it.  We did end up taking a slightly different route out of Hetton which was better. Plenty of hills though!  Longer climbs and our friend the headwind was still with us.  After 5 days, we were ready to get home so we pushed on.  About 10 miles out, the hotel ...

Need coffee, lots of coffee! Very happy with his cup of tea! Stayed at the Springfield Lodge B&B in Kirkby Lonsdale.  Nice place, quiet, all the necessary accoutrements and an easy walk to the village. Heading off in the morning Look at that profile! First challenge of the day?  How to make the (Tassimo) coffee machine work!  Great B&B breakfast, of which we had half and, again, packed up the other half for a second breakfast later.   Checking out the list of Yorkshire pubs Off down the windy lanes, mostly very small, through Hornby, Wray, and then up onto the moors and down into the dales.  Had a little fall as we were coming up a hill when we couldn’t change down fast enough, no real damage to us or the bike though Gorgeous views Looking back at another steep one Made a mistake at Clapham, veering off the Coast to Coast route for the ‘short’ route to Settle.  How can a route next to a railway have so many hills?! Windy rest stop Up on top of anoth...

When the road disappears behind you, it was a STEEP hill! 7 miles to go! Such views along the way! Interesting aquarium An end of day treat for Steve Another big hill climb today, just the other way round!  40 miles in all, first up back over Shap and then over the many short sharp steep hills between Kendal and Kirkby Lonsdale - ‘where the hills of the Lake District meet the hills of the Yorkshire Dales’ according to Steve. We left Penrith after half a Full English and a pack up of the other half for 2nd Breakfast.  10 miles of gentle climbing back to the village of Shap for another tea stop at the Abbey Kitchen.  I’m quite liking peppermint tea for my tea breaks.  Then it was on for another 6 miles up (and up and up) to the top of Shap.  Mostly not as steep as coming up the other way, but the very top was an effort! At the top, we looked down at what we had climbed the day before - the road from the valley just climbed and climbed.  Amazing that we did it...

At the top of Shap  “In hindsight, maybe all that beer and all those pies weren’t such a  ood idea,” said Steve, as we puffed our way up Shap. Profile of the Shap climb From Kendal - To Penrith Mileage - 26 Altitude Gain - 1800 Perceived Difficulty - hard up to the top of Shap, down and undulating  Weather - sunny / cloudy, low 60s Kendal food stocking Looking back from the top of Shap Description of the day: How we felt in the morning - pretty good considering yesterday’s hills Breakfast, pack up, food - split a full English (no beans, no toast), sliced ham / baby bell cheese / 5 chicken thighs Morning, break - top of Shap snack Midday, break - chicken thighs, Abbey Kitchen tearoom in Shap Afternoon, break - none Arrival in the town - difficulty - easy, hotel was on the A6 Where we stayed - The Lounge Bar and Hotel, Penrith Kendal to Penrith over the rather big hill known as Shap - all 1400 feet of it.  Considering the climbs of the day before, we weren’t too sore o...

And we’re off!  Shakedown Pedal - Day 1 of 5 - Home to Kendal From Home to Kendal, Lake District Mileage - 60.7 Altitude Gain - 2600 feet Perceived Difficulty - easy first 40, hard last 20, really hard last 10 Weather - sunny cloudy Description of the day: How we felt in the morning - Rested Breakfast - Coffee, homemade Chinese w/ an egg on top Pack up picnic supplies - Leftover bbq, fruit, nuts, chocolate Morning, break Ribchester Midday, break Scorton Afternoon, break Warton Arrival in the town - difficulty - easy to find hotel Where we stayed - Stonecross Manor, Milnthorpe Road, LA95HP, Kendal Where we stayed - description of the town What we did for dinner - hotel restaurant Highlights of the day - made 60 miles! Story of the day - 10 miles to Kendal sign, every few miles 5:30 - Up early having thought of a few last minute things to do and double check before heading out. One of which was setting up the posts for the Shakedown Pedal and making sure I could access the blog from...

  Food In the main, there will be lots of food options on this trip - full English breakfasts are included or easily available in most accommodation and if you book either a hotel / pub with a restaurant or within easy walking distance to a town, dinners will be easily found.  Lunches will either be available or nowhere to be found.  A little bit of planning and sourcing of food will prevent a miserable afternoon.   If you have special food requirements, you’ll need to do some additional research on where to eat.  We eat veg, meat, fish, dairy and a bit of fruit.  We avoid processed foods, breads and sugars.  As mentioned in the Charity section, full-blown diabetes is something we’re working to avoid.  Therefore, we are careful about foods that drive up blood sugar for both health and weight reasons.  I have seen many people who manage to cycle LEJOG and not lose or even gain weight during the trip.  LEJOG is not an opportunity to c...

  The Shakedown Pedal Thinking that you’re ready to go and knowing that you’re ready to go are two different things.  When we were sailing, we used to do all the fixing of the boat, put all the food on, pack all the things we thought we’d need and then go on what we called a ‘Shakedown Cruise’, taking a trip out in similar conditions to test that all was in working condition and that we had all the right gear for the trip.  Many gaps and missed things were discovered on our shakedown cruises.  We decided to apply the same approach to prepping for LEJOG. The Sustrans book was helpful for planning this as it gave us a view of the daily altitude gain and the specifics in terms of daily ups and downs.  Knowing that, we created a shorter 5-day route replicating what some of the LEJOG days might be like so we could experience the things that we would experience on the trip. The criteria for the Shakedown Pedal were: Distance - up to 50 miles Hills - gentle rolling up ...

  Daily Checklists Arriving at the room At the end of the day when getting to the room: Charge things - everything that has been used - phones, batteries, lights, watches Wash, wring out and hang up gear to dry Packing Pack all evening gear in one bag with wash kit bag in it Pack things that are not completely dry in one bag (so other things don't get damp) Remaining cycling gear packed around those two bags Departing the room / hotel Pack things - everything in the room and from the bathroom Don’t forget the charging leads! As soon as the electronics are unplugged, pack the lead Give the key back to the hotel!

  Training Rides - Yorkshire, Lancashire and Surrey Hills Making the training rides representative of what we would experience during LEJOG wasn’t as hard as it could have been if we’d lived elsewhere in the country, e.g., a flat part.  We live in the hills of Lancashire, surrounded by hills similar in altitude gain and length shown on the Sustrans LEJOG route maps.  The Yorkshire Dales, an area well-known for its ascents, is within pedalling distance for us, and we have family living a short distance from the Surrey Hills.  Our training runs, either from our front door (we also live at the top of a hill) or a short drive away, consisted of representative days out in the run up to the trip, with a focus of increasing our hill climbing speed, and pedalling distance capabilities. Bearing in mind that Day 1 in Cornwall, from Land’s End to Truro, was 47 miles with plenty of hills.  Day 1 was followed by 3 more hilly days of similar distance.  Therefore, we had ...