Introduction

LEJOG is code for Land's End to John O'Groats.  The south-west corner of England to the north-east tip of Scotland.  We're going in that direction; for people going north to south it would be called JOGLE.  The route is about 1000 miles, or about 1600 km.  We will be cycling for 19 days, with one rest day about 2/3 of the way into the trip.  So - that makes it an average of about 85 km per day.  Lots of up and down; 18,600m or 61,000 feet of climbing.  That's an average of almost 1000m or 3200 feet per day.  Apparently it is common to do this route in fewer days; 10 to 14 is typical (says Wikipedia).  No thanks; I'll need as much time as I can have.  The record was set in 2018 at 43 hours, 25 minutes, and 13 seconds.  Women's record is 51 hours (2021).  Neither of those records is at risk............    

On our New Zealand bike trip in early 2023 we had four Brits in the group.  Several of them recommended this LEJOG trip and also recommended Saddle Skedaddle as a pretty good outfitter.  So - what more encouragement did I need??  I know I'm not going to want to do these trips forever, so ..... no time like the present.

In the fall of last year (well after I had signed up for this trip) I was on a local ride with our bike club.  Also on the trip were two really strong cyclists whom I rarely ride with because they're so much stronger and faster than I am.  At our lunch break we were all sharing our biking vacation plans for the next year (2024).  When I mentioned I was going to do this trip, the two stronger cyclists offered this comment "Oh - that's a great trip.  It's really hard.  We've done it twice and once it rained just about every day."  Lovely - if they thought it was tough then I'm doomed, was all I could think.  Oh well.....

This spring in Calgary hasn't exactly been conducive to cycling.  After not having much snow at all for most the winter, I think we've had seven or eight winters since mid-March.  As I write this on May 8th, we had snow coming down as recently as last week.  Couple that with cold temps and high winds; I've had a hard time getting out the door to ride.  I think I've done three rides.  Maybe one more on Friday this week.  But - I've been spinning in the basement and hiking in the foothills so hopefully that's enough to get me on my way.  

Here's a map of roughly where we're going............

We'll ride through 3 countries (England, Wales, Scotland) and cover roughly 1,000 miles.

The outfitter sent out some pre-trip notes last week including a list of all the hotels along the way.  I must say - they all look lovely!  And the food pictures; oh my!  And of course - I'm bracing myself for 20 days of "full English breakfast" to get me going in the mornings.  I'm not sure of the group size, but I'm guessing between 10 & 15 since some of the towns and inns that we'll be staying in are quite small.  

Gotta go and start packing.  Wish me luck!

Oh - and the usual caveat.  I will try to keep this blog going.  But - technical glitches happen, and there are only so many hours in a day......... so, no promises...........