From Novice to LEJOG by eBike

 

Dear friends. I'm back from the most amazing adventure, cycling across the UK in 19 days.  

Today I'm going to cover my "journey" in terms of how someone who disliked cycling 17 months ago ended up on the iconic 1000 mile  (1,607 kilometres) Land's End to John O'Groats (LEJOG) ride. Plus some of my learnings and tips for anyone contemplating this or another bike holiday. 

On Friday in my usual monthly review I'll cover the actual journey, day by day, with pictures.  

WHY I TOOK UP CYCLING

My husband retired a few years ago and did a lot of cycling holidays, including LEJOG 3 times. When I retired he suggested I get an ebike so I could start going out with him. I hadn't cycled for years and didn't like the idea of London roads and traffic, but eventually I agreed because it would be something we could do together, including holidays. 

I must have agreed to LEJOG in a moment of madness.  I recall he was vacillating over the annual trip to Greece, so I used LEJOG to horse trade. 

Getting ready to cycle 50+ miles a day for three weeks, and effectively learning how to ride a bike, at the age of 63, became my focus for the next few months.

TRAINING

I got my ebike in May last year. It's a Canyon step through Pathlite:ON 7, which features Bosch's most  powerful motor, 85nm, and 750 watt battery. It has a smart screen on the handlebars showing the excellent Bosch Flow app, which tells me cadence, speed, distance, calories and can be used for navigation and so on. 

I spent summer 2023 learning roadcraft, as well as how to handle quite a large heavy bike. It weighs 25kg because of the battery, range of which is around 90 miles. 

Below: the bike arrives

In early October we did a 5 night cycling break, the Coast to Coast, and a few days on our own, cycling in the Lake District.  The fantastic scenery, country lanes and cycle tracks gave me the bug. 

Cycling stopped until February.  It was tough going out in cold weather. We started with low mileage rides to the Lee Valley country park/white water centre and the Olympic Park, and then added more miles by extending into Essex and going through places like Abridge, Ongar and Chelmsford. We had variety by going to a few places by train and following routes from different books.

In May we did a fantastic 5 night cycling holiday in Lancs/Yorkshire,  the Way of the Roses.

My training for LEJOG ended with the 55 mile London to Southend bike ride. It was 70 miles in total. I didn't enjoy it very much. It was too much of a race among hardened bike club riders. However, it gave me confidence I could handle the mileage.

ABOUT LANDS END TO JOHN O'GROATS  (LEJOG)

This iconic route starts in Cornwall at Land's End and makes its way through Devon and Somerset to Bristol, crossing into Wales briefly,  and then up the "middle" of England and into Scotland. 

The actual route varies by tour operator. Many cyclists do it in 10 or 14 days. We were treating it less as a race and were on a more leisurely 3 week schedule, with 19 days of cycling.  Our average mileage was 52  (83 km) a day, with the maximum being 76 (122 km). 

On our tour there were 14 cyclists aged 54 to 72, and two guides. The guides alternated between driving the van and cycling with us. The van carried our baggage each day and supplied us with picnics and snacks.  

The cyclists' split was 12 men and 2 females. Three riders were on ebikes.  Five cyclists were from the US, Missouri and Utah,  and one from Australia. 

The pelaton typically splits into groups who ride together. GPX files are supplied in advance for those with Garmins. For those without, Saddle Skedaddle had Ride with GPS devices.  On the occasions when we had to go through a busy city,  one of the guides led the group if needed. 

There were inspiring stories among our fellow cyclists.  One had impaired vision - probably the strongest cyclist on the tour - and he was supported by a friend.  Another had had a spontaneous brain haemorrhage during a Zoom meeting, and through rehab and hard work fought his way back to fitness. 

LEJOG can also be done the other way round, when it becomes JOGLE.

MY BIKE ON THE HOLIDAY

I hired my ebike from the tour company as it's very difficult to transport an ebike home once you reach John O'Groats.  Planes and couriers won't carry them because of the battery. Hiring a car is probably the only way around it.  

The Giant bike was very different to my own, more of a city bike, and lower powered.  There was no display or app, so I had to guess speed and cadence as I went along. The different powers were selected via rudimentary LEDs that you clicked up or down. 

The battery was under the rear rack and I was given a spare that was carried in the van.  I used the spare on 3 days that were particularly demanding, one being the 76 mile day from Talkin (Cumbria) to Cardrona near Peebles, and the other being the "day in the mountains" when we climbed Glenshee and the Lecht Pass in the Highlands. 

I found the bike was fine, more nimble than my own bike, but getting up the Lecht was a bit of a struggle as the bike had given everything it had and I was peddling furiously. Below: after the Lecht. It's about 3pm. My face says it all! 

The other hired ebike on the trip, used by the other female, was more similar to my own bike with a larger front loaded battery. 

DOES AN EBIKE GIVE A GOOD WORKOUT?

Emphatically, yes!  

Each bike has a selection of different power modes, ranging from Eco to Turbo on my own bike.  Using eco gives minimum assist, and if you use it on steep hills you are definitely getting a good workout. 

For ebike riders, the hardest terrain is long flat stretches. Legally, ebikes in the UK cannot go above 15.5 mph.  Although I could overtake everyone on the hills, other riders on lighter carbon road bikes could easily overtake me on the flat. 

On some rides my heart rate went into the vigorous zone. I was burning around 2,700 calories a day, and as my body's daily requirement is 1,400, I would have lost a lot of weight if I hadn't partaken of three good meals and snacks each day!  But that's part of the enjoyment.

The way to look at ebikes is that they make it possible for life long cyclists to keep up their hobby as they age. Even a fit 70 year old will struggle on the LEJOG hills because their lung capacity will be reduced. For beginners like me, an ebike has made it possible to keep up with my husband. I would never have been able to achieve the fitness required to ride an analogue bike on LEJOG at my time of life. I take my hat off to my fellow riders who tackled those horrendous hills without a battery! 

CLOTHES AND PACKING

I'd taken a tip from a fellow cyclist on the holiday who shared his packing process a few days before we left.  Pack everything in cubes or labelled bags.  I bought a set of mesh bags from Amazon. I'd also been keeping plastic bags with zip fasteners that came with cycling apparel, and had a set of "wash me" mesh bags from Lakeland. 

We had to pack and unpack twice a day, plus carry our own bags (and quite often there were uneven stairs and no lifts) so the advice was to keep the bag as light as possible. 

I packed 3 cycling outfits, as did John, and we washed our outfit each day.  The success of this depended on our accommodation having a towel rail or radiator that we could switch on.  I also took 2 gilets, a waterproof jacket, "arms" and waterproof over shoes. Below: John in a hotel room before the bags have been taken to the van. 

For outfits to wear to dinner, travel days and our rest day, I kept it extremely minimal.  I've never been a capsule wardrobe enthusiast and am notorious for over packing. But I managed to survive on 3 pairs of three-quarter length trousers, 4 tops, 1 wrap/cardigan and a hoody. 

When we left London it was very hot and I foolishly didn't take a jacket  (except for cycling gilets and a rainproof), thinking "well, it's summer."  When we got to Scotland the temperature dropped dramatically. On our rest day I headed into Peebles and bought another sweatshirt plus the only women's jacket the cycling shop had, a waterproof and windproof Castelli for cycling, plus gloves because my hands kept going numb.

My capsule wardrobe worked because it was in my spring colours and everything co-ordinated. But I was heartily sick of those pieces by the time we finished!  There was no room - or need - for accessories or handbags. I took just 2 pairs of shoes, flat cycling shoes and white trainers. I saved a silk scarf and earrings for the last night. 

On balance, I would liked to have had a lightweight pair of full length chinos or jeans to wear to breakfast and on the plane home, and a pair of full length cycling leggings.  Mine were all short so I had cold legs in Scotland!

TYPICAL DAY'S SCHEDULE

8.00       Breakfast.

9.30        Bags brought to van

9.45        We set off after the daily briefing 

1100        Morning refreshments, either at the van, parked in a scenic location, or in a cafe 

1300        Lunch, as above

1430        Afternoon refreshments on longer rides

We usually arrived at our accommodation around 15.30 - 1600. The first thing I always did was lay out my cycling outfit for the next day, and wash today's outfit in the shower. The bike battery and light batteries would be put on to charge Then I'd catch up with social media or do a short walk around the location.  Dinner was usually at 7 or 7.30pm, together.  It was amusing how we nearly always did a pre-order as soon as we arrived, and then promptly forgot what we ordered.  We also had a few "free" evenings in bigger places like Worcester. Below: a group dinner

HIGH'S AND LOWS

Highs

• The amazing scenery of our green and pleasant land, particularly in Scotland. Scotland has more coastline than England, and spectacular it is too.  There were miles and miles of moorland wilderness, wild and rugged, with purple heather.  I could fully understand why the royal family escapes to Balmoral, and the Castle of Mey, near John O'Groats, in the case of the late Queen Mother.
• The weather.  We had just two days where it rained persistently, and in both cases, it wasn't all day. The flooding on those 2 days was ferocious! I'll share a pic of that in Friday's post. We didn't have too many unfavourable winds.
• Cameraderie.  The group had different nationalities and life stories. All were very experienced and strong bikers, except for me.  We got on very well and had some fun times. Those at the front would stop to take pictures of the rest.  Whenever we stopped, others would ask if everything was OK.
• Country lanes where the only traffic was the occasional car and tractor.

• Food experiences.  Our tour operator, Saddle Skedaddle, included "local delicacies" in our snacks and picnics to give a taste of Britain. These included scones, Tunnock's, pies, haggis, black pudding and even Irn Bru  (which strangely found a few fans among the international visitors)
• The massage and mini facial at Cardrona on our day off.  Bliss!
• Realising I could do it.  I am still anxious on a bike and every day I had an upset stomach, right until the day we went home.  I don't know why, because it got easier each day as I got fitter and more accustomed to longer distances.
• No midges!  We had quite high winds in Scotland, mostly in our favour,  which discourages midges.  I didn't have any bites.  John did, because he spent a while watching a footgolf tournament in Cardrona. 
• Different accommodation each night was fascinating, ranging from basic en suite rooms at inns to substantial rooms at large hotels. 
• In general, I had all the right cycling clothes and equipment, although I did have to buy a new jacket and gloves (see above). Layering up was key when it was cold and windy.
• A group of Belgian motor cyclists who were also at the same hotel in Bettyhill waving and honking at us as they passed on their way to Aviemore, and our final leg to John O'Groats.

Lows

• You get a bit fed up with repacking and looking for things in your bag twice a day
• Sore bottom.  It was agony at times. I'd road tested several pairs of quality padded bib shorts in advance, and always used chamois cream  (sometimes reapplying at lunchtime), but the problem persisted. 
• Numb hands.  I'm not sure if it was the cold, or the vibrations, but I'd get numb hands and it was hard to use the gear and brake levers.  Fortunately it improved when I bought some warmer gloves.
• I didn't sleep very well at some of the accommodation where beds were small, duvets too thick and windows impossible to open very wide. In many cases fans were provided, but difficult because there weren't always many power sockets
• Balancing the need to hydrate on rides with the lack of lavatories.  I became adept at "wild wees" in the countryside - otherwise I wouldn't be drinking enough water. I recommend Endura's special women's bib shorts with flaps which make it much easier!  A lot of villages had very good lavatories, locally funded.  Thank you! (Below: negotiating another gate for a wild wee)

Below:  the triumphant team at the John O'Groats route marker.

Would I do it again? No, it's definitely a one off for me.  But I'm still keen to do shorter cycling holidays and we will be booking for the Hebridean Way by bike next spring. 

Remember to pop back on Friday to see my round-up of August day by day, describing our journey each day with pictures of the scenery.

Is a cycling holiday for you, or do you prefer other sporting activities? Do tell in the comments.  Scroll below the link-up to see the comments. 

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