The Beacon Message Board

Hi All,

I have been fantasising about a Transcontinental style event for some time and figured it's about time I did something about it.
I've started launching a couple of reasonable rides over recent months with the plan of training for this:
End to End - Brevet Randonneur - 1400km (minimum)
The classic End to End done in an Audax style.

This is a free route but the I must cover a minimum of 1400km from tip to toe (or vice versa) of the UK in 4 days 20 hours and 40 minutes.
I intend to do this in under 4 days with a few short sleeps between days.

I've joined Audax UK (I know, a little early in my life but needs must and had contact with the very helpful gentleman who governs this particular event.
My main concern is that I stay within the fairly strict rules to have this recognised as an attempt at the End to End - Brevet Randonneur.

I've done LEJOG some years ago as a fun 2 week tour of the country with tents, sleeping bags etc - this will be very different. Does anybody have any experience of a minimal luggage, blast from Lands' End to John O Groats?
I welcome any thoughts or advice you may have.

Hi Stuart.

Some years ago, I did toy with the idea of riding this event and undertook some rudimentary planning.

My route was segmented into fairly equal sections based upon Premier Inns and Travelodges where I could at least get some sleep and recuperate. The route was fairly dull to be quite frank, using the old A30 that shadows the current A30, through Somerset on the A38, across the Severn Bridge to reach the Marches thence using roads to shadow the A49, onto the A5 to travel through North West England, through Moffat and across the Forth Bridge, Braemar, Inverness and then direct to JoG. Asides the section across the Cairngorms, the route was not designed to be scenic. Ultimately, the reason I dropped the concept was the thought of an unappealing route and to be honest I cope with sleep deprivation very badly.

If I were to revisit the idea of LeJoG, I would forget the idea of the 1400 randonee in favour of the 7x200 randonee in order to route the ride through quieter and more scenic areas, as well as gaining the obvious advantage of better rest and recuperation through longer overnight stops. There again I clearly understand your aspiration of riding this in a single swoop.

As for luggage, Premier Inns would have reduced the necessity of carrying sleeping kit. I bought a Van Nicholas with luggage rack lugs, plus panniers. The concept was to ride with a single panner containing a single change of clothing plus bicycle spares and food. Some further items would have been forwarded via the Post Office's 'Post Restante' service, meaning that I could collect packages at nominated post offices en-route and return the dirty clothing back via SAE. Given the variability of the climate between Cornwall and Caithness, you have to be prepared for everything the weather can throw at you even in summer which is something we learnt on Beacon LeJoG ride a number of years ago.

You also need to pre-plan transport of your bike to and from either end of the country. Trying to return via train from Thurso/Wick is notoriously troublesome although there is an expensive courier service alternative. Cornwall is less problematic.

Wisdom suggests that LeJoG is more sensible than JoGLE due to the prevailing wind, plus as Cornwall is the toughest section and not something you want with a fatigued body after riding 1200km.

To gain better advice from experienced LeJoG audaxers, join the YACF audax forum and ask the same question.

Thanks Phil,

Some very helpful detail here, thank you.
As you've probably gathered, I'm really keen on the quickest I can do it, but I'm going to attempt to soften some of the route with a bit of scenery in order to get a bit of enjoyment.
As for either end, it looks like I may have roped 2 very good (unfortunate) friends to drop me on the first day, and collect me on the second ha ha.

Luggage wise, I'm going for the minimalist, bike packing style, after the test run to Newcastle a couple of weeks ago, I managed to carry everything required based on sleeping in hostel/Travelodges, using a bar, saddle and frame bag. Kept the weight pretty reasonable.

I did toy with the idea of doing a JoGLe as the idea of arriving in Lands' End seemed a little less depressing than the HoG arrival I experienced some years back, but for the exact reasons you've listed, I will head north.

Thanks again for the tips.

Fantastic work from Stuart White who has completed this event in less than 4 days! A phenomenal achievement. Looking forward to seeing a full write up soon (probably once he has had some sleep)!

Congratulations, Stewart! I've enjoyed the photographic updates from the road on that other platform.

Congratulations, excellent ride!

Awesome ride!

Stuart I am genuinely in awe! I don't average those sort of speeds on my training rides! Another exceptional Beacon accomplishment!

Thanks all,
I'll do a bit of a write up this week to share the fun.