RyanF Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Short post about my 9 days supported LeJog - Threshold Ride Across Britain Day 1 - Lands End to Okehampton 8,675ft & 107.6mi @ 15.5mi/h https://www.strava.com/activities/707139918 One word sums up this leg brutal. Loads of short very steep climbs with some technical roads which meant you had to keep your wits about you. When I got back to campsite I was allocated a tent but due to the extreme exhaustion I put all my gear in the wrong tent. It took me a good 10-15 minutes to work out which tent I had put my gear in. Going too hard on this first leg did cause me to suffer on the following days. Wet roads in the morning but it stayed dry all day Day 2 - Okehampton – Bath 6,998ft & 111.2mi @ 16.2mi/h https://www.strava.com/activities/708589913 Another brutal day but thankfully the climbs were generally less severe and the roads a little less technical. I suffered on this day due to the previous days antics , developed a sore A*** from the saddle and sore knees from the climbing. Glorious sunshine all day Day 3 – Bath-Ludlow 5,919 ft & 99.4mi @ 17.3mi/h https://www.strava.com/activities/709710784 The organisers had told us this was a flat day with climbing of 3000 feet but it became apparent that they had made an error as we had hit this climbing target before lunch. This was mentally quite a hard day but fairly enjoyable as the roads where similar to those I ride at home with some tricky steep climbs. Glorious sunshine all day Day 4 – Ludlow – Haydock 3,064ft & 108.2mi @ 19.1 mi/h https://www.strava.com/activities/710769349 This was supposed to be the first “rest day†so it started off fairly steady and we tried to get a group with some kind of order and run an easy chain gang but this didn’t really work as many of the riders had little experience in group riding. The roads were often single track and twisty so it was a recipe for disaster. We were passed by a fast group so I took the opportunity to become part of that, the fast riders from our group merged into the fast group and we had a pace that felt a bit between the Thursday runs and the Renfrew bunch. All was going well until I got a puncture but luckily this was only a few miles from the feed stop so I managed to get on another fast much smaller group. Glorious sunshine all day, slower riders were soaked by an impressive electrical storm Day 5 - Haydock to Penrith 5,374ft & 107.7mi @ 17.00 mi/h https://www.strava.com/activities/713078743 This was a fairly hard day due to a massive head winds on the climbs and the fatigue that was setting in from the camping & cycling. It also held the highest climb of the trip Shap. Once over shap the small group of 6 I was with ramped up the pace to the campsite. Glorious sunshine all day Day 6 – Penrith to Hamilton 3,386ft & 100.4mi @ 18.9 mi/h https://www.strava.com/activities/713081613 This was a relatively easy day as we all knew we had the longest day of the trip tomorrow but that didn’t stop the pace raising into the mid 20’s towards the end of the day other than the bad road surfaces this was a good day oh and it was good to be back in Scotland. Glorious sunshine all day Day 7 – Hamilton to Torlundy (Fort William) 6,214ft & 126.7mi @ 17.6mi/h https://www.strava.com/activities/714312601 This was the longest day on the trip and it was made better as my dad decided to ride with me for this leg and thankfully gave me a wheel to draft behind for the start of the cold morning. We picked up some of the other Balfour Beatty guys at the second stop and rode with them for the majority of the ride. Amazing scenery and some good descents, one of the highlights of the trip. Glorious sunshine with a welcome shower for a few minutes before Glencoe Day 8 - Fort William to Kyle of Sutherland 5,272 & 111.0 mi @ 17.9 mi/h https://www.strava.com/activities/715544975 This day started with a climb over the south side of Lochness this I believe mixed with my now dodgey knees caused me to pull my left Achilles. Some amazing scenery was scene on this day another good day but I was in a fair amount of pain for most of it so was glad when it was over. Glorious sunshine but starting to get cold in the mornings. Day 9 – Kyle of Sutherland 4,744 & 104.3 mi @ 17.2 mi https://www.strava.com/activities/716534203 The final day started at temps of one degrees but like the previous day it was set to get warm reaching a high of the mid twenties. The last day had what seemed like a lot of gradual climbs but we decided to stay together as group for the duration so it was done at a sensible pace. Seeing a large number of mechanicals and accidents on this last day made me nervous in the last third as failing at this stage would have been terrible. Glorious sunshine freezing in the mornings. All round it was a well organised event with some superb weather chucked in. The negatives of the event was being woken by Queen 5am or 5:30am from a damp tent. EricL, Gerard Deeley, chung and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions thejanullrichdietplan Posted September 20, 2016 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Well done sounds like a very memorable experience! RyanF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions PaulL Posted September 20, 2016 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Some going Ryan... glad you got the weather! you doing it next year? RyanF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanF Posted September 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Thanks, weather made the trip . If it had of been rain all week it would have been a completely different experience. If i got the chance to do it again next year i would jump at the chance but that won't happen. 9 days cycling paid by your employer is one off event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions KarenG Posted September 20, 2016 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Well done Ryan! Sounds like a proper adventure! RyanF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions P McDonald Posted September 20, 2016 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Great stuff Ryan, you were very very lucky with weather but you deserved it RyanF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexb Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Nice one Ryan. Simply epic. Need that on my bucket list (with the sunshine of course). RyanF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions charlie p Posted September 20, 2016 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Well done Ryan RyanF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions robster82 Posted September 20, 2016 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Tremendous effort matey! How was the camping? RyanF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions Gummers Posted September 21, 2016 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 Well done Ryan. It was great seeing your progress on Strava. Very impressive indeed! Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark O Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 Welcome to the LEJOG fraternity, Ryan - good effort. Nice report, brought back some memories especially of Day 2 legs. Enjoy the thought you've done it and no one can take it away from you. M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2024 Subscriptions Darryl Gunson Posted September 21, 2016 2024 Subscriptions Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 Nice report, Ryan and well done. Still remember those early year Tuesday night training runs when you were flying. Expect you'll be super now! RyanF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman Posted September 22, 2016 Report Share Posted September 22, 2016 ryan good to read your report. i have this marked down for in 2018 as one of my rides to do. campbell RyanF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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