After completing John O'Groats to Lands end this September, Bike Science client Julian Grey gives us the lowdown with his top tips for riding the end to end in style!
- Deciding which direction: we ignored the hype about prevailing winds benefiting those who travelled from South to north. Instead, we based our decision on which end of the country we wanted to be once we'd finished. After 10 days in the saddle we decided we didn't want to be stranded at the top of Scotland, so we opted to finish in lands end which is a shorter drive back to where we live. The wind wasn't an issue.
- Planning: after deciding on the number of days, we planned and booked all of our accommodation in advance. It was nice to know our start and finish point for each day and the fact we could arrive at our destination without having to faff about. We also benefited from early booking discounts which helped keep the cost down.
- Support: one word; invaluable! Our vehicle carried our kit, nutrition and liquids, which meant we didn't have to. We stopped every 15-20 miles for a refuel; this helped to keep us disciplined with our calorie intake.
- Back-up kit: Bike Science very kindly gave us extra kit (wheels, tyres, tubes etc) for the trip. We used some of it due to punctures etc, and having it to hand saved us a lot of time and effort.
- Training: we trained 5 days out of 7, pretty much solid for 3 months leading up to the event. We cycled a lot before this too, but we extended our routes the closer we got to JOGLE. A typical training session was 20-25 miles a day after work.
- Pacing: don't go flat out on day 1 like we did! The excitement got to us and we averaged 18mph over 121 miles. We continued this through day 2&3, which came back to bite us on day 4 with aching knees! Pick your average speed and stick to it, no matter how fresh you're feeling.
- Mix up the distance from day to day. On a long day it's nice to think tomorrow will be fewer miles.
- Final tip; enjoy it and take in as much as you can. The event flew by so quickly, thankfully we have many photos to remind us of the trip.