The plan for the route is to plot days of around 200 miles a day, broken into 4 legs a day.
Although each leg has a rough mileage of 50 miles, these are just a guide as the plan is that each leg is between 3.5 & 4 hours in length with a short break in between.
This adopts a Mark Beaumont ‘around the world in 80 days’ approach, where you only focus on completion of the leg you are riding, and not the whole ride. I can get my head around that, and my training has been focused on ‘legs’ accordingly.
I have got comfortable completing 50 miles in around 3.5 hrs, even when it’s hilly.
The idea is that I will ride a minimum of 3.5 hours a leg, regardless of the mileage. If I get to the end of the leg with time to spare, then I will continue on until I reach the allotted time before stopping. There is some flexibility here, for example where the planned stop is at a specific venue. If I fall short of the leg distance in 3.5 hours I will continue to a maximum of 4 hours, then stop.
On the northbound route through England we will have pre-determined end points for the day (ie a pre-booked hotel), but it’s when we get into Scotland things become more fluid, as I’ll be sleeping in the van. If I’m having a good ride, I could decide to ride longer into the night. I want to pace myself going northbound (while my body is adjusting to the daily riding), so that I have plenty left in me for the southbound return (when the last 3 days I’ll be self sufficient).
Links to my route are below, and can be downloaded from Map My Ride if you are planning on joining me on any sections – it would be great to have some company for some of the ride.
Please check back regularly for updates, as the Covid situation up north in particular could mean last minute route changes – although at the moment, I think the route avoids most of the current areas of concern.
Day 1 – Sunday 23rd August 2020
Leg 1 – Lands End – Cornwall Services (51.02 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3192661459
Leg 2 – Cornwall Services to Okehampton (Waitrose Car Park) (46.54 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3192697732
Leg 3 – Okehampton to Taunton (Asda) (53.34 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239057659
Leg 4 – Taunton to Portishead (45.7 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239081413
Day 2 – Monday 24th August 2020
Leg 1 – Portshead – Hereford (Asda) (52 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239280502
Leg 2 – Hereford – Shrewsbury (Asda) (50 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3289202581
Leg 3 – Shrewsbury – Warrington (Warburton) (57 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239321530
Leg 4 – Warrington – Lancaster (56 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239330575
Day 3 – Tuesday 25th August 2020
Leg 1 – Lancaster – Penrith (Sainsburys (48 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239346076
Leg 2 – Penrith – Johnstonebridge (51 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239366746
Leg 3 – Johnstonebridge – Hamilton (Asda) (52 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239416258
Leg 4 – Hamilton – Inveruglas (50 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239514379
Day 4 – Wednesday 26th August 2020
Leg 1 – Inveruglas – Onich (53miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239525593
Leg 2 – Onich – Alttsigh (51miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239540509
Leg 3 – Alttsign – Tain ((Lidl) (56 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239553154
Leg 4 – Tain – Inver (48 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239561908
Day 5 – Thursday 27th August 2020
Leg 1 – Inver – John O’Groats (37miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239574784
Leg 2 – John O’Groats – Brora (High St) (63 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3239581999
Leg 3 – Brora – Inverness (Morrisons) (56 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3240317527
Leg 4 – Inverness – Invergary (41miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3240322108
Day 6 – Friday 28th August 2020
Leg 1 – Invergary – Altnafeadh (50 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3292505134
Leg 2 – Altnafeadh – Balloch (Station) (59 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3240381724
Leg 3 – Balloch – Abington (Services) (56 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3293335795
Leg 4 – Abington – Gretna (48 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3240494359
Day 7 – Saturday 29th August 2020
I say goodbye to the Hubster here as he leaves to drive home. Completely self supported from this point – eek!
Leg 1 – Gretna – Kendal (58 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3240515155
Leg 2 – Kendal – Preston (42 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3240542119
Leg 3 – Preston- Northwich (47 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3293559772
Leg 4 – Northwich – Shrewsbury (46 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3293621977
Day 8 – Sunday 30th August 2020
Leg 1 – Shrewsbury – Hereford (50 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3293663431
Leg 2 – Hereford – Clevedon (57 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3293696596
Leg 3 – Clevedon – Wellington (48 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3294184798
Leg 4 – Wellington – Okehampton (49 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3294213958
Day 9 – Monday 31st August 2020
Leg 1 – Okehampton – Cornwall Services (43 miles)
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/3305517886
Leg 2 – Cornwall Services – Lands End (53 miles)
Here you go
https://racemap.com/player/lejogle-wr-attempt_2020-08-03
Best of luck Marcia, it’s fantastic that you are taking on this very challenging ride, I am sure you will enjoy the challenge. Once you finish the ride you will never look at the UK map in the same way again! PS – will you have a live tracker available during the ride?