4 Day LEJOG

[dat]

I guess this is the best place to ask this.

I did LEJOG in 7 days in 2014 and now I'm going to give it a shot in 4 next year (June or early July). At the moment I am comftable doing 200 miles in a day, what I want to work on are how quickly I can ride 200 and also push it so I can do around 250 comfortably.

My goal is 4 days but I will be doing it as fast as possible, my Dad has said he will support me and I (we) plan on just kipping for an a few hours in the car or sleeping bag on the side of a road when needed.

I know the route, what I need help with is a training schedule from now until then. My thought is drop right down to 50 mile rides and ride them at speed working up from there while also doing the odd 150+ ride. I honestly haven't ever "trained" for something before, I just throw my leg over the bike and pedal.

Cheers for any help that people may be able to provide.

Side note: Does anyone know the fastest LEJOG on a Moulton?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I think Reg Randall attempted the E2E record on a Moulton about 50 years ago but DNFed when he dropped behind schedule. Other than that, I only know of tourists doing E2E on Moultons.

Think hard about a hotel stop or two along the way. A shower and a proper bed for a few hours can hit the reset on your legs.

[T42]

+1 on the stop. Getting your legs straight and horizontal works wonders, and not just for your legs.

[Samuel D]

You might ask ‘mnichols’ of the CTC forum about his experience. He asked about this here and reported his experience in this post in that thread. It sounds mildly difficult.

[dat]

I know I can do it, I have time to train and I'm still young (28 but will be 29 when I do the ride). When I did it a few years ago in 7 days it was too easy. I was with my Mum and Dad and they held me back. I ended up doing way more than them as I got bored a lot so cycled off and then cycled back to "strech" my legs.

When I did it a few years ago I was loaded up on a TSR, front rack with two panniers on and a day bag on the back. This time I will be using an AM-18 so it is a lot lighter and feels better to ride.

[Whitedown Man]

You might ask ‘mnichols’ of the CTC forum about his experience. He asked about this here and reported his experience in this post in that thread. It sounds mildly difficult.

"Mildly difficult", in the sense that Mawson's Antarctic trek was "mildly chilly". Stupendously inspirational though - the whole thread is definitely worth a read.

[Drone]

I can't comment on riding Lejog on a Moulton but I have done a 1500km Lejog as an audax with a time limit of 4 days 18 hours in September. I echo the benefits of sleep in a proper bed (and a shower) for recovery mentioned in other posts. I started in the evening to get the horrible busy A30 out of the way during the night then moved onto quieter roads around dawn. I split my mileage 250, 200, 200, 200 and finished off with the the last 100.

Travelodges are good for this sort of riding as they are not fazed by late arrivals and early starts.

In terms of training I am a regular audax rider and just followed my usual build up through the season with 200k rides early in the year and a couple of 600k rides in May and August. This was supplemented with club rides and club time trials to improve my speed.

It's perfectly "doable" with or without support 

[mike]

You might ask ‘mnichols’ of the CTC forum about his experience. He asked about this here and reported his experience in this post in that thread. It sounds mildly difficult.

"Mildly difficult", in the sense that Mawson's Antarctic trek was "mildly chilly". Stupendously inspirational though - the whole thread is definitely worth a read.

the thread is brilliant!:

Day 5: Grantown-On-Spey to JoG. 175 miles, 8500 feet of climbing. The alarm went off a 0345 for a 0445 start and I was now completely unable to stand. My legs hand seized overnight. I took 2 paracetamol and hoped for the best

[Wowbagger]

Utterly bonkers. But heroic.