JOGLE – Overview

Sorry for the lack of updates during JOGLE, but we didn’t have very good wi-fi signals most of the time and therefore couldn’t post to the weblog. I will make amends over the next few days though and will post for each day as soon as I get the chance.

In the meantime, here’s an overview now that we have finished. We made it all the way and Morgan joined us for a few miles on the days that he could. Anna managed to drive all the way as well, as of course did the other support crew.

The End

Our final stats vary a little from person to person, mainly due to differences in the recording devices used, but also due to the fact that I occasionally went back to the others after a hill climb, and spent a fair amount of time waiting in laybys whilst they caught up so that we could stay together as much as possible. Distances and time therefore vary a little. Only once or twice towards the end of the ride each day did I head off, usually with Ian and Kev at a faster pace.

My total stats were:

• Distance ridden: 897.0 miles
• Feet Climbed: 41,545 feet
• Total moving time: 58 hours, 18 minutes, 26 seconds
• Calories burned: 25,642

I also seem to be the only person who can ride from John O’Groats to Lands End and gain weight – probably about 7kg I reckon as well!

Jay had two punctures, I had one and Mike had a blow out too, but other than that we were mechanical free. Mike fell off a few times and we had a few incidents with near misses from silly motorists, but otherwise all went well. We had plenty of stops along the way where we met up with the support crew for drinks and food, and only managed to miss them once when several of the riders decided they wanted to change the planned route midway through the day.

Somehow we managed to do the entire ride from John O’Groats to Lands End with only 2 or three proper climbs, one into Inverness of the first day, one on Day 3 which was probably the best part of the whole ride and one up over Shap on day 5 which would have been nicer if it hadn’t been quite such miserable weather.

All in all though we were lucky with the weather.  We had a little bit of rain on most days but nothing too bad. The worst of the weather was on the ride into Bristol, but we also had sunshine on most days too.

Accommodation in the youth hostels worked well, and the night in the Travel Lodge was the most comfortable night. The only hostel that none of us would recommend was the backpackers hostel in Inverness. It was dirty, uncomfortable and very noisy – don’t go there! All other accommodation was at least clean and fairly quiet.

Best of all, we have so far raised over £3,000 for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), and there is still plenty more to come. Now we just need to decide on our next challenge!

Tags: JOGLE