Latest from the handlebars

News from the road as Rob (the webmaster) & Jon ride LEJOG

Train from Birmingham, via Bristol, to Penzance and cycle to Land's End on Sunday 6 June 2010 : on the road from Monday 7 June 2010 - arrived at John O'Groats on Saturday 19 June 2010

The messages below were all transmitted during the trip - e-mailed direct to the website.


 

Not quite what it, allegedly, might appear to be . . . it's pure, uncut, Lucozade Sport (Orange flavour) packed in bottle-dose plastic bags.

 

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From Rob's handlebars

Checked off and ready to stow in the front rack-bag: 2 x tubes, tyre boot, puncture kit, C02 cartridges and adaptor (only if it's raining!), allen key/minitool, mini-pliers, brake blocks, chain tool, 8 & 10mm spanners, grease, chain oil, silicone lube spray, cable ties, brake & gear cables, tape, various nuts, bolts, washers etc., plastic gloves.

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From Rob's handlebars

Our train tickets, with the all-important cycle tickets, are now booked for all four segments of the journey:  home to Bristol; Bristol to Penzance; Inverness to Edinburgh; Edinburgh to Birmingham and home.  The sector from John O'Groats to Inverness is with a minibus and trailer service.

The map-case for the printed map, the cycle computer and Garmin GPS

The complete route has been plotted using Memory Map and then printed (as a .pdf) in A5 pages before being colour printed and wire-o bound into 4 separate volumes, each of c60 pages.  The maps are the Ordnance Survey 1:50 000, but with the scale reduced slightly.

The same Memory Map routes have been converted to .gpx files and uploaded to the GPS through Garmin MapSource as a file for each day

The rebuild of Rob's 1975 Galaxy is complete. 

A complete strip-down for the frame and forks to be powder-coated in metallic red - then rebuilt with a new bottom bracket, headset, brakes, cables and chain together with a new front rack - all other parts have been re-used.

The luggage is a new (old stock) pair of Karrimor panniers and an Altura bar bag.  The small bag on the front rack is for tools, parts, tubes etc. and a lock.

Waterproofs will be stored in the top netting pockets on the panniers


These are the places where we'll be staying overnight :  Land's End, St Wenn (Bodmin), Crediton, Clevedon, Bromyard, Whitchurch, Garstang, Brisco (Carlisle), Crawford, Luss, Fort William, Dingwall, Helmsdale, John O'Groats and Edinburgh on the way home.


The route is agreed, the maps and .gpx files finished, the overnight accommodation bookings made - we're all set.

Steve will be joining us for the Crediton - Bromyard leg, and Aidan from Bromyard to Whitchurch.