I am riding Lands end to John O’Groats in August. Roughly up to 160km a day over 12 days. 1,750kms in total.
I’ve been doing an intense Sufferfest training plan with Yoga since 1 Jan and already feel fighting fit and ready to go so need to keep the tempo up until August.
But here’s the question…
Do I walk the path of The Great Knights of Sufferlnadria and attempt a KoS challenge before LeJoG or save it as a post challenge focus?
I am sure many here have already done both so would welcome your thoughts. TIA
GvA might say that Mount Sufferlandria doesn’t have two peaks.
Just my two cents, but if a KoS could in some way be considered an intermediate goal/train-up for your JO’G, that’d be one thing, but seems to me these are both (impressive) end-goals, each deserving of your focus.
@Nick_Neill While KOS is a physical challenge it is also a mental challenge. My view is that it would complement your training for LEJOG but you should be sure to schedule some recovery time after the KOS before beginning your LEJOG training again. Good luck!
Do you have a roughly 10hr training ride in amongst your training for the lands end ride?
If you do, then hey, do it indoors.
And / or if you’re pretty comfortable with the lands end ride anyway and you want to do something else as well, why not
Hi @Nick_Neill I’m booked for LeJoG in September. As I read your question I assume you’re not used to six or seven hour rides. If I’m right, I’d recommend to approach the Knighthood later in fall. You’ll have experienced subsequent long rides than and it will be definitely easier to overcome the mental strain of a 10 hrs indoor session.
Cheers and good luck for both of it
@Nick_Neill - well that’s a great foundation, but I guess it will take about 5hrs to ride 100mi, so we’re talking about 200mi and that’s the physical suffering. I still believe the mental challenge may be the greater obstacle, will know next week. If you can recall positive memories from your LeJoG it will definitely help = on the other side, it’s all about suffering, don’t even look for ways to make it easier just go for it
Cheers, Peter
I did lejog
solo a couple of years ago. would love to do it again.I broke it into 25 mile chunks, with each segment finishing at a place I could replenish food and drink.Cornish hills do finish eventually.Pasties are a great cycling food.Lots of volcano climbing training, and bang, once Cornwall is over the rest is much easier.I have not done ToS so I may be speaking out of turn, but it does seem to require a different sort of endurance.Gritting your teeth and facing whatever the day brings and just putting up with it .Lejog, you do it day after day so recovery is as big a factor as endurance.
I wonder if it is worth creating a new window for epic rides such as Lejog or an equivalent challenge elsewhere in the world. The question always seems to be how do I train for the event. To me, the real focus should be on how to manage the ride and not lose hours, rather than how to train slightly better and save minutes. As the topic is not strictly Suff, I would be happy chatting about it privately should anyone wish to do so
I have done both. LEJOG is just a matter of eating and drinking and recovering enough over 7-14 days (depending on your choice). i was out at 08:00 each morning, lunch at 12:00, end by 16:00 and having a nap and beer before dinner at 19:00 and bed at 21:00. that was 160k per day, and a fairly strong rider.
it was those that started at 07:00 and finished at 19:00 i had the most admiration for. longer days, less recovery, progressive journey to fatigue. i definitely found i built into my fitness by starting slower and working up to it (altough Cornwall is really hilly).
KoS is just one day of suffering. its long, and far more intense, but with it dialed down to 70% i was all done in less than 12 hours (depending on videos).
different challenges - but both endurance based. in summary - LEJOG first, recover, KOS second. IMHO.
caashford .It is fascinating that your daily routine was almost identical to mine. Sometimes I could not have an early enough breakfast, later access to bike than I really wanted. I tried to get out to eat an hour earlier so digestion did not interfere with sleep.
