We have had several meetings so far on route planning. The first day is easy (to plan). We will be starting in Thurso, as we don't arrive there till late at night and so we will start the journey from Thurso on Thursday 18th August. We will cycle to John O'Groats before starting the 120 miles to Inverness.
After here it gets more tricky. We plan to head down the A9 to Perth and then cut down towards Carlisle. From here we hug the edge of the Lakes and squeeze past Liverpool to stay in Warrington. We then head via Shrewsbury and down to Worcester, where we pick up the A38 all the way into Devon.
The last stretch depends on how we are feeling (probably a bit tired...) and so will either be on the A30 or if we can face it some of the smaller (less busy) roads. All going well we plan to arrive in Lands End on Wednesday 24th August....
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Monday, 30 May 2011
Navigation... Hmmm....
So on Sunday 29th Will and I set out on a training ride to test out Will's Garmin. Despite my protesting, Will bought the only computer that Garmin make that doesn't include maps and therefore makes navigating tricky to say the least.
However after a bit of research and a youtube 'how to' video, we loaded up a 67 mile course taking in some very random lanes in the South Hams. The thinking was that if we can navigate ok on the lanes, then we'll be fine on the main roads on the route.... Well as it turned out we couldn't navigate fine on the lanes. We managed to lose the course within 4 miles on the edge of Aveton Gifford. About 10 miles later we picked it up again, only to lose it within about 2 miles. The route wasn't helped by the fact that Will couldn't remember where he'd plotted!
Anyway we did our best to try and follow it, but kept going off course. the Garmin seemed to have a mind of its own as we'd be cycling along and it would say turn right in 1.1 miles and then all of a sudden it would say we were off course and should have gone left! I'm not unconvinced that there isn't a good handful of user error thrown in there as well!
So after our minty slice stop at Dartington, we thought we were back on safe ground, only to go the wrong way through Harbertonford and Moreleigh and didn't get the course again until 5 mile lane (where again we somehow managed to lose it before Stokenham!)
Lessons Learned? Well firstly, not to let Wil plot the route again. Secondly, make sure we know the route on paper as well and finally, to start saving for a Garmin 705 with 'proper' navigation!
However after a bit of research and a youtube 'how to' video, we loaded up a 67 mile course taking in some very random lanes in the South Hams. The thinking was that if we can navigate ok on the lanes, then we'll be fine on the main roads on the route.... Well as it turned out we couldn't navigate fine on the lanes. We managed to lose the course within 4 miles on the edge of Aveton Gifford. About 10 miles later we picked it up again, only to lose it within about 2 miles. The route wasn't helped by the fact that Will couldn't remember where he'd plotted!
Anyway we did our best to try and follow it, but kept going off course. the Garmin seemed to have a mind of its own as we'd be cycling along and it would say turn right in 1.1 miles and then all of a sudden it would say we were off course and should have gone left! I'm not unconvinced that there isn't a good handful of user error thrown in there as well!
So after our minty slice stop at Dartington, we thought we were back on safe ground, only to go the wrong way through Harbertonford and Moreleigh and didn't get the course again until 5 mile lane (where again we somehow managed to lose it before Stokenham!)
Lessons Learned? Well firstly, not to let Wil plot the route again. Secondly, make sure we know the route on paper as well and finally, to start saving for a Garmin 705 with 'proper' navigation!
Friday, 27 May 2011
Date Set Tickets Booked!
After several meetings the plans for this summers Jogle (John O' Groats to Lands End) ride are now coming together.
The team has been selected and the route chosen into a head wind for 890 miles if we are to believe all those who say we are riding the wrong way.
So far we have booked flights from Bristol to Inverness and train tickets from Inverness to Thurso from where we will begin our seven day cycle tour on Thursday the 18th of August.
The team has been selected and the route chosen into a head wind for 890 miles if we are to believe all those who say we are riding the wrong way.
So far we have booked flights from Bristol to Inverness and train tickets from Inverness to Thurso from where we will begin our seven day cycle tour on Thursday the 18th of August.
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