Contact Me: Hoping to walk LEJOG Spring 2010

Subject: Walking speed
Posted: 21 Apr 2010 4:14 pm

Hi Gary.

Sounds like it's going well. Bravo!

On the subject of walking speed, I consider myself to be a brisk walker; certainly, commuting through London is more like an obstacle course than a walk, as I always seem to walk faster than everyone else on the pavement. However, my average speed from Land's End to John o'Groats was a measly 2.41 miles per hour, which is considerably less than I'd thought. This is a basic figure - I simply divided the daily distance by the time, as I didn't carry a GPS - but it's still a lot lower than I'd expect.

I'll be interested to see if your actual figure is lower than your estimates. I guess it was all the dawdling I did...

Mark

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Subject: LEJOG 2010
Posted: 29 Apr 2010 1:29 pm

Hi Mark
Finally made it as far as Chepstow. Home at the moment for 2 rest days as I live quite near to Chepstow and it is my birthday.
The going is good, weather a bit on the change but who cares. The 1:25,000 maps are a bit bulky but I have had support vehicle for some of the way.
On Saturday I start the 81 miles of Offa's Dyke to Knighton then across into England.
326 miles covered so far. 885 to go!
Take care
Davfe - The Long Distance Voyager

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Subject: Advice wanted - Walking poles
Posted: 29 Apr 2010 2:18 pm

After reading the FAQs I'm aware of Mark's advice regarding walking poles. Additional opinions from anybody else who's done an end-to-end or any other similar long walk would be much appreciated. I've never used walking poles before and my practice walks are going perfectly well without them. At the moment they seem unnecessary.

Should I give them a go or save my money?

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Subject: Poles
Posted: 30 Apr 2010 4:37 am

Gary:

Poles are useful for keeping aggressive dogs at distance. If you've got a heavy pack they save your knees on descents. But they do use up energy if you are planting them at each step. I don't typically use poles for day hikes in Yosemite because there are no dogs and I have a light pack. But I do if I'm backpacking, because sometimes a heavy pack can throw you off balance, and a pole can help catch a fall. On long distance walks, like the coast to coast, I don't use them when road walking (unless I'm likely to encounter dogs), but do use them on trails or when hopping across streams. I use 3-section poles that collapse small enough to carry on the outside of my pack without snagging everything I pass. So I would recommend carrying them, but using them only when necessary. They'll take some getting used to, but I think you'll be glad you have them.

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Subject: Poles
Posted: 30 Apr 2010 3:44 pm

Hi Gary.

I hated the idea of poles before I actually tried them, and now I'm a convert. They're pretty cheap, so you could always get a pair and give them a go; if you like them, then that's great, but if you don't then you haven't wasted a fortune.

I found them particularly useful on hilly ground, like Ken, but I also liked the hypnotic aspect of walking with them on roads; clunk, click, clunk, click go the poles, and the next thing you know, it's time for a break. Dreamy stuff!

Mark

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Subject: Update, 7 weeks to go
Posted: 10 Jul 2010 1:58 pm

I'm happy to report that preparations are going very well for me.

Since April I've been going out for 2 or 3 practise walks each week, always wearing and carrying my full JOGLE kit. Several of these practises have been over 20 miles, I have enjoyed them and suffered no aches, pains or blisters so far. All my kit has been purchased. I won't be taking any paper maps with me, I've stored dozens of maps of various resolutions onto the iPhone to cover the entire route. Saying that I will probably buy a few maps on the way, The West Highland Way for example. I've decided I don't like walking poles, so I won't be taking those either, I can have a pair sent out to me if for some reason I decide I want them mid-walk. Very soon I will be launching my Just Giving page and blog. I will be tweeting as I walk too, all the tweets will include precise GPS geographical data.

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Subject: Nearly ready...
Posted: 12 Jul 2010 10:24 am

Hi Gary.

Sounds pretty comprehensive! I've never done a 20-mile walk that *didn't* give me aches, pains and blisters, so you're well ahead of me...

Do post a link to your blog when it's up and running and I'll add it to my links page...

Mark

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Subject: iphone
Posted: 19 Jul 2010 3:52 pm

Would you say that it was perhaps cheaper to purchase an iphone and download maps that you need rather than buying the paper ones?

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Subject: iPhone
Posted: 19 Jul 2010 7:33 pm

Hi Hannah,

I bought an iPhone specifically for LEJOG and it cost me just over £100 plus £30 a month for 2 years. You can buy a lot of paper maps for £800!

I got all of my 1:50,000 map apps from Outdoors, now £9.99 each. So that's nearly another £100 to add on.

However when buying an iPhone you also have a camera, iPod and internet connection to write emails and blogs. I was very pleased with my purchase and don't regret buying it for one minute. Time and again the GPS facility linked to the Outdoors maps showed me exactly where I was.

Unfortunately if you use the GPS with mapping then the battery will only last about 2 hours so it is for occasional use only. Indeed battery life is so poor that I kept my phone switched off all the time until I needed to use it, despite having a PowerMonkey and a PowerChimp as battery backups.

So, in my opinion, an iPhone alone would not provide the means to navigate LEJOG without paper maps as well.

Instead of buying paper maps I downloaded maps from the internet
http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm
or
http://www.multimap.com/
and then used the Printscreen facility on my computer to print them out. In total I printed out 237 A4 maps and found that they were more than adequate for navigation

Hope this helps
Pete (and Gyp)

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Subject: Thank you
Posted: 19 Jul 2010 7:56 pm

Thank you. I will eventually do this walk, maybe in 12 months or longer.

My problem is i have a diabetic dog who needs insulin twice daily. Ive either got to find someone who is willing to take 3 months off work and follow me up in a campervan with Buddy or wait till i lose him. Leaving him for 3 months isnt an option as he will never talk to me again, its bad enough when i go into town for half an hour and he doesnt speak to me for the rest of the morning .

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