JOGLE

Richard Bates said:

Really just a follow-on from teh chat I had with Guy when
he was in Birmingham... I'm hoping to set the world record
for the most indirect route from JOG to LE

Sounds like a brilliant opportunity to use up chunks of the
North Sea Cycleway: take the ferry up to Shetland, then over
to Bergen, down through Norway, Denmark, Germany and the
Netherlands, over the channel and then you can worry about
how to carve up England. Crossing over it and heading round
Wales seems like the "obvious" thing...

Enjoy!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Richard Bates said:

Really just a follow-on from teh chat I had with Guy when
he was in Birmingham... I'm hoping to set the world record
for the most indirect route from JOG to LE

Wouldn't that involve heading North first? But then you
would need the help of Steve Fosset and Ranulph Fiennes

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 16:37:34 +0100, Peter Clinch <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Richard Bates said:

Really just a follow-on from teh chat I had with Guy when
he was in Birmingham... I'm hoping to set the world
record for the most indirect route from JOG to LE

Sounds like a brilliant opportunity to use up chunks of
the North Sea Cycleway: take the ferry up to Shetland,
then over to Bergen, down through Norway, Denmark, Germany
and the Netherlands, over the channel and then you can
worry about how to carve up England. Crossing over it and
heading round Wales seems like the "obvious" thing...

...heading to north Wales, taking the ferry over to Ireland,
going round Ireland and then getting the ferry back across
to Fishguard and continuing from there...

I was going to suggest a Brittany Ferries trip from Ireland
to Brittany and then back somehow from there but that would
clearly be silly.

Colin
--

Richard Bates said:

There is also the advantage that with Euston and Inverness
both being dead-end stations there will be no steps to
negotiate with a heavy bike. I wasn't sure about Preston.

My folks live in Preston; I OTOH escaped five years ago to
go to uni.

There may or may not be steps[1], depending on what platform
the train leaves from. You can generally get on mainline
services by going down the ramp from the main station
entrance (Platforms 3 & 4), but I've never been there at
midnight[2] so I don't know about the sleeper.

FWIW never go there on a Transpennine Distress or local
train with a laden bike. You definitely have to deal with
the steps then...

Regards,

-david

[1] There's a subway and lifts too, but they always seem to
be closed for some reason.
[2] Well, once at 2353, but I didn't see it. This may have
been due to the distraction caused by tribe(s) of
drunken chavs all trying to cram onto a little train
while simultaneously fighting each other and
vandalising things.

"Richard Bates" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Really just a follow-on from teh chat I had with Guy when
he was in Birmingham... I'm hoping to set the world record
for the most indirect route from JOG to LE

A few months ago the required time off from work was
confirmed. Now I'm a step closer to doing this ride since
I booked my train tickets today. I'm doing a bit of a silly-
route journey but it means I can comfortably travel
overnight, boarding the Caledonian Sleeper at 2100 from
London instead of boarding at Preston at around midnight.

Wow, sounds Fantastic - I'm almost excited for you! When I
do my e2e I'm also going to do it the jogle way for all the
reasons that joglers do, so it's interesting to know about
the sleeper - sounds good. Not sure if it'll be this year
tho 🙁. It might be that, or a couple of weeks in Les Alps,
or maybe the Pyrennes, or worst of all, none of them,
depending on what SWMBO finally decides.

Rich

On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 19:56:24 +0100, in
<[email hidden]>, "Richard Goodman"

Quoted message said:

Wow, sounds Fantastic - I'm almost excited for you! When I
do my e2e I'm also going to do it the jogle way for all the
reasons that joglers do, so it's interesting to know about
the sleeper - sounds good. Not sure if it'll be this year
tho 🙁. It might be that, or a couple of weeks in Les Alps,
or maybe the Pyrennes, or worst of all, none of them,
depending on what SWMBO finally decides.

SWMBO??? What's that? Significant _ _ _ Other?

The sleeper is fun but is not exactly luxurious. I went on
it first class last year (free upgrade available before
easter) and found it quite difficult to sleep.

Whenever a fast train enters a tunnel, something happens
(presumably air gets forced through the ventilation systems)
to make your ears pop. This woke me up on numerous
occasions.

The act of decellerating often made me roll unnervingly
toward the edge of the bed. Travelling first class two of
you sleep in bottom bunks in adjacent cabins with an
interconnecting door. This time I am only standard class and
may well end up in the top bunk since you are

offerred to slip the chap at Sutton station a fiver to book
me in as Miss Bates but he refused). I'm told there is an
arrangement of straps

purposes. This is another reason for boarding at Euston -
more chance of getting the lower bunk, although I guess that
all passengers boarding at the same point are booked
together to avoid Euston passengers from being disturbed by
Prestonians trying to slip into yhe same bunk.

The third thing that woke me was the train being divided and
oter loco's being fitted on - creates quite some jolting.

Oh and passing trains in the opposite direction also woke
me.

On a more serious note, Scotrail take bikes for free.
Caledonian Sleepers heading north hold six bikes. Heading
south from Inverness (not that this concerns me) there is
room for only 3 (presumably this allows room for another 3
from Fort William but I'm not entirely sure of the
logistics).

Book early - today there were only 6 standard class berths
remaining for 18th May.

Love and free toothbrushes from Rich x

[1] Having gone first class, the upper bunk was locked in
the closed position so I didn't ever get to see what the
possibilities were.
--
Isn't it annoying when cyclingforums.com publish messages
that they haven't been granted permission to archive. In my
opinion it is as bad as software piracy.

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 21:23:14 +0100, Richard Bates
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

SWMBO??? What's that?

She Who Must Be Obeyed, from She by H Rider Haggard, as used
by "Rumpole of the Bailey".

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

In message <[email hidden]>,
Richard Bates <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 19:56:24 +0100, in
<[email hidden]>, "Richard Goodman"

Quoted message said:

Wow, sounds Fantastic - I'm almost excited for you! When I
do my e2e I'm also going to do it the jogle way for all
the reasons that joglers do, so it's interesting to know
about the sleeper - sounds good. Not sure if it'll be this
year tho 🙁. It might be that, or a couple of weeks in Les
Alps, or maybe the Pyrennes, or worst of all, none of
them, depending on what SWMBO finally decides.

SWMBO??? What's that? Significant _ _ _ Other?

The sleeper is fun but is not exactly luxurious. I went on
it first class last year (free upgrade available before
easter) and found it quite difficult to sleep.

<snip>

Yes, I've found that (though when I spent 6 days on the
Trans Siberian it wasn't a problem I remember - then a gain
that wasn't a fast train...)

however, I still love it. Getting on in London and
peering out the windows to se Scotland in the morning is
great stuff.

Quoted message said:

[1] Having gone first class, the upper bunk was locked in
the closed position so I didn't ever get to see what
the possibilities were.

By yourself?
--
Chris French, Leeds

chris French said:

Quoted message said:

The sleeper is fun but is not exactly luxurious. I went
on it first class last year (free upgrade available
before easter) and found it quite difficult to sleep.

Quoted message said:

however, I still love it. Getting on in London and
peering out the windows to se Scotland in the morning is
great stuff.

Having done the E2E the more conventional way, the return on
the sleeper has the depessing finale of waking up when
entering London :-(

John B

On 7/4/04 9:23 pm, in article [email hidden],

Richard Bates said:

On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 19:56:24 +0100, in
<[email hidden]>, "Richard Goodman"

Quoted message said:

On a more serious note, Scotrail take bikes for free.
Caledonian Sleepers heading north hold six bikes. Heading
south from Inverness (not that this concerns me) there is
room for only 3 (presumably this allows room for another 3
from Fort William but I'm not entirely sure of the
logistics).

I have used the sleeper and it is far better getting on at
Euston that 12.45 at preston (I got to preston via a
different train so don't know about the steps.)

The bikes go in the guards van and hang from the ceiling.
Getting them in is a bit tricky with loaded panniers.

Otherwise it is about the best way to travel from one end of
the country to the other.

..d

"Richard Bates" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The sleeper is fun but is not exactly luxurious. I went on
it first class last year (free upgrade available before
easter) and found it quite difficult to sleep.

Whenever a fast train enters a tunnel, something happens
(presumably air gets forced through the ventilation
systems) to make your ears pop. This woke me up on
numerous occasions.

The act of decellerating often made me roll unnervingly
toward the edge of the bed. Travelling first class two of
you sleep in bottom bunks in adjacent cabins with an
interconnecting door. This time I am only standard class
and may well end up in the top bunk since you are

Quoted message said:

offerred to slip the chap at Sutton station a fiver to
book me in as Miss Bates but he refused). I'm told there
is an arrangement of straps

Quoted message said:

purposes. This is another reason for boarding at Euston -
more chance of getting the lower bunk, although I guess
that all passengers boarding at the same point are booked
together to avoid Euston passengers from being disturbed
by Prestonians trying to slip into yhe same bunk.

The third thing that woke me was the train being divided
and oter loco's being fitted on - creates quite some
jolting.

Oh and passing trains in the opposite direction also
woke me.

Oh what! I thought you said it was comfortable 😉

Well, I don't suppose it can be worse than second class on
Indian trains can it? Can it? I have managed to sleep on
those! Mind you, the last time was quite a while ago!

Rich

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 22:43:20 +0100, in <[email hidden]>,

JohnB said:

chris French said:

Quoted message said:

The sleeper is fun but is not exactly luxurious. I went
on it first class last year (free upgrade available
before easter) and found it quite difficult to sleep.

Quoted message said:

however, I still love it. Getting on in London and
peering out the windows to se Scotland in the morning is
great stuff.

Having done the E2E the more conventional way, the return
on the sleeper has the depessing finale of waking up when
entering London :-(

I decided to do it from JOG to LE because I *could* reserve
a sleeper space, knowing that my start date is fixed. My end
date is slightly variable and I don't envisage any problems
geting my bike back from LE to Bham.

--
Isn't it annoying when cyclingforums.com publish messages
that they haven't been granted permission to archive. In my
opinion it is as bad as software piracy.

David Martin <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On 7/4/04 9:23 pm, in article
[email hidden], "Richard

Bates said:

On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 19:56:24 +0100, in
<[email hidden]>, "Richard Goodman"

Quoted message said:

On a more serious note, Scotrail take bikes for free.
Caledonian Sleepers heading north hold six bikes.
Heading south from Inverness (not that this concerns me)
there is room for only 3 (presumably this allows room
for another 3 from Fort William but I'm not entirely
sure of the logistics).

I have used the sleeper and it is far better getting on at
Euston that 12.45 at preston (I got to preston via a
different train so don't know about the steps.)

The bikes go in the guards van and hang from the ceiling.
Getting them in is a bit tricky with loaded panniers.

Otherwise it is about the best way to travel from one end
of the country to the other.

..d

Also one of the cheapest. Scotrail do berths from Scotland
to London on the sleeper for £19. Limited availability
though. On my end to end I got the sleeper but used a seat
instead of a berth. Cost me £19. The £19 beds wern,t on
offer at that time and I was too mean to pat the extra £40
for a bed. I didn,t book my return from JOG. I found that
although the Wick to Inverness train only takes two cycle
bookings the train will take a 3rd bike at the discretion of
the guard if you ask him nicely. Iain C

iarocu said:

David Martin <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On 7/4/04 9:23 pm, in article
[email hidden], "Richard

Bates said:

On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 19:56:24 +0100, in
<[email hidden]>, "Richard Goodman"

Quoted message said:

On a more serious note, Scotrail take bikes for free.
Caledonian Sleepers heading north hold six bikes.
Heading south from Inverness (not that this concerns
me) there is room for only 3 (presumably this allows
room for another 3 from Fort William but I'm not
entirely sure of the logistics).

I have used the sleeper and it is far better getting on
at Euston that 12.45 at preston (I got to preston via a
different train so don't know about the steps.)

The bikes go in the guards van and hang from the
ceiling. Getting them in is a bit tricky with loaded
panniers.

Otherwise it is about the best way to travel from one
end of the country to the other.

..d

Also one of the cheapest. Scotrail do berths from Scotland
to London on the sleeper for £19. Limited availability
though. On my end to end I got the sleeper but used a seat
instead of a berth. Cost me £19. The £19 beds wern,t on
offer at that time and I was too mean to pat the extra £40
for a bed. I didn,t book my return from JOG. I found that
although the Wick to Inverness train only takes two cycle
bookings the train will take a 3rd bike at the discretion
of the guard if you ask him nicely.

When I did it summer of 2002 Scotrail ran a van from Wick to
Inverness which could take 12 bikes. It met up with the
sleeper. Have they stopped that?

John B

Not having done it myself, doesn't anyone on finishing just
think 'sod it', and cycle home?

--
Mike W

"JohnB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

iarocu wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I didn,t book my return from JOG. I found that
although the Wick to Inverness train only takes two
cycle bookings the train will take a 3rd bike at the
discretion of the guard if you ask him nicely.

When I did it summer of 2002 Scotrail ran a van from Wick
to Inverness which could take 12 bikes. It met up with the
sleeper. Have they stopped that?

They hadn't last summer. Indeed for the train I got (at
about 6.30 am on a weekday) the van was compulsory for
the bike. I then had to collect the bike from the left
luggage office in Inverness. There was a queue there and
I only made the connecting train (to Perth I think) with
seconds to spare.

tony R.

VisionSet said:

Not having done it myself, doesn't anyone on finishing
just think 'sod it', and cycle home?

I am planning on cycling back to Inverness from JOG and
catching the GNER train directly to York from there.