JOGLE PT 4 What to take ?

The die is cast. We leave in a few days for JOGLE (see the 3 previous JOGLE blogs to make sense of this one).

I am in the packing mode! It is not straightforward. All advice I have read recommends you should travel light. This is obvious because more weight means more physical effort required to move said weight!

However this is simple to say - but hard to achieve!

Here are some constraints and considerations :

• We will expecting to be away for 3 weeks.
• We are camping and have no back up.
• Mike and I have agreed to each be fully self contained - no gear sharing unless in an emergency. This is not a selfish decision - just entirely practical.
• Because of covid we expect to be wild camping in majority.
• Certainly for the first week we will very much be off the beaten track and our route is designed to keep us away from busy areas as much as possible for the whole 1200 miles.
• We will be cooking our own food in the main so sourcing concerns. What to carry as back up? We need to do 50 + miles everyday for 3 weeks on some challenging terrain. Keeping fit and well makes nutrition and calorie replacement a big factor. Food that just needs hydrating is the obvious solution but there is nothing so satisfying as a tasty dinner at the end of a long physical day!
• We will have to source our own water (I have a Sawyer) and carry our fuel for cooking (I have an ultra lightweight titanium stove fuelled by meths).
• The weather could literally be anything especially in the far north of Scotland. Keeping dry is a big challenge. Clothes changes? Wet weather gear? I have bought a Carradice cape.
• Personal hygiene. Covid adds an extra factor. Even if we find paying campsites many have specified no shower facilities and much of our time will be wild camping - so no showers. When I sailed across the N Pacific it was a month with virtually no clothes changes and no showers (as most yacht racing or trekking lol! ) - just wet wipes - but it was freezing cold the whole time. JOGLE will be different. There will be a lot of perspiration! I have lightweight gear - but changes to take? Washing and drying clothes will be difficult. 
• On perspiration. A guaranteed way of getting a chill is sitting around in damp clothes. Gortex helps but no clothes I have ever worn wicks everything away! 
• We only plan to cycle in daylight. There will therefore be a lot of time spent in our tents. Obviously a one man tent is the lightest but my experience is they are too small to be able to function in with pannier bags and cooking. I am therefore taking a two man tent because I think the value of the extra space offsets the burden of the extra weight.
• How do we keep phones and GPS etc charged ? I do not have a dynamo on my bike. I have opted for an Anker solar panel. 
• Everything we need will be carried in our pannier bags and packing in order of required access is a challenge.
• We will also want an early start each morning regardless of weather so handling and packing a damp/wet tent is a challenge especially as the need is to keep everything else dry.
• Finally the obvious one - what bike? I have a Dawes Super Galaxy touring bike that I bought second hand recently. It seems in good order. I have fitted Schwalbe Marathon tyres as everything I have read indicates they are the best chance of avoiding punctures. Repair and maintenance of the bike on route adds to the gear list required to be carried as we will be very remote at times.

This is not a comprehensive list but gives an idea of some of the considerations I am making.

Food and clothes are the two biggest weights. I think I have to reduce what I am proposing to carry but I do so reluctantly.

My final note on this blog. I love the prospect of this challenge - lol !!!

PS FURTHER UPDATE

After a trial run with loaded panniers it is obvious I am overloaded - weight and bulk needs to be further reduced. The main reduction will come in the provision of back up gear (clothes etc) - while it would be good to have it all as a contingency but it amounts to too much. At the end of the day there will need to be more improvisation and probably discomfort if there will be any chance of getting up and down those hills over 1200 miles!  

#JOGLE PT3 Things have moved on

22nd August - and the JOGLE plans have really moved on.

Here are the things that have happened.

• Over the years I have written up "Three Tenners" blogs. The three tenners are me and my brothers Rob and Mike. We have done a number of treks together. This year was a big birthday for Mike and the plan was to go to Vietnam as part of his celebrations. Alas Covid put the kybosh on that! I discussed JOGLE with them. Both were keen to have a go in principle but there were practical difficulties - namely Mike's work committments building up because of Covid and health Covid issues for Rob. In the end Mike has worked in some time but Rob has rightly had to be sensible. Although Rob is fit and well and fully recovered from leukemia it does add extra covid considerations and rightly he has decided to sit this one out to be fair to his family. We will miss him. It is great for me to have Mike along. Mike and I climbed Kilimanjaro together and we did the Clipper Race across the N Pacific. Mike is unflappable - resourceful and dogged. Neither of us are long distance cyclists at this point but we are both capable of digging in which is great.
• How to do JOGLE? Many people do JOGLE on racing bikes and come down major roads. This is the quickest and shortest way of completing the challenge on a bike. It is usually combined with staying in bed and breakfasts or hotels which allows riders to travel light. It is a tremendous achievement particularly when you see the daily mileages some cover - but it is not the way we want to do it.
• Our plan is to do the SUTRANS route. https://www.sustrans.org.uk/national-cycle-network/ This adds about 300 extra miles to the distance but it avoids the A roads and much is on designated cycle paths. We will also be camping the whole way down so we have to carry tents, sleeping bags and cooking equipment in our panniers. Consequently we will be much slower and have allowed 3 weeks to complete the 1200 miles. We are doing the scenic route!
• We leave early in September (subject to Covid). My son George is very kindly driving Mike and I to John o Groats.

In the next blog I will talk about our bikes and the gear we are taking etc.

#JOGLE PT2 Which route to take?

12th May 2020. Just back from my early morning bike ride. That was salutary. A very strong northerly on a beautiful bright morning. Ryde's lovely fine golden sand being blown off the beach and sculpted on the other side of the Esplanade!

Step 1 - you have decided to have a go at the end to end.

Step 2 - you next have to decide whether to start at Lands End and finish at John O Groats (LEJOG) or start in Scotland (JOGLE).

I read somewhere the classic is LEJOG but I am not sure why. It is clear it is a matter of personal choice and the same distance and elevation!

My personal inclination is JOGLE. Why? I live in the south - so psychologically better to be cycling home and of course we southerners go up north and they come down south - so surely down hill from Scotland - ha !

There are some objective reasons that might weight your choice and I have taken into account :

• The prevailing wind is south westerly - and this is a reason some argue LEJOG makes more sense - prevailing wind on your back. However many have pointed out the prevailing wind does not always blow - ha! As I was reminded this morning cycling into a cold stiff northerly is hard going - and a light warm south -westerly breeze would be little hardship. My conclusion - wind direction not a warranted factor particularly and even if it is personally I would prefer sun in my face going south rather than on my back all day.
• It seems pretty much unanimously agreed by anyone that has done the route the hardest part is Devon and Cornwall because of the sharp and frequent hills. Some argue it is better to get it out of the way first rather than being demoralised at the end. Others argue when if you start in Scotland by the time you get to Devon you will be in the groove and at your cycling fittest. Again it is swings and roundabouts I think.
• For me the clincher is logistics. It is much harder for me to get to / back from the north of Scotland and apparently there is very little at John O Groats. (not that there is much at Lands End itself !). I do not want to arrive in the middle of nowhere at the end of a very long and hard trek to then be faced with an arduous and complex journey home. It makes sense to me to finish in Cornwall which compared to Scotland is relatively on my doorstep!

So that is the first decision made - it is JOGLE for me. Start in John O Groats - cycle downhill from Scotland - sun on my face and wind on my back - lol!

#JOGLE PT 1 FIRST THOUGHTS

It is early Sunday morning 10th May 2020. We are still in the coronavirus lockdown (although today our Prime minister is apparently going to address our nation to reveal his thoughts on how the lockdown might gradually be eased!). I am not grumbling - far from it - I fully support our gov't in the fight to deal with the virus issue - but one way I have spent my time at home is to plan for the future ( or maybe dream lol!).

I have just had an early morning bike ride along the sea wall. Much of my ride was taken up with thinking about a plan I have in reality been actually formulating for years and years - to cycle from one end of the Great Britain to the other. (while this is something thousands of people have done - in all sorts of ways - it still constitutes a proper challenge nonetheless because it is just such a long way.)

A bit of background.

The ride I want to do is LEJOG or JOGLE (depending on where you start and finish).

Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities, in the southwest and northeast. The traditional distance by road is 874 miles (1,407 km) and takes most cyclists 10 to 14 days

This is a blue riband challenge - an iconic one -  a natural one - one end of your country to the other. Obviously it is a very long way. From a small school boy I was aware of it - wondered if  I could ever do it - because it would be a tremendous achievement - but for most including me - the time has not been right - ha!

Anyway I have always wanted to do it - it has nagged away in the background! The coronavirus might have created an opportunity. Foreign travel might still be some way off - and I can see it might be possible when the lockdown is eventually lifted or substantially eased.

I am going to have a go at it first opportunity!

PS a bit more from Wiki :

the record for running the route is nine days. Off-road walkers typically walk about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) and take two or three months for the expedition. Two much-photographed signposts indicate the traditional distance at each end.

• Land's End is the traditionally acknowledged extreme southern point of mainland England. It is in western Cornwall at the end of the Penwith peninsula. The O.S. Grid Reference of the road end is SW342250, Post Code TR19 7AA. 
• John o' Groats is the traditionally acknowledged extreme northern point of mainland Scotland, in northeastern Caithness, O.S. Grid Reference ND380735, Post Code KW1 4YR. 

The straight-line distance from Land's End to John o' Groats is 603 miles (970 km) as determined from O.S. Grid References, but such a route passes over a series of stretches of water in the Irish Sea. Google Earth reports a distance of 602.70 miles between the two iconic marker points.

According to a 1964 road atlas, the shortest route using classified roads was 847 miles (1,363 km) but in a 2008 road atlas, the shortest route using classified roads was 838 miles (1,349 km). An online route planner in 2011 also calculated the quickest route by road as 838 miles (1,349 km), estimating a time of 15 hours 48 minutes for the journey (this uses the A30, M5, M6, A74(M), M74, M73, M80, M9, A9 & A99) but the overall shortest route by road, using minor roads in numerous places and utilising modern bridges, is only about 814 miles (1,310 km). This route is roughly as follows: Land's End, Bodmin, Okehampton, Tiverton, Taunton, Bridgwater, the M5 Avon Bridge, the M48 Severn Bridge, Monmouth, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Tarporley, St Helens, Preston, Carlisle, Beattock, Carstairs, Whitburn, Falkirk, Stirling, Crieff, Kenmore, Dalchalloch, A9, Inverness, Kessock Bridge, Cromarty Bridge, Dornoch Firth Bridge, Latheron, Wick, John o' Groats.

Google Maps, on 2 August 2017, calculated the fastest route by car, from the Land's End Visitor Centre to John o' Groats as being 837 miles and taking 14 hours 40 minutes. It also showed a walking route of 811 miles, which it suggested would take 268 hours, and involve an elevation gain of 30,148 ft and an elevation fall of 30,272 ft.

Now to the how - because it is easy to get carried away ?!!!

#Cancelculture Nick Cave compares cancel culture to 'bad religion'

It is early Friday morning. I have finished my bike ride but it is still quiet. We have had a run of very hot days - but it is slightly cooler and overcast this morning - with the threat of heavy showers or even thunderstorms. It has been a fantastic few beach days here - especially as my daughter Victoria, husband Phil and darling littlegrand daughters Annabelle and Ayla are staying for a holiday. My youngest son Richard is also back on the Island for a few weeks so the whole family are here. It is special and I am proud. It is a real privilege.

My blog today - ha!

I have written before about connected issues that concern me - the erosion of free speech (my support for the Free Speech Union) - the damaging impact of political correctness - frustrations with the shallow woke stance taken by so many young people - virtue signalling - rewriting history - the flaws in the concept of culteral appropriation etc etc.

I recently came across a piece on the BBC web site based on an article written by Nick Cave. He is comparing the dreadful impact of the cancel culture with that of "bad religion" in our society. He broadly encapsulates my views (or more specifically my concerns) and makes his point in a punchy way. It is also heartening that someone with his background is prepared to state his views so clearly despite the fact the cancel culture mentality is so vociferous in the arts world.

I have copy and pasted the article below :

Writing on his website, the Australian rock star suggested that political correctness has an "asphyxiating effect on the creative soul of a society".

"Cancel culture" is the term for when individuals or companies face swift public backlash and boycott over statements or actions perceived by some as offensive.

It "embodies all the worst aspects that religion has to offer", said Cave.

'The unhappiest religion in the world'

Answering a question from a fan, in the latest of his Red Hand Files series of correspondences, the 62-year-old wrote: "As far as I can see, cancel culture is mercy's antithesis. Political correctness has grown to become the unhappiest religion in the world.

"Its once honourable attempt to reimagine our society in a more equitable way now embodies all the worst aspects that religion has to offer (and none of the beauty) - moral certainty and self-righteousness shorn even of the capacity for redemption. It has become quite literally, bad religion run amuck.

"Cancel culture's refusal to engage with uncomfortable ideas has an asphyxiating effect on the creative soul of a society."

He added: "Compassion is the primary experience - the heart event - out of which emerges the genius and generosity of the imagination."

'Hampers the creative spirit'

Cave has previously used the platform to answer questions from fans on a range of topics, including his break-up with PJ Harvey, the death of his teenage son Arthur, and how to deal with writer's block.

In the latest one, entitled "What do you think of cancel culture?" - apparently a question from a fan in America - he went on to say that "creativity is an act of love that can knock up against our most foundational beliefs, and in doing so brings forth fresh ways of seeing the world."

"This is both the function and glory of art and ideas," he continued.

"A force that finds its meaning in the cancellation of these difficult ideas hampers the creative spirit of a society and strikes at the complex and diverse nature of its culture.

"But this is where we are. We are a culture in transition, and it may be that we are heading toward a more equal society - I don't know - but what essential values will we forfeit in the process?"

Threat to free speech, or force for good?

Many people, including comic actor Ricky Gervais, appear to agree with the Red Right Hand singer about cancel culture, going as far to say that it is a potential threat to free speech.

Lots of others, however, do not, and view political correctness as a force for good.

In response to Cave's musings, music journalist Osman Faruqi posted that he "would love to know what the 'uncomfortable ideas' are that Nick Cave wants to grapple with but apparently can't because of cancel culture".

Another music journalist, Shaun Curran, felt Cave made "a fundamental mistake" in thinking cancel culture is specifically and only targeted at the art itself. "That's the case sometimes," tweeted Curran. "But I'd say the majority of it is actually about the behaviour of the artist which he doesn't seem to grasp".

He pointed to Michaela Coel's recent comedy-drama show I May Destroy You as an example of "challenging art".

Artist and photographer Alex Boyd applauded Cave's sentiments, however. "I can hear the fingers of the neo-puritans striking their keyboards in rage," he tweeted.

"Tonight Nick Cave shall be cancelled for cancelling cancel culture," he joked.

• JK Rowling joins warning over free speech

In July, some 150 writers, academics and activists - including authors JK Rowling, Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood - signed an open letter denouncing the "restriction of debate".

The letter, published in Harper's magazine, criticised what it called "a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that tend to weaken our norms of open debate and toleration of differences in favour of ideological conformity".

#CoronavirusandBrexit a correlation?

Over the weekend I read an article written by Christopher Snowdon.

He observes a correlation between the Brexit debate and attitude to how the government has managed the coronavirus outbreak in the UK and particularly the lockdown. In fact his headline is "The lockdown debate has morphed into a rerun of the Brexit wars!"

His observation is whether a person is a hawk or a dove on lockdown restrictions can be predicted with a fair degree of confidence by how they voted in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Simply put and in extremis - those that think lockdown should only end when we have a bomb proof vaccine are most likely to be remainers - and those that want life to get back to normal asap are leavers.

Is he right? Why should there be any link?

He suggests attitude to risk might be the explanation ie Brexiteers embrace risk almost by definition - where remainers feel safer with the status quo and are risk adverse.

There can be no doubt that the whole covid debate has been politicized by many. If you were against the Tories over Brexit (seen as a Tory project rather than a democratic imperative) it is quite likely (and sadly) that you do not want to support them - or make life easier for them over the Coronavirus challenges. Attitudes could simply reflect objective political posturing or blind hate ( as often represented evidenced by the #FBPE twitter mob.). (I say sad because this is a national issue that affects us all - and it would be better if we were united and working together in its defeat.)

He also suggests it could also be about settling old scores and I am sure he is right about that. He observes there are some political journalists in this country who will go to their graves convinced that the biggest news story of 2020 was Dominic Cummings driving to Barnard Castle. He says it would be difficult to imagine them getting quite so upset about a special adviser possibly committing a minor breach of a regulation if he had not run the Leave campaign.

My take is Christopher Snowdon is on to something and I am sure there is a correlation.

I think it is why the "liberal elite" media - most notably the BBC has failed to understand the majority of people want/wanted a national effort (a war time effort) to respond to the complex challenges that would be posed to any government by the coronavirus epidemic. Instead the media has served up a carry over of an anti Boris anti Tory anti Brexit mentality. The resultant negativity has fuelled / exacerbated further division within our society. Many feel it has been against the national interest. Consequently attitudes have further polarized - been further entrenched and there are no winners. I remember reading a pithy tweet along the lines of  "if this was the second world war now - many in the media would be cheering for the Germans! Sadly this is what it has come to for some.

For myself - man in the street - man on the Clapham Omnibus I would make these further objective  points -ha! :

• For many their default position - their reflex is to find fault in everything the government does regarding Covid.
• The MSM media has continually tried to play gotcha with the government - particularly during the questions part of the Daily Briefing. Far from being constructive to keep the government on their toes it was clear their only purpose was to score points and try and put government efforts in the worst possible light. Many in the public were totally turned off by their approach.
• MSM repeatedly tried to force the hand of government to pronounce on what might happen in the future especially about lockdown. They then cited speculation they had created as the government creating a confused picture!
• Too many people unashamedly are prepared to use hindsight when pontificating about the way the coronavirus challenge has been handled.
• Comparison with covid death/infection/testing rates in other countries was/is used to criticize our government response. However the average person understands every country is different - particularly in population density and anyway it is highly likely data was collected in different ways. When this is all over and proper analysis can be carried out it will be no suprise if the UK comes out as having done well. 
• Too many people demand certainty from the government in a very uncertain and fast changing situation.(they are being deliberately perverse?!).
• Many people accuse the government of being intractable and then when policy changes arise as a response to changing circumstances or interpretation they accuse the government of being weak or indecisive.(they are being deliberately perverse?!)
• While the furlough scheme / closure was necessary to avoid the NHS being overwhelmed it is now being used as a way by some to avoid the necessity of working. This is particularly evident in the public sector - most notably by the teachers unions. They can accuse the government from a position of public sector privilege of putting economic considerations ahead of people's health.
• Economic considerations are a reality.
• The BBC has lost the public trust and are out of step with the electorate. Their status as the premier public service broadcaster has been thrown away and it will rightly end in the loss of the BBC licence fee privilige.