#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.