There are also some great blogs kicking around out there. Nothing like reading up on other people's experiences to set your expectation on what this challenge can throw at you: http://awesomelejog.blogspot.com/
Midges. Midges. Midges and you guessed it more Midges. The Highland Midge, or Culicoides Impunctatus….or my personal short hand: “winged demons of horror and gratuitous irritation”. Anyone considering LEJOG should be aware of the Highland Midge, I mean seriously, If you don’t make allowances for this terrifying beast you will regret it. Thus, you can only imagine my horror, whereupon I set off from John O’Groats completely unaware of this real life Dracula. Fortunately it had been a particularly mild winter meaning the midges were at their worst…great. Now, Midges, like Piranhas, Lions and drunken youths, travel in groups, making them particularly troublesome.
It was the first night, where me and my accomplice foolishly set up camp in the Scottish Highlands, surrounded by long grass and open water, that we were fully educated in Midge mania. “Midge Mania” much like Beatlemania…but without the hits, no Abbey Road, no Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, just a monotonous drone that continues all night. Anyways, now I have aptly demonstrated my inability to remain on point, I wanted to get across that there’s bloody loads of them and they really are a pain in the backside….something your Glutes can’t really have anymore of after days in the saddle! “Jack surely you’re exaggerating?!”. Look, all I’m saying is if you have to take leak on the move you know you’ve got problems. Hence, as we stumbled around in the dark with our trousers around our legs like a pair of escaped convicts we decided we needed to take action.
That night we barely drunk anything and took toilet breaks as regularly as possible to avoid any need to leave the tent during the night. It was a water tight plan, unless your riding companion has the bladder of a squirrel. At 3am I was awoken by the fidgeting of my friend Mo. “ What’s the matter?!!”….“I’m busting for the toilet…”…. “You are kidding!?”. We shone the torch at the tent inners and could see the equivalent to Caesar’s armies completely covering the outside. There were literally thousands. In fairness to Mo, he tried to exit the tent tactfully, but when the tent door is smothered in hundreds of the demons there’s no preventing being overrun. Thus, at 3am, after just four hours sleep, we were forced to pack up camp and leg it.
So, how can you avoid these tent invaders. Well, annoyingly the answer is not very easily. The midges begin their tyranny in spring and enjoy a reign of terror right through the summer months. In other words, the majority of cyclists will want to complete LEJOG in the warmer seasons and thus will inevitably run into Sir Midge. However, hope is not lost, here are some tips on reducing the impact of midges on your ride. Firstly, if you’re camping aim for somewhere with short grass and away from open water….so opposite to my first night in the Scottish Highlands! Midges congregate to have deep meaningful conversations in long grass and near open water. However, this strategy is not full proof.
There were a few nights we stayed in campsites that fitted the above criteria, but found ourselves once again immersed in the evil minions. The locals told us that it’s often pot luck, one area may have millions of midges, but a few minutes down the road may have hardly any. If you’re really sensible and not a peasant like myself you could stay in B & B’s, but that takes away a lot of the fun. After all, who doesn’t want to be chased…trousers down, in the dark, across the boggy highlands by hungry blood suckers?! There are midge sprays out there, but the ones we tried seemed to have the same effect as BBQ sauce. Nevertheless, I’m sure more effective ointments exist, we were told that something in Avon body lotion scares them off ….or alternatively just purchase a flame thrower. That would also work. So the Highland Midge. A vicious tyrant who roams the Scottish Highlands surrounded by legions of blood suckers, showing no repent and laughing in the face of repellents. You’ve been warned.
Bit stuck with this link - it doesn't post properly unless broken, you will have to join it back together because I've had to put a spaces in it to make it work...
I'm a road runner at heart so would be looking for a combination in all the above that was grassless - grass gets wet - which can be devastating on the feet - but maybe I'm a wimp.
Couldn't get the attached link to load so took a picture of it, you will have to re-type it into your browser but it will be worth it for another completely mapped route
Comments
Midges. Midges. Midges and you guessed it more Midges. The Highland Midge, or Culicoides Impunctatus….or my personal short hand: “winged demons of horror and gratuitous irritation”. Anyone considering LEJOG should be aware of the Highland Midge, I mean seriously, If you don’t make allowances for this terrifying beast you will regret it. Thus, you can only imagine my horror, whereupon I set off from John O’Groats completely unaware of this real life Dracula. Fortunately it had been a particularly mild winter meaning the midges were at their worst…great. Now, Midges, like Piranhas, Lions and drunken youths, travel in groups, making them particularly troublesome.
It was the first night, where me and my accomplice foolishly set up camp in the Scottish Highlands, surrounded by long grass and open water, that we were fully educated in Midge mania. “Midge Mania” much like Beatlemania…but without the hits, no Abbey Road, no Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, just a monotonous drone that continues all night. Anyways, now I have aptly demonstrated my inability to remain on point, I wanted to get across that there’s bloody loads of them and they really are a pain in the backside….something your Glutes can’t really have anymore of after days in the saddle! “Jack surely you’re exaggerating?!”. Look, all I’m saying is if you have to take leak on the move you know you’ve got problems. Hence, as we stumbled around in the dark with our trousers around our legs like a pair of escaped convicts we decided we needed to take action.
That night we barely drunk anything and took toilet breaks as regularly as possible to avoid any need to leave the tent during the night. It was a water tight plan, unless your riding companion has the bladder of a squirrel. At 3am I was awoken by the fidgeting of my friend Mo. “ What’s the matter?!!”….“I’m busting for the toilet…”…. “You are kidding!?”. We shone the torch at the tent inners and could see the equivalent to Caesar’s armies completely covering the outside. There were literally thousands. In fairness to Mo, he tried to exit the tent tactfully, but when the tent door is smothered in hundreds of the demons there’s no preventing being overrun. Thus, at 3am, after just four hours sleep, we were forced to pack up camp and leg it.
So, how can you avoid these tent invaders. Well, annoyingly the answer is not very easily. The midges begin their tyranny in spring and enjoy a reign of terror right through the summer months. In other words, the majority of cyclists will want to complete LEJOG in the warmer seasons and thus will inevitably run into Sir Midge. However, hope is not lost, here are some tips on reducing the impact of midges on your ride. Firstly, if you’re camping aim for somewhere with short grass and away from open water….so opposite to my first night in the Scottish Highlands! Midges congregate to have deep meaningful conversations in long grass and near open water. However, this strategy is not full proof.
There were a few nights we stayed in campsites that fitted the above criteria, but found ourselves once again immersed in the evil minions. The locals told us that it’s often pot luck, one area may have millions of midges, but a few minutes down the road may have hardly any. If you’re really sensible and not a peasant like myself you could stay in B & B’s, but that takes away a lot of the fun. After all, who doesn’t want to be chased…trousers down, in the dark, across the boggy highlands by hungry blood suckers?! There are midge sprays out there, but the ones we tried seemed to have the same effect as BBQ sauce. Nevertheless, I’m sure more effective ointments exist, we were told that something in Avon body lotion scares them off ….or alternatively just purchase a flame thrower. That would also work. So the Highland Midge. A vicious tyrant who roams the Scottish Highlands surrounded by legions of blood suckers, showing no repent and laughing in the face of repellents. You’ve been warned.
www. runultra. co. uk/ Articles/ October- 2017/ LEJoG
The above link is about running rather than cycling - amazing tenacity - a woman running mostly off-road carrying all her own kit