If only I had...........

[Vitara]

Advice I wish I'd ignored:

I spent a lot of time, effort and money trying to fit mudguards, before realizing I couldn't & then worrying about not having them, even to the extent of considering a new bike.

In the event less than half our group had mudguards fitted and while I'm sure those that had them benefited on our wet days not having them was no big deal.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

Some advice I often mention to a novice tourer on a long tour is don't be so focused on reaching your destination/goal that you forget to enjoy the journey.

[cakefiend]

Made sure that my steed was THOROUGHLY checked and serviced by a proper bike mechanic. ( I usually did my own maintenance and it just wasn't good enough).
Taken less stuff.
Built an extra 2 days into the schedule to allow for unforeseen circumstances.

I did my Jogle in about 1986, some parts were wonderful others nearly put paid to my enthusiasm for cycling.

Best advice, stay flexible about routes, make sure that any equipment on the bike is readily available should you need to replace it.

After about 3 days I worked out that it was best to say that I was on a bike tour, any mention of Jogle/Lejog produced a glazed look and furtive hiding of wallets, locals along well trodden routes seemed a little wearied by the whole thing

[helenheart]

I have read some invaluable advice here - what an amazing source of info this forum is - thank you one and all.