LEL audax is it possible?

[Anonymous1502]

I have watched on amazon prime a documentary about people taking part in the LEL audax event. Apparently they have 5 days to cycle 1400km so that’s like 290km a day. The next one is coming up in 2021 apparently. I would love to take part but I don’t think I am a strong enough cyclist to be able to successfully complete it if I am honest so perhaps it would be better for this to remain a dream.

 

[vickster]

Yes, there are lots of threads about it in the Audax forum. And what you have to do to be able to qualify. Do a search

 

[Ming the Merciless]

That was LEL in 2013. I rode that one, but failed the screen test for the filming 😀

Start riding some shorter audaxes, beginning from 100km, and go from there. You won’t know what you are capable of, till you try.

I think LEL more likely to be delayed to 2022 due to Covid and its international field. There’s a FB page for the next LEL, if you are on that platform.

 

[Anonymous1502]

That was LEL in 2013. I rode that one, but failed the screen test for the filming 😀

Start riding some shorter audaxes, beginning from 100km, and go from there. You won’t know what you are capable of, till you try.

I think LEL more likely to be delayed to 2022 due to Covid and its international field. There’s a FB page for the next LEL, if you are on that platform.

Have you found LEL incredibly tough or was it manageable for you. In the documentary a lot of people said they sleep like 1-3 hours a night, is this a reality for everyone?

 

[Anonymous1502]

Yes, there are lots of threads about it in the Audax forum. And what you have to do to be able to qualify. Do a search

From my research I understand that some people are selected based on a ballot of some sort? Is that like a raffle?

 

[DCLane]

If you've seen the 2017 documentary I'm in there - my profile pic's me at the finish. I slept less than 5 hours over the whole event, with me finishing in 99 hours overall - https://www.strava.com/activities/1116993799. It's probably the hardest ride I've ever done, although I did ride it injured with my right leg only partially working as I had a major operation 6 weeks later.

The decision about 2021 / 2022 will be taken this year. My personal view is it will be delayed as many potential entrants won't have got the distance in this year - I certainly haven't. How that impacts the 2023 running of Paris-Brest-Paris I don't know.

From my research I understand that some people are selected based on a ballot of some sort? Is that like a raffle?

Many of your questions will be answered here: https://londonedinburghlondon.com/

Entry's complicated; priority for relatives of volunteers and existing Audax UK members. Others are in a ballot I believe.

 

[Anonymous1502]

If you've seen the 2017 documentary I'm in there - my profile pic's me at the finish. I slept less than 5 hours over the whole event, with me finishing in 99 hours overall - https://www.strava.com/activities/1116993799. It's probably the hardest ride I've ever done, although I did ride it injured with my right leg only partially working as I had a major operation 6 weeks later.

The decision about 2021 / 2022 will be taken this year. My personal view is it will be delayed as many potential entrants won't have got the distance in this year - I certainly haven't. How that impacts the 2023 running of Paris-Brest-Paris I don't know.



Many of your questions will be answered here: https://londonedinburghlondon.com/

Entry's complicated; priority for relatives of volunteers and existing Audax UK members. Others are in a ballot I believe.

How many hours did you cycle a day and what was your average speed? How much time did you rest for excluding sleep. How did you manage on so little sleep?

 

[DCLane]

How many hours did you cycle a day and what was your average speed? How much time did you rest for excluding sleep. How did you manage on so little sleep?

In terms of riding per day I rode through all four nights, stopping at dawn for 0 mins / 90 mins / 3 hours / 20 mins sleep. In terms of rest I'd tried to sleep going north at Thirsk and Carlisle and it hadn't happened, so got up and continued riding.

There's ways of managing with little sleep; I avoid riders who use caffeine tablets / other substances but I come off caffeine a month before this type of event, using it when I need to on night 3 onwards. It helps. We each develop tools and techniques to help with the riding, both physical and mental.

Some riders need to sleep at night, so they have to ride faster during the day in order to build up a time buffer. I ride slower, which means less energy used, but tend to end up ahead as I'm not as tired. Or at least that's been my approach on audaxes beyond 600km. Up to that distance I'll just give it a go and ride quite fast. The downside of this is I'm almost always riding on my own rather than in big groups. My advantage is I can ride at my own pace; the legacy of a major operation is my pace is variable depending on how my right leg is doing, which doesn't help when I'm in a group.

Many riders will take the view of 'race out, tour back' which works as long as the weather is with you. On Paris-Brest-Paris / LEL these have struggled when the weather turned against them: in 2017 the headwind across the fens was awful. I'd seen the wind pick up and the weather forecast in Pocklington at 4pm on the Wednesday afternoon having set off late Sunday morning, reached Edinburgh Tuesday and headed south to Thirsk at 1pm. It looked bad for the next 48 hours and my decision was to go as hard as I could so I wouldn't get caught out. I got to Louth at 9pm and many decided to go to bed and hope the next day was better. It wasn't and they were in very large groups struggling against a strong headwind. Me? I'd ridden mostly solo through the night when the wind was lower and by 8am was in St Ives having gone through Spalding at 3am. Great Easton was late morning - getting a flat and me not being able to comprehend how a pump worked due to tiredness is another story - with my finish around 1pm on the Thursday. Riders I'd left at Louth were still struggling southwards through Lincolnshire when I had finished.

If you do see the 2017 DVD I'm in the trailer and interviewed. Take into account I'd just finished having been told there was no chance I would, with only my now 16 year-old telling me I could do it AND I was more than a little bit tired at that point having done Thirsk-London in 24 hours.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I slept 4-5 hours sleeping every night. This was 2013, I don’t recall how many hours were cycling. I don’t tend to focus on that. The main thing I look at is how far ahead of time limits I am when I reach controls. It took what it took.

My general aim was to have a 5 hour buffer (ahead of time limit) after I woke up from a sleep.

The headwind in the fens going south was just as strong in 2013. So assume it’ll be the same and a bonus if winds are gentle.

I like riding at night, so generally rode till I felt the dozies , then stopped at next control for sleep.

Much of your approach, clothing, eating, drinking, and setup will be determined through riding shorter audaxes. My LEL setup was what I had come up with from riding 400 and 600km events. There was nothing extra required,

 

[Pale Rider]

I volunteered overnight at the Barnard Castle, County Durham, control in 2013.

Fascinating to see how offering a 24 hour food, drink, and rest operation worked.

We had to offer individual wake up calls to each rider, because you couldn't have individual alarms going off at all times in a dormitory-type situation.

Riders came and went at all hours, staying for varying amounts of time.

When I was on bed watch, what struck me is many riders, rather than ask to be woken at a certain time, asked for how many hours of rest/sleep they wanted.

That demonstrated they had abandoned concepts of night and day which the majority of us live by - a small insight into what is a very complicated subject.

 

[DCLane]

When I was on bed watch, what struck me is many riders, rather than ask to be woken at a certain time, asked for how many hours of rest/sleep they wanted.

When riding I work on REM sleep, which works generally in 90 minute slots plus 15 to get to sleep.

It's also so much easier just to ask for the number of hours rather than try to work it out when tired.

I thought I was aware what day / time it was but in 2017, having apparently offered to kiss Drew Buck when he presented coffee and a chocolate flapjack at the top of Yad Moss around 1am coming south (his wife found it funny), I probably hadn't a clue where I was.

@Anonymous1502 - don't get too put off by us idiots who should know better.

 

[Ajax Bay]

How many hours did you cycle a day and what was your average speed? How much time did you rest for excluding sleep. How did you manage on so little sleep?

2017
Day 1: 13.5 hours riding (of which 2 hrs at stops/eating)
Night 1: Stopped 6 hours, sleeping 5
Day 2: 17 hours riding (of which 3 hrs at stops/eating)
Night 2: Stopped 6 hours, sleeping 4
Day 3: 15 hours riding (of which 3 hrs at stops/eating)
Night 3: Stopped 7 hours, sleeping 6
Day 4: 17 hours riding (of which 3 hrs at stops/eating)
Night 4: Stopped 9 hours, sleeping 7
Day 5: 16 hours riding (of which 4 hrs at stops/eating)
Finished in 106 hours: riding time: 64 hours: 22 hours kip.
I didn't "rest" except when sleeping: the stops every few hours during the day controls at were to eat and fill bottles. 22 hours sleepover 4 nights is not 'so little sleep' and so my ride was entirely 'manageable'. Average moving speed about 22kph, but a lot faster on Day 1 and a lot less for 8 hours of Day 5 (into a serious head/half-side wind across the shelterless flats south from Louth to St Ives).

 

[Pale Rider]

me not being able to comprehend how a pump worked due to tiredness i

I probably hadn't a clue where I was.

The impact of extreme tiredness is bordering on scary.

One of the riders told me he saw some Banksy pictures on the road in front of him in a remote spot.

It was an hallucination, but he was so convinced, he got off the bike and took out his camera to take some photos.

Steve Abraham spoke of riding in a dream like state.

I've been nowhere close to such conditions, but the road safety aspect is a concern.

 

[Anonymous1502]

The impact of extreme tiredness is bordering on scary.

One of the riders told me he saw some Banksy pictures on the road in front of him in a remote spot.

It was an hallucination, but he was so convinced, he got off the bike and took out his camera to take some photos.

Steve Abraham spoke of riding in a dream like state.

I've been nowhere close to such conditions, but the road safety aspect is a concern.

I usually sleep 8-9 hours a night I can't comprehend how people survived on so litte sleep. The safety aspect I agree is conncerning as cycling accidents can be very serious.

 

[Anonymous1502]

2017
Day 1: 13.5 hours riding (of which 2 hrs at stops/eating)
Night 1: Stopped 6 hours, sleeping 5
Day 2: 17 hours riding (of which 3 hrs at stops/eating)
Night 2: Stopped 6 hours, sleeping 4
Day 3: 15 hours riding (of which 3 hrs at stops/eating)
Night 3: Stopped 7 hours, sleeping 6
Day 4: 17 hours riding (of which 3 hrs at stops/eating)
Night 4: Stopped 9 hours, sleeping 7
Day 5: 16 hours riding (of which 4 hrs at stops/eating)
Finished in 106 hours: riding time: 64 hours: 22 hours kip.
I didn't "rest" except when sleeping: the stops every few hours during the day controls at were to eat and fill bottles. 22 hours sleepover 4 nights is not 'so little sleep' and so my ride was entirely 'manageable'. Average moving speed about 22kph, but a lot faster on Day 1 and a lot less for 8 hours of Day 5 (into a serious head/half-side wind across the shelterless flats south from Louth to St Ives).

How did you manage to navigate at night?