London-Edinburgh-London 2013: The thread

[Mad Doug Biker]

I will only know if I am able to do it after I have my (actually pretty major) surgery next month, and even then I probably won't be on a bike for a while, so, if you are already out there cycling and have nothing between now and August, then I'm sure you'll be ok!! - Better than me anyway, so stop fannying about and get on with it, that's an order!!

 

[PpPete]

jahowl herr commandant !

 

[ComedyPilot]

Looking at the ride, I imagine setting off and there being a ghostly line on the road following at 12km/h, all the way to Edinburgh, and all the way back. From the moment the gun goes or a man in a mayor's regalia waves a flag that line sets off and does NOT stop. To finish in time you have to go to all the checkpoints and have your card stamped and get to Edinburgh and back before the line.......

It's a real mind-game one this.......

 

[frank9755]

I have a bike related question, my main road bike is a singlespeed giant. I have ridden 180k in a day on it, but not easily. It is geared at about 74" at the moment. If I geared it down (say 64") would this be okay to do LEL on or would I be better off investing in a bike with some gears? Do people do LEL on singlesped bikes??

The bike is comfortable, just overgeared for long rides at the moment (I do 100k on it with no issues fairly regularly).

Any opinions?

As Mcshroom says, you'd be likely to want different gears for north and south, so having two cogs and flipping the wheel would make a lot of sense.

 

[frank9755]

Right. Training help please.

I did start a seperate thread to ask this but haven't had any replies at all.

My first, and so far only, Audax of 200 km was done last yr and i'm now really planning for LEL. I regularly ride 60 - 100 miles at a time but have difficulty entering a lot of calendar events due to shift work and family commitments. I have a 300 km DIY ride planned for November/December and will also squeeze in at least one 200 km ride but I really want to do 400 and 600 km calendar event at least once each before the LEL.

I would hope to do these near (ish) to Manchester and looking at the Audax UK site I am quite taken with the Llanfairpwllgwyngyll gogerychwyrndrobwll llantysiliogogogoch 400 on 25th May 2013 and the 3 Coasts 600 on 8th June 2013. I am wondering though if these dates might be a bit too close together and also if I should be doing something 400+ km long earlier than two months before the LEL?

I will be booking annual leave for any events in 2013 so shifts will not be a problem and my wife is very supportive re family commitments. Any suggestions for other 400 and 600 km events would therefore be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Everyone's recovery time is different but the rule of thumb is that it takes a month to fully get over a big ride and be back to peak. If the 400 takes a lot out of you and you are shattered at the end, you might then find the 600 a bit harder going than if you'd had a bit more recovery. But you won't know until you try it and it is not an unreasonable thing to attempt.

FWIW I did a 400 this summer then a 600 two weeks later and it was fine

 

[PpPete]

Looking at the ride, I imagine setting off and there being a ghostly line on the road following at 12km/h, all the way to Edinburgh, and all the way back. From the moment the gun goes or a man in a mayor's regalia waves a flag that line sets off and does NOT stop. To finish in time you have to go to all the checkpoints and have your card stamped and get to Edinburgh and back before the line.......

It's a real mind-game one this.......

You are assuming your mind will still be working after that many consecutive long days on the road ?
May not be everyone's cup of tea, but once the route is finalized and the GPX tracks published I will be building a time-sheet on Excel which takes account of allocated start time, kilometres, mtrs of ascent, time @ controls, an allowance for mechanicals, and a gradual slowing down from "almost respectable pace" on day 1, through "bloody slow", right down to "arthritic snail" by the end.
That plan will be then be reduced to a scheduled arrival time and departure time at each control, which in a sleep deprived state we can still just about relate to, and figure how much of our "contingency" has been burned up.

 

[oldfatfool]

Never done over 200km in one shot but like CP have done fully loaded touring with 20 consec days of 80 ~ 140 km with considerable height gain thrown into the equation. Was thinking along the lines of riding 6am to 8pm ish with a lunch stop then kipping down for a full nights nod. Will be on Bluesy the Panorama.

 

[Nebulous]

I wish people would stop posting on this thread! It has become one of the first things I look at now on cyclechat - and I really want to do it. Goodness knows why, mainly because its there, but I can see it gaining momentum, until I'm too committed to back out.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Well, you now have only 7212.5 hours to prepare for the hardest 116 hours cycling of your life - or 300 days and a few hours in old money

 

[ComedyPilot]

Never done over 200km in one shot but like CP have done fully loaded touring with 20 consec days of 80 ~ 140 km with considerable height gain thrown into the equation. Was thinking along the lines of riding 6am to 8pm ish with a lunch stop then kipping down for a full nights nod. Will be on Bluesy the Panorama.

I think I may use similar tactics, but do at least 1 through-the-night into the afternoon/evening run to get a good 4/5 hour kip

 

[JoeyB]

Im thinking ride through the night on the first night.... Make the most of the fresh legs!i

 

[martint235]

Im thinking ride through the night on the first night.... Make the most of the fresh legs!i

That's plan A. Plan A goes on to say I'll be at the border before I sleep. There will be a plan B though.

All plans involve eating at every opportunity. Having suffered on the trip up north, I won't be thinking "Oh there'll be food just along here"

 

[mcshroom]

Bar bag full of bite sized foods is very good for that. Also it can be useful to pack savoury stuff as well as sweet. I find eventually on long rides I don't want sugar, I want something like a sandwich.

 

[JoeyB]

Jam sandwiches a plenty!

I'm a savoury person myself, if I can do the ride on pork pies I would!

 

[martint235]

Bar bag full of bite sized foods is very good for that. Also it can be useful to pack savoury stuff as well as sweet. I find eventually on long rides I don't want sugar, I want something like a sandwich.

From what I've read, food is available every 80km. I can see me putting on weight over the course of LEL!!