London-Edinburgh-London 2013: The thread

[PpPete]

Based on 600 km experience I see no reason to go beyond my Barley (9 litres) and tiny (2.5 litre) barbag.
Don't forget there are drop-bag facilities on LEL, IIRC it's one included, one extra if you want to pay more, so you almost don't need to carry a change of kit.

 

[martint235]

I'm not going to bother with a bag drop. It's only 5 days. Usual repair stuff, spare kit and some batteries and I think I'm set.

 

[jefmcg]

Help! I've started following this thread because I'm strangely intrigue by this race, and realise if I don't do it next year, I'll have to wait 5 years (from now) and that there is a lot of interest, so I'll have to sign up as soon as entries open. And it's not going to be cheap if I have an entry that I don't use.

So how can I work out if I can do this? I've never done an Audax and only done one century (pootled Dunwich Dynamo in 12 hours roughly elapsed time on my 16" folder). When I do a solo 60km loop - mostly flat - strava puts my moving average just above 20kmh. I suspect not everyone's body is capable of doing 280km/day for 5 days (have I got the daily distance right?), or is that something I can get to in a year. I've been averaging somewhere been 100-300km/week for the eighteen months, so despite my slow average, I am as fit as I've ever been on a bicycle. I'm female and inarguably middle aged, if that matters: certainly it argues against waiting for 2017.

thanks

(I've got a barley saddle bag, and a new road bike so it's just me to sort out!)

 

[martint235]

I wouldn't be too worried about getting a place. (Or at least I've been told not to worry). A lot of the people interested may decide they have things much more interesting to do with those 5 days.

To prepare I think you need to be sure you can do the following but this is only my opinion:

1. A solo ride through the night (although technically you don't need to ride at night for LEL)
2. Back to back centuries. There's a big difference in riding 200 miles in a day and riding 100 miles on day one and then getting on your bike again the day after to do another 100. Once you've done this scaling up shouldn't be too difficult.
3. I'd also suggest riding for 24 hours without sleep just to find out how you cope. Drowsy, grumpy, dispirited etc, you could get any or all of them. Once you know what to expect, it'll be easier to deal with. I tend to get grumpy and stubborn.

 

[PpPete]

If you can hold that 20 kph moving average for 5 x 14 hours riding you'll be fine.
At least that what I'm hoping...

 

[jefmcg]

I wouldn't be too worried about getting a place. (Or at least I've been told not to worry). A lot of the people interested may decide they have things much more interesting to do with those 5 days.

To prepare I think you need to be sure you can do the following but this is only my opinion:

1. A solo ride through the night (although technically you don't need to ride at night for LEL)
2. Back to back centuries. There's a big difference in riding 200 miles in a day and riding 100 miles on day one and then getting on your bike again the day after to do another 100. Once you've done this scaling up shouldn't be too difficult.
3. I'd also suggest riding for 24 hours without sleep just to find out how you cope. Drowsy, grumpy, dispirited etc, you could get any or all of them. Once you know what to expect, it'll be easier to deal with. I tend to get grumpy and stubborn.

Thanks.

Got a loooooooonnnnnnnggggggg way to go.

I've done #1. DunRun was effectively solo, especially as I skipped the official stop - certainly more so than LEL.

I thought I'd take advantage of a period of job hunting to try #2. Had the plan to cycle to Brighton yesterday and then turn around and head back until I hit 100 miles. I felt fine when I got to Brighton, but I didn't feel like any more cycling. OK, so let's try back to back metric centuries. Nup, my legs would have none of it, I ended up stopping for a coffee, and having a general pootle, covering about 25 km all up.

At least I know where I stand. Now I have to work out if I am physically capable getting to that sort of mileage, and if I want to work that hard. So different from Dunwich Dynamo, where i knew I could muddle through. You can't pull 1400km out of your ar5e.

 

[JoeyB]

Hi all,

I first heard about the LEL approximately two days ago! So I did some Googling and landed on this forum.

I have an increasing itch to buy a road bike, then when I read about this event I found the itch has turned into a necessity that must be addressed!

I currently have an MTB with road tyres, I've used this to complete a couple of 100KM events (IOW Randonee 2010 / 2011) but thats about it. (I won't go into new bike selection advice, I'll save that for the correct section of this forum)

Fitness levels are fairly good, not sure that its relevant but currently training for the Great South Run and a Half Marathon shortly after that. Already up to 9 mile runs after 4 weeks of training.

So, my question:

I need a training goal for 2013, would it be completely mad and stupid of me to set myself the goal of taking part in the 2013 LEL, assuming I buy a road bike in the next month or two and starting preparation?

I'd like to think its highly ambitious but not impossible. I've noted the pre-reqs above, I will incorporate them all into my preparation! I'm under no illusions that this will be an easy task, or very enjoyable for that matter, but the feeling of satisfaction once the brusing has gone away will be amazing I'm sure.

 

[frank9755]

I need a training goal for 2013, would it be completely mad and stupid of me to set myself the goal of taking part in the 2013 LEL, assuming I buy a road bike in the next month or two and starting preparation?

Any reasonably fit person who has done a bit of cycling should be able to manage it. Long distance cycling is more of a mental thing than a physical thing: it comes down to whether you want to do it. That means no-one else can tell you!

One thought - don't rush out and buy a bike designed for racing 50 miles on if your main intended use is a 1400km audax.

 

[JoeyB]

Cheers Frank,

I just felt I needed to ask the question in case I'd missed something other than it being a mental battle!

Yes, I'm not interested in a race replica, I want something thats better suited for distance. I'm thinking a budget of £1,000 and I want Shimano 105 all round. I'm still knowledge gathering on that front though and I'm at the stage I just need to get to my LBS and ride some bikes!

The Boardman in Halfords for £999 seems a good deal, not sure if its more racey though.

 

[martint235]

Definitely try to take the bike for a test ride. 1400km is a long way to go on a bike that makes you uncomfortable after 50km.

 

[arallsopp]

Help! I've started following this thread because I'm strangely intrigue by this race [...] So how can I work out if I can do this? I've never done an Audax and only done one century (pootled Dunwich Dynamo in 12 hours roughly elapsed time on my 16" folder).

Hi all,
I first heard about the LEL approximately two days ago! So I did some Googling and landed on this forum [...] would it be completely mad and stupid of me to set myself the goal of taking part in the 2013 LEL, assuming I buy a road bike in the next month or two and starting preparation?

At risk of self promotion, I asked very similar questions last time around: http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/lel-training-advice.18525/
As for whether its possible, the write up of my ride is here: http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/seeya-arallsopp-does-the-lel.35203/

If you have the endurance to wade through the latter link, you've got the spirit for the ride down pat

 

[ianrauk]

And seeing as Andy has not added a link to his book about his LEL Adventure.
I will instead.
...Barring Mechanicals..From London To Edinburg and back, on a recumbent bicycle. Available at Amazon HERE

 

[arallsopp]

And seeing as Andy has not added a link to his book about his LEL Adventure.
I will instead.
...Barring Mechanicals..From London To Edinburg and back, on a recumbent bicycle. Available at Amazon HERE

Cheers Ian. Self promotion, by proxy

 

[Flying Dodo]

And seeing as Andy has not added a link to his book about his LEL Adventure.
I will instead.
...Barring Mechanicals..From London To Edinburg and back, on a recumbent bicycle. Available at Amazon HERE

I wanted to take a copy with me on holiday in July - but no Kindle version available.

 

[arallsopp]

I wanted to take a copy with me on holiday in July - but no Kindle version available.

Actually, there is a Kindle version around. Long Martin has the only copy though. If Amazon would buck their ideas up and let me make it available, I would.... I still might, anyway