London-Edinburgh-London 2013: The thread

[devo]

Thanks for the encouragement! Fair to say you have misunderstood my post.
I've had a problem with one knee from marathon running. I've read Allsopp's book where he experienced some knee pain so thinking that much mileage might give me problems but really fancy giving this a go. Cycling wise i've never really had a problem.

 

[mcshroom]

Hi devo and welcome to cyclechat

What sort of riding are you doing now, and how does your knee hold up towards the end of those rides? As a marathon runner you probably have a decent core fitness, and if you are starting now then I can't see why you shouldn't be able to ride LEL. I'd advise riding some other shorter audax rides to get used to the process and slowly ramp up the distances, but remeber this is just a long ride, so concentrate on making sure that you are as comfortable as possible, and that your range of movement in your knee is not going to cause problems later.

Nothing wrong with having an ambition

 

[devo]

Hi mcshroom.
Up to 90miles for long rides and that has been fine. I've been trying to run again to do the London Marathon in April (as I have a good for age place) but might have to knock it on the head.
I plan to try some audax rides in my area soon. Do many people use GPS's?
My bike is fairly comfortable but I will see if this is really the case after much longer rides!

 

[mcshroom]

GPSs are quite common (I use one). Just be warned that there are limited opportunities to charge batteries on LEL, so if you are using a gps with an internal battery like a Garmin Edge then you may need to look into power extenders. You will also be cycling at least part of the route at night so decent lighting (to see by not just be seen) is important..

 

[devo]

Yes I was thinking my current light set up won't be good enough as there will be no opportunity to charge. Even my phone would die after a day! These things will need to be considered in time. What GPS do you use?
Will attempt to get some base miles in over dec. looking like it might be a bit icy this weekend so that could be fun.

 

[mcshroom]

I use a rather ancient Garmin Geko 201, which has no maps and uses an old serial connection but usefully uses AAA batteries.
A lot of riders use the Etrex range of GPS unit which run on AAs.

There are external power packs that can run other devices, but hopefully others here and on YACF can cover those better than I can.

It's always worth being able to follow the route on a map or with the instructions in any case

 

[devo]

Cheers for the info. I have a garmin edge 200 which doesn't have mapping but I think has some kind of navigation functionality that I've not used yet. Possibly one of those dotted lines. The external power packs sound interesting so will research that.
Thanks

 

[Edwardoka]

Hi guys, a first time poster here, but I used to frequent the C+ forums back in the day.

I originally looked at doing LEL in 2009, but unforeseen circumstances conspired against me, so I settled instead for a much more sedate camping tour from Brighton to Glasgow.

I read arallsopp's amazing journal a while back and it sounded like an absolutely phenomenal adventure (if brutal and unrelenting)

I'm arguably at my lowest level of fitness in years, teetering as I am on the line betwixt overweight and obese, and I'll be 33 when LEL2013 rolls round. So naturally, I've challenged myself to enter arguably the hardest cycling challenge I'll ever do.

I've never done an audax before, but without any training at all, I rode a very hilly 153 miler a few months ago that was also my biggest daily mileage ever, albeit I slowed down over the last 30 miles or so, so I have retained some endurance from my fitter days - admittedly I could barely move for 2 days afterwards.

Right now I'm rubbish at climbs (because my power to weight ratio is terrible) I have poor cardiovascularity (which I'm confident will improve with training), but my recovery time is probably going to be the major obstacle for me in terms of purely physical challenges on an undertaking of this magnitude.

Judging by other people's posts in the thread, I have a LOT of hard training miles ahead of me before I can seriously consider entering...

Just as well I'm quite a masochist when it comes to suffering on a bike...

Cheers
Ed

 

[PpPete]

Yes I was thinking my current light set up won't be good enough as there will be no opportunity to charge. Even my phone would die after a day! These things will need to be considered in time. What GPS do you use?
Will attempt to get some base miles in over dec. looking like it might be a bit icy this weekend so that could be fun.

Cheers for the info. I have a garmin edge 200 which doesn't have mapping but I think has some kind of navigation functionality that I've not used yet. Possibly one of those dotted lines. The external power packs sound interesting so will research that.
Thanks

If you are thinking of upgrading your lights ... it might be worth considering the dynamo option. Especially as there a couple of interesting new lights just coming on to the market that run off the dynamo, AND have a integral USB socket into which you can plug any USB powered device (including an extender power pack) to keep it topped up when you are not using the dynamo to power the light.
Busch & Mueller Luxos (U type) is the more expensive of the two
AXA Luxx 70 Plus is the other.

Annoyingly I bought a separate rectifier/cache battery unit a few months ago....

 

[Tynan]

e179 just for the light, dynamo hub on top?

 

[PpPete]

e179 just for the light, dynamo hub on top?

Well I won't be buying one, but if you compare it the cost of the B&M Cyo, plus their E-werk rectifier, plus a cache battery it doesn't seem so bad.
Nobody yet seems to know if the AXA includes any sort of cache battery - and it lacks the handlebar mounted switch of the B&M, but at €73 here it is in the same price bracket as the Cyo or Philips which lack the USB port (and of course the built in rectifier circuitry)

 

[middleagecyclist]

e179 just for the light, dynamo hub on top?

Ahh, but the joy of 'free' electricity when you are moving. Brilliant light and charging ability with just the turn of your wheels (and cheaper then some of these big battery MTB jobbies that provide just a few hours of light per charge). Oh, and I believe the new lights coming out later in 2013 (maybe in time for LEL?) will also double up as a touchpad and make you a nice cup of tea as well!

 

[Tynan]

yes yes, especially to the tea, still a fair bit of dosh though, and I'm pleased you put the commas around the free

1400km of some degree of drag too init

 

[arallsopp]

Right now I'm rubbish at climbs (because my power to weight ratio is terrible) I have poor cardiovascularity (which I'm confident will improve with training), but my recovery time is probably going to be the major obstacle for me in terms of purely physical challenges on an undertaking of this magnitude.

Howdo Ed,

Training will bring confidence and capability. You'll need both, and I'm still not sure which is the most important... One thing for sure, if you're getting time to recover during LEL, you're doing far better than I ever did

Hope to see you on the road, yes?

Andy.

 

[Edwardoka]

Howdo Ed,

Training will bring confidence and capability. You'll need both, and I'm still not sure which is the most important... One thing for sure, if you're getting time to recover during LEL, you're doing far better than I ever did

Hope to see you on the road, yes?

Andy.

Hi Andy,

I certainly hope so!

As for the recovery time, I didn't mean be sufficiently recovered so that I was even remotely fresh every day, just be sufficiently recovered so that I can actually get back on the bike at all!