London-Edinburgh-London 2013: The thread
- Thread starter Arch
- Start date
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frank9755
Cyclist
- Location
- West London
A tap in! Surely he can't be stopping now he's on the home straight...
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
He is. Tough day. Need some sleep. Tomorrow St Ives hopefully, home on Thursday
Brandane
Legendary Member
- Location
- Costa Clyde
Went spectating this afternoon, just north of Eskdalemuir. Amazing to see the range of bikes and riders involved. There was even a guy on a tricycle, and I saw a couple of tandems. Most of the riders looked as if they had been out for a quick ride around the block, such is the level of fitness. Made me realise just how much I only play at being a cyclist. These guys and girls are the real deal; just a different level altogether. Well done to each and every one of them 
.
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Well done the big man. We can all see how tough this is, as some of the strong CCers have had to call it a day. No shame there though - you have to admire one and all.
Take care and bon route
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
Congratulations particularly to Messrs McShroom and mmmmartin for making it as far as they did - and on taking what sound like sensible decisions to bow to the inevitable. Just six weeks or so ago mmmmartin was explaining how his pre-ride tapering included a 4-day mountain leadership training expedition.
And go Long Martin!
And go Long Martin!
frank9755
Cyclist
- Location
- West London
Well done, Big M. Sleep as long as you can and you'll feel better in the morning. After the first 10 minutes, at any rate!
Well done Tim, too!
frank9755
Cyclist
- Location
- West London
Tuesday evening roundup:
LongMart probably now fast asleep at Barnard Castle
Redflight going ok. Was at Brampton heading South at 5:45. Presumably crossing back over the Pennines now. Might make BC around midnight
Something funny has gone wrong with Pete's timings. He's just got somewhere but the system says it's Traquair - but he was at Eskdalemuir a few hours ago, so he might actually be at Brampton. (EDIT: he is now: got there at 10:45pm - well done, Pete!)
Tim made Eskdalemuir by 9pm. May stay there or push on to get to Brampton for around 2am.
LongMart probably now fast asleep at Barnard Castle
Redflight going ok. Was at Brampton heading South at 5:45. Presumably crossing back over the Pennines now. Might make BC around midnight
Something funny has gone wrong with Pete's timings. He's just got somewhere but the system says it's Traquair - but he was at Eskdalemuir a few hours ago, so he might actually be at Brampton. (EDIT: he is now: got there at 10:45pm - well done, Pete!)
Tim made Eskdalemuir by 9pm. May stay there or push on to get to Brampton for around 2am.
mmmmartin
Random geezer
On train home. A fantastic experience. Really good. Riders tend to pack at Moffat and Edinburgh as there are no beds at traquair or eskdalemuir and when up against it on time you can eat, but not sleep as the buildings have to close, and it is 170k to a bed after Edinburgh. Also that is remote countryside and no place to be exhausted and alone in bad weather with a mechanical. I wanted to get to Scotland and see Lockerbie and get to my bag drop in moffat. Did all that. Wanted to get to Edinburgh and reach 1000k but didn't do that. Had a fantastic time. Great event.good food. Good sleeping arrangements. Had three hours sleep in market rasen and five hours in Brampton after hallucinating towards the end of 23 hours on the bike and going over Yad Moss alone in the dark. When I got to the end of that day I was holding on to the walls in the control to stay upright. I was on a mattress within five minutes of arrival. All in all a fantastic experience. Wouldn't have missed it for the world. Rained on briefly a few times and weather generally sunny and sometimes too hot. Just great. Now [beer then] sleep. Ps am astonished by this thread I didn't know you were so interested.
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
Chapeau. Team CC/YACF is looking somewhat depleted now, but you've all done well!
mmmmartin
Random geezer
Have read more of the thread. Am even more amazed at your interest.
Frank's updates on our sleeping and thinking was bang on the nail. Mcshroom lives in the Lakes so packing up there was always better than struggling and packing in Pocklington or Market Rasen which would have left a long and expensive trip home. Also he has mates helping at controls up there. He'll do it next time. We were together for many hours on the early stages and drafted each other, but he was often faster than me.
With hindsight I would not have spent a night in the Enfield Travelodge which was so hot I was dripping sweat all night and slept for three hours max. So many of us started already tired. And I would have made an effort to get over Yad Moss in the day and do the Lockerbie road in the dark, it's flat and straight and impossible to go wrong on the nav. And I would have thought much more about the implications of arriving, as I did, at Moffat as it closed, leaving me with maybe a five or six hour ride over big hills to Edinburgh to certainly arrive as it closed, so no sleep there, and be faced with 170k to the next beds. Making a day of more than 300k.
But all I did was pay my money, ride the bike a bit - sometimes with mates in the land of Johnny Foreigner - and rock up on the morning armed only with a steely determination to enjoy the ride. Which I did. i absolutely loved it. At the start Charlotte (OTP) took my photograph. I asked if I looked fit and determined. She said: "You look terrified."
But the truth is that much of the time I was a quivering wreck struggling with exhaustion. The Howardian Hills are sometimes 18% gradients and we all walked them, even the tough Finnish machine. On Yad Moss at midnight my chain came off the front cogs and - oh joy - also jammed in the back cassette. I was all wobbly and dizzy and needed to lean against the bike to stop myself falling over while I used a handful of grass to stop getting grease all over my fingers and extricate the thing. No tears were shed in the freeing of that chain but very, very nearly. And in some godforsaken tiny village at 1am somewhere I had to stop and sit on a wall and drink some water to have a rest as I simply couldn't go on. It was a real struggle and I was dwarfed by the challenge. I'm sure others will be along later with great tales of derring do, but for me it was a humbling experience, because sometimes on hard audaxes in the long night hours you get to look into your soul and you don't always like what you see.
Frank's updates on our sleeping and thinking was bang on the nail. Mcshroom lives in the Lakes so packing up there was always better than struggling and packing in Pocklington or Market Rasen which would have left a long and expensive trip home. Also he has mates helping at controls up there. He'll do it next time. We were together for many hours on the early stages and drafted each other, but he was often faster than me.
With hindsight I would not have spent a night in the Enfield Travelodge which was so hot I was dripping sweat all night and slept for three hours max. So many of us started already tired. And I would have made an effort to get over Yad Moss in the day and do the Lockerbie road in the dark, it's flat and straight and impossible to go wrong on the nav. And I would have thought much more about the implications of arriving, as I did, at Moffat as it closed, leaving me with maybe a five or six hour ride over big hills to Edinburgh to certainly arrive as it closed, so no sleep there, and be faced with 170k to the next beds. Making a day of more than 300k.
But all I did was pay my money, ride the bike a bit - sometimes with mates in the land of Johnny Foreigner - and rock up on the morning armed only with a steely determination to enjoy the ride. Which I did. i absolutely loved it. At the start Charlotte (OTP) took my photograph. I asked if I looked fit and determined. She said: "You look terrified."
But the truth is that much of the time I was a quivering wreck struggling with exhaustion. The Howardian Hills are sometimes 18% gradients and we all walked them, even the tough Finnish machine. On Yad Moss at midnight my chain came off the front cogs and - oh joy - also jammed in the back cassette. I was all wobbly and dizzy and needed to lean against the bike to stop myself falling over while I used a handful of grass to stop getting grease all over my fingers and extricate the thing. No tears were shed in the freeing of that chain but very, very nearly. And in some godforsaken tiny village at 1am somewhere I had to stop and sit on a wall and drink some water to have a rest as I simply couldn't go on. It was a real struggle and I was dwarfed by the challenge. I'm sure others will be along later with great tales of derring do, but for me it was a humbling experience, because sometimes on hard audaxes in the long night hours you get to look into your soul and you don't always like what you see.
