LEL - start times and riding schedules

[border-rider]

I understant that as a late entry I only  have the 8pm start as an option

Really ?

Oh well, that confirms it for me.  Definitely not riding it then.   An 8 pm start removes any residual possibility

[vorsprung]

Train yourself to be able to ride 300km in 17 hours, and be able to get up the next day and do it again.

I've not done LEL - and won't be this time around, but from what I understand, it's basically a series of back to back 300s - some of them hilly.

So practice back to back 300s. And make some of them hilly.

For LEL I understant that as a late entry I only  have the 8pm start as an option so I am working on 22-24 hours of riding followed by a kip then 3 x back to back 300s. I think. 

I put down 2pm start coz I figured the morning slots were all gone
8pm seems utterly rediculous
PBP starts in the evening for a reason.  A 8pm LEL start is just silly

[MSeries]

Using Hummers riding plan though, he'll ride for 24 hours and start his first sleep at normal bedtime (ish) whereas starting earlier will mean trying to sleep during normal wakening hours. Depending on how fast one rides one might also finish at decent time, that is during daylight.  All that is factored into the decision making process. So I can see some sense in it.

PBP started at 05:00 for some of us.

[mattc]

2pm start for me. Chosen on the basis that if I'm chasing the closing times, I will finish    with 4-5 hours of daylight (at 10:30am-ish). So if I'm really low on morale/energy, I'll get a boost for the home straight.
I remember feeling much more tired at night on PBP.

8am start will mean the clock stopping around dawn.

Of course it's nothing to do with me being crap at getting an early night before early starts ...

I plan to sleep only briefly on the first night, when I'm still full of beans(?). Thus banking some sleep hours for the following nights. I'm sure there are drawbacks with this approach!

[MSeries]

2pm start for me. Chosen on the basis that if I'm chasing the closing times, I will finish    with 4-5 hours of daylight (at 10:30am-ish). So if I'm really low on morale/energy, I'll get a boost for the home straight.
I remember feeling much more tired at night on PBP.

8am start will mean the clock stopping around dawn.

Of course it's nothing to do with me being crap at getting an early night before early starts ...

I plan to sleep only briefly on the first night, when I'm still full of beans(?). Thus banking some sleep hours for the following nights. I'm sure there are drawbacks with this approach!

My strategy for 2005 LEL was ride for the first 410km which took me about 21 hours. Sleep for 6 or so then ride on. The drawbacks are a personal thing, it works for me and I'll do it again.

[border-rider]

People have different strategies.  8 pm may well work for some; for me it makes it almost completely undesirable because it would absolutely force me to ride through the first night, and as I've written I just don't think that riding through any night is either needed or desirable for LEL unless you're going for a record time.

[Hummers]

The 'only 8pm start left if you enter now' came from Melita immediately after the AGM.

I'm not sure if this will change nearer the time as the actual starters lists contracts (assuming it does).

Even with an 8 PM start, you don't have to ride through the first night at all. Why not ride for 2 hours, have a decent night's sleep by the roadside and then get up at 6 to ride again?

Hmmmmmmmmm?

H

[simonp]

Cos you'll be only halfway to Gamlingay when the control there closes?

[Hummers]

Cos you'll be only halfway to Gamlingay when the control there closes?

Details, details..... 

H

[mattc]

Cos you'll be only halfway to Gamlingay when the control there closes?

Spot on. This is something that I really struggle to explain to non-audaxers. Yes, there is a minimum speed, but it's not really an 'average'. If you want a long stop you need to earn it by 'banking' time. Hence a 600 is often easier to divide into 400+200 than 300+300 - if one was allowed, it would be 'easier' to ride it as 2 x 300s of equal pace.

(I guess this also means that the best place for a long stop is at, or very soon after, a control. But I'm not sure ... )
n.b. this post is just me thinking out loud - not telling people how to suck eggs!

[D.G.E.]

I was told from someone who had received an email from Mel last night that there is only the 2pm start time left.

I posted my application today and I'm now holding my breath to see if I get in......    

[border-rider]

Why not ride for 2 hours, have a decent night's sleep by the roadside and then get up at 6 to ride again?

that can work

on the NF1000 in 2006 there was a 9 pm start with the first control at Membury and the second somewhere near Warwick.  I had the same concerns about the start time, so I hammered it to Membury (first there) then went down the hill, went home and went to bed until dawn. 

next morning I was technically just out of time (I think) but hared it across the Vale of the White Horse and caught the back of the (drowsy) field and got to the second control well in time.

LEL has an even lower min speed so you should be able to grab a few hours sleep after the first control - build up a cushion of time, use it up and then some, and then claw it back.  But the key is to clear the first control  before you stop, so you've banked the time excess and are into the next control's timeframe.

[Salvatore]

Cos you'll be only halfway to Gamlingay when the control there closes?

Not a problem.

Gamlingay is a feeding station only on the way out and a full control on the return journey.

cf Mortagne.

[Hummers]

Why not ride for 2 hours, have a decent night's sleep by the roadside and then get up at 6 to ride again?

that can work

I was joking.

 


You mad bastard. 
 


H

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Why not ride for 2 hours, have a decent night's sleep by the roadside and then get up at 6 to ride again?

that can work

The recent Great Southern Randonnee 1200 started at 5pm and had a 200 km first loop.  I finished that just after 1am, slept till dawn in a motel and started riding about an hour inside the time limit.

[mattc]

Gamlingay is a feeding station only on the way out and a full control on the return journey.

cf Mortagne.

If Thurlby is the first 'control', and it's at 150km, that's 12.5hrs - this AUK would struggle to get a decent kip and still make that. (although I'm sure someone could manage it, flat out).
I guess that makes Lincoln 220km/18.4hrs the first feasible 'proper' sleep stop, and only for us late starters. Thorne is at 25hrs.
8am starters will have a much wider range of options.

EDIT: OK, I'll chance my arm and start drafting a schedule ....
2pm start. Assuming I ride at 'normal' day ride speed, Lincoln at 220km is about 14hrs. That's 4am for me. So I'm happy to aim for there and sleep for an hour (after big nosh). So depart 6am, that's 2hrs in the bank (hopefully I'll arrive earlier and get more sleep ... ).
Alston 526 km is a nice 300, closes at 10am
EskdaleMuir* 812 a hilly 290, closes at 9:35am
Thorne 1096 so a short 284, closes at 9:30am maybe aim to leave early
Gamlingay 1330, so 234km 4.50am - last day, probably leave on the limit!
End      64km   10am -ish

This schedule has me leaving each sleep control well after dawn, not ideal. So hopefully I'll stay far enough ahead of schedule to get a good kip and still leave around dawn. On the plus side, I hate getting up in the dark, so I'm glad I'll avoid that.

*If I've read things correctly, in 2009 this control will be replaced by one either side of it. Which is good, as it will reduce the long 115km leg to Edinburgh. But bad as I can't plan my stops.


p.s. we should probably put all this stuff in another thread some time! EDIT: nice one Mal.

[toontra]

p.s. we should probably put all this stuff in another thread some time!

I for one would really appreciate that.  As a first-timer I've no idea what strategy to adopt in terms of where/when to sleep or the best places to send drop bags (and what to put in them).

[Hummers]

Why not share your plans for riding the event here?

This is my first LEL although I have already cut my teeth on PBP 2007.

A late entry, I understand my only slot is the 8pm start.

This is not a major problem as I expect to ride for 21-25 hours to wherever that takes me in distance and then have a decent kip.

Then it's a series of 15-18 hours rides and a day ride to the finish.

What is your plan?

H

[nightrider]

Start at 2pm,ride through the night.Take cat naps ride till about 9pm mon night see how far I get.Then sleep in the night times and ride in the day.But first Ive got to get fit enough !

[Hummers]

.....But first Ive got to get fit enough !

It's a long way away. 

H

[Ivo]

I really prefer a late morning start. On request of Melita I'll be starting somewhere after 2 pm (needing to help out in the morning) so I'll have to revamp my usual schedule only slightly.
I'll probably plod on to Alston or southern Scotland before my first solid sleep, just taking a short kip during the 1st night, if needed at all. That'll give me the chance to do the whole northbound part of Scotland during daylight and use my lights only for the last part of Southern Scotland. Last time I arrived in Alston just when the first riders were leaving there so I had a nicely warm bed to sleep in . Probably I'll now have to sleep the 2nd night one control earlier. Last time I was doubting between sleeping in Thorne or pressing on, finally deciding to sleep and leave before dawn. So my planning for 2009 is that I'll leave Thorne just after dawn. From then it's all on feeling. If I feel good I'll press on in one go to London otherwise I'll take a final kip in the last control.

[toontra]

ok, it's now in a thread of its own, as requested

  Thanks 

Just to add to the list of questions:

I presume some controls will have higher capacity for sleeping (or a higher comfort level).  It would make sense to aim for these as rest points.  Anyone know which these are likely to be?  For example, I know the YHA in Alston has closed, so don't know what the new control there will be like.

[mattc]

Would any Anciens like to say what is likely to be the slowest stage?
(Obviously ignoring weather.). I ask because my schedule is working out a bit lopsided (not quite perfect 300k days), so if I can choose which legs to stretch or squeeze, I might get a nicer schedule*.
Thanks.


*Which I reserve the right to tear up somewhere around the 2nd night.

[Paul D]

Morning start.
Hammer along to Thorne ~ 300k then sleep until dawn - hopefully a few hours.
See how far I get each day between dawn and dusk.

I have half a mind to just use a couple of fenix's and leave the dynohub at home. Other than the first night I'm not planning on much night riding. The energy wasted worrying about batteries might be a problem, especially when that not riding at night plan goes pear-shaped...

I also have half a mind to ride my Serotta instead of my Roberts audax as I'm so much quicker on it. No 'guards though.

[border-rider]

Slowest stage ?

In terms of terrain, probably the bits through the Moorfoot hills going into/out of Edinburgh.  But once you leave the flatlands os S/E Yorkshire, the top 700 or so loop is all pretty lumpy

On the other hand, as you know, it depends how tired you are.  I found that going North I was still going quite fast (when I did the London start), but the bit from the Borders to Yorkshire saw me getting tired and having to rest/slow down, and the bit around Lincoln dragged.