[LEL] Nice/funny/strange etc. anecdotes from en route

[Tomsk]

Wednesday night a chap comes into the control at Gt Easton: 'Something wrong with my bike - won't freewheel properly and feels weird out of the saddle'. Ok, i-cycle and I have good look, cleaning off the crud in case there's a crack in the frame somewhere. Nothing wrong, gears work fine, wheels true, tyres hard etc....make sure he's having plenty to eat and drink [suspect paranoia due to incipient bonk] 'I've fixed it', I tell him....later a happy bunny powers off into the night.

I did use reel skilz to turn a Pinarello Dogma into a serviceable 2 speed though....

[L.Lagopus]

It is still all kind of a blur, but some standout memories:

1.  Stopping for ice cream in Crowland (across from the trinity bridge), and having a local gentleman ask where we were headed.  I think I said Market Rasen, just to avoid explaining the whole thing.  He said "too far. you'll never make it."

2.  On the return ride, going up Yad Moss, a French rider at least 20 years older than I, who could have dropped me like a stone, caught up to me and started chatting.  I suggested he go on ahead and not slow down for me.  He said "If I wanted to ride LEL by myself, I would have ridden it last week."

3.  Stopping to watch a sheep dog do his work somewhere in Northern England

4.  Another French rider who refused to leave me behind even though the heat and headwind had slowed me to a crawl on the last day into St. Ives. 

5.  After St. Ives, I got a flat tire, and discovered that, after my previous flat, I must have left my tire lever in my jersey pocket that I left in a drop bag.   A passing rider, wearing a tweed cycling cap, loaned me his, and asked that I return it at the next control. Before the next control, I found a tweed cycling cap lying in the road.   Managed to return cycling cap and tire levers.

6.  The phone booth on top near the top of Yad Moss.

7.  The barn owl hunting in broad daylight in the fens on the first day.

8.  A wee dram in Traquair!

9.  Tony the solicitor who provided excellent company for a long portion of the ride.

10.  The fact that over the whole ride I did not meet a single unfriendly person, or have an unpleasant encounter with anyone--rider, volunteer, or civilian.

[Exit Stage Left]

Nice one L. Lagopus, we were all very appreciative of the Flandermoose.

[Andrew]

He said "If I wanted to ride LEL by myself, I would have ridden it last week."

That's lovely. And quotable.

[Sheepster]

Hi,
first message here, sorry for my english (I'm an italian living in France).

I wish to thank all the volunteers and people of the LEL organization.

I wish to thank in particular Noel from northern Ireland (hope he can read this) that helped me near the village of Whittlesey, where my right body-pedal unscrewed from the spindle and was shot into a ditch by a van behind me (I think that this can be considered a funny episode). He phoned a shop in the village that rescued me with new shoes and pedals (I use speedplay pedals and 4-holes shoes and yes, is plain stupid, even if comfortable). Without the help of this kind person I was never be able to phone to the local shop explaining what I was doing and my needs due to my english skills.
Thank to LEL organization for the great road books with helpful addresses.

Glad to have shared the roads with many friendly people from all around the world. I don't remember most of the names, but on the road to Edinbourgh I met the very kind Michael with a yacf plate on the back of the bike with the nickname "Mikey bikey". 

[alfapete]

Glad to have shared the roads with many friendly people from all around the world. I don't remember most of the names, but on the road to Edinbourgh I met the very kind Michael with a yacf plate on the back of the bike with the nickname "Mikey bikey". 

Mikey bikey is well known around here - I'm sure that name will stick

[Salvatore]

Perhaps the funniest row, in an endless series of rows, was when they finally tried to get the tandem out of the door at Loughton. There was a minor difficulty, as you would expect, in getting a long tandem with a couple of panniers thr ough a door. Leaving aside the issue of loading a tandem AFTER taking it through the doors, there was yet another slanging match.
I think they should be offered free entry to 2017 because of the great entertainment provided in 2013.

Not quite endless. That could well have been the penultimate. They parted company a few miles south of Loughton, and while one half "rejected herself from the tandem" and took the train, the front half rode home solo via London, Winchester, the New Forest, Poole, Guernsey, St Malo,  Dieppe, Roubaix, Gent, Eindhoven, Boxmeer  and Kleve (1100 km) before training the last bit home because of worn disc brake pads.

[mmmmartin]

So John, are we to guess that rather than go home, where he would meet her, he rode a tandem 1,100k on his own?

[Salvatore]

So John, are we to guess that rather than go home, where he would meet her, he rode a tandem 1,100k on his own?

They live about 100km from each other.

[billyam998]

How is it that I found this thread so late??
The first day was a blur, I don't remember much at all, the fens just seemed to whizz by and the crossing of the humber bridge was made memorable by the two chaps directing people on to the right side of the bridge. The heavens opened before pocklington and the views of several mini storms below me on the vale of york was quite amazing. I ate and slept (sort of) the constant banging of the bog door was really disagreeable. I rose at about 4AM to be greeted by the carnage in the main hall which made me realise actually how lucky I had been. I pressed on and the early start was rewarded by a stag crossing the road in front of me as I passed through the castle howard estate. Again the second day seemed a blur and I shared the latter part of it with some very nice south african ladies who I introduced to the pleasures of IRN BRU at a garage just over the border before that dreadful bit of old A road on the way to Moffat. Ah Moffat!! what an amazing checkpoint /food/shower/ bed/ sleep. Again a nice early start and a hearty breakfast to climb through the darkness with what appeared to be a string of red fairy lights in front of me and white ones behind, I was on my own but I wasn't, about 1/2 way up there was someone asleep on the porch of a village hall, very comfy he looked too. The sunrise arrived just as I crested the climb and some wonderful views of the hills beyond edinburgh were had, I stopped to take some selfies before descending in to edinburgh, seeing some people coming towards me raised mixed feelings but they were soon forgot when I reached the check. There was the man who had talked me in to doing this all smiles - Danial was uplifting as usual. There was a birthday celebration for two triantelopes who I had seen several times over the first couple of days, they were faster than me but I spent less time at the checks, it was to be the last time I saw them, I don't know what happened to them??  A good feed and another PEP  talk from Danial and the big fellow with the beard and I was off to face what was to be probably the most memorable day, the two small checkpoints, I have the dubious claim to have had the last bowl of porridge. then over the border once more, I minor altercation with some wheelsucking poles at brampton was my only cross words for the whole ride. I pressed on over yad, through the most amazing rainbow to reach Barnard castle in darkness, the last few miles being a 4 up crazy chaingang which whilst memorable was pretty scary at the time. Barnard castle a good supper and kip up early again and press on hard to try to get to Kirton where my Mrs was sheduled to meet me. Not far after the bridge it started raining I arrived at Market Rasen like a drowned rat (as did many others) again my mentor and helper appeared with some cheery words, I actually managed to get said fish and chips without any drama, most agreeable it was too, if it hadn't been for the prearranged meet at Kirton I might have stayed, but I got back on and it was drying up for a very pleasant dusk time ride to Kirton, I arrived and there on a corner was my partner, our daughter and our dogs, what a sight for sore eyes . There was a shortage of beds but I curled up on the floor and made the best of it, waking up half way through the night to find an empty bed. Another early start and off on to the fens however I missed a turn and lost the best part of an hour trying to get back on route. I got to st ives and there was no 2nd breakfast!! only toast, I think that this was my downfall, that and the hour lost meant I was short of fuel in searing heat on the lumpy essex return leg, even a sandwich and an ice cream did not revive me. I could barely hold 12 mph. I eventually made it to great easton for the feast of sweets and cake etc in front of me, I shared this with some dutch lads and another south african girl, the mood was ecstatic, but I knew that I still had a hard last leg ahead of me, lots of people were now passing me, this was unusual as I had spent most of the ride on my own with sporadic joining up with people, however when I finally reached the familiar roads of Loughton I felt quite amazed and was totlally blown away by the reception at the school, "come on lad you don't need that any more" said the chap at the finish as he tried to prise me off my bike and lead my into the hall to the desk to handover my brevet. I saw a few of the people I had shared moments with on the ride and I welled up, how amazing  I take my hats off to the organisers and the volunteers, I apologise unreservedly for my grumpy single minded attitude, but it worked. See you all again in 2017 - maybe I will be a little more relaxed.   Pic is from last morning after I had got back on track.

[Wobbly]

Line-break free but a great ride report

[billyam998]

Line-break free but a great ride report

aplogies, stream of consciousness, better not to interrupt it 

[Reg.T]

The anecdote that surprised me most occurred on the run in to Edinburgh. On the run up to Moffat I briefly joined a pretty quick group, but it fragmented at a junction, and I ended up trying to follow a strong rider but it wasn't long before the gap opened up and I didn't see him again for several hours.

I was going to see my family for a while in Edinburgh, and had given them an ETA which turned out to be slightly optimistic. When it started raining I decided to press on rather than stop to put on a jacket, but the rain ended up getting quite heavy. The time and starting to get cold meant that I started pushing quite hard, hoping to get through the really wet conditions, and I saw a few riders sheltering in those miles. I also saw the rider from the Moffat leg riding a bit up ahead.

As soon as the rain eased off, the adrenaline ebbed away and I felt really tired. While dragging myself along trying to take on some food, two riders came past that I think I had been sheltering from the rain, and the first asked if I was OK. I said that I'd run low on energy, and just managed to hang onto the back of them. Rider 2 presently took a turn on the front for a bit, then Rider 1 looked back before taking another turn. I was starting to recover, but wasn't yet ready to contribute. When rider 2 took the lead again, Rider 1 looked back at me, and then immediately accelerated back to the front in (what I took to be) a blatant effort to drop me. They opened a gap, and started closing on the Moffat rider. I have never encountered such sportive-like behaviour on an Audax before, and was certainly not expecting to find it after 2 hard days of riding LEL.

It amused me greatly, therefore, that once they'd caught the Moffat stage rider, Mr Sportive started struggling to hold the other pair's wheels, and I caught up with the three a short while later. You are free to speculate about how many turns I took on the front in the following half hour to the control, but the four of us all arrived together. The delight of seeing my children there meant that I missed the chance to discuss the stage with that rider.

[billyam998]

did one have a beard and a mahoosive carradice saddlebag? were they in matching kit? I had several instances of I'll sit on your wheel but not give you mine. Sad but I (for the most part) didn't let it bother me.

[Reg.T]

No, that doesn't sound like them.

I'd worked well with another UK rider on day 1, and we'd dragged a few continental riders round for a long time with them unwilling to go on the front at all. While I had tried to encourage them a few times, we never tried to ride away from them. I was just gobsmacked by the attitude, as I'd have been happy to contribute to the group once I'd recovered a bit.

[L CC]

There was a birthday celebration for two triantelopes who I had seen several times over the first couple of days, they were faster than me but I spent less time at the checks, it was to be the last time I saw them, I don't know what happened to them??

They finished. They're not really Tri-ers, the West Suffolk Wheelers became the WSW &Tri in 2010(ish). Deane & Ron pre-date the change.
Birthday boy (LEL was his nth birthday present to himself) got a nasty case of Shermers neck, but finished by plodding to the end, dragged along by Deane. We saw him looking very dazed at Loughton. They had a great time (kind of).

[Somnolent]

Nobody wanted to wheel-suck me !

The only bit of unsporting behaviour I came across was from an Italian rider we came across on the first day.   Some of the time he seemed to want to work with me, ignoring the fact that I already had a riding companion, whom he refused to acknowledge and everytime she went past him he would look like thunder and work his socks off to get back to the front and away up the road.  Then he's slow down again, we'd catch up and the whole thing would be repeated.

[billyam998]

There was a birthday celebration for two triantelopes who I had seen several times over the first couple of days, they were faster than me but I spent less time at the checks, it was to be the last time I saw them, I don't know what happened to them??

They finished. They're not really Tri-ers, the West Suffolk Wheelers became the WSW &Tri in 2010(ish). Deane & Ron pre-date the change.
Birthday boy (LEL was his nth birthday present to himself) got a nasty case of Shermers neck, but finished by plodding to the end, dragged along by Deane. We saw him looking very dazed at Loughton. They had a great time (kind of).

Very pleased to hear it, I hope he has recovered from Shermers neck - whatever that is??

[hellymedic]

Shermer's neck is pain and weakness in the neck on long rides. Some people have used bungee cords to stop their head flopping down.
H*lm*ts and low handlebars may be causative factors.

[Exit Stage Left]

http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/shermer-s-neck-cycling-s-most-bizarre-injury

[Hummers]

8.  A wee dram in Traquair!

Yes - I enjoyed that too when we stopped for the night down south however I broke two cardinal drinking rules:

• Do not drink directly from a bottle and
• Always check for sediment first

Despite a lifetime of drinking, in my enthusiasm to quaff I failed to observe both of the above and at some point on the penultimate leg (after Castle Howard) I was in the uneviable situation where one has no other shorts and can no longer trust a fart. In the end, I propped the bike up against a gate and threw myself into a field in a desperate move to find some outlet for my condition.

Unfortunately, my efforts awheel had robbed me of the ability to crouch so I had to prop myself up on one buttock and with an ample supply of straw and dock leaves to hand, attempted make the best of a bad job. As wave upon wave of effluent flowed forth from under me, I clearly remember a sizeable earth worm surfacing and squirming for its life - desperate to get away from what must have seemed like a lava flow of shit. 

Think on.

H

[Reg.T]

Anyone got any spare mind bleach? Mine isn't strong enough.

[marcusjb]

Anyone got any spare mind bleach? Mine isn't strong enough.

Pass it my way once you're finished.

Mind you, binge-shitting in fields stories are always funny for everyone else.

Luckily everything toilet-wise worked well throughout LEL.  No playing the gas or solid game at all thankfully.  Edit - no - at Alston on the way back, things were getting serious on the toilet front.  Luckily a pub beckoned (and I found George Hanna and crew in there about to start on their second pint before heading over Yadd Moss). 

[mattc]

Think I'll file that one under "etc."

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Not the first person with that problem, Hummers. Sacrificing socks and/ gloves mid-event is never fun but better than most of the alternatives. Personally, I prefer holing up in a pub when those sorts of problems strike.