LEL - Advice for a nervous first timer

[Hummers]

Maybe I'll just do one leg and see what it's like.

Are you hairy?

I can wholeheartedly advocate shaving just one leg.

The rough up against the smooth very much feels like you are in bed with a stranger.

I'd say it is the leg version of using your left hand.

Hope this helps.

H

[Pilsbury]

I like to sit on my hand until it goes numb and then pick my nose with it.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

And if I do shave - how far up should I go?
Maybe I'll just do one leg and see what it's like.

I think that this only works if you are a uni-panniered cyclist. Shave the leg on the opposite side to the pannier for balance.

If Jaded doesn't set off the one on Cumnor Hill in Oxford tonight I'm going to call him a girl.

[girl]That would be a compliment.[/girl]

[Helen]

The critical question is at what point do I get to shave my legs?

An audax is not a race - do not shave your legs.  There has to be some audax rule disqualifying men who shave their legs, surely?    Besides, regrowth will be ugly by the end of LEL - this girl will have to deal with having ugly legs... you don't need to - DON'T SHAVE!!! 

I will also be a first timer and I am a little nervous.

I had plans, all sorts of plans, they didn't go quite according to plan.  .......
.......
There will be lots of people like us who are doing it for the first time and I am sure that others will offer words of support and encouragement.

I'll add myself to this category of rider.  Seemed like a good idea last summer  when I was looking for a challenge to beat my bro's London marathon.... too many chest infections over the winter and now I have uni exams to study for so the training plan is not exactly going to plan .... but hey, I reckon bloody mindedness counts for a lot!!!

My events up to LEL aren't exactly recommended preparation either - 10 under the Ben solo (10 hour mtb race at Fort Bill) the day after my last exam at the end of May and Mountain Mayhem solo (24 hour mtb race) mid-June.... with whatever riding I can fit in as preparation for them. Will need to find an audax to do at the end of June so that LEL isn't my first audax experience.

Finding more experienced people who cycle at the same sort of pace as me and sticking with them seems to be my best plan for LEL.  There is a pint in it for the person who makes me turn round at Dalkeith for the "downhill leg" rather than just cycling home.... which I think could be quite tempting!!!!  (which is why I'm going to do Dalkeith to York weekend after next before I really get down to exam studying - if I at least know that section I may be "happier" to turn round rather than cycling home from Dalkeith!)

[mattc]

My events up to LEL aren't exactly recommended preparation either - 10 under the Ben solo (10 hour mtb race at Fort Bill) the day after my last exam at the end of May and Mountain Mayhem solo (24 hour mtb race) mid-June.... with whatever riding I can fit in as preparation for them.

Will need to find an audax to do at the end of June so that LEL isn't my first audax experience.

Actually they sound like good rides at the right time. As long as you are also doing some (very) long rides on the LEL bike, to make sure you are comfortable, you should be fine!

I recommend you avoid Audaxes before the event - there will be considerable kudos to making it your first one.

[Helen]

I recommend you avoid Audaxes before the event - there will be considerable kudos to making it your first one.

I'll bear that in mind! There is an argument that doing an audax that soon before LEL might just scare me and that doing LEL blind is the best way to prevent reality hitting too soon.....

[lantern rouge]

I too am an LEL first timer, this is also my first reply on this forum.

Good advice I've received this year from experienced LELers.

Only think about riding to the next check point. Don't think about how far it is to the finish. (Except perhaps on the last leg.)   Tried this it works.

If you stop for a kip away from a control, leave your bike pointing in the direction you have to ride. Apparently it's not unknown for sleep deprived riders to re mount and ride back the way they came. eek!

Make sure you're happy with the bike set up well before LEL. It's not the time to try something new when you are on the ride.

Relax, a bad day on the bike is better than a good day at work!

[yello]

I'm a first timer too and starting to get just a tad (but only a tad mind!) nervy. I know I'll be okay once on the bike and rolling but at the moment I'm a bit anxious, more about having the right gear etc than the riding side of it. I can't settle down to think straight at the mo so I'm in danger of forgetting something.  

So I'm carrying a note pad around with me just to scribble notes on things to check, things to take, etc etc etc etc etc ...... I know sure as eggs is eggs that I will forget something, I'm just hoping it's not something too important!

Nearer the date, I shall be going through that list and trimming and collating, working out what I can discard and what is essential. I really do want to be riding as light as possible!

One thing I am doing, and I mean this with no disrespect to anyone, is not pay too much attention to the discussions going on here and staying focused on what I want to achieve. I have had to put the blinkers on (to some degree anyway, to filter out the noise to mix my metaphors) to avoid getting to overly concerned. I mean, I just intend to turn up and ride my bike. How difficult can that be?