LEL 2021 Route

[bairn again]

Ive ridden up and down Princes St Edinburgh a few times with a not very confident cyclist to get an alternative view on the tramlines.  I updated Wilkyboy verbally at Red Lodge on the Flatlands (though i got there with just  12 mins to spare due to a visitation or 3 so was a bit breathless). 

Id be suggesting a Craigleith - Inverleith Park - Holyrood - Commonwealth Pool route.  Inverleith Park offers great views of the castle eg is used for viewing of the twice yearly fireworks.  A close up of Holyrood Palace is nice too. 

It will be a bit towny between Inverleith Row and Holyrood but nothing dramatic. 

[Phil W]

Some of my Randonneurs NL friends have asked me about how they can ride 2021. Most of them aren't AUK members, and won't have the number of LRM rides for a guaranteed place.

What are the options? I'd like to be able to give a useful answer then they ask next.

J

There will be a ballot for the remaining (non guaranteed) places.  So they will need to enter the ballot when it comes up.   Being  in the LEL 2021 FB group will help in terms of knowing what is happening when.

They can also register their interest at https://londonedinburghlondon.com/

[Fidgetbuzz]

QG .. the possible routes in for anyone without a guaranteed place are

1 .. The ballot for 500 places that will take place in Sept. this year. The window to register for the ballot will be about a week long at the end of Aug /beginning Sept.  Fortunate applicants notified as soon as we can do the admin .. guessing 2 weeks . Deposit of £100 payable if fortunate .. refundable less an admin cost if cancelling by end November 2020. We need this cash input to fund things like deposits for booked  controls, and all the development costs and expenses that are under way already etc etc

or

2 In Jan 2021 .. when the AUK members application period has closed .. we will know how many places are still available .. current guess 800/900 .. and there will again be a ballot for registered applicants .. the date to be on this register is not time defined yet .. but if I had to guess I imagine the first two weeks in Jan 2021.

the LEL facebook group is good for keeping people up to speed on what has happened so far and will be useful from now on

[grams]

Wasn’t there the option of bringing a family member over to volunteer to guarantee a place?

[Fidgetbuzz]

You are right .. that is an extra route in that I had overlooked .

Trawl back thru the facebook group posts and this is all explained there.. together with the clear statement that claiming a place this way .. but then failing to provide the volunteer .. will lead to no refund of entry cost and no validation of the ride.

[Fidgetbuzz]

I trawled back thru the facebook group .. this was Danials post ... so straight from the horses mouth.. but things move on so the initial ballot is as my timing a couple of posts ago....... not as below.. we need the cash  and Danial goes on holiday .

As promised, here is a little bit more news about entering LEL in 2021.

Entry for LEL2021 will be by ballot. There will be a two-week period in January where you will be able to enter. We will then randomly select riders and groups of riders to offer a place to.

During this time some groups of people will be able to enter automatically:

• London Edinburgh London 2017 and Windsor Chester Windsor 2019 volunteers
• Audax UK or Audax Ireland members who were members on 12 September 2018, and remain members on 1 January 2021
• Anyone who has completed a Les Randonneurs Mondiaux validated event in each of the calendar years 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020
• Anyone who brings a spouse or immediate adult family relative (parent, child, sibling) to volunteer, both at London and another control, for at least three full days.

If you don’t already have a guaranteed slot, there are now only two ways to earn one. You can either volunteer at Windsor Chester Windsor on 1-2 June, or you can bring an adult family relative to volunteer for at least three days during the event.

We’ll also open for early entries in October this year. Just £100 deposit guarantees your place in 2021. Again, this will be by ballot.

Meanwhile, in other news we continue to prepare for 2021. Below is a photo from a route recce this weekend. If you know where this is, keep it to yourself!

[Pichy]

Ive ridden up and down Princes St Edinburgh a few times with a not very confident cyclist to get an alternative view on the tramlines.  I updated Wilkyboy verbally at Red Lodge on the Flatlands (though i got there with just  12 mins to spare due to a visitation or 3 so was a bit breathless). 

Id be suggesting a Craigleith - Inverleith Park - Holyrood - Commonwealth Pool route.  Inverleith Park offers great views of the castle eg is used for viewing of the twice yearly fireworks.  A close up of Holyrood Palace is nice too. 

It will be a bit towny between Inverleith Row and Holyrood but nothing dramatic.

And of course this route allows for a cheeky flyby past Hogwarts. 

[wilkyboy]

Ive ridden up and down Princes St Edinburgh a few times with a not very confident cyclist to get an alternative view on the tramlines.  I updated Wilkyboy verbally at Red Lodge on the Flatlands (though i got there with just  12 mins to spare due to a visitation or 3 so was a bit breathless). 

Id be suggesting a Craigleith - Inverleith Park - Holyrood - Commonwealth Pool route.  Inverleith Park offers great views of the castle eg is used for viewing of the twice yearly fireworks.  A close up of Holyrood Palace is nice too. 

It will be a bit towny between Inverleith Row and Holyrood but nothing dramatic.

And of course this route allows for a cheeky flyby past Hogwarts. 

I shall make sure to note it on the routesheet   

[Fubar]

Ive ridden up and down Princes St Edinburgh a few times with a not very confident cyclist to get an alternative view on the tramlines.  I updated Wilkyboy verbally at Red Lodge on the Flatlands (though i got there with just  12 mins to spare due to a visitation or 3 so was a bit breathless). 

Id be suggesting a Craigleith - Inverleith Park - Holyrood - Commonwealth Pool route.  Inverleith Park offers great views of the castle eg is used for viewing of the twice yearly fireworks.  A close up of Holyrood Palace is nice too. 

It will be a bit towny between Inverleith Row and Holyrood but nothing dramatic.

I would agree with this as it is the route I take into central Edinburgh when commuting - avoids all tramlines (unless they have extended it by then!) and follows the blue route (76?) through North Edinburgh, but still take you close enough to all the sights and smells if a tourist diversion is required.

[mattc]

I am so slow of thought (and reading skillz) that I've only just noticed the new August start date! 

What was the reason for moving it?

[wilkyboy]

I am so slow of thought (and reading skillz) that I've only just noticed the new August start date! 

What was the reason for moving it?

Barnard Castle availability, I believe.

[alwyn]

Wilkyboy is correct.

Barnard Castle was such a gorgeous control, we were prepared to shift the event a week to keep it for 2021.

[mattc]

Thanks both!

[grams]

The cobbles in Alston are no more. Or rather, so much of them has been patched with tarmac you can ride through without touching any cobbles.

[quixoticgeek]

Given my big plans for 2020 are all not happening, my focus now turns towards LEL 2021. With over a year to train for it, I'd like to give it the very possible effort.

I know the final route won't be available until next year, but I'm wondering how much is known about what the route will be like, how much climbing? What sort of gradients?

How close to the 1500km do we expect the route to be?

J

[Ajax Bay]

Close (to 1500km) by design.
Why don't you have a read of the LEL 2021 Route thread? 
https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=111765.0
I recall no steep climbs in 2017 (well maybe in the Lincolnshire Wolds, though quite short), but a fair few sustained ones eg up past Castle Howard (but think not on 2021 route), the long climb over Yad Moss, the climb out of Moffat, the climb out of Edinburgh and others heading south to Eskdalemuir, and the climb up from Alston to Yad Moss (SE-bound).
If you search RwGPS you'll quickly find a route and its profile. They may take the choppy route from Longtown north to Moffat in 2021. The extension to Dunfermline offers minimal climbing except a bit of 'urban' in the capital. The variation up to Malton after the Humber looks fairly flat.
PBP had significantly more climb in 200km less.

[Wycombewheeler]

I think looking at the 2017 route will give you a good feel for the amount if climbing and gradients.

I think Rhett is more climbing on LEL than PBP,  but with the greens to cross in both directions the climbing is much more concentrated.  Having risen PBP I woukd suggest you can expect steeper gradients on UK roads,  although the organisers may do a good job of avoiding thr steeper ones.

[wilkyboy]

The route is probably 60% the same as 2017.  The other 40% there's a completely new section through Yorkshire in both directions, and from Moffat to Dunfermline and back thru Edinburgh before picking up the classic route south through the Borders.  Plus some alterations along the way for a bit of variety from 2017.  However, whether we get out much this year to check all the options and decide the exact route or not will depend on the level of epidemic here in the UK.

Our current estimate is about 1530km and 14,500m, but all that could change.

[Ajax Bay]

Our current estimate is about 1530km and 14,500m, but all that could change.

Horse's mouth! If the estimate for 2021 is 14000+m using the same plotting application, what was LEL 2017?
The RwGPS plot of the route I took in 2017 (some variations from your excellent routecards, part by design, part through error) suggested less than 10000m of climb.

[wilkyboy]

Our current estimate is about 1530km and 14,500m, but all that could change.

Horse's mouth! If the estimate for 2021 is 14000+m using the same plotting application, what was LEL 2017?
The RwGPS plot of the route I took in 2017 (some variations from your excellent routecards, part by design, part through error) suggested less than 10000m of climb.

RWGPS is the tool of choice for this project; obviously (or not) that's Google Maps underneath.

For some reason I didn't have a copy of the full 2017 route that I could find, just each stage, so I've replotted it here: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32189904.

That gives 1426km and 11,334m.  My Garmin 1000 gave me 10,032m barometric, but that wind would've played havoc with it.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

IMHO the main challenge on LEL is not the terrain, but the weather.  In 2009, the year I rode it, there was epic rain at several times during the ride (I recall 30 hours of wet weather riding and quite a bit of being asleep while it hammered down) and strong headwinds (even by Dutch standards) on the first part of the return (for a long section my average riding speed was 17.6kph and the only rider that overtook me was on a recumbent).

2013 I was sheltered in Barnard Castle running the catering, so only got stories of the 30C heat.  But in 2017 I was feeding everyone at St Ives and I saw first hand the faces shattered by the headwinds across the fens.  Unlike PBP where the return is with the prevailing wind, LEL heads south on the return so there is always a risk of encountering headwinds when most fatigued.

So riding in an NL winter will be perfect practice - perhaps Leeuwarden to Den Haag into a good SW wind!!!

[Ajax Bay]

@Wilkyboy posted this on a duplicate thread:

The route is probably 60% the same as 2017.  The other 40% there's a completely new section through Yorkshire in both directions, and from Moffat to Dunfermline and back thru Edinburgh before picking up the classic route south through the Borders.  Plus some alterations along the way for a bit of variety from 2017.  However, whether we get out much this year to check all the options and decide the exact route or not will depend on the level of epidemic here in the UK.
Our current estimate is about 1530km and 14,500m, but all that could change.

He also shared his replot of the 2017 route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32189904?beta=false
which comes out at 11333m climb. I'd be mildly interested to know where an extra 3000m of scenery might be 'discovered'. Maybe the stretch from Longtown to Moffat and through Edinburgh.

[wilkyboy]

I'd be mildly interested to know where an extra 3000m of scenery might be 'discovered'. Maybe the stretch from Longtown to Moffat and through Edinburgh.

A combination of Yorkshire, the bit you mentioned, and — more significantly — I was reading off the last full route I put together with Danial, which was before the controls were finalised, so it includes gloriously hilly sections that are now well off course, sorry 

As I said on t'other thread — don't worry too much yet, we've a long way to go before the route is finalised.  You'll have to wait a while.  Most of the intricate route-planning was scheduled to take place late-spring and through this summer, although obviously that's now up in the air a bit.

Definitely expect it to be hillier than 2017, but possibly not quite 3000m hillier.  Not that it matters — 3000m over 1500km would only be 2m/km, which is unnoticeable*.



* unless we can work out how to cram it all into a couple of hundred kilometres 

[wilkyboy]

Update — a few tweaks to that version of the master route on RWGPS to bring it into rough alignment and we have 1520km and 13,700m.

The Scottish Loop is now much longer (obviously) and much hillier (yay!) by a bit over 1000m.

But it could all change yet, so don't worry about it too much.

[Ajax Bay]

I think lots of potential riders (like myself) would be interested in the route and its gestation, (ETA) and indulge in speculation, even at this distance.