Author Topic: [LEL17] DNF Tales  (Read 6749 times)

[LEL17] DNF Tales
« on: 03 August, 2017, 10:48:03 pm »
Not a terribly dramatic one:

Weather 1 Rider W20 0

After Barnard Castle I seemed to get rained on every time I stepped out of a control. Rain so horizontal over Yad Moss my right side was completely dry, the left soaked. Moffat to Edinburgh my (new) chain snapped coinciding with another soaking, then a truly biblical downpour coming into Edinburgh on Tuesday evening. I don't think anyone caught in it has experienced the like, water running over the rims. I almost packed at Edinburgh but went onto Innerleithan (more rain) by which time I was shivering uncontrollably. I still had two hours in hand on arrival but I was having to spend more time at controls heating up and botching the bits on the bike that the rough roads and potholes had worked loose or broken so decided to call it a day, get a good nights sleep and cycle back to Edinburgh in the morning.

Not an 'audacious' decision and part of me wonders how I'd have got on if I continued but both me and the bike felt broken. I wouldn't have made up enough time for sleep and my next bag drop at Barnard Castle felt a long way away.

Anyway, bravo to all those who have finished and those who are still out there, you're braver and stronger than me. Thanks to the LEL team and all the volunteers, a sterling effort.

LMT

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #1 on: 04 August, 2017, 12:44:32 am »
I started at 0745hrs and being on a recumbent carved up the route somewhat to make it more recumbent friendly. Meaning riding on mostly A roads where possible and missing out any gratuitous climbing.

Progress was swift as I clocked my first sub 12hr 200 miler (in terms of moving time) as I got to Pocklington just after 2100hrs. Setting out on the ‘easy’ route towards Thirsk via York and then onto the A19 the day riding on mostly main A roads and on my own had taken its toll and I was bored shitless, with hindsight I should have packed some headphones to listen to some music.

Got onto the A19 and immediately spotted a Mercure hotel, the time being roughly 2230hrs and with 371km done I decided to call it a day. See if they had any rooms which they did and after a bath I went to bed just after 11. With hindsight, I should have cracked on to at least Barney. Recalling that my first day riding on PBP I had ridden for 20 hours before stopping to get some sleep.

Up and out on the road by 0600, I made good progress getting to BC just after 1000hrs. Here though I had my lowest point of the ride wondering what the fuck I was doing. No doubt that LEL is a well organised event but for me the only inclination ever to ride I felt was because I was a member of AUK and was duty bound – there was no passion from me and this played on my mind, nay bother I tried to gather my thoughts as I sipped on a warm cup of tea. Had some breakfast, then went to go out on the bike and it started to rain, so went back indoors and the menu changed to lunch so I had some lunch as well – this would be a mistake…

‘Time to go’ someone shouted as the clouds parted, the rain stopped and a group of us bundled out the door just before midday. The climb up and over Yad Moss was superb and was one of the highlights of the ride, far better than the climb up and over the Roc on PBP. Got to Brampton feeling good and had some more food and this is where the problem started. As I swallowed the final bit of food I had a real dull pain right behind my sternum, I had indigestion before but this was different and was far more painful. I went and sat on the bench outside the eating area trying to burp to get rid of what it thought was trapped wind but nothing was doing. The problem was that along with the pain I also could not breath properly making full use of my diaphragm.

Nay bother I thought, I recalled that the ride profile from Brampton to Moffat is fairly easy and got on the bike. I made good progress but roughly 30k in all of a sudden felt sick and stopped under a bridge which was the A74(M) and threw up. The problem was still that the pain did not go away and now my throat felt like it was on fire and became raspish when I breathed.

I pressed on making good time and got to Moffat. When I got off the bike though I felt unsteady and after getting my card stamped had to cut the controller off telling me with everything was as I just wanted to know where the toilet was. I threw up again, this time though it was far more violent as I painted the toilet bowl with my stomach contents which included a fair amount of blood/stomach lining. I can only assume that the copious amounts of food I had at Barney/Brampton, some orange juice and my carb drink had played havoc with my digestion – not good.

I cleaned up after myself and then myself and went and got something to eat, a bit of stodge being a jacket potato and some beans. Being that Moffat was a two-bit town the plan was to get to Edinburgh, stay in a hotel and then the following morning depending on how I felt either head south or pack. I booked a room at a hotel only a couple of K from the control and set out again remembering from the ride profile that you had the climb up the bath tub but was then mostly a descent to Edinburgh – which incidentally the 20k descent from the bathtub is probably one of the most fun bits of cycling I have ever done.
Picked up a Canadian rider about 8k out who was lost and got him to the control. Got my card stamped and headed to the hotel getting there around 2330hrs. My breathing now sounded Darth Vader–ish and I still did not feel right.

Went to bed and woke up early just after five. I still did not feel right there being a dull pain at the back of my throat and my stomach kept on making weird noises. I rested and went down and got some breakfast eating more stodge being beans on toast and some cereal and then went back up to the hotel room. The next control for me closed just after 1200, but overall this control would not close until later on that evening on account of the later starters. My thinking being that I could spend the morning resting, get to the control after time but make this up as the ride progressed and being fairly certain that once I got to Barney would once again be Mr Speedy as I made my way over the Humber and onto the Flatlands. On the other hand, I still did not feel right, I have had various ailments before when doing an Audax, mostly muscular which can be managed but this was the first time that my ‘engine’ had been affected. I did not want to risk the unknown riding through the borders so made the decision to pack. I got the afternoon train home from Edinburgh getting back to home to London early evening Tuesday.

Now as I write this my gut still does not feel right and because of what happened to my throat I have developed a dry cough so in hindsight I believe I made the right decision. Could I have gone on? Yes, but the risk of riding through the borders with me the way I was would have been too greater risk imo.

Anyways, highlights for me were Yad Moss, the descent off the bathtub, the controls such of which were spectacular – BC being the main one being an old-style prep school. And the volunteers could not do enough. Thanks again.

Chapeau to those that have got around, the biggest one for me looking over on the other place was a guy who had Achilles problems so spun around the whole route in as a lower gear as practically possible.

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #2 on: 04 August, 2017, 07:14:20 am »
Mine’s a similarly non-dramatic tale…

Set off at 11am on Sunday as part of Wave S, and had a tremendous first day riding alongside Redlight OTP and Alison (a Welwyn rider) which saw us arrive at Louth at 10.43pm which was about an hour ahead of where I’d planned myself to be. Mind in a good place, legs a little tender after a day in the saddle. Queued for bag drop, queued for food, showered (no queue!), queued for a bed and got down for a snooze at about midnight - planned to sleep until 4am, but ended up out on the road again at that time due to a night of tossing and turning in the upstairs dorm.

Found myself making good time and flip-flopping with a group from Washington D.C. and a pair from Germany as the glorious sunrise revealed itself, and checked into Pocklington just before 9am - out an hour or so later on and my issues started. A pain along the outside of my knee that phased in and out as I pedalled, but definitely was getting worse as I approached Thirsk. Found myself alongside jsabine (also OTP) in the run-in, and had a good chat about it...decision made to find the first aider after food. Food eaten, first aider sought. ‘Ah, that’s the same symptoms as me’ says he…’it’s your IT band’. Explanation given as to how to relieve the pain by inflicting more with pressure on the tendon yourself. I think I knew now that this was going to be it, but carried on having given it a go.

20km into the next leg and it was back with avengeance and two or three moments in particular stick in the memory, most notably the crossing of the A684…the push-off to get across as a gap in traffic appeared was accompanied with a jolt in the knee that caused me to yelp. Got myself the 40km onwards to Barnard Castle having considered a 20km return to Thirsk. Getting off the bike and walking into the control was interesting, a nice limp for the first twenty steps or so.

Discussed with the volunteers there and with time in hand (6hr 12min) I opted for a snooze before deciding, on waking it wasn’t any better - with 1000km to go and the really hilly third day still to come I made what I thought was the sensible decision and ended my ride there.

Looking at the reports since I’m sure I made the right choice, a tendon issue doesn’t tend to ride itself out and the terrain and weather would have only made the ride even more uncomfortable - there’ll be other rides and there’s other things in life to think about (my wedding in ten weeks, for example!) ahead of pushing on for the sake of it and potentially making the recovery far, far worse. I DNF’d in 2013 too, although that was on the return leg at Kirton. Packing then haunted me for ages, it was my first ever audax and I simply hadn’t given it the respect it deserved. This time out I was ahead of time and feeling good other than the issue with my knee...I felt prepared, the bike and set-up has been the same all year and I was ahead of my schedule that felt sustainable.

One thing that I have looked back on is the fact that I’ve struggled to sleep in the shared dorms on both outings. Should I get a place in future I would honestly consider the hotel/B&B option for a couple of the stops…a decent sleep in a real bed would be priceless.

Been keeping a track on Redlight and Alison’s progress since packing and, whilst it looks as though she got to Louth before abandoning, Redlight’s currently on the final leg having left Great Easton 1hr 15min out of time - he’s got until 8.15am to get in, and I have every faith in him scraping under that!


UPDATE: Yes Redlight! Finished with 11mins in hand, chapeau!
One Man and LEJOG : End-to-End on Two Wheels in Two Weeks (Buy the book; or Kindle it)

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #3 on: 04 August, 2017, 11:12:46 am »
Not so much of a tale really.  I packed just before Barnard Castle.  Started the ride with a bit of a saddle sore, but not having ridden the bike for a week I thought I could manage. 

Started with the 7.15am group not having realised that this put me in the 100 hour bracket (until I saw the e-mail about the diversion).  So I suppose I was feeling the pressure a bit.  The first day went well, really enjoyable riding with Darren from Bath for most of it.  It saw me at Pocklington at 10.30pm.  I slept until 4.30am, ate and was off.  Got to Thirsk by 10am in a bit of pain as the one saddle sore had become two and I was beginning to lose the feeling in my left arm.  Should have called it a day there really but was trying to be optimistic.  Necked a couple of nurofen which helped and set off for Barnard Castle.  Mostly riding on my own, never a good thing, I started thinking and basically couldn't forsee my self managing the saddle sores and no feeling in my left arm for another two and half days, so called it quits.  My wife and two sons had stayed the night in York and were making there way to Edinburgh so luckily they were able to to pick me up.

I have to say I have not regretted the decision.  It took 2 days for me to regain the feeling in my arm and the saddle sores are still sore.  If I am being honest I shouldn't have started, Three of the long rides I had planned to do as training for this I did not do due to work and that I think was a big factor.  I thought I would start and see how it went.

Enjoyed my day and half, blown away by the volunteers, cheery, helpful and enthusiastic.  Thanks to Damon I think it was for reloading my Garmin for me after I had a malfunction and Darren for making the first day so enjoyable.

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #4 on: 04 August, 2017, 01:29:00 pm »
Mine was fairly simple.  I was having a good ride ( despite much prep for personal reasons)  and really enjoying it.  Got through St Ives fine, had a lovely run to Spalding and enjoyed the night riding towards Louth.   My lower back was aching, but not too bad and it normally wears off after a bit.   I got a puncture in the middle of nowhere at just after midnight, and squatting on the road fixing it and slipping about in cleats, I felt my back get suddenly more painful.   

Got to Louth ok, but didnt enjoy the hills much with my back, but dont know the area well enough to find a flatter if longer diversion.  My plan at that point was to have a sleep for a few hours and hope my back would ease.   No beds available ( not much food either) at the control so sat for a bit then decided to head off and try and ride it off.    I ended up walking some of the steeper bits and was getting slower and slower, and in more and more pain. I stopped at the shop in Barton, as did everyone else I think, but could barely get off the bike or walk.  I decided to pack and got train home.
I've been over it a thousand times now, and I think I did it for the right reasons, and my back has taken until today to ease properly. I've agonised over whether it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I'm convinced it wasn't as I was really motivated and enjoying it and feel that without my back going I would have got round.  On Monday I felt ok about my decision , knowing it was the right thing but today i'm really  taking it hard, I'm absolutely , absolutely gutted.
On the plus side, its revitalised my love of cycling, I really enjoyed it that much!   And I'm now looking to PBP and the next LEL

simonp

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #5 on: 04 August, 2017, 02:02:47 pm »
Not fast enough for 100h. Got to Brampton with nearly 4h in hand but each control northbound I was losing time rather than gaining it. I had had not much sleep to that point. So I needed to sleep longer at either Moffat or Edinburgh and my time buffer for the ride back and the expected headwind. I'd rather not risk injury for a lost cause as I have two rowing regattas this month and a 4 doesn't work so well with a crew of 3. If I'd been on the ~117h limit I'd have plenty time.

Woke up after a good night's sleep with nausea, sore throat and headache so felt quite glad I'd not pushed on. Still not recovered, sore legs today and some hand numbness. Fortunately the packing fairly early means that damage isn't going to be enough to stop me rowing.

Big conclusion is I can't split my training time between audax and rowing and do well at both. I'll have to pick.

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #6 on: 04 August, 2017, 02:08:44 pm »
I started at 1445, rode straight through the first night reaching Pocklington comfortably having eaten at all 3 controls on the way up.

My left knee started aching just before Barnard Castle, not sure why. Climbing Yad Moss in the cold & wet probably wasn't the best idea because by the time I reached Brampton I was starting to struggle to put power down out of the saddle.

By Moffat I was struggling to get out of the saddle at all. Some ibuprofen got me to Edinburgh where I packed and got the first train home on Wednesday morning.

Pretty gutted as everything else was ticking along nicely. 2 days later and my knee is starting to feel better though I still feel some fingers...

Andy Corless

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Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #7 on: 07 August, 2017, 05:28:16 pm »
Just out of curiousity, does anybody know what happened to the following:

Martin Lucas (was he riding?)
Adrian Lagan
John Spooner
Ivo Miesen

I'm sure I saw these on the ride but there's no sign of their names on t'list.

Andy Corless

CrinklyLion

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Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #8 on: 07 August, 2017, 05:31:28 pm »

Mr Larrington

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Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #9 on: 07 August, 2017, 06:18:26 pm »
Saw a cheerful Ivo at BC southbound but don't know how he got on after that.  Martin was on the start list but hadn't turned up at registration when I left some time after 6pm on Saturday.
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Planet X Paul

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Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #10 on: 07 August, 2017, 06:25:40 pm »
Started at 1045.  Good first day and gained time on my schedule.  Arrived at Pocklington at 0455, had food and went to the sleeping hall at 0530 with instructions to wake me at 0745.  I came to at 0915 !!  They hadn't woken me and all of my gains from the previous day were lost. 

After hearing tales of shoes going missing, I was careful to keep mone in an easily identifiable bag at controls.  However, on one occasion, I left mine with water bottles and knee warmers for 2 minutes while I went into the toilet to apply chamois cream.  I came out, put my foot into a shoe where I had left mine, and..... IT WASN'T MY SHOE !!.  Mine had gone  - in the 2 minutes I was in the gents.  Panic ensues.  I run outside looking for riders who had the same type of shoe asking them to check that they definitely had the right shoes.  No Luck.  Go back into the control thinking my ride was over.  The shoes that had been left in exactly the same place as mine had different cleats so I could not use them.  Eventually found them over the other side of the entrance to the school.  But who had moved them (and why) in the 2 minutes I was away, I will never know.  Also in the panic and confusion, I somehow lost my chamois cream.  Pocklington was not a good place for me  :-[

Left here behind my schedule and headed for Thirsk.  Asked if there was a bike shop nearby where I could buy more chamois cream, but was told the nearest one was in Northallerton and that I would have to divert off route, which I did.  All of these unavoidable things just play with your head.

Barnard Castle, but I was behind my schedule which gave me about 4 hours on the official schedule, so tried to stay positive.  My intention was by bypass Alston, go through Brampton and have my next sleep stop at Moffat.  However, descending off Yad Moss, the sleepiness hit me and I could not focus on the road.  I ended up stopping at Alston for food and sleep, but this was 100 Km short of where I wanted to be.

Set off at 0300 Hrs, in the rain.  After Brampton, I had a 'feeling sorry for myself' moment as I could start to see the writing on the wall for my LEL attempt.  Got to Edinburgh at around 1630 on Tuesday after having another attack of the dozies, but could not afford any time to sleep, so pushed on to Innerleithen and Eskdatemuir.  I had climbed reasonably well, but was wet due to rain and sweat.  My target was Brampton, but arrived at Eskdalemuir freezing cold and decided to sleep there.  WRONG DECISION.  I had to go 1 Km back up the road to the village hall, where I was shown to a mattress, but there were no blankets.  Due to being damp, I spend the next 2 hours shivering and getting no sleep.

I left pre-dawn on the leg to Brampton.  Due to getting no sleep at Eskdalemuir, on the stretch from Longtown to Brampton, the sleep deprivation really hit me and I couldn't keep my eyes open.  It seemed to take an eternity to get to Brampton.  Shower, change kit, food, 1hr 20min sleep, more food, and left.  But I was now 1hr 30mins behind my 'closing time'. 

Shortly before Alston, in deteriorating weather, I realised that I was not going fast enough and would not make up the time, and made the difficult decision to retire from the event.  This was 1230 Hrs on Wednesday, and I eventually got back to the campsite at Debden at 2300 Hrs.

Still beating myself up about it and wondering what I could have done differently, if anything.  Or did a catalogue of events just conspire against me ?

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #11 on: 07 August, 2017, 07:10:24 pm »
Just out of curiousity, does anybody know what happened to the following:

Martin Lucas (was he riding?)

Andy Corless

I was a DNS  - unwell :'(  But I got a sick note from the doc!

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #12 on: 09 August, 2017, 07:31:42 pm »
Planet X - your ride sounds like how mine would have gone if I hadn't packed at Innerleithan. Still have regrets but the sore shoulder I thought was muscular is a damaged nerve and no better now than a week ago. Shudder to think what nick it would have been in if I'd continued.

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #13 on: 13 August, 2017, 01:33:53 pm »


Still beating myself up about it and wondering what I could have done differently, if anything.  Or did a catalogue of events just conspire against me ?

Yeah well you can stop that now :-) I had a similar fail in PBP 2015 and went on to complete this LEL 'comfortably' if slowly. I did a lot of questioning and worked a lot on my 'mood management' as this was the key to failure then. I would make a list of things that were in your control and things that weren't. The sleep is a major knock back, for sure, but were you travelling with people you could talk about progress (and doubts?) too? Or even have someone on the end of the phone who knew you well and you could get a considered opinion from? An example of the power of this is a rider in our ACME peleton who was going to pack but then made it it Edinburgh, and then beyond that, and finally home; I suspect he was talking himself out of it and that his peers talked him back into it. I am fairly sure that if I had been able to just have a good moan and pep talk at Brest then I would have been able to complete PBP - and I was right on time limit there. As something to benchmark; lots of our lot finished the ride with 6 to 2 hours to spare and had an on the road average speed just under 21kph. If you were doing that road speed then other factors were in play!

Sure it's a disappointment but I don't doubt that you could do it again, you just need to treat it like a work thing - 'learnings' and all that :-)

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #14 on: 13 August, 2017, 06:29:21 pm »
Saw a cheerful Ivo at BC southbound but don't know how he got on after that.  Martin was on the start list but hadn't turned up at registration when I left some time after 6pm on Saturday.

Cheerful but already on the timelimit. I arrived in Louth about 5 hours out of time and with an average of 11km/h between Pocklington and Louth. Above that I had only slept 3 hours since the start and I was in desperate need for extra sleep. So I decided to pack. Original plan was to cycle to Market Rasen railway station but a friendly volunteer drove a Polish participant and me to Market Rasen.  :thumbsup:

I partly lost it on the headwind, which was by far stronger as the tailwind, and due to some mechanicals on the Pocklington-Thirsk leg. Plus twice bad weather at Yad Moss when I passed it. I had calculated that I needed at least 5 hours in hand in Edinburgh based on the same wind north as southbound. I had less than 4 in Edinburgh.
The mechanical plus the bad weather on Yad Moss ate away some time, so I had to stay in Brampton for sleeping. Which meant that I had to ride from Innerleithen to Brampton in the dark. Alone this wouldn't have been an issue but the large groups of slowly descending riders didn't help. A lot of riders didn't spend enough on their lights or hadn't been cycling on Scottish lanes in the dark (insert Brittany, Ardennes or other remote places for Scottish) during their training. Usually I descend 10-20% faster as the average rider, now it was nearly double speed. I don't want to know how many riders lost their chances on LEL due to insufficient lighting.

mr ben

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Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #15 on: 13 August, 2017, 07:29:03 pm »
I managed London-Edinburgh-Cambridge and although I was sad to DNF I know it was the right decision, and given my disrupted preparation I'm really pleased I got that far. I stopped because I just couldn't stay awake; looking back I'm lucky I didn't come off. I still need to look into my control times but I think those headwinds slowed me down so much I didn't have time for enough sleep.

It wouldn't be the amazing challenge that it is if we all knew we'd complete it. I had the most wonderful time and I think my hardest decision in four years time will be whether to ride again or to volunteer.
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vorsprung

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Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #16 on: 13 August, 2017, 08:22:45 pm »
Started at 16:00, got to Pocklington at 8:45 the following morning.  Had a 15 minute kip at Thrisk.  Thirsk -> Barnard Castle went fine although there was a massive headwind on the way to Barnard Castle, I lost the group I was with but towed an Indian guy the last 10 miles.

The early slopes of Yad Moss and I started to not fire on all cylinders, bit of a bad patch, been 30h+ with no proper sleep at that point.  Neilv over took me on fixed and this inspired me to ride uphill on too big a gear, seemed to work for me and I made it to Alston.  After finding the hidden sleep stop (and helping a French guy who seemed to speak no English)  I had a good long sleep and left in the morning.  Got to Brampton with 5h+ in hand, showered,  swapped into fresh kit from the drop bag.

The next bit didn't go to plan as I assumed that route "A" was the easy route.  It wasn't I guess this lost me 2-3hours and some leg power but it was worth it.  Great views and good company from X27 who I think was called Dave.  X27, if you are reading this, get in touch

Got to Edinburgh and it was clear that the plan of getting back to Brampton that day wasn't going to happen.  I pressed on to Innerleithen and got there with just under 7 hours in hand.  I had 1.5 sleep and waited for 1.5 hours for some people to ride with.  We left at 2am and rode through Eskdalemuir to Brampton.  Now had 5h in hand, another shower/kit change

Had a bad patch before Alston.  I had to cross Yad Moss in the rain and with a brisk headwind.  The 90km to Barnard Castle took maybe 7 hours?  Now have under 4h in hand.  Tried to fix a problem with shifting on the bike, wasted an hour on that.  Bit of good fortune at Barnard Castle, hooked up with 4 other riders inc Alison Hind and did a pace line to Thirsk.  Too frazzled now to continue with the nice pace line I was going to get some sleep.  Approx 4h in hand at this point.  Went to the bike park to get my bag off the bike.  The bag came off, unfortunately so did half the seatpost.  Couldn't remove the broken seatpost with pliers.   Can't ride with no saddle, no bike shops open for 12 hours, for me it's all over

Had a blissful 8h sleep then cycled saddleless to the station.  My saddle bag got there in a car!  Back to London pretty easily, Bikefix in Lambs Conduit st fixed the seatpost quickly.

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #17 on: 13 August, 2017, 10:31:05 pm »

Had a bad patch before Alston.  I had to cross Yad Moss in the rain and with a brisk headwind.  The 90km to Barnard Castle took maybe 7 hours?  Now have under 4h in hand.  Tried to fix a problem with shifting on the bike, wasted an hour on that.  Bit of good fortune at Barnard Castle, hooked up with 4 other riders inc Alison Hind and did a pace line to Thirsk.  Too frazzled now to continue with the nice pace line I was going to get some sleep. 

That paceline was indeed moving quite fast. I let it go after a while as it was too fast for me

vorsprung

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Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #18 on: 14 August, 2017, 10:03:00 am »

Had a bad patch before Alston.  I had to cross Yad Moss in the rain and with a brisk headwind.  The 90km to Barnard Castle took maybe 7 hours?  Now have under 4h in hand.  Tried to fix a problem with shifting on the bike, wasted an hour on that.  Bit of good fortune at Barnard Castle, hooked up with 4 other riders inc Alison Hind and did a pace line to Thirsk.  Too frazzled now to continue with the nice pace line I was going to get some sleep. 

That paceline was indeed moving quite fast. I let it go after a while as it was too fast for me

It was just right for me.  On the flat I was soft pedalling on the front and climbing I didn't have to try too hard
I was disappointed to have to leave them for a sleep - I was completely hammered and continuing would have been unsafe.  As it turned out, I had to stop anyway as the bike was shagged

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #19 on: 14 August, 2017, 11:13:18 am »
I was part of the same train between BC and Thirsk and it was great fun, we had quite a group coming into Thirsk and I would have liked to continue too but I was ready for a rest and had lots of time in hand so didn't want to overdo it. Were you the bloke with tri bars vorsprung?

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #20 on: 14 August, 2017, 12:23:59 pm »
Nothing anywhere near as dramatic as some of the tales I've read but this is my DNF.

With a 9:45 start I pushed for 400km on the first day and arrived in Thirsk in the small hours after 19 hours on the road.  At this point I was feeling good and decided to spend some of my time in hand on some sleep.  Unfortunately for whatever reason I only managed about 2 hours of fitful dozing and was shivering despite sleeping bag liner and blanket and in the end got up earlier than intended.  having showered, cleaned up and changed into a fresh pair of shorts, and with a good breakfast and coffee inside me I got back on the road at around 8:45 with the intention of getting to Edinburgh that night.  I was a little concerned about my lack of sleep but this turned out to be unfounded and I didn't need to resort to the pack of caffeine pills in the frame bag to keep me going, although I did switch to caffeinated electrolyte tabs in the water bottles after leaving Moffat.  The caffeine definitely helped on the long run into Edinburgh after the descent of the Devils Beef Tub.  It would probably have been really nice in daylight, but in the dark it just seemed to drag on an on.

I made it to Edinburgh at around 2:00am, just over 40 hours after leaving Loughton and with almost 18 hours in hand.  While I knew I'd been on the bike so far there were no major issues.   Everything felt good and I got a good few hours of sleep before heading back out again having changed shorts once more.

The plan from here was to get back to Thirsk for the next stop, but the wind between Edinburgh and Brampton put paid to that.  At once point I was pedaling down hill on the aero bars and struggling to make 28kmh. Although the wind dropped for the climb over Yad Moss, in the end I arrived at Barnard Castle around 10pm  and decided to call it a day and make an early start in the morning as I still had plenty of time. I was getting seriously tired and my legs were feeling it from the effort of riding into the wind.  I was also starting to get niggling pains in my shoulders and neck so took advantage of the massage available at the control.

I left BCat around 6am and was feeling much stronger after some decent sleep.  My shoulder and neck niggles seemed to have cleared up and I made good progress, stopping for food and clean shorts at Thirsk, until Coxwold.  At this point my neck decided it had simply had enough and I suddenly found myself unable to lift my head to see where I was going or look behind me.  As I was actually in Coxwold village when it happened
I decided to stop at the control and try and figure out what to do.  I ended up spending over 5 hours lying flat on my back on one of the beds there hoping that by resting it I could get some function back in my neck muscles.  Sadly it wasn't to be and 20 minutes after setting out again my head was again flopping down and all I could see was the stem on the bike.  I managed to crawl to Pocklington though a combination of riding "standing up" out of the saddle and sitting bolt upright with my hands on the arm rests of my aero bars to keep my head balanced on my shoulders.  Despite having almost 8 hours in hand still, I made the decision stop there.  I could probably have bodged together a neck brace of some sort to keep riding but to me it didn't seem like a safe or sensible option.  I still wouldn't have been able to look behind me or to the sides at junctions etc and I'd have been a risk to myself and anyone else I was riding with.

Now planning to come back and do it as a DIY next year, having hopefully sorted my neck issues with excercise and yoga.

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #21 on: 14 August, 2017, 02:06:10 pm »
At this point my neck decided it had simply had enough and I suddenly found myself unable to lift my head to see where I was going or look behind me. 

I'm sorry Scrantaj to learn that you had to DNF due to a Shermer neck. There's only one known cure for this condition:


vorsprung

  • Opposites Attract
    • Audaxing
Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #22 on: 14 August, 2017, 03:27:25 pm »
I was part of the same train between BC and Thirsk and it was great fun, we had quite a group coming into Thirsk and I would have liked to continue too but I was ready for a rest and had lots of time in hand so didn't want to overdo it. Were you the bloke with tri bars vorsprung?

I had a black bike and tri bars.  I had grey pipe lagging on my bars instead of arm rests

ElyDave

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Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #23 on: 14 August, 2017, 04:04:58 pm »
There was another chappie at ST Ives suffering from Shermer's neck as well, Irish lad, had a towel twisted into a sausage and gaffer taped round his neck.  Not sure if he finished or not
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

paul851

Re: DNF Tales
« Reply #24 on: 14 August, 2017, 05:51:59 pm »
Think it was Paul Willock , according to the Audax Ireland facebook page he completed LEL  :)

Paul