I have no doubt all LEL riders feel the same way in their desire to pay thanks and respect to all the volunteers who made the event happen, as without volunteers there is no event. Those volunteers include the whole team that have spent the last 4 years planning the event and managing all the behind the scenes ‘stuff’ that many of us are completely unaware of. It also includes all those volunteers we saw at the controls who, unlike the riders, could not be grumpy and greeted every rider with a warm embrace and did their utmost to help and provide support. I got a medal on completing LEL, they deserve a medal too, as do their loved ones for supporting them while they were away supporting the riders.
No doubt debates will continue on what might have happened and what could have been, how certain things worked and others faired not so well. I hope such debates are supportive to the notion the LEL is a volunteer led event where sacrifices are made for the benefit of others and very few people are perfect. The comments made by the volunteers in the “Volunteer Tales” thread are inspiring and summed up by the wonderful post by Peter.
Having volunteered for a full stint at Brampton in 2013 and ridden in 2017, I know which was the easier. Riding gave me more sleep, more food, less stress, along with requiring less recovery after the event. Yes, riding was easier than volunteering and I would urge everyone to consider the option of giving something back to the event as a whole by volunteering.
Many thanks volunteers, you are the heroes of LEL.