Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Audax => LEL 2022 => Topic started by: MikeFromLFE on 11 June, 2022, 05:50:27 pm
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I'm sure riders will be seeing this from official channels as I type, but there seem to have been massive problems securing the school at Spalding, so the organisers have pulled out all the stops and secured Boston Grammar School as an alternative.
That's Boston Lincolnshire, don't worry, no transatlantic crossing required ;D
I'm unsure how this affects the planning for riders - I'll be a volunteer in Boston - but there is an issue for riders in the town. Because the route hits the main A16 dual carriageway it's been decided that riders will need to walk for about 200m on the pavement between the end of High Street, Boston and Rowley Road where the control is. I gather there will be marshals placed to assist riders (and presumably discourage riding on the narrow pavement).
This short walk avoids having riders negotiating nasty roundabouts and a very busy urban trunk road for several km.
The route has been updated on the official website - https://londonedinburghlondon.com/route
Although this is a pain, I think the organisers need congratulating on sorting this out relatively pain-free.
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Thanks for the update.
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SPD shoes with recessed cleats already on my LEL kit list
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Nothing from official channels yet, but thanks for update. It won’t really impact any planning other than grabbing the latest GPX files at some point. Which was always the plan, as I’m sure further changes could be due any point up to the event date. I think Boston will be roughly about 20km further from St Ives than Spalding is. Complementing this will be that Boston to Louth leg will be shorter.
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The route has been updated on the official website - https://londonedinburghlondon.com/route
Just noticed that St-Ives to Boston is 89 km long, but Boston to St-Ives is only 63 km. Is this normal, or something went wrong?
A
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Just looked at route page. The Boston - Louth and Louth - Boston distances in the table are also widely different despite map showing the same northbound and southbound route between them. I guess a few errors / typos in the distances in that table and the GPX will reveal all.
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Downloaded gpx onto iPad. The Boston - Louth leg is 53.1km north and 53km south. The St Ives - Boston leg is 89.2km north and 89.4km south. There we go, just typos in the leg distance table.
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I'm sure riders will be seeing this from official channels as I type, but there seem to have been massive problems securing the school at Spalding, so the organisers have pulled out all the stops and secured Boston Grammar School as an alternative.
That's Boston Lincolnshire, don't worry, no transatlantic crossing required ;D
I'm unsure how this affects the planning for riders - I'll be a volunteer in Boston - but there is an issue for riders in the town. Because the route hits the main A16 dual carriageway it's been decided that riders will need to walk for about 200m on the pavement between the end of High Street, Boston and Rowley Road where the control is. I gather there will be marshals placed to assist riders (and presumably discourage riding on the narrow pavement).
This short walk avoids having riders negotiating nasty roundabouts and a very busy urban trunk road for several km.
The route has been updated on the official website - https://londonedinburghlondon.com/route
Although this is a pain, I think the organisers need congratulating on sorting this out relatively pain-free.
How's that gonna work for Velomobile riders?
J
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Have a look at the map including satellite views. See if having to walk 200 metres whilst pushing your velomobile is really a problem. If so, enjoy the slight road detour that the walking segment aims to avoid.
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This LEL is compulsory route, no?
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I'm sure riders will be seeing this from official channels as I type, but there seem to have been massive problems securing the school at Spalding, so the organisers have pulled out all the stops and secured Boston Grammar School as an alternative.
That's Boston Lincolnshire, don't worry, no transatlantic crossing required ;D
I'm unsure how this affects the planning for riders - I'll be a volunteer in Boston - but there is an issue for riders in the town. Because the route hits the main A16 dual carriageway it's been decided that riders will need to walk for about 200m on the pavement between the end of High Street, Boston and Rowley Road where the control is. I gather there will be marshals placed to assist riders (and presumably discourage riding on the narrow pavement).
This short walk avoids having riders negotiating nasty roundabouts and a very busy urban trunk road for several km.
The route has been updated on the official website - https://londonedinburghlondon.com/route
Although this is a pain, I think the organisers need congratulating on sorting this out relatively pain-free.
How's that gonna work for Velomobile riders?
J
It's a fair question.
The pavement looks fairly narrow to me. The road alternative seems convoluted and very unpleasant (although I've not looked too carefully and never ridden anything other than an upwrong).
Yes, it is a mandatory route.
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How's that gonna work for Velomobile riders?
J
There is an obvious, albeit convoluted pavement-free route you can use, but it adds about 2km. And yes, the route is mandatory, but I would bet my wages that LRM wouldn't care about a diversion of 2km to avoid 200m of unlawful cycling.
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This LEL is compulsory route, no?
Only within the bounds of commonsense and safety. If a rider meets an obstacle or something they perceive as unsafe then they can reasonably detour around that hazard.
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Yes but don't underestimate the determination of a tired rider - 'compulsory means compulsory'. Most overseas randonneurs have never ridden a free-route brevet and often think that the only viable reason to divert off-route is a police directive or a missing bridge where you can't wade through. There are ride reports where riders have shouldered their bikes and tiptoed over a bridge beam (bridge deck being replaced) to get to the other side and continue on route. HK and I have seen this mindset quite a few times in our travels.
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LRM do not care about a bunch of velomobiles taking a 2km road-based longcut to avoid wheeling their charges along the official route.
Fingers crossed Lincolnshire Council give us permission to cycle on the pavement. But if they don't we have a workable solution. Good times.
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How's that gonna work for Velomobile riders?
J
There is an obvious, albeit convoluted pavement-free route you can use, but it adds about 2km. And yes, the route is mandatory, but I would bet my wages that LRM wouldn't care about a diversion of 2km to avoid 200m of unlawful cycling.
If I didn't want to walk 200m I would cross (walking) at the lights when meeting the A16, ride to the next crossing and then cross back, I wouldn't go to the roundabouts off route. Depending on time of day this may be easier for all riders than walking. Would this be allowable for riders?
Not sure whether velomobile riders could negotiate the turs in a staggered crossing.
I assume the 200m of walking is only for the northbound route, or is this also southbound due to traffic levels, because using the road in this direction would be easy. Also the field would be much more spread out southbound, so the rides would not have a big impact on other road users.
I do wonder about the impact of a group of 50 riders walking along the narrow pavement in succession, as the flat terrain prior to Boston is conducive to large groups travelling efficiently.
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If I didn't want to walk 200m I would cross (walking) at the lights when meeting the A16, ride to the next crossing and then cross back, I wouldn't go to the roundabouts off route. Depending on time of day this may be easier for all riders than walking. Would this be allowable for riders?
I was wondering this too, I remember going through Boston on flatlands and don't remember the crossing being particularly bad. I'm assuming that it must have been considered and discounted by the organisers though
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If I didn't want to walk 200m I would cross (walking) at the lights when meeting the A16, ride to the next crossing and then cross back, I wouldn't go to the roundabouts off route. Depending on time of day this may be easier for all riders than walking. Would this be allowable for riders?
I was wondering this too, I remember going through Boston on flatlands and don't remember the crossing being particularly bad. I'm assuming that it must have been considered and discounted by the organisers though
If you look at where Boston control is you’ll understand why it’s suggested a short walk rather than crossing which would take longer waiting for lights to change.
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If I didn't want to walk 200m I would cross (walking) at the lights when meeting the A16, ride to the next crossing and then cross back, I wouldn't go to the roundabouts off route. Depending on time of day this may be easier for all riders than walking. Would this be allowable for riders?
Not sure whether velomobile riders could negotiate the turs in a staggered crossing.
I assume the 200m of walking is only for the northbound route, or is this also southbound due to traffic levels, because using the road in this direction would be easy. Also the field would be much more spread out southbound, so the rides would not have a big impact on other road users.
I do wonder about the impact of a group of 50 riders walking along the narrow pavement in succession, as the flat terrain prior to Boston is conducive to large groups travelling efficiently.
I decided against crossing the A16 as you'd then either have to embark while in the road, or cross the road, walk, cross the road and then cycle 1.5km to avoid the final bit of pavement to Rowley Road.
I intend to just the A16 southbound. It would be two left turns, both on traffic lights. The speed limit here is 30mph so no risk of a high-speed collision or other such horrors.
I have put a TRO request in to close this section of pavement for the first 24 hours that the control is open. But if I don't get an order I think 200 cyclists an hour walking the pavement is fine.