Ride Reports

[Lightning Phil]

I am starting to get quite worried about this. As a volunteer I spoke to both of you at St Ives. What did I do wrong? In my inexperience of long distance audax did I say something I ought not to have done?

Absolutely nothing.   You have to remember, that every 4 out of 10 riders you interacted with, did not finish.

[Wycombewheeler]

Impressed at these reports and the recall of riders. I don't remember much. I remember being at Barnard Castle with about 8 hours in hand, and being unsure how I could possibly finish either by pressing on that night, or by sleeping first. Neither approach looked ideal.

And yet from Moffat onwards I had no doubts about finishing, even when I was behind time (as per card printed times, not revised times) at Malton, Hessle and Louth

[Sergeant Pluck]

Here's mine

https://longridesrule.wordpress.com

A great read that really gives a feel for the ride. Chapeau.

[Lightning Phil]

Impressed at these reports and the recall of riders. I don't remember much.

Whenever I write mine up I find you have to write it down within days of the event.  Leave it any longer and those little details that make the story begin to fade away.  It doesn’t need to be a polished write up or necessarily in chronological order when you capture it. Just capture it whilst fresh then refine and turn into blog / article later when you have more time.

[Ajax Bay]

A friend in Cambridge has passed this link to me - Susanne's tale.
https://susannesaudaxing.blogspot.com/2022/08/cycling-1540-km-in-five-days.html#more
Hope she won't mind its sharing.

[coops456]

Very interesting read. And I'm sorry that she didn't spot the box of tampons I'd put in the women's loos at Great Easton.

[aidan.f]

A great read, I did enjoy chatting and riding with Susanne and Ian.
 'like a metronome' is a nice compliment...as Susanne mentioned there was plenty of erratic pacing.

[Peter]

That's a very good report - all the obvious anxieties and exhilarations bit they don't obscure the description of the route and the great visual experience.  Well done!

[Sergeant Pluck]

Agree, an excellent report that gives a real feel for the mental challenges of such a ride and the sacrifices made by the volunteers.

[nicktick]

It's probably about time I stop lurking and actually write something. Given the influence that people writing here had on me actually finishing LEL, it's the least I could do.

https://nicktickner.wordpress.com/2022/08/23/london-edinburgh-london/

[coops456]

Nice write-up. 
I've read quite a few now, and have found 2 things common to them all:

• lack of food at Malton
• great photos of the Humber bridge or estuary

[coops456]

Report by C53 Mayank, one of the Indian riders: https://saddledbum.wordpress.com/2022/08/25/london-edinburgh-london

Michael Lihs has curated a load of blog/photo/video links at https://ultra-cycling.de/blog/2022-08-26-lel-2022-links/

[thegasman]

My ride report - "Tales from near the pointy end of the ride - LEL 2022".  The 83hour ride.  https://thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com/london-edinburgh-london-1500km-audax/

[aidan.f]

That a very interesting and informative read.  I was struck by how physically hard it was for you towards the end of the event. Some very nice comments about the route and organisation.

[Ivan_Online]

Hello folks, here's another Dutch rider's ride report (in English). It's a bit long, I just wanted to write down as much as I could before it started to fade into the background of everyday life.

day 1: https://www.strava.com/activities/7601284429
day 2: https://www.strava.com/activities/7604663913
day 3a: https://www.strava.com/activities/7612105406
day 3b: https://www.strava.com/activities/7611973969
day 4: https://www.strava.com/activities/7618220370
day 5: https://www.strava.com/activities/7623337933

Some additional info. I rode a Giant Revolt (carbon gravel bike) with Rene Herse Extra Light 38 mm tires, and I'd dare say I have less pains and niggles than after previous long distance events, which I rode on my titanium bike with 28 mm tires. And that bike has aero bars, which unfortunately do not fit on the Giant.
I started with a fresh hot-waxed chain and put two hot-waxed chains in my drop bag (Brampton). A hot-wax chain should last up to 400km and indeed they did get rather noisy after that. Still have no idea how hot-wax chains perform in rainy conditions.
I also took two luxury items. A pair of (fake) Crocs to walk around the checkpoints and an inflatable pillow. Just under 300 gram weight penalty, but my head and feet were really happy.

[Sergeant Pluck]

My ride report - "Tales from near the pointy end of the ride - LEL 2022".  The 83hour ride. https://wordpress.com/view/thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com

i’m getting a request to log in to access that.

Got it now - use the link to your website.

[Ajax Bay]

My ride report - "Tales from near the pointy end of the ride - LEL 2022".  The 83hour ride. https://wordpress.com/view/thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com

i’m getting a request to log in to access that.
Got it now - use the link to your website.

To save others time. Excellent read. If you ride for less days does that mean one's contact points suffer less, if they suffer?
https://thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com/london-edinburgh-london-1500km-audax/

[Pip]

My ride report - "Tales from near the pointy end of the ride - LEL 2022".  The 83hour ride.  https://thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com/london-edinburgh-london-1500km-audax/

Really interesting, thank you

[coops456]

My ride report - "Tales from near the pointy end of the ride - LEL 2022".  The 83hour ride.  https://thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com/london-edinburgh-london-1500km-audax/

Anyone who quotes Douglas Adams in the first paragraph is well worth a read! Nice work Andy.

[Peter]

My ride report - "Tales from near the pointy end of the ride - LEL 2022".  The 83hour ride. https://wordpress.com/view/thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com

i’m getting a request to log in to access that.
Got it now - use the link to your website.

To save others time. Excellent read. If you ride for less days does that mean one's contact points suffer less, if they suffer?
https://thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com/london-edinburgh-london-1500km-audax/

Not a very scientific response, AB, but I would have instinctively thought that "No" would have been the answer, for two reasons: 1.  It's the distance that dictates the number of pedal strokes - not the time, and 2. A more "leisurely" ride might give the skin a little longer to recover between sessions.  As I say, just surmise.  Hope you're ok!

[Wycombewheeler]

My ride report - "Tales from near the pointy end of the ride - LEL 2022".  The 83hour ride. https://wordpress.com/view/thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com

i’m getting a request to log in to access that.
Got it now - use the link to your website.

To save others time. Excellent read. If you ride for less days does that mean one's contact points suffer less, if they suffer?
https://thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com/london-edinburgh-london-1500km-audax/

Not a very scientific response, AB, but I would have instinctively thought that "No" would have been the answer, for two reasons: 1.  It's the distance that dictates the number of pedal strokes - not the time, and 2. A more "leisurely" ride might give the skin a little longer to recover between sessions.  As I say, just surmise.  Hope you're ok!

Do you ride fixed?

Since cadence should always be comfortable, riding for more time should mean more pedal strokes

[Peter]

I wasn't talking about riding for more time but having more time off the bike.

[coops456]

Love this:

This was the only time on the ride that I queued to get food, which I thought mirrored society in general.  i.e., “If you are lucky and get ahead, it is easy to maintain that advantage through not having to negotiate the difficulties that others have to, but once you are in the more difficult position, it is very hard to pull ahead because the barriers are slowing you down at every turn”. 

from https://thegasmanonabike.wordpress.com/london-edinburgh-london-1500km-audax/

[York_Badger]

One more ride report.  Focussing on how I avoided DNS.  https://yorkbadger.wordpress.com/2022/10/25/london-edinburgh-london-2022-a-frame-of-mind/

[nicktick]

Thanks - I enjoyed that, as many of the issues you went through resonated with me as well.

I spent the first two days thinking 'This is crap. I'm never doing this again. Bloody stupid...', but on finishing, it was by far the best ride I've ever done. And while I'm more than likely to be signing up in 2025 again, I can certainly relate to the thought that I don't want to, because it might just spoil the experience I had this year.

But useful tips: I need some aero bars, and I definitely need to get off the bike & take photos a bit more.