Author Topic: LEL History.  (Read 6627 times)

LEL History.
« on: 08 January, 2013, 06:40:59 pm »
I know what happened in 2001, 2005 and 2009, as I've got video of some sort or another of all of them. I know a bit of the behind the scenes stuff from those years as well. Not that there was a lot behind the scenes in the earlier ones, more of a flimsy stage set and a lot of crossed fingers.
I think that prior to 2001 it was Edinburgh London, a ride that started in or near Doncaster, and headed North and then South. I've got someone's video of the first ride somewhere, and it looks like a 600 x2, based in some sort of mental health facility in Doncaster.
That history is what differentiates LEL from the recent eruption of 'challenge rides'. It may consist of ageing AUKs reminiscing about sleeping on wet plywood at Samye Ling in 2001, but it's history, and it's a history that is sometimes in dispute, witness the grated carrot and the bain-marie.

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #1 on: 08 January, 2013, 06:46:01 pm »
There was no wet plywood in 2001, it was bare concrete with a jet-engine style heater in one corner of the immense hall.

frankly frankie

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Re: LEL History.
« Reply #2 on: 08 January, 2013, 06:48:46 pm »
Spooner will know.
According to the AUK website results section,

1989 - 26 finished (one female, Sheila Simpson)
1993 - 31 finished
1997 - 109 finished (including first overseas riders, inc. Ivo)
2001 - 204 finished

The original base for most Doncaster rides around 1990 was the Mencap Centre - very decent HQ it was too.
I think the 1989 edition was 1300km - possibly the 1993 one too, though ISTR that was the first routing over Yad Moss so would have been 1400km.
when you're dead you're done, so let the good times roll

hellymedic

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Re: LEL History.
« Reply #3 on: 08 January, 2013, 06:58:37 pm »
1997 Started and finished at Thorne Rugby Club.
I have 35mm photos somewhere.

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #4 on: 08 January, 2013, 07:03:18 pm »
There was no wet plywood in 2001, it was bare concrete with a jet-engine style heater in one corner of the immense hall.

There was a tail-wind in 2001 for the Thorne starters up to Langdon Beck so they were a bit overwhelmed there, and food service was a bit pushed, that bunched the field, as did the Carlisle truck stop, which kindly stayed open. The result was a sudden rush of wet riders arriving at Samye Ling. The basic hall structure had just been finished, so shuttering timber, including plywood, was seen a better than bare concrete. On the return I saw a group of Italians sitting in front of the kerosene space heater.

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #5 on: 08 January, 2013, 07:11:50 pm »
My 2001 ridereport:

Sleepriding between Edinburgh and London

"Do you think it's ever going down again?" John shouts from behind me. Although he is quite used to a howling wind, the combination of headwind,  Scottish mountains and barren highlands is causing some problems, even for him. For two days we had been blown forward by a fierce south-western wind, making the first day of London-Edinburgh-London into a sleighride. But now, after the turnaround in Edinburgh, we had to inch our way back to London against the wind.


All started very easy two days earlier in Harlow. This little town just north of London was the southern start of the 4th edition of LEL. Most foreign entrants had chosen Harlow as their point of departure. So the start was not the typical AUK-style of starting to pedal and taking it easy. No, it looked more like a road-race. A mad pack thrusted itself forwards, aided by a strong tailwind. Italian was the language to use here, and the pack was an organised chaos, but moving swiftly. For two brief moments the pace was slackened, once we missed a sidestreet to turn into, but one of the few British around helped out, the other time was more spectacular. Hubertus Hohl managed to get his brake-lever caught up in the rearrack of Andrei Hanalainen. His bike was pulled from underneath him and he ended on the floor. But this did not stop him in realising a very fast time, together with Richard Leon. Anyway, we arrived in Longstowe just a few minutes after the control opened.
In Longstowe I took a leisurely break. At least half of the fast pack just got their card stamped and their pockets stuffed, but not for me. After a while I set out again. Since the tour was allready in full action, I started listening to Dutch Worldservice. In between the static I could inform the other riders around me about the happenings in the Pyrenees. No problems for that stage, and the reception in Thurlby youthhostel was as good as ever.
Halfway towards Lincoln I was finally overtaken by a nice group. Pedals and Dr. Box were leading it, and the pace was typically audax, easy going, but steady. In Lincoln the control was a bit chaotic, hardly any facilities. I still wanted to eat something, but had to be content with sandwiches from the nearby service station. With the group I set out again, but a call of nature eased me into riding solo to Thorne again. Anyway, the group was sprinting to Thorne, in order to catch some sleep there. I preferred to take it a little easier and continue during the night.
In Thorne it was an organised chaos. Bodies strewn everywhere, and lot's of bikes for overnighting. Group after group arrived, but hardly a soul left the control. After more than an hour of eating an lounging I set out with a novice rider for the long stretch towards Hovingham. This novice proved to be a very weak nightrider. I had to drag him along for quite a while untill he disappeared from behind me. It was light allready when I approached the feared hills around Howard Castle, signalling the end of the flatlands. I knew that they would hurt. But I managed to get over them and reach the nice control in Hovingham.  While I was still eating and restocking from my bag, some large groups arrived. They had set out of Thorne just before dawn. Most of the Italians were in this group.
A while before they got out again I was on the road allready. But soon they overtook me when I was helping a rider with a broken spoke. In Barton Truckstop I saw them again, but they dashed off when I was interpreting for the Lepertels. Finally I realised that it was impossible to do some interpreting, assist before the start, take pictures AND make a decent time. I forgot about that and went completely to the tourist mode.
From last time I remembered that after Barton Truckstop the stage would be short but tough. Yad Moss can be compared with a medium-level mountain pass, to speak in Tour de France language, a cat. 2 climb. So at the foot of the pass, in Barnard Castle, I bought some refreshements. While entering the shop, I put my radio&earphones on the handlebars. Of course I forgot them when I started again, resulting in a defected earphone. So no info on the tour anymore. The pass itself was beautifull again. I thoroughly enjoyed it. An Italian couple was not enjoying it at all. I had seen them in Thorne, where they were allready completely worn out. The fast pace of the first two stages was taking it's toll for them. I passed them at the foot of the pass. Halfway the pass, at the Langdon Beck YH control they allready lost half an hour on me. Finally they decided to pack in Langdon Beck. The control itself was great. Heather Swift was leading it. With her I had a 24hour long duel during the Mersey Side 24hours last year. She started 1 minute ahead of me, we saw eachother lot's of times during that race. Now she was leading the control, in a very good way.
Continueing up the pass after the control, I encountered many sheep. They were running around everywhere, often crossing the road just in front of my frontwheel. The descent of Yad Moss was finshed off with a decent cobble-hill. Some British riders had problems negotiating it, but with plenty of Flemish cobbles on my usual terrain, I just crashed down on it, overtaking two startled cardrivers. That cobble hill really woke me up, towards Carlisle I continuously overtook other riders and small groups.
In Carlisle most of the other riders decided to sleep. I judged it way too early and decided to push on to Eskaldemuir. The road to Eskaldemuir was nearly completely upwards. Still on the A7 I decided to take a short kip on the verge. Within a few minutes a car stopped, and the driver started enquiring about my well-being. Wide awake again, I resumed riding. Within a few kilomters I had to turn left, and the Scottish darkness fully enveloped me. I didn't see anything more than the small bundle my light threw on the road. Up it went, and continuously. Only for some brief moments the road turned down again. The villages, when remarkable, looked completely deserted. Only in Eskaldemuir I started to sense some signs of civilization. But the control was located behind the village, descending for a change. After a while I finally spotted a small sign towards the Tibetan centre.
Inside it looked like total carnage. Bodies everywhere, bikes leaned to every possible and impossible object. In a far corner a few controllers and monks were huddling together around a small jet-engine like heater. It all gave a really special atmosphere, completely detached from the outside world. Some riders, though, were spending times on earthly matters, wolfing down enormous amounts of food. I joined them for my first serving of temple-food. No matrasses were vacant, so I extracted two spaceblankets from my rackpack, and selected a nice spot. After some two hours I was informed in a very nice way by Barbara from Milan that a bed&blanket was free, she gently draped the blanket around me. But first things first, some food in between two periods of sleep. A while sleeping later I woke up again, to see a whole new group of riders in the temple. Most riders who were sleeping when I arrived allready had set out, and the first units of riders from Carlisle allready arrived. I ate again, calculated my schedule, and decided that I had time for another two hours of sleep.
After sleeping more than 6 hours I finally left the temple, fully refreshed for the turnaround ride to Edinburgh. Many Thorne-startes had been coming the other way while riding around Carlisle, now it was time to greet Harlow-starters allready riding back. I continuously met other riders while heading north. The Italians were still riding strongly, although their bunch had lost some units. In Innerleithen I restocked on coke at the local newsagent's. It's one of the few villages of any size between Carlisle and Edinburgh, so quite crucial for your supplies. The last bit towards Edinburgh was rather uneventfull, although it was a nice sight to see the sea and Edinburgh from the top of the Moorfoot hills.
The Edinburgh control again was one of the better ones. Plenty of food, and good seats to rest. I spent way too much time there, but never mind, it's not a race. The Pedals/Dr. Box gang allready had left, staying not that long at the control.
Leaving Edinburgh was still possible, but the hard ride started when I was at the foot of the Moorfoot hills. Th Northern ascent is early completely oriented western, so right into the blowing gale. All the ride to Eskaldemuir would be like that, constantly battling the headwind. Even during the descents I had to keep on pushing, topping 40km/h in the descent was hard work. Still riders were heading out to Edinburgh. For them it would be a hard ride back, being nearly out of time, and heading into the wind. I spotted among others Mark Beauchamp and the Slann's tandem. After a while John, the other Dutch starter in Harlow, caught up with me. Together we battled on, untill we lost eachother due to waterstops. I rode on together with Steffen from Germany.
It was a small group which assembled in the temple at dusk. Together we set out. The wind was dying, so it was a bit easier. Also I remembered from the previous night that from Eskaldemuir to Carlisle it would be mainly downhill. That proved to be the problem for the majority of our group. Only those with excellent headlights (at least more than one) could keep up the speed on the downhills. So it lasted a while in Carlisle untill everybody was there again. Most riders went for some sleep, only the Farnhams and myself set out into the night. We knew that the Jack Eason/Mike Ellison group was also riding through the night, all others were asleep. I planned to sleep somewhere at a convenient place. The first place I tried was too windy, so I rode on for a few villages untill I found a nearly full enclosed busshelter. I locked my bike, took my spaceblanket, and spread out on the bench. It was a reall comfy busshelter.
I woke up when the Farnhams passed. A few kilometers later I caught up with them when they stopped for a call of nature. Dawn had come, and together we plodded on to Alston. In Alston they opted for a small kip, while I started negotating the cobbles. Halfway up the hill, a local newsagent openend shop, so I stopped to buy some snacks and enquire about a new battery. My helmetlight was nearly completely dead allready. To my surprise they had a 4.5V battery, but well hidden on the shelf. Yad Moss from the northside is not that tough, but still quite some work, especially since the wind was picking up again. Near the top I was overtaken by the Farnhams. Together we descended to the control. The descent was quite tricky with all the sheep running around. We arrived at Langdon Beck just when the Eason/Ellison gang was setting out.
Food was excellent again, but even a touring-schedule doesn't allow for long lingering.
While riding to Barton, memories came back from '97. Then I left Langdon Beck in a state of complete sleep-deprivation, having slept nothing since the start. The film of that part was partly wiped out. Now the recollections came back, and I started to mend the film. In Barnard Castle I went to Boots to buy some supplies (antiseptic wipes & second skin). My hands were getting a bit bruised due to the constant poundering of the bad roads. The saleslady at Boots was allready completely informed about LEL. Previous riders had allready nearly completely eptied the their supplies of certain products.
Barton Truckstop was getting more and more busy, as quite some fast bunches had overtaken me. These people were riding faster as I was, but slept a good deal more. It's all a question of what fits you best. I prefer to plod on and hardly sleep. I met two US-riders in Barton They were riding a softride and a Titanflex.  It was a pleasant ride to Hovingham, staying together with them. for most of the stage.
In Hovingham it was time again to resupply. There was a bagdrop here, and I sent lot's of stuff forwards.  The shorts I rinsed on the way up were allready dry and the food was still present. Before darkness set, I  headed out again. Only the Castle Howard hills to negotiate, and then all flat to Harlow. I was feeling good, and kept going towards Thorne. Shortly before Thorne, a supermarket was still open. I headed in to resupply for the night. While leaving the shop, the Pedals/Dr. Box gang passed me again. I had seen their bikes in Carlisle, where they obviously had been sleeping. Directly after the supermarket I got lost while leaving the small town, but soon I found the road back. In Thorne lot's of allready finished riders were sitting and chatting. A really good atmosphere. Here I finally met Wim, the third Dutch rider present. I had been looking for him before the start, but nobody in the Netherlands knew him. It turned out that is Dutch, but lives in Britain.
Again, only a small group was preparing to head out, most people started snorring after a while. Only the usual suspects not, Jack Eason & company. I set out from Thorne whe the Eason gang was preparing to go out. They would catch me sooner or later. The area around Thorne was flat and hard to navigate, everything looks the same in the dark there, no clues on altitude. After a while I spotted some lights behind me. That could only be Jack & company, so  I stopped and waited, taking a 5min kip on the handlebars to make maximum use of the time. It indeed was the group around Jack and Mike. To my surprise also an Italian was riding together with them. Just like me, they were considering taking a busshelter somewhere halfway. Since it's hard sleeping with six people in one busshelter, I opted for an earlier one as they. At daybreak another short kip, and the ride went on to Lincoln. For a long time a nuclear power station was dominating the view, but finally I could get rid of that nuisance.
The Lincoln control was quite calm when I arrived. A tired Dave Yates was the only rider visible.  Again hardly any services, so again I got my food from the service station. I wanted to take a short kip, so I spread out my spaceblanket. But that kip wasn't quite short, in the end I slept two hours on the grass! Away my plans to ride with groups overtaking me for a while, nearly everybody had passed me allready. So back to plodding mode. I constantly met other riders coming from Harlow and riding towards Thorne. Now I could see most of them in daylight, not in the dark as around Carlisle. Just before Thurlby I had to deviate from the route. The new route from Thorne to Harlow was very scenic, in fact too scenic. Hardly any services, and I was running low on cash. The nearest bank was off-route, so I had to do that.
 In Thurlby lot's of riders were assembled, and a nice atmosphere reigned. I sampled lot's of their food selection. After a while Vicky and Dom arrived. Vicky was looking quite tired. Probably her new position as a PBP-ancienne was wearing her out a bit, now she has to lead the bunchlets as experienced rider. It was good to see so many faces I knew from PBP. After about two hours of eating and talking in Thurlby I finally set out again. John was allready on the road, but he would wait for me in Longstowe, afraid to get lost again in the dark. Towards Longstowe the route went through many tiny villages. In one of them the inhabitants had made some nice signs to urge the cardrivers to drive slow. Huge policeman were located at various places, and a big sign at the entrance of the village with 'Sleeping Policemen'. No humps this time. Around that time the wind decreased a bit, a welcome change.
In Longstowe several riders were allready preparing for the last 60k. John had indeed waited. I stayed a bit shorter as usual, and together we set out into the dusk. The first bit was easy navigating. About halfway we wanted to have a drink in a pub, but they were not serving anymore, too late. That's a bit hard to understand for continentals, especially in Belgium the pubs stay open as long as there are customers. The lanes north of Harlow were quite tricky. We had to ride very slow, otherwise we would get lost. The battery of my Petzl had died down, and the new one bought in Alston proved to be empty upon sale. So route-sheet reading was quite hard. In the end I simply navigated along the lights of London, showing against the clouds. But also an end to that came, and the final kilometers to the finish were easy again. Inside the finish lot's of people were sleeping, but food was still available. And my sleeping-bag for the first 8-hour night in a long time.

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #6 on: 08 January, 2013, 07:18:20 pm »
Blimey. That brought back a few memories Ivo!

You failed to mention the midges though...
You're only as successful as your last 1200...

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #7 on: 08 January, 2013, 07:21:15 pm »
1993 was 1300km and started at a campsite at Hatfield Marina, near Doncaster. My first failed event.
IIRC, there were Canadians. It was the first time I ever met Mc Nasty. I was a wet behind the ears but enthusiastic 18 year old who in 1992 while riding Windsor Chester Windsor, considered it to be impossible to ride that far on a fixed wheel. Mc Nasty was on fixed. I couldn't believe how he managed that ride with thise hills on the A68. He certainly opened my eyes!
Ian and Suzy Grey were first back, shortly followed by Giraffe, then Mc Nasty on his fixed, wearing his all black woolly jersey with a large front pocket which must have been older than I was. You never forget your first Mc Nasty encounter.

Waits for Salvatore to come along with his long tales of LELs and stories about chasing cyclists playing with illuminated red yoyos down the A19 on very cold June nights...

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #8 on: 08 January, 2013, 07:22:10 pm »
You failed to mention the midges though...

Which midges? There are no midges in Scotland (at least if you've been in northern Russia).

Salvatore

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Re: LEL History.
« Reply #9 on: 08 January, 2013, 07:23:07 pm »
Spooner will know.
According to the AUK website results section,

1989 - 26 finished (one female, Sheila Simpson)
1993 - 31 finished
1997 - 109 finished (including first overseas riders, inc. Ivo)
2001 - 204 finished

The original base for most Doncaster rides around 1990 was the Mencap Centre - very decent HQ it was too.
I think the 1989 edition was 1300km - possibly the 1993 one too, though ISTR that was the first routing over Yad Moss so would have been 1400km.

In 1989 Bernard Mawson not only ran the start and finish control at the Doncaster Mencap, he also ran the controls at Carterway Heads in Northumberland (car in a layby) and the one at Thurlby YH in south Lincolnshire. This involved stamping the cards of the last riders coming south through Carterway Heads (i.e. me) and then a mad dash down the A1 in his Lada to get to Thurlby before the fastest rider (Graham Moult).

First overseas finishers were actually in 1993 - Canadians Gordon Cooke and Manfred Kuchenmuller. 1993 also had the first fixers, Mark Webb and a certain McNasty. The HQ was Hatfield Marina.

The 1993 edition still used the A68 - Yad Moss wasn't used until 1997 (and one of the controls in 1997 was a camper van at the side of the road next to the cattle grid).
Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #10 on: 08 January, 2013, 07:37:10 pm »
1997 and 2001, we controlled at Carslisle Truckstop and a pub called The Gordon Arms. In 1993, it was a petrol garage control for Edinburgh. (Which had near enough ran out of food by the time I got there)
2001 was very hot, especially on the southern section. There was an opt out in 2001 after doing the northern 800km half, which Gethin Butler took. Gethin Butler went on the following weekend to become National 24 hour champion, then later on in September took the Land's End John O groats record by almost an hour, then carried on for the 1000 mile record. He also took the RRA 24 hour record on the way too.

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #11 on: 08 January, 2013, 07:40:20 pm »
The Gordon Arms control was actually at the bunkhouse to the left of it.

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #12 on: 08 January, 2013, 07:44:51 pm »
I remember Win van der Spek from 2001. His girlfriend had a Morris Minor with LEL as part of the registration. He's a brewer and has a little outfit near Mytholmroyd, we were presented with a bottle of his beer at The Three Coasts in 2011. Heather Swift rode the Mersey Roads 24 again in 2001, a week after LEL, and I supported her, she did 312 miles, which is 500km. She ran controls in 2005 and 2009 and went to look at the Brampton control today with Danial.
I took a few photos of riders in the Muirfoot Hills, including Jim Churton and Dave Lewis.




Salvatore

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Re: LEL History.
« Reply #13 on: 08 January, 2013, 08:02:11 pm »
An artist's impression of an incident in 1989


Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #14 on: 09 January, 2013, 12:36:56 am »
I rode in 1989,1997 and 2005. The first was the biggest adventure and most memorable. I'll post some memories when I have more time

Salvatore will remember the photos taken at the start of the first "EL and back" ride in 1989. One featuring me appeared in Cycling Weekly.



Salvatore

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Re: LEL History.
« Reply #15 on: 10 January, 2013, 02:43:19 pm »
You're right about 1989 being an adventure. For everyone it was a trip into the unknown. There was no-one with experience of such a ride to give tips on sleep strategies, pacing, food, valve caps etc (and very limited means to disseminate such info anyway). It was just a matter of getting on your bike and seeing what happened. True there were people with PBP experience, but that was of limited use, given that LEL made PBP "seem like an afternoon picnic" according to Sheila Simpson.

I had only completed my first SR a couple of weeks beforehand, but thought I might as well give it a go, as I might not get the chance again.

Those photos from the Cycling Weekly writeup. The others in the picture with SR Steve are James Green from Kidderminster and Dave Kiernan from Sussex,  Mad Jack's dad's cycling chum.




Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

frankly frankie

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Re: LEL History.
« Reply #16 on: 10 January, 2013, 05:02:44 pm »
As a bit of personal, rather than LEL, history - this is the first photo I ever took with a (borrowed) digital camera.

LEL '01, Thorne starters half-an-hour up the road - Lucy in the blue'n'green, Ricki Goode in the polkadots.
when you're dead you're done, so let the good times roll

Salvatore

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Re: LEL History.
« Reply #17 on: 10 January, 2013, 06:09:12 pm »
Ricki Goode on his last LEL - no thread entitled 'LEL History' should be allowed without mention of Ricki.

Ricki had ridden all LELs until then, but packed in 2001 at the halfway-ish Thorne control, allegedly on the advice of the proprietor of a burger van who was doubling as an agony uncle, and was never seen again. A great shame, as I'd spent many miles with him having the most bizarre and entertaining conversations. Then four years ago, a few weeks before the 2009 LEL  I was riding home from my mum's, and somewhere near Northampton I saw a rider in a polka-dot jersey coming the other way. "Surely not", I thought, but it was indeed Mr Goode, so we stopped for a chat. He said that having given up long distances, he'd intended to make a few cameo appearances on shorter Audaxes, but reading Arrivée and seeing what he was missing made him sad, so he'd let his membership lapse.
Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #18 on: 13 January, 2013, 02:54:19 pm »
I have just posted my account of the first "EL & Back" on Rider's Reports.

http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=67308.0



Re: LEL History.
« Reply #19 on: 13 January, 2013, 07:51:42 pm »
I have just posted my account of the first "EL & Back" on Rider's Reports.

http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=67308.0

brill stuff, no control every 50 miles with three course dinners and showers and beds from reading that

Salvatore

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Re: LEL History.
« Reply #20 on: 10 February, 2013, 10:12:21 pm »
Two stalwarts of the first 2 LELs, Dave Kiernan and John Seviour, are shown in this "artist's impression" which John's son (aka Mad Jack) sent to me. Mad Jack might be able to shed some light on who painted it. Dave is shown wearing the Station Master's cap - he loved railways and spent his spare time on the Bluebell Line when he gave up audaxing. Dave and John rode nearly every inch of those two LELs together.

Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #21 on: 11 February, 2013, 07:11:19 am »
Wonderful sense of adventure from reading these accounts of former LELs - thanks to all for posting. Great feeling to be playing some small part in the ride's ongoing history.
The other Robw, not the wobbly one

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #22 on: 11 February, 2013, 11:33:38 pm »
Two stalwarts of the first 2 LELs, Dave Kiernan and John Seviour, are shown in this "artist's impression" which John's son (aka Mad Jack) sent to me. Mad Jack might be able to shed some light on who painted it. Dave is shown wearing the Station Master's cap - he loved railways and spent his spare time on the Bluebell Line when he gave up audaxing. Dave and John rode nearly every inch of those two LELs together.



Text on the back of the Oil Painting-

This oil painting depicts two Bicycle riders on the first ride of Audax United Kingdom London Edinburgh London non stop event which started on the 7th July 1989. The rider in red is David Kiernan age 44 yrs and the rider in Blue is John Seviour 53 yrs old.
The picture depicts, especially in the case of David Kiernan other interests in his life, an abiding interest in railways real and model. The maps signify his desire to know exactly where he is and where he is going to. The cereal bars are for energy requirements on the ride, the pair of riders ate 60 bars between them on the ride. John Seviour had a cautious approach to cycling with the reflective strips and helmet and light. The riders completed the event in 94 hours the distance 1340 kilometers
D Kiernan 1/10/91

Andy
Mad Jacks JSM/  Hills and Mills to be continued in 2021

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #23 on: 12 February, 2013, 06:27:24 pm »
 hellymedic on January 08, 2013, 06:58:37 PM »

1997 Started and finished at Thorne Rugby Club.   I have 35mm photos somewhere.

I am sure you will remember the incident when the police came round about 1 a.m saying they had a rider in Gainsborough (?)  hospital who didn't know who he was or where he was going.    The same rider then discharged himself from the hospital and then "got lost" on the way back to Thorne Rugby Club and gave me a couple of the most stressful hours I've ever had, I had visions of him being in one of the drainage ditches.   Fortunately he turned up after about three hours having missed the turn in Epworth and coming back through Goole, I think.   They do say helping is harder than riding, it can certainly be more stressful.   

Re: LEL History.
« Reply #24 on: 12 February, 2013, 06:42:28 pm »
That was David Stephens from Devon. He vanished for 12 hours ad had no reccollection of where he'd been, but he had a vague idea that he'd been to a hospital and police station.
He thought it was caused by lack of sleep and his front flashing Vistalight.