Great ride - sorry I missed you at the turn.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Events, rides etc.
LEL 2013
(142 posts)-
Posted 10 years ago #
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I can;t tell you guys how much of a smile this thread and the tweets from the last few days have brought to my face. The 79 hours 50minutes of the race ar a blur frankly. Basically slogging into wind, mixed with great chat, pain (lots of pain) and the EATING. I am sick of EATING. This will be shortish as I'm on a train and also because I don;t know what you'd like to know!
This is what a LEL looks like when riding fast.
Start- ride for 3-4 hours (5 max) and then shove food in your face and get your card stamped. shove food in your pocket. Leave the control. Repeat for 20 hours(ish) stop for 3 hours sleep and 45 mins eating.Here are some headlines sorry I'm not sure on detail it's a blur.
5:30 (vedettes-ish "invite only" meant to be quakified audaxers... whoops. Contained lots of germans, a set of polish randoneurs, a random russian, a couple recumbants, some dutch and canadians and 4 brits. Inc me.
When we set off a guy called pete from derby mercury tall - clearly fast) took the lead and I ended up next to him. We were motoring from the off and me and pete ended up doiung a lot of the work for the fist 40km. First stop was VERY fast (<5min) which was a shock but I managed to do it and we all caught up with the rest. We then organised it into a more coherant group with a chain gang starting to combat a head-cross wind.
However about 170km into the whatever stage I was resting after my 10 minute stint pulling the group at 36-37kmph about 4 pairs back when the first three pairs (germans) took the wrong turning.
Russian guy just WENT. Like at 42kmph. The group blew apart - que 30 minutes attacks friom the germans and others. Guy that won it kept attacking at 45 then dropping back as soon as we caught. Me and another guy (and lots of others were dropped. Me and MArk (pother derby mercury) were pulled back by pete and stuck in there.
We held on next stage but it was clear this pace was insane. They also were not stopping for food or drink apart from what they could grab. I realised at this point that I had started a bit dehydrated. About 240km cramp set in and I was dropped 2km from Market Rasen. Que LITRES of water and I joined Derby MErcury Pete (till Moffatt) and Mark (till the end!)
REst is a random collection if thoughts
Riding so far in one day was physically fine (apart from cramp) but my brain was dying.
I was sick of eating by the end of it! A full meal every 3-4 hours. Brutal.
Mental strength is needed. And rough road conditions are the worst.
My right knee started to hurt at Edinburgh - my left by Traquir. I was in agony from traquir to half way to bramptin and rode the rest with massive tendonitis in my knees (pushing too hard standing up on hills!) I can;t tell you how much this hurt sometimes despite the drugs
Me and Mark paced each other well. He's a fast rider (24hr time trialist and OBP and LEL Vetran of 13 years) Pacing each other is vital and the chat is better than slipstreaming.
Thirsk had amazing cake
Sleeping for 6.5 hours over 79 hours 50 minutes make you slightly incapable of speaking like a normal person I could also no longer balence however I could cycle fine. I did find myself gurning horribly and fixated with someones cassette at one point
noone owes anyone anything at the front of the audax, Unless you've "slept togeher" and made plans IF you;ve got that bond you sorta hold onto it. Me and Mark helped each other to the end after his achilles started to go I He told me to go on when we realised we had 1hr 50 to ride 44 hilly klm to finish a sub 80 I did not. We rode in together. However we dropped a hungarian who opulled us 50km and a russian like cheap hats the second they technical'd.
That;s all for now I'm drinking bad beeer in the worlds hottest train carriage.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Oh! List of injuries. (not any poermanent I think!
*Left knee tendanitis-ish
*right knee same-ish
*right big and little toe are basically crippled
+same on left!
*hands are numb - I can't feel a thing! Swollen - I can't open a can of beer! (don;'t worry asking for help from other train people)
*back is SORE
*sadde sore esp inner thigh
*saddle sore in. *ahem* other places.
*Chesty cough - coughing up chunks
*HEart burn (not now but on average every hour about 4 horrible pains for about 24 hours)
*triceps very sore.
*mouth with ulcers and cuts from constant sugarry snacking and cutting them open on rough snacks (I was very "run down" after the effort)remarkably my legs feel freshish!
Posted 10 years ago # -
@Uberuce - sorry, been away from the bikes for a few days, and I can't see anything odd about the picture of the drop handlebars.
Perhaps it's a subtlety lost on my simplistic "oh, it's a racer" mindset...
Anyone care to enlighten me?
Robert
Posted 10 years ago # -
Crazy bar steward! Well done mate that was some time.
Audax vets, I thought it wasn't a race???
Edit: I think your list has broken the forum...
ADMIN EDIT
Sorted - list function doesn't work properly.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Stats from Mark's GPS - missing 2 hours of either cycling or rest we've not figured out what happened yet it did run out of batteries though.
Total Distance - 1430km
riding time - 56-58 hours
Riding average speed - 25.1
Total time - 79:50:something
Total avg - 18.4 kmh (a touch screwed up as it is missing 2 hours somewhere! However we're not far off!)@steveo sorry fr breaking it! Also as one audaxer said " where ever you have 2 men on bikes - it's basically a race""
Posted 10 years ago # -
Also Here is mark and petes forum with all their news from the event. It's a good read and photos. http://www.derbymercury.org.uk/forummenu/events/17576-lel-2013.html?start=70
Posted 10 years ago # -
" where ever you have 2 men on bikes - it's basically a race""
So true :D
Posted 10 years ago # -
I thought it wasn't a race???
As someone once said:
"What's the difference between a sportive and an audax?
Sportives are for people who like to pretend they're racing.
Audaxes are for people who like to pretend they're NOT racing."Posted 10 years ago # -
Seriously when will I feel my fingers again? I keep dropping things.
Posted 10 years ago # -
LATE, LATE LB CC FORUM VESTED INTEREST NEWS
R22 Darkerside has just pulled in to LEL service station at Market Rassen 00.10
R21 Julian P last seen at Pocklington 18.23 - may be following throughARobComp List of Injuries
Painful reading (?) Not being able to open a beer can is bad - thanks for link and sharing link.Posted 10 years ago # -
@Uberuce - sorry, been away from the bikes for a few days, and I can't see anything odd about the picture of the drop handlebars.
I assumed it was the 12 layers of tape?
Alex mentions how sore his hands are, assume from all the road buzz on a fast-and-light skinny-tyred bike. Perhaps all the layers of tape to help combat this? Many Paris-Roubaix racers use multiple layers to help with all the vibration.
Posted 10 years ago # -
R21 + R22 are now at Kirkton back of 7 this morning. Last tweet said things were getting busy. The end is within grasp.... easy for me to say!
Posted 10 years ago # -
@ARobComp, I hope your hands get better soon, and your various other twinges and aches. Maybe see a physio about your injuries if they don't recede soon? Well done though, chapeau!
I don't know if I could ride that distance, and certainly not on a skinny tyred bike. I find a 200k gives me the odd bit of discomfort in hands and seat area, even with 28mm tyres and gel saddle. When I first started doing audaxing last year I was ultra cautious and had thick foam grips plus gel tape on my bars, and 32mm tyres. That bike now has cloth tape over the foam, which looks less outlandish but is still comfy. I may consider something similar for longer distances (300k+) and definitely 28mm - 32mm tyres!
Posted 10 years ago # -
"Seriously when will I feel my fingers again? I keep dropping things"
Could be anything from a couple of hours to a couple of months. Numb fingers and toes are one of the occupational hazards of long distance cycling.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I had numb toes for a few months after skiing this year (think I may transition to a board for the comfort alone...)
Posted 10 years ago # -
St Ives and the 1300km mark for Darkerside. Is he still merry?
Posted 10 years ago # -
R21 + R22 both last logged at St Ives 13.20. Think they should get in soon. Like Alex they'll have some epic tales of hope and dispair.
Posted 10 years ago # -
So who's doing it in 4 years??
Posted 10 years ago # -
I must admit helping out did the opposite of inspire me to oil up Mileomnomnometer and go out for a DIY - I knew I'd not get more than 200k and that's such a tiny distance that it's not worth the effort.
Posted 10 years ago # -
LATE LB VESTED INTEREST NEWS
Great Easton for both recumbents at 20.00 ish.... 45.6 kilometres in progress.They want to get to finish before pubs close..... !
Posted 10 years ago # -
Darksider rolled into Great Easton at 23.16. He's got till 4.55am to reach Loughton, and it's a teensy tiny* 45km so I think he's got it.
*may not seem so to Darksider.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Deleted- operator error.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Darkerside is L22...
Posted 10 years ago # -
So R21 is a bit ahead then. I had been getting tweets from Rob but they seem to have stopped...
Posted 10 years ago # -
L22 Darkerside / Rob arrived London!
London Loughton 02/08/2013 02:21:24
R21 Julian P arrived too!
London Loughton 02/08/2013 01:07:03
WELL DONE TO BOTH!
Not heard a tweet from Rob for a while - sent him text last night. Imagine at over 112 hours cycling he'll be lying down somewhere for quite a while!
Posted 10 years ago # -
Hooray!! Well done!!
Posted 10 years ago # -
Well done Darkerside!
Posted 10 years ago # -
Wunderbar! Congrats!
Posted 10 years ago # -
+1 great effort!
Posted 10 years ago #
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