CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
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Is it time to start to get excited about LEL 2021 yet?
I will be volunteering...
Some critic FB posts have been surfacing recently...
* It will have a mandatory route
* It will be 1500km long
* It will go via Dunfermline
* It will go through the centre of Edinburgh
Anyone tempted? Plenty of time to train up...
* It will have a mandatory route
* It will be 1500km long
* It will go via Dunfermline
* It will go through the centre of Edinburgh
This is one of those lists with a deliberate mistake in it, to test that the reader has actually read the fine print, right?
'LEL' is London -> Edinburgh -> London right? Dunfermline fits in how?
Maybe someone (presumably not from around here) confused Dunfermline and Dumfries? Or even Duns?
From FB page:
"In 2021 our route will travel north of Edinburgh and cross the old Forth road bridge to Dunfermline. The bridge is almost traffic free now and is a joy to cycle. After Dunfermline the route passes back over the bridge for a second view of the iconic Forth rail bridge."
The 1500k actually means they're making it easier, because it shifts you into a slower Audax speed category. 8 extra hours for 100 (actually less than because it was already 1430) extra km.
Similarly a 1300k Audax is arguably easier than a 1200k.
'LEL' is London -> Edinburgh -> London right? Dunfermline fits in how?
Because 1200km just wasn't far enough. In many ways I would love to ride it. But I don't think I would ever have the time to get fit enough....
Would love to. Is there a lower age limit?
IIRC you have to be 18years old or above on the start line
"In many ways I would love to ride it. But I don't think I would ever have the time to get fit enough...."
That makes two of us.
They seem to be suggesting that people travel* down the Royal Mile during the Festival!
*they do say you might have to walk the top section, but I'm not sure they appreciate how busy it gets...
@hankchief - Hand out flyers as you ride, and you'll get plenty of space.
What training would one actually need to do for this? I mean at what point does it stop being a question of fitness and just start being a case of mind over matter. Could some of those who've done it explain what they did? (@HC I don't need a reply from you because I can see your Strava feed and as far as I can see you didn't do any training of note, but then your machine-like ability is well known)
Asking for a friend, obviously...
@Greenroofer, well you could look at the requirements to qualify for Paris-Brest-Paris. You can't ride that unless you do a certain number of audax rides at a certain speed, in one year: a Super Randonneur, or SR series in audax jargon. I think those requirements are a good indicator of what might make for excellent preparation for LEL. Basically though, do lots of long rides as far and as fast as you can manage...
@crowriver - Interesting: so it's not 'training' as such, but more an accumulation of experience (with the inevitable training that accidentally accompanies that).
The interesting thing is that I my friend don't think that an SR series is unreasonable, but it still seems quite a step from that up to the length of LDL.
"LDL" I read that as a popular German owned discount supermarket chain.....where cycling accessories can sometimes be purchased for not a lot.
Back to audax: opinions vary as to whether training is needed. I would say yes, but also that the best training is to ride a very long way indeed without stopping (much). I am by no means an expert though: I've never ridden a 600 for instance. It might be better to converse with more experienced audax riders, some of whom can be found on this forum from time to time. Or just log on to YACF... :-)
@HC I don't need a reply from you
I've been itching to chip in and can hold back no longer...
IMHO - the important physical things is being comfortable on you bike and knowing how to fuel & pace yourself. The rest is mental.
Life on LEL is simple enough. You ride your bike, you eat & you repeat ad nauseam until you are too tired to continue so you sleep for a bit and then start again.
Having never done more than 470k before LEL I can't comment on what you'll get from a longer training ride. It would probably be helpful if only in giving you confidence that you can do back to back long days.
Riding at different times of the day and different tiredness levels will also help.
One thing to remember is that the route is fairly flat and riding in groups will increase your speed.
(If your friend rides as fast as) your recent solo 200k was at >21.5kph, all should be relatively straightforward. Even pairing this back to 20kph the equation will be c.75hours on the bike, 25hours eating & 25hours sleeping.
Simples...
I suppose if one can do a 600 then after that it's just a case of carrying on and hoping that the body doesn't give out before the mind does. It won't be the muscles after that distance: if the legs can do 600km then they can do more, it will be the sit bones, the joints, the tendons and the nerves in one's hands.
Indeed. I changed my saddle just before LEL and I was not comfortable on the bike.
My back and 'sit bones' were not in a good place when I got to Edinburgh. A decent night's sleep and some ibuprofen got me back on the bike and some set up advice at Innerleithen got me continuing heading south.
There are definitely 2 school of thoughts when it came to the ride South. Some riders accept that they are on a downhill spiral of negativity where everything hurts more and you just have to grin & bear it.
The other is that you've chosen to be there so you might as well enjoy it where you can. Gallows humour maybe, but a cheery outlook can really see you through.
I was close to giving up when surrounded by the former until I got in with a group of the latter...
(I wasn't able to use my 'sit bones' for a while after though - TMI?)
@Greenroofer, Based on the history of your "friend" I look forward to reading about your exploits.
I have never gone far past 200k so can't really comment on the training basis. However as others have said once you are going a distance it can often be simple enough to crank it up to a much longer distance. For instance my recent century came of the back of almost no training other than my hour each way commute.
I can see that Hankchief's regular century/double century and longer rides prior to the LEL stood him in good stead, perhaps more so than even longer rides less frequently would have done.
Although I am sure it would be different if training for race speeds, training for long distance bike rides appears to be very different to running training. I assume this is because there are more opportunities for mini recovery spells while in the saddle than there would be running.
@HankC - if you have to ask "TMI?", then it's a fair bet that it is indeed TMI.
Is it just me or is the Scottish Audax calendar particularly thin this year? No Snow Roads for example.
A lot of it geared towards PBP qualification. I'm more interested in 100s or 200s. There is one on 18 August out of Lennoxtown which looks stunning. I'm aiming to get fit for that
Argyll Alps 200 sounds good as well
Yes, I plan to do the argyll one and some diys. Almost certainly not doing owt over 200 km this year, a year off.
Going through Edinburgh sounds painful for long distance riders. Lots of junctions, potholed roads and traffic.
I have to admit going through Cambridge at 3am was a baffling experience. Although the problem was more about trying to compute how I should ride the various cycle routes. Not a problem they'll have in Edinburgh...
@greenroofer - this will worth a watch
I did LEL in 2017 and PBP in 2015
I wont be doing PBP this year as I'm recovering from a serious arm injury and haven't been on a bike since February (and not likely to be capable of safely riding a bike for at least another two months).
I loved LEL. As Hank says it's mostly flatish (apart from the double crossing of Yadd Moss and some lumpy terrain around the Lincolnshire Wolds) and I'll never forget some pretty brutal headwinds on the return journey around the Cambridgeshire Fens.
The controls are nicely spaced at around the 100km mark and offered both great food plus warm & relatively comfortable sleeping options.
For PBP I did the SR qualifying rides (200, 300, 400 & 600km) but for LEL I was on a RRtY attempt so the longest I did was 400km).
For me the important things to consider are to get comfortable on the bike, make sure you can ride multiple long rides (I did a 200km ride one day before doing a 400km Audax over the next two days). Finding a group to ride with helps enormously, Oh and make sure you are happy and comfortable riding at night.
However THE most important element for me is what you head is doing. I think we all put too much emphasis on the physical aspect of doing long rides. Most folk people neglect the mental aspect and are often beaten before they set off.
Hank Chief nails it for me. Just get on your bike enjoy the ride, stop have some food and a wee stop, get back on your bike and repeat until you need a short sleep.
I looked on it a a series of relatively short and easy 100km rides punctuated with well run food/rests stops.
The controls were mostly decent, with plenty of food available (excluding Louth - which did experience problems).
As I'm not able to ride PBP this year I am definitely planning on doing LEL in 2021 and if any one is keen to hook up to share prep rides, travel or on-event support please give me a shout.
TMS
@HC - saw it as soon as it came out :-) The thing about ibuprofen was interesting (don't know how true it was)
@greenroofer - I did 2013 on effectively no training bar my commute. I didn't event get the bike until a few weeks before.
Riding a recumbent makes a massive difference. It doesn't cause the same stress on important bits of you, leaving all mental capacity available for the mind games.
Ride report here (which doesn't answer your question, but I've just enjoyed reminiscing...)
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