He will have the north Beds , Essex traffic too innit.
You boys and girls done well!!!
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Events, rides etc.
LEL 2021(2) - Riding or Volunteering
(190 posts)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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The guy who bought a brand new frame in Edinburgh and had all the components transferred over finished.
https://twitter.com/LEL1500km/status/1558037272464859136?t=V6dUPFvTtvD2U_vkBbNAcQ&s=19
Posted 1 year ago # -
Apols for posting what may or may not be the spawn of Beelzebub, but anyway, here’s my ride:
Posted 1 year ago # -
That's acsimpson finished, according to the tracker.
Well done to all three CCEers.Posted 1 year ago # -
Well done you guys! Simply amazing.
Posted 1 year ago # -
And well done to @edinburgh87 and @HankChief, and all other volunteers. They, and the organisers and controllers are the legends here. The care I saw them take of one injured, possibly not ride-endingly, rider in Hessle was extraordinary.
Posted 1 year ago # -
A massive well done to our riders. Amazing effort with the heat & hills. The memories will stay with you for a long time.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Heroes all 3 of you. Well done!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Chapeau, chapeau, chapeau!
Posted 1 year ago # -
So. Is anyone riding back from London?
Well done everyone.Posted 1 year ago # -
Love these photos https://www.charlottebarnes.co.uk/lel2022hardriders?fpciidx=85
Spot the almost unrecognisable ccers
Posted 1 year ago # -
Amazing what 1600km of cycling and black and white photo can do to your appearance
Posted 1 year ago # -
Those pictures make people look very weird. Some of them (not the CCErs) look like goblins and even the CCErs don't look like what I think they normally look like (understandable 1,500km stares notwithstanding)
Were they told to look miserable?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Well done all three of you- will be interested to hear the stories and your thoughts on the event - hope that you get a well deserved rest and no lingering ill effects
Posted 1 year ago # -
Apart from Bill who looks fine and dandy
Posted 1 year ago # -
Were they told to look miserable?
Knowing Charlotte, that was probably the intention. It's all very "I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."! Bill's in that gallery, but I don't recognise anyone else.
Charlotte's smiley photos are on a separate page – and in glorious technicolor:
Posted 1 year ago # -
And well done to @edinburgh87 and @HankChief, and all other volunteers. They, and the organisers and controllers are the legends here. The care I saw them take of one injured, possibly not ride-endingly, rider in Hessle was extraordinary.
It was honestly a really enjoyable experience, and I'd recommend it to anyone, including riders who want to see the 'other side'. You could easily make a cycling or walking break out of it too, accommodation provided and plenty to explore from most controls when 'off' shift. Admittedly I wasn't involved in any actual organizing, I just turned up but running this must have involved about a million times more paperwork and complexity than any typical 'event'! To think it's run on a completely non-commercial basis but is still 'catered' (unlike TCR etc) is pretty special.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Presume one reason for volunteering is to get a place in the next event?
Posted 1 year ago # -
@chdot - yep, it's another benefit for sure as guarantees your place. Guess one could argue it would be rude not to!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Mr Bill was saying people registered out at Lee Valley and then did not start. I would have thought leaving it to see how you felt on the day would be an odd choice for this event. The tracker seemed to confirm this impression.
The first back Matt Page had bag drops is that right? Like you can do the event sort of supported?
My favourite thing was the adoption of ice lollies by The Scottish Borders Randonneurs.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Indeed, that was true from the system we used to check riders through too. Something like 100-150 left the start (or registered) then didn’t check through the first control.
I guess some could have had an unforeseen emergency between registration the day before and leaving but nevertheless it’s bizarre. It’s not something I thought you’d just turn up at on a whim. Even if not feeling up to it better to DNS before going to London and save a few £ on logistics.
There were bag drops yep, and it was also possible to pay extra to bring a support van and crew. I personally don’t agree with it as it confers an unfair advantage IMO but a couple of the “faster” groups had one.
This SBR won’t be adopting the lolly trend. Takes me too long to eat cold stuff!
Posted 1 year ago # -
I had frozen roof of mouth yesterday from a twister in Roslin, A twister is the opposite of what I asked for- a Solero. @edinburgh 87 a solero is good as the cold bit is first then it is warmer, you can eat it quickly. A twister the warm bit first then the cold bit, much trickier.
Lovely portugeuse supermarket in Roslin did I say and also portugeuse cafe in Rosewell. That bit of midlothian now known as Little Portugal
Posted 1 year ago # -
Didn’t know that, just up the road from me. Will definitely check out!
Solero tip duly noted!
Posted 1 year ago # -
The trick to eating the harder ice lollies on randonnee is to stick them in your saddle bag until they’ve softened
Posted 1 year ago # -
Thought I'd share a few thoughts on volunteering (No idea how comparable our control was to others)
1. Staffing: Lots of different people volunteer; former riders (i.e. me), partners/children of riders (to get a guaranteed rider place), people in the audax/cycling community including those from overseas, friends /children of the controllers, random locals.
There was a real mix of people there and also a mix of when people we available to help. From people doing a single shift to those who were there all the way through. Everyone was welcomed and found something to do.
We also had visits from 'special forces' who were ultra keen individuals who were being bussed around the country to help controls deal with the bulge multiple times over. Not a role for the work shy.
2. Rota: Notionally we had a rota with volunteers spread across 3 eight hour shifts, so we'd have fresh volunteers coming on to replace the weary ones. A lot of extra hours were worked though and volunteers were being told to take a break.
3. Tasks:
A. Kitchen: We had 1000 riders to feed enough calories to, to get them back on their bikes and heading down the road. Our control took the decision to get soup, quiche, jacket potatoes, porridge & cakes, so that it was just a case of heating up and serving them. We did have the school's dinner ladies working a daytime shift but we were on our own overnight.Explaining what each of the choices were was a big task to tired riders for whom English wasn't their first language. As was washing up the dishes.
B. Registration: Welcoming riders, stamping their brevet card, recording them on the tracking system, pointing out where all the facilities were and dealing with any questions requirements (first aid, mechanical support, blankets, charging points etc.)
C. Main area / random: clearing tables, filling water bowsers, directing to beds, maintaining coffee/ tea facilities, emptying bins & keeping everything clean and finally (& most importantly) consoling/enthusing riders and dealing with any issues they had, which including trying to source wheels, shoes, pharmaceutical advice, warmth in their body, onward travel etc.
D. Set up and pack up. Inflating/deflating air bed, sorting out signage, tables chairs etc.
I thought our controller had an excellent attitude/briefing. We weren't being allocated specific tasks, we should just do whatever we saw needed doing and to look after each other by offering to swap roles / get food/drinks for each other and importantly telling each other to take breaks.
I spent most of my time in the main area, (but I also missed @murun because I was on registration and didn't get spot his arrival/message), but I also did a bit of roving work - setting up an additional sleeping area at the other end of the village, going back there at 5am to steal some of their milk (they were all asleep so didn't notice), buying 20litres of milk from the corner shop when it opened at 6am so we didn't run out of porridge, and getting some instance coffee when the filter coffee machines packed in.
4. The Bulge
A lot of time at the control was spent worrying about when the bulge would hit us. Previously Innerleithen got really busy in the afternoon of Tuesday, but the heat, hills, headwind and Dunfermline detour meant riders were several hours behind that, so whilst we had riders trickling in during Tuesday daytime it never got crazy, but we knew it was coming...We had a website that told us how many we had checked in and also the same for Moffat & Dunfermline, so we could see them getting hit with 100 riders an hour, whilst we were still only on 30 or so.
With the bulge coming later & the next stop after us (Eskdalemuir) not having sleeping facilities, we could tell we were going to get hit with many riders wanting to sleep (& potentially wanting to eat twice).
We already had the primary school's sports hall, a couple of classrooms, a portacabin and giant marquee (complete with ornate chandeliers!) out the back filled with air mattresses and blankets, but as an example of the level of planning involved, they had also rented the memorial hall as an emergency extra space, but not expecting to use it.
Foreseeing a night-time bulge this too was pressed into action, with a special forces team bringing airbeds and people to staff it.
The bulge itself when it came was pretty frenetic, with riders sleeping everywhere, us nearly running out of milk, coffee machines breaking down and the electrical system overheating with the amount of people trying to charge their electronics, but we coped. The riders got fed, warmed and some kip.
By daybreak things started to calm down and we knew we were over the worse.
5. The riders
There an interesting evolution to the riders, early ones didn't want to stop long and generally knew what they were doing and could look after themselves. The bulge was a true mix of people (50% overseas riders so language ) and the stragglers were in an increasingly sorry state. Many suffered with the cold of the granites after such scorching daytime temperatures as well as the usual complaints of saddle-sores and muscle fatigue.One thing I did find a bit weird, is that you could help a rider in an element of distress and you'd do what you could for them and maybe suggest their next steps. You'd see them around the control for a bit and then they would disappear. You wouldn't know if they had worked out their issues or not, and with so many riders/ rider numbers no way of working out if they finished or not.
@acs chaperoned a very cold & struggling German rider into Innerleithen and I did my best to warm him up before sending him for some sleep. He seemed much more chipper a few hours later and I encouraged him to make the most the sunny/warm day and push on to Brampton before deciding to quit or not. He left but I have no idea what happened to him.
6. Volunteer accommodation
They had arranged a few different places for us around the village, I was in a static caravan sharing a room with an Indian chap who was on a different shift to me so we never met at the caravan. Some volunteers brought tents and most got some rest at the school on an air-mattress when they could.7. Volunteering vs Riding
Both were hard but in very different ways. The volunteering was pretty full on because there was always something you could be doing and being on your feet for so long was shock to me as an office desk jockey. Lots of problem solving to do as well.The riding is obviously very full on, but you have clarity of purpose. You just ride your bike and you get regular breaks when you hit a control and you get a medal at the end. As a volunteer you get a couple of sweaty Tshirts ;)
Given that the riders had done a couple of days riding before I started volunteering and some did a couple of days more riding after I have finished, made me glad I was a volunteer.
I hope the above gives an inkling to what being a volunteer is like and maybe encourages some of you to consider it for next time, if you're not riding it that is :)
Posted 1 year ago # -
Cracking summary @hankcheif - hard to add much! Echo your comment about not finding out what happened to people. Had one guy (Dutch / German I think) arrive early on Tues morning, massive time in hand, adamant that he'd had enough and was DNF'ing. Said to have something to eat and a lie down, and see how he feels. Never found out what happened to him.
There was also the guy whose Hunt wheels fell to bits and was trying to source a replacement. Again, stacks of time but don't know if he packed or not.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Apparently the hunt wheel guy, rode on to Brampton where a pal met him with a replacement wheel and he completed the ride. I forget where I heard that though...
Posted 1 year ago # -
Great, was hopeful he'd make it.
Posted 1 year ago #
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