LEL 2013

[walkerr]

Thread for all those interested in the London-Edinburgh-London 2013.

 

Official website here:

 

http://www.londonedinburghlondon.com/

 

Information from organisers below.

 

The event will take place from Sunday 28 July to Thursday 1 August 2013. Registration will be on 27 July 2013. Our start location will be:

 

Davenant Foundation School

Chester Road

Loughton

Essex

IG10 2LD

 

Riders will start in groups, between 07:00 and 10:00. You will not be able to choose your start time, but you will be able to start with your friends.

 

You will also be able to start in central London. We are arranging a special start at 06:00, hopefully from outside Buckingham Palace.

 

The route is 1400km, with a minimum speed of 12kph throughout. It passes through a wide variety of countryside, with both hilly and flat sections. The route is not signposted, but we will provide you with a routesheet and gpx files.

 

We haven’t confirmed the entry fee yet, but it is likely to be around £210. This will include:

 

- all food and drink at controls

- dormitories

- showers

- finishers’ medal

- motorbike support along the route

 

You will be able to enter online from 5 January 2013, and pay by credit or debit card. You do not need to qualify to enter.

 

We are developing our website, which will have much more information about the route and controls. We hope this will be ready soon, and we will send you another email to let you know.

 

We look forward to seeing you in 2013!

 

Best wishes

 

The London Edinburgh London team

[gogo@]

This is a must-read, if you are at all vaguely interested...

Andy Allsop's account from LEL 2009 which he completed on a recumbent.

 

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/seeya-arallsopp-does-the-lel.35203/page-4

 

And this is (more or less) how it starts...

 

 

Sunday 1445hrs: Miles ridden: 0. Your time starts NOW.

 

OK. Off the line. LongHairedScouser in tow, GPS working lovely, few too many speedhumps for my choice of route, but its drawing me out of town and towards Edinburgh. Suburbia drops somewhere behind us, and the countryside steps in to welcome us aboard. Everytime I glimpse at the GPS, I see we’re moving at 16+mph. The sun is shining. This is good. LongHairedScouser and I are in pleasant conversation about navigation (he admits to being utterly lost already, and is happy / requiring to follow me and the GPS to the first control).

 

Now, a quick word about recumbents. They’re very comfortable. They can be very fast. They *all* have issues with chain management. In the RWD Furai, this role is supplied by a set of jockey wheels routing the chain line up and down, following the frame. One in particular (the foremost return idler) has the delightful job of keeping the chain out of the front wheel.

 

 

So, 9.4 miles in, and my eye catches a wobble in the guide fixed to the foremost return idler. I can stop and sort that. Tiny bit of plastic. Probably just worked loose.

 

PING! ****! Its come off.

 

CRACK!! …and gone straight under a car. That’s bad. Ok jockey wheel still there. Never seen the chain mount the guide. Probably just there for aesthetics. Still, let’s stop and check.

 

PING!

 

****. That was a retaining guide then. Jockey wheel gone now. Doing 20mph. Best throw on the anchors.

 

SCHLLINGGG!

 

Cr@p! chain is in the front wheel. Can’t steer. Can’t pedal. Unclip. Get ready for crash landing.

 

SKKKCRRRANK!

[Chain catches spoke and brings rider and bent to a very rapid halt].

 

Stop. Breathe. Relax. Ok. You’re alive. That was bad. Am I in traffic? No. Ok. Good. Where’s my longhairedscouser? Up ahead. Looping back. Ok. Good. Let’s check bike over. Hmmm.. In place of jockey wheel and two retaining guides, I seem to have a bare spindle. Damn. Can I balance the chain on it?

 

No.

 

Damn. Try again. Damn. No. Ok. Can I fix this? Erm. No.

 

10 minutes pass, whilst the longhairedscouser and I try to work out where on the route sheet we actually are. I momentarily consider loaning him my GPS, as it looks like I’m out of the running. Damn. On second thoughts, I’ll need it to find a station. ****. Not happy. Best ring wife and buddy. See if anyone is still in the area, or whether I’m lugging this thing back on the trains.

[onetrackmind]

Thread for all those interested in the London-Edinburgh-London 2013.

 

Official website here:

 

http://www.londonedinburghlondon.com/

 

Information from organisers below.

What a rip-off - R2500 for a one-stage event. I bet the organiser is making millions in profit.

 

*climbs back under bridge*

[walkerr]

What a rip-off - R2500 for a one-stage event. I bet the organiser is making millions in profit.

 

Yeah - and only 1400km for the stage too .... phhhtt .... ludicrous

[Grantc]

What a rip-off - R2500 for a one-stage event. I bet the organiser is making millions in profit.

 

*climbs back under bridge*

 

and that includes your food as well - sheesh - what's wrong with these organisers

[Speed Racer]

 

 

and that includes your food as well - sheesh - what's wrong with these organisers

 

You doing it Grant?

[Grantc]

You doing it Grant?

 

I have unfinished business from last year's PBP and i guess this event is as good as any to rid the mind of the "long distance demons"

 

Want to do this one on the tandem with the missus

 

Dave is also keen - looks like there will be a little Dave (or two) arriving at the end of the year, and with his family over there there is talk of the christning happening at the same time.

[Speed Racer]

Nice. I'm keen, having missed PBP last year. GuyP said he's keen. A few of the gang are also interested.

[walkerr]

Entries open around 3am SA time tomorrow (Jan 5) for anyone thinking of entering.

 

Will definitely be entering myself, haven't yet decided whether to do the prologue though or stay near the start and enjoy an extra hour of bed before the madness begins!

 

FYI - You can enter a team name to get a start time allocated with fellow SA riders.