LEL 2025

[SimonCelsa]

I see the entry is now open. https://londonedinburghlondon.com/

I am seriously contemplating having a shot at this. It will be very much 'full value'. 1539km / 956miles to be completed in 128 hrs. 289 km/day ~ 179 miles/day for 5 days 8 hrs. A big ask.

Living in the Highlands, my strategy will be to progress to Edinburgh; if things look good then return to London, but if things look grim then just continue home to Inverness!

Anyone else thinking of giving it a shot?

[crossy]

It’s beyond me so I’m volunteering that will give me a guaranteed place in 2029. I might not do it but you’ve got to have your dreams. Sounds easy at 7.5 mph until you add in sleeping, feeding and everything else. The clock starts ticking when you go over the line and doesn’t finish until you go back over it.

[GedBen]

I shall be helping/making a nuisance of myself at the start/finish.
It's a different event to the one I rode in 1997.

[mattheus]

I see the entry is now open. https://londonedinburghlondon.com/

I am seriously contemplating having a shot at this. It will be very much 'full value'. 1539km / 956miles to be completed in 128 hrs. 289 km/day ~ 179 miles/day for 5 days 8 hrs. A big ask.

Living in the Highlands, my strategy will be to progress to Edinburgh; if things look good then return to London, but if things look grim then just continue home to Inverness!

Anyone else thinking of giving it a shot?

Did you get in Simon?

( I had guaranteed entry in triplicate I also rode in 2009 when there was little pressure on places. Nothing like 1997 I'm sure - did they even have pneumatic tyres back then?!?)

[Paulatic]

I shall be helping/making a nuisance of myself at the start/finish.
It's a different event to the one I rode in 1997.

There were some characters on that ride
I was helping at Carlisle truck stop.

[SimonCelsa]

Did you get in Simon?

Yes, I got in from having been a member of Audax UK for a number of years. I haven't actually completed an 'official' audax ride for a while. However I retain reasonable fitness, can get along with minimal sleep, and don't take myself (or cycling) too seriously.

See what happens come August!!

[Milfred Cubicle]

I'm having a crack at it. Volunteered in 2009, rode it in 2013, ran a control in 2017 and 2021.

Mixing it up this time; volunteering at the start, then riding the event.

The new route looks amazing.

[LiamFitz]

How many CUK peeps are volunteering and where?

(I'm asking in case we can interest Cycling in doing a write up).

Liam

[st599_uk]

Shame it had to be cut short, but with the weather on top of the North Yorks. Moors and further north, not too surprising.

[Halla]

It is a great shame that the ride had to be cut short, however I do understand that some riders had made Edinburgh before they were all stopped from about 13:30 Hrs on Monday.

There has been a huge amount of effort made by some very experienced Audax organisers to put on this top class randonnee, all on a part time voluntary basis.

It is a great shame that some have been very critical of the decision to cut the event short, some being exceptionally rude on Facebook.

One thing that has become clear is that many participants do not know who Audax UK are, and what a randonnee actually is, this has lead to some very harsh words on Facebook, and arguments about whether it is a race. Racing on open roads is illegal in UK, anyone who takes part in a randonnee is not competing against anyone else, they do it for the interest and personal satisfaction.

This event does not need any pre-qualification , therefore some people have signed up for it with no experience and very little preparation. The lack of experience has lead to a large amount of very basic questions for the organisers to answer, adding to the already heavy workload.

I do hope that the event can run again in 2029 and the weather is more kind than this year. I understand that the good old British weather has also been unkind in previous editions of this very popular international event.

Leading up to this years LEL, there has been very little interest shown on this forum, which is a great shame, as Audax UK has close ties with the old CTC. Many CTC members graduated from club rides to Audax. (including myself) Although the Cycling UK website has a section about Audax and LEL, the LEL information is out of date and needs amending.

I hope those who are interested in this type of cycling will spread the word, whether they are still riding randonnee's or previously participated .

[Richard Fairhurst]

One thing that has become clear is that many participants do not know who Audax UK are, and what a randonnee actually is, this has lead to some very harsh words on Facebook, and arguments about whether it is a race. Racing on open roads is illegal in UK, anyone who takes part in a randonnee is not competing against anyone else, they do it for the interest and personal satisfaction.

This event does not need any pre-qualification , therefore some people have signed up for it with no experience and very little preparation. The lack of experience has lead to a large amount of very basic questions for the organisers to answer, adding to the already heavy workload.

I wonder if Facebook's algorithms had something to do with that. I was absolutely bombarded with posts from the London Edinburgh London FB group this year, even though I'm not a member and frankly I'm about as likely to ride LEL as I am to climb K2. I can imagine that others might have been shown the posts and thought "ooh, that sounds fun".

[Chris Jeggo]

It is a great shame that the ride had to be cut short, however I do understand that some riders had made Edinburgh before they were all stopped from about 13:30 Hrs on Monday.

There has been a huge amount of effort made by some very experienced Audax organisers to put on this top class randonnee, all on a part time voluntary basis.

It is a great shame that some have been very critical of the decision to cut the event short, some being exceptionally rude on Facebook.

One thing that has become clear is that many participants do not know who Audax UK are, and what a randonnee actually is, this has lead to some very harsh words on Facebook, and arguments about whether it is a race. Racing on open roads is illegal in UK, anyone who takes part in a randonnee is not competing against anyone else, they do it for the interest and personal satisfaction.

This event does not need any pre-qualification , therefore some people have signed up for it with no experience and very little preparation. The lack of experience has lead to a large amount of very basic questions for the organisers to answer, adding to the already heavy workload.

I do hope that the event can run again in 2029 and the weather is more kind than this year. I understand that the good old British weather has also been unkind in previous editions of this very popular international event.

Leading up to this years LEL, there has been very little interest shown on this forum, which is a great shame, as Audax UK has close ties with the old CTC. Many CTC members graduated from club rides to Audax. (including myself) Although the Cycling UK website has a section about Audax and LEL, the LEL information is out of date and needs amending.

I hope those who are interested in this type of cycling will spread the word, whether they are still riding randonnee's or previously participated .

It looks as if LEL might be facing the same problem as PBP did in 1971 and dealt with in 1975 et seq.

[rareposter]

It is a great shame that some have been very critical of the decision to cut the event short, some being exceptionally rude on Facebook.

Most of what I saw was very positive, very supportive of the organiser's decision to cut it short. A few people posted some stuff along the lines of "you should have let us continue at our own risk" which is obviously nonsense but they got called out for it straight away.

I did hear that a rider had the batteries stolen from their SRAM derailleurs which really sucks. That's not the work of a random vandal, that's the work of someone who knows the kit, probably a fellow SRAM user who had forgotten their charger. People like that need to be beaten with a chainset until they've learnt the error of their ways.

Reminds me of why I've pretty much stopped doing organised events in this country - the vagaries of the weather means you can train for something for months then get to it and find that you're faced with 3 days of torrential wind and rain.

[Halla]

Dear All.

Just read on YACF that the individual who called a controller "A crook" on facebook and objected to the ride being cancelled, has had his membership withdrawn and his posts removed.

I fully agree that most riders were polite and fully supportive of the decision by the organisers to cancel the event.

Riding cycling events is such a positive experience as is club riding and touring, I hope that Cycling UK can make more effort to promote this as a great way of life to those they are helping to start riding.

[st599_uk]

Most of what I saw was very positive, very supportive of the organiser's decision to cut it short. A few people posted some stuff along the lines of "you should have let us continue at our own risk" which is obviously nonsense but they got called out for it straight away.

Not even sure that's legally possible in the UK. I help run sailing events and one of the first rules in sailing is that the Skipper is solely responsible for the decision to go to a race course, start a race or continue racing, but the UK governing body point out that legally the organisers have joint responsibility in the UK.