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Posts Tagged ‘LEL2021’

August 2022 came and at the start of it I packed all my riding gear and headed to England to participate in the LEL2022, I read many comments in the forums on what to bring with me and what to take on the ride and my head was so confused so I packed a lot of stuff.
One thing I did as a preventive measure was to not send any bottles or supplements, instead I ordered them from the UK provided I use and had it send to my friends house so I didn’t have to pay for shipping.
I started the morning of the weekend  by heading to the Airport and seeing the sunrise over the plane that will take me to the UK.

The flight went OK and I had a bit of a scare when the over-size baggage station in Heathrow airport was unmanned when I arrived and I feared that my bike was lost, It was only a short break the person took and when he came back he proceeded to bring out the bike case.
Breathing calmly now I made my way into London and once I got to my friends house I went on assembling the bike and making sure everything is ready for the event, I packed the items i wanted for the drop bags and made sure to go over the bags again to ensure I am not missing anything – as you can understand the paranoia of forgetting something was very high.

The next day I made my way to the registration ( also known as the start/end point) and followed the lines of the registration, it went smooth and I chatted with the other rides lined up with me.

When I got my card and number ( K34) I noticed some funny irregularities – on my Brevet card it listed my nationality correct, but on the bike registration card it stated I am from Ireland, I went to the organisers and thanked them for the “upgrade”.

I finished all my prep and headed back to my friends house to rest and get ready for the morning, I checked the time table for the DLR and Tube that will take me to the start and was relieved to see I will have plenty of time before set off.

Sunday Morning 
I woke up at 6 AM anxious and excited, decided to have my breakfast at Debden and went to the DLR station, only to find out that the information I was given was wrong – first train at my stop is not at 06:28, but 06:42 so now I  am  behind on my schedule.

The train arrived and i made the change in Stradford  running to catch the tube to Debden station only to find out i am on the wrong branch, so I had to wait at the platform for the right on which would arrive in 12 minutes .

I arrived at Debden station at 7:38 and my set-off time is 8 AM, I needed to rush to the start line (thankfully this section i was already on my bike and did not rely on anyone else) , so i got on the bike with other riders and we headed to the start.

We arrived at 07:55 and I had a choice between making my start time or breakfast …. I headed to the start and lined up in my group

We started on time and it felt like a valve opened, all the pent up anxiety and trepidation were out and only the excitement and desire to ride remained.

We started heading out to the hills surrounding Debden and formed into some smaller groups, as I did not come with a group and was riding “alone” I tried to draft one of the groups and get some help while making acquaintances, the pace that some of the riders set was brisk and in some segments too fast for me so I was dropped back to groups that started in time slots behind me, which didn’t bother me one bit, as I was “riding my numbers” – aiming to keep a 24km/h average.

The day got hotter as we progressed and once we were out of the London hills it became flat – The Ferns, a stretch of  about 80km of flat roads with almost no shade and a constant slight headwind, at about 80km from the start i had my first stop in a bus stop for some food and rest

Riders went by me as I enjoyed the short stroll and drink, the temp on the Garmin showed we had 31c, It felt a bit cooler, maybe due to the wind or the lack of humidity in that area. I climbed back on the bike and kept on my way to St. Ives , as we neared the control point the first of the de-tours would happen – turns out the road a head had an unplanned closure and we had to find an alternate route,  I joined a group and we explored back routes till we found our way back to the official route, ( I think we added another 5 k to the ride – thankfully no elevation ), and then we reached the 1st control point – 100 (official) km done (12:52). Looking at my times – I was bang on schedule – even a bit a head of my times, so I allowed my self a short food break, refilled the water bottles, stamped my brevet card and back on the bike we were – Next stop Boston ( the original – not the copy in the US).

This is when the rolling hills started to come, nothing too demanding but on-going for a long while, the scenery was beautiful and I stopped to take some pictures,

at one town along the way I stopped in a square under a tree to rest and drink, a lovely lady whose house was just beside the green saw me and offered a cold drink and to refill my bottles, I was so embarrassed by her generosity and  hospitality that I thanked her multiple times, and she said that I am welcome to stop and say hello on the way back. As i got on the bike I managed to latch on to a group that was riding my pace and we made it to the Boston Control point together , 189 (Official ) Km, Done. Again a quick food break, water filling, card stamping  (18:01 ) and off we were, we had 60km left on the first day’s agenda

The hills came much thicker and faster in this last planned section for this day and the legs started to complain: gels , energy and protein bars were the main source of food for the day and they proved to help even when the hills came on, at 20:35 darkness fell,

after the steepest climb of the day, me and many more riders resigned and walked up that hill , all joining the “not ashamed” club gleefully. Going down that hill into Louth is where it stared to get risky, the night was upon us, the route was under trees with no lighting ( we all had torches on the bikes but still ….) , I managed to miss a turn and had to climb back up a steep section to resume the route to the control point, and my legs were “hinting” that they wanted some rest.

At 21:43 I made it to the Louth control point, 242 (official ) km done – Garmin stated  248km. I parked the bike and settled for a night’s food and rest.

I wanted to have a solid night rest to be able to continue for the 2nd day tomorrow, so I asked for a 5 AM wake-up, I tried to ask about the other Israeli rider from the volunteer team, but was unable to get anything, once I charged my phone I got the sad news  that he had to abandon due to technical issue.

Since the Covid-19 struck, I have been in turmoil both in the home front and the work side.

The company I worked for was involved in the public transport and as the world embraced the lockdown and physical distancing the public transport industry has gone to a forced hibernation, which in turn had many companies, including the one I worked for lay off personnel.

I have the misfortune to be one of these people that found themselves with out work and I have been interviewing and searching for more then 2 month now.

It gave me some time to study, but as the time to find a job is becoming longer my motivation to study and do things wains and I suspect the depression of not securing a job will come in soon.

Last week I interviewed for a company, and in the beginning I was hesitant about the position, but the more I delved into the details and it’s requirements the more intrigued I became in the job and I find myself anxious to here from them to see if I progressed to the next stages.

So, lets hope.

As a side note – since the lockdown put a serious hindrance to my training for the LEL2021 , I resumed my training three weeks ago with simple 30Km rides (with some moderate hills to see how I cope), which was ok, this weekend I tried to push myself and did a 30km lap of a route while pushing to shorten the time, I managed to shave 12 minutes from the lap I did with my ride partner, and then I added another 20km of slow ride just to put some more time in the saddle.

I am happy with the progression, but I have a L O N G  way ahead of me to be ready for next year. No rest for the foolish.

It has been a year since I last posted here and SO much has happened I am not sure where I can start.

I’ll start with some good news, my bid to participate in the LEL2021 has been accepted and I am excited and nervous about it as it will be a ride like I’ve never done before, for the 2 of you that read this, follow the link and understand the madness of it.

In other stuff, Yum Kippur is nearly here again and I am planning to do another night ride where I collect discarded plastic bottles, drinking cans and Glass bottles from the side of the road in an attempt to make the roads cleaner and help keep our planet and environment habitable a little longer, and I managed to convince a friend to join me for both things.

The kids are growing up and that is wonderful/troublesome/frustrating/amazing ( take what you want) and each day is a new one with it’s little surprises and quirks, and by the end of it all i want to do is collapse and rest, but not every day I get to do that.

I had my Shinsa (martial arts exam) for Sho-dan ( first degree black belt ) in Aikido , that happened 2 weeks after I dislocated my knee, so the exam itself was shorter then planed as I had problems standing or walking or anything not involving sitting or laying down and I could not reschedule the exam due to out side factors. Well, all’s well that end’s well.

We had a trip to the New Forest in the south of England, and the kids were so happy, it felt like coming home in a way: running outside, playing, watching horses roam free in the towns and meadows, it made me miss our life in the UK even more.

I hope to resume writing here, or at least more frequently, now that I am going back on a training plan… time will tell.