London-Edinburgh-London 2005
Martin Newstead
I have been planning and training for this for around 8 months, it has been in my thoughts on every ride I have done, all those winter rides in temperatures hovering around freezing. 6000 miles later, July 23rd dawned dry and bright, going to be a good day.
Andy picked me up at home and delivered me to the start in Thorne with plenty of time, I'd already registerd the previous day so all I had to do was get my card stamped. Nearly all of my audaxing friends were there it was a good atmosphere.
We were the third group to roll out, I was near the front and lead us out of Thorne, soon the faster riders started to overtake but we all bunched together at Boothferry Bridge since the swing bridge was open to allow a boat to pass through, The groups split again of course and we settled down, Nigel and I never agreed to ride together but I was hoping we would and glad we did. Up round York into the Howardian Hills through Castle Howard to the first control at Hovingham. Saw a few familiar faces there and started to chat to some other riders, our speed was quite good, helped by the groups we were part of, we were a duo at times though, no large group held together for long. The weather was perfect, sunny, not too hot and a gentle tail wind. Hovingham control was busy, we ate then hit the road bound for Eppleby.
We were part of a large group on this section, about 10 I'd say, again fairly fast, we made good time. I recognised the controllers at Eppleby, they were riding with me on the Brimham Rocks 200 two weeks prior. They were busy so I didn't say anything. Onwards and northwards we pedaled up Teesdale, through Barnard Castle and past the impressive Bowes Museum, it's been years since I'd visited there. The group started to split apart as the climbing began, Nigel and I briefly discussed where we'd get our control stamp, either Langdon Beck or Alston. Nearly all of the group were intending to bypass Langdon Beck but we decided to make a quick stop for a cup of tea and a light snack then stop at Alston if we felt like it. The group were going too slow for me up the hill so I rode clear, Nigel followed and I slowed for him about 1.5km from the hostel. The staff there were outside beckoning riders to stop. They made a fuss of us and were able to get the cricket scores on the TV. We watched riders pass us as we drank tea and ate rice pudding, the scenary in the North Pennines really is superb, the sight of Nigel eating his rice pudding whilst wearing his safety glasses was something else though. We pressed on and did not stop at Alston, we later learned that it had been quite busy with queues for food. The hills towards Brampton were not too much trouble and we made Canonbie before darkness fell taking the most direct main road route instead of the hillier proscribed route. David Wilkie was just getting ready to leave and offered to wait for us but we said we would be taking our time to eat and allow the night to arrive properly so he pushed on. The Canonbie control was great, the people were really nice, the food was expensive though, the most expensive of all controls I believe.
We suited up for the night and set out with our lights on along a very dark and narrow country lane. It soon widened out to a more pleasurable road. Many other Thorne starters elected to overnight at Canonbie and we saw few other riders. This part of Scotland is quite remote and as the night wore on few people at all were around. We rolled into Ettrick at 01:15 Sunday morning, Sheila Simpson and a few others were there, they took a different route to us I think, they were still in Canonbie as we left but somehow arrived before us ! Stepping out into the dark we realised how cold it was out there, not freezing but the forecast had predicted 3 degrees Celcius, it felt like it. The next section would take us to Dalkeith over the hills. In the moonlight we could see their outline but not see the road itself, we could see shadows of ourselves at times but barely see the road at others, especially on LH curves as our lights illuminated the space directly in front of us. We could see shapes at the side of the road, our minds turned them into people, Nigel claimed they moved too. We certainly couldn't see the road climb the hill sides, had no idea of the forthcoming gradient or the length of the climbs. We felt our way up the hills, and got very, very cold on the descents. An animal ran across the road ahead of us, it got confused in our head lights and ran in front of us for a short while, could it have been a haggis ? Small like a cat with short legs, fluffy tail and white in colour. We survived and saw a few returnees ahead of us, their headlights showing up very well in the darkness. They said 'hello' and I assumed they were my friends from VC167, but they were not as I was to see them in Dalkeith, knocking the 'Z's out. In the darkness a van approached us, he stopped to chat. It was the bag drop man, Mike McGeever. I last met him in the Tyne Valley in May 2004. He was one who encouraged me to start randoneering so it was fitting that I should meet him on the road in this event. He warned us of road works ahead and a detour we should take. We did actually pass by the next day in daylight and it was fine, in the dark though it might have proved dangerous. It wasn't dark for long on this night, the sky was getting lighter all the time. Lights were switched off and we finally rolled into Dalkeith control at 05:15, 410 km, 20 hours and 45 minutes after leaving Thorne.
I had a shower and ate, but I didn't get much sleep at Dalkeith, managed to get a camp bed, that's camp as in campsite not camp as in 'Get you bitch mother !', but no blanket. Consequently I was cold, not helped by the fact they kept the doors open, to vent the area I guess. Nigel couldn't sleep either so we managed to start our southbound journey one hour earlier than planned, 11:00 am Sunday. I was glad about this, the riders who overnighted at Canonbie were arriving and departing Dalkeith, I felt we had fallen behind.
Getting started again was tough, I knew there were some big hills to be crossed, I didn't feel very rested and it was cool and drizzly. We eased ourselves into the task at hand, starting to climb the hills. The closed road wasn't closed, open to cyclists so we went for it. We saw many riders still heading North, this made me feel better and soon I was back in the swing. The scenery was superb, we could see the hills, the views and the long fast descents were great reward for our efforts - I felt good. We saw many other Sunday riders, mostly from Edinburgh Road Club, what great roads to have on ones doorstep, nearly as good as my Pennines. ! Did we really do this 200km the previous day plus a further 200km. It was hard going, I hit a bad patch on the flatter part of the route between Canonbie and Brampton, we joined a group and were going a little fast for comfort, it was quite warm. I eased off and Nigel dropped off with me. We slowed, once we hit the hills again I was feeling better, the changes in gradient allowed me to do my own thing, ride my own ride. Nigel then dropped off the back, I slowed but he failed to catch up. Was he just wanting some time on his own ? Maybe, I didn't allow myself to get too far ahead of him. When we regrouped he admitted he was having his bad patch and had been in denial earlier when I went through mine. I suggested we could overnight at Alston instead of the planned Langdon Beck, but Nigel felt OK about taking on Yad Moss this evening. We had about an hour of daylight left as we climbed the cobbled street in Alston, I knew what the climb of Yad Moss was like and knew it wasn't too difficult, I'd be OK. We rode on the pavement/kerb on the cobbled street, no problem then on the climb proper. As expected it wasn't too much of a problem, we amused ourselves with our usual pop quiz or trivia quiz, anything to take our minds off the effort. We spotted another rider ahead of us near the top, "Do you think we can catch him ?" I asked, I answered my own question, "maybe if we try but I can't be bothered today" . We were moving faster than our target, gaining all the time. Would we overhaul him before the summit ? We decided to engage our big rings and in a show of strength burn past him. Once committed one is not permitted to change gear until out of sight of the prey. We stayed in the big ring for a couple of kilometres until the road definitely went downwards, it fet good to be stretching my tired legs. I switched my dynamo powered lights on once there was no need to pedal, don't want the extra drag on the up hill section now. We rolled into Langdon Beck YH just as the night was starting to descend, 205 km from Dalkeith. This really is a great place to overnight. Heather, Andy and the others were so welcoming again. We were fed and shown to a bedroom, with only two other occupants and 6 spare beds.
We were woken at 05:00 as requested and found three or four riders asleep on the floor, I must have slept well, I failed to hear them come in during the night. We breakfasted, porridge and scrambled eggs on toast I really wanted to ensure I had a good variety of food on this ride. All packed up and ready to go, I couldn't find my camera. I searched all parts of the building where I'd been but couldn't find it. I left my details with Heather, I was certain it would turn up, just a matter of getting it to me.
The start of todays ride was cold and damp, it looked brighter down the hill towards the lower part of the county of my birth. It was a long time before we were able to remove our rain jackets. We missed a turn and took the main road to Barnard Castle where we rejoined the route and followed it without incident to the Eppleby control. It was quiet, all the others who left Langdon Beck had been and gone. I chatted to the controllers whom I'd met on an earlier ride, they remembered me and my friend that day. I switched my mobile phone on to update my blog, there was a message from Heather at Langdon Beck, she'd found my camera and sent it down with Damon, all I had to do was meet him. As we were leaving the control in rolled Damon !. The weather was brightening up, we had a relatively easy section to Hovingham which again was quiet, then choppy to Thorne. The road through the Howardian Hills is straight, I was feeling good on the hills, Nigel seemed to be finding it harder going, I did my own thing and waited for him at the next junction. After this we made for Thorne, catching a few others with whom we rode through Howden. They were slower than us so we pushed on to Thorne. One of my plans was to overnight here but someone pointed out that Lincoln was within reach and a YH so a proper bed would be available. We made our kit change in Thorne, ate and after about an hour and a half set out for Lincoln with a roaring tailwind. Could we make it by 22:00, three hours for 75km ? We did pretty well, I'd reccied the route before so no time was lost navigating, we arrived at Lincoln YH at 22:15, welcomed in by the familiar face of Chris Crossland from West Yorks DA. It had been a good day, another 283km complete.
Only two days to go, I was feeling good, the worst was behind me, I was going well, no problems. The aches in my bum, feet and hands were not getting worse, riding fast enough to get enough rest and getting ahead of my pre-planned schedule.
Again I slept quite well, woke to a full room and reasonably refreshed, my eye shields and ear plugs certainly work in busy hostel rooms. I was disappointed there was no porage left for breakfast, never mind, muesli it was to be. I was familiar with the route from Lincoln for about 150km, it is not very inspiring so I was mentally prepared for the tedium. Nigel and I agree to head for London with the intention of riding back to Gamlingay and spending the night there giving us a relatively short final day.
As expected the route was quite dull, we both were going reasonably well and we had a fair amount of company from other riders, including a local cyclist who was not part of LEL, just out on a midweek training ride. It was nice to talk someone who wasn't totally jaded with cycling and lack of sleep. We started seeing returnees again as we approached London and were actually over taken by some London starters who were nearly finished, These guys were about 300km ahead of us !!! Chapeau ! Through Thurlby and on to Gamlingay then on to London The terrain got a little choppy and the traffic increased, welcome to the South of England. I got used to the quiet roads in the North, this was something new. I also noticed the farmers in the North were harvesting the crops whereas in the south they hadn't started, I would have thought it would be the other way round.
We arrived in London at around 18:00, caught the evening rush. A good meal of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding etc and a short rest, only 30 minutes, then back on the road. At the control were some riders who had already finished, relaxing and drinking beer - grrrr.The level crossing was closed like it was when we arrived, we had a slightly longer rest. Some kids helped us with the route as we left Cheshunt, the route sheet corresponded with the road but the sign didn't show all the exits to the roundabout, we were not he only ones to make this error. We did about 1km extra so not too bad. Soon we were in open countryside again, passing riders still heading south, and London starters nearly finished. It felt good to have confirmation that we were not the tail end charlies. I was feeling good, I was flying and promised Nigel we'd be back to Gamlingay by 22:00, we were. He was tiring but my faster pace spurred him on and we did well, rode for about 30 minutes in the dark to complete the 287km total for the day. The control was quiet, not too busy. We ate and bedded down. That's too grandiose a word for a camping mat and a blanket on the floor in a sports hall. I slept but not well, never mind, final push to home.
It started out cool and drizzly the fifth day. Heavy going. I had that end of term feeling, happy but wanted it to be over. I knew it wasn't a hard day, we'd done the route only the day before. It didn't seem to take us long get to Thurlby, a quick second breakfast of vegetable curry and rice, a photo of the childrens paintings, an un planned rendevous with my friend Dave Kahn and we were off again. What a drag the ride to Lincoln was, I was feeling tired, it was windy and cool, I really wante to finish this ride, I'd had enough. As it turned out the ride to Lincoln wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated, I think I'd switched off and was just pedalling. I knew the road reasonably well but those long stretches between instructions didn't please me, eventually we started rding into the city arriving at around 15:00 if I remember correctly. Chris Crossland was there again and we lingered for a little longer, resting. We could afford to do this with only the final stage remaining.
Last leg, a quick stop at a bike shop to get our chains lubricated after the mornings drizzle, then off again. It rained, probably the heaviest of the whole trip, didn't last long, who cares its almost over, I'll be sleeping in my own bed tonight I thought, clean clothes and a long lie in tomorrow. I knew this part of the route well having ridden it before the LEL. It didn't get any more interesting and soon we were making our last few turns. Trouble is the roads here are long and straight, no turns so no instructions needed. Eventually we made the final turn, 4.7 km to go, straight across the cross roads and right into control. Finished, two people applauded us home, we climbed off and handed our cards to the controller. 105 hours 45 minutes.
The ride was easier than I had anticipated, all my planning and preparation seemed to have been right. The organisation was good enough, everything went well. I was lucky, the weather was good to us too. Its fair to say I enjoyed nearly every minute of this event, no mechanical problems, not even a puncture. No illnesses nor aches and pains. Would I do it again ? Yes.
Here's the daily breakdown of my ride
Thorne - Dalkeith (410km)
Dalkeith - Langdon Beck YH (205 km)
Langdon Beck YH - Lincoln YH (283 km)
Lincoln YH - Lee Valley YH - Gamlingay (287km)
Gamlingay - Thorne (232km)