London Edinburgh London 2017: The ‘Mind n Time’ Game

It was a pleasant morning and I’d had a good sleep the previous night. Sayi was kind enough to accommodate me in his tent for the night before the ride. It had rained a lot the previous night, but the sky was clear in the morning which was a good sign. Sayi’s start was earlier than me, so he had started doing his final preparations early in the morning. LEL has a staggered start in which people are left starting from 5 am to 4 pm. My start was at 12 noon and so I had enough time to get the bike ready and charge all the electronics. I had planned to travel as light as possible and keep only the essentials on me. Rest was sent to the drop bags at Thirsk and Edinburgh.

On the bike I was just carrying a handlebar bag and a saddle bag. The handlebar bag had a power bank (for the Garmin and my mobile), two each of energy bars and gels, hydration tabs, batteries (for headlight), brevet card and my mobile. The saddle bag had the puncture kit, 2 tubes and an emergency blanket. The stuff was bare minimum just to be able to survive to reach till Thirsk, where I would replenish the stuff from my drop bag. This way I would never be overloaded and the drop bags would come every 300-400 km. Just like doing a 300 or 400 brevet. My strategy was to ride as much as possible during the day time and have a good sleep during the dark hours, which would not be more than 6 hours considering the UK conditions.

Prologue

A recent injury to my left little toe finger had washed away all my route and time planning down the drain. Reaching the start line itself had become a herculean task for me. I now had to re-plan for a much slower finish as I was going to ride after 3 weeks with no practice. However, there was no pain while pedaling, but riding 1400 km is a totally different thing. There was a K-wire which was still inside the finger and it was protruding out from the top.

I had to make special arrangements for the footwear, so I was wearing my older torn cycling shoes in the left leg and the new one in the right. The torn shoe allowed the fingers some extra space and it was quite comfortable. Over the shoes were shoe covers to save them from getting wet.

The Start

Most of the Indian riders had their start 1-2 hours before me, so I had enough time to see them off and click their pictures. The whole Indian contingent comprised some 55 riders, which was huge in number considering a country which has recently found it’s love for the sport. We were all determined to complete the task and had each other’s back.

Day 1: Loughton to St.Ives - 100 km

I was the only Indian to start at 12 noon so I was on my own. I had already loaded the route map on the Garmin so navigation was not a problem for me. We were some 40 riders to start together and soon after a couple of kilometers a lead bunch of 6-7 riders was formed. We were going briskly and I was feeling like an odd man out wearing a jacket. Rest all were just in their jerseys and not even a warmer! After some 5 km my back started aching and I got worried. Maybe because I was riding after so many days, but it soon became alright so I was relieved. There were mild showers and whirling winds and was an indication that the ride is not gonna be an easy one. I had planned to stop only on control points and in no time I realized only 60 km were left for that. I didn’t look at the distance much and was only concentrating on the ride and the beautiful scenery of the countryside. The terrain was rolling and we were getting to witness some amazing and mesmerizing beauty of the grasslands and small villages. The ones we usually see in wallpapers were right in front of me. I wanted to take pictures, but didn’t want to lose the peloton which had now grown into 14-15 riders. we had riders from the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Taiwan and I being from India. We were starting to overtake the riders who started ahead of us and were averaging at around 27 km/h which was quite comfortable. The good news was that the little finger was snug and not complaining at all. Soon we were at the St. Ives time station and the volunteers guided us to park the bicycles at their designated places. I removed the jacket and realized I was all sweaty inside. After checking in, without wasting any time, I pounced on the food. It was all really delicious. Most of the food was non-veg here but there were few options for vegetarians as well. I also met Sayi and Mohan over here, who soon took off while I was still eating. I wasn’t expecting to catch them so early. Till now, I was on my schedule and actually a little faster than that. I quickly gobbled as much food as I could, filled my bottles, grabbed 2 energy bars and left.

Day 1: St. Ives to Spalding - 61 km

I decided to remove the jacket and kept it in the handlebar bag after folding it nicely. The weather was good and sunny as well. I was enjoying the ride now and a little tailwind was helping me on the course. The previous peloton was now disintegrated, but I found one of the French riders and tagged along him. After some 10-15 km, a fast train of 3 riders whizzed past me and I knew I had to catch the train. I broke away and caught them soon. They acknowledged my presence and kept stomping. It was a pleasure riding in their slipstream. They allowed me to free ride for a couple of turns, but then I volunteered to lead as well. We were easily maintaining speeds of 40+ km/h and were only slowing down while overtaking other riders only. In no time we reached the next control and now I was a good 30 min faster than my planned schedule. I parked my bike, exchanged pleasantries with the other 3 riders and attacked on the food inside. By now I was starting to feel a little tired, so took a little longer break. I met Nikhil and Sharvari as well over here and some Pune riders as well.

Day 1: Spalding to Louth - 83 km

After leaving from Spalding, I was riding all alone and didn’t find even a single rider for almost an hour. I was otherwise finding riders in small groups after every few minutes. This is when I realized that starting early in LEL is always a wiser thing to do as you get more time to tag along the faster riders. I was not able to find any rider whose speed matched with mine, so I kept going by. The little finger was now starting to nag a little and I could feel the wire inside, so I was trying not to do any jerky movements and pedal smoothly. This was a very boring patch and for the first time I was riding all alone. I passed time by listening to some music and talking to myself about random thoughts. The sun was about to set and I wanted to reach Louth in daylight. The last 10 km had a couple of climbs which slowed me down and made me switch on my lights. However, Louth came soon and it was a relief.

245 km was up in 10 hours and it was now starting to get cold. I had covered a good distance by now, but the biggest question in my mind was to whether sleep here itself or ride through the cold night and then sleep in Pocklington. The mind games were starting to come into play now. I decided to first charge on the dinner and then take a call. It was a long queue at Louth and was filled with riders. It took a long time for me to settle in and have dinner. I was seeing some other Indian riders too, but I kept till myself so as to not waste any time. After dinner when I went outside to find that it was really chilly and windy. I immediately took a call to call it a night and went on to book a bed for myself. I took my stuff and just crashed on my bed.

The next day I woke up at 4 and found the little finger to be still paining a little. My body was aching too, so I just lied on the bed again. The next thing I know was that it was 6:30 am and it was time to leave. I had overslept, but was still not feeling fresh enough. Some sunshine outside gave me confidence and I quickly grabbed my stuff and checked out.

Day 2: Louth to Pocklington - 97 km

I was again on the road all alone and was feeling as if I’m left behind a lot of riders because of oversleeping. I had to cover up a lot and it would take me the whole day to do so. I soon caught up with Shravani who was riding through the night without any sleep. It was really brave of her to be able to do that. It needs some other level of determination to do so in such harsh conditions and that too all alone and in a foreign country. I went past her and kept pedaling. The finger was not complaining anymore and I was relieved. I kept crossing riders and each time I did we greeted each other, either through a silent wave or a simple ‘Hey’. It was amazing to see that most of the riders were all aged and were still riding strong. They were fitter than many of our youngsters also back in India. By now my energy bars were about to be over and was left with only 2 gels. The whole time I was wondering that if I would have left for Pocklington yesterday night, I would have definitely taken way more time and would have got lesser time to rest. So it was kind of a better decision to crash at Louth itself, or maybe not? Covering more distance before sleeping is always better and a psychological boost. But nevertheless, I had to live with my decision and cope up from there. The beautiful Humber Bridge came on the way as well and this was the first time I stopped to take some pictures.

Pocklington came soon after and it was again time for a good heavy meal.

Day 2: Pocklington to Thirsk - 67 km

Here I also met the Rourkela riders and decided to tag along them. We were 5 of us now; Bishen, Kushal, Rakesh, Abhishek and myself. It was good to have some company after a long time. You don’t realize how time passes when you’re riding in a group and I was having a good time. After sometime came the Howardian Hills and they were beautiful. They were full of greenery and the roads were dead straight with a rolling terrain. I made full use of them by riding faster on descents and taking it easy on climbs. I crossed a couple of other Indians as well en route. In no time Thirsk was closing in and it started to rain. I then found a UK rider going at a good speed so I caught up with him and started chatting, he was a truck driver by profession and we chatted for about 30 min. We discussed Tour de France and a little about the cycling scenario in India. Thirsk came and I took a sigh of relief as I was out of energy bars and gels by now and it was time to replenish from the drop bag.

I first had a good meal and again met Sayi and Mohan. Then after taking the drop bag, I went to the locker rooms and took a good hot shower. The little finger also needed a change of dressing. I replenished my stuff, changed my clothes with the dry ones and returned the drop bag to the volunteers to be able to access it once more on my way back.

Day 2: Thirsk to Barnard Castle - 67 km

Till now the terrain was mostly flat or rolling and this was probably the last stretch where the terrain and weather was going to be easy. I was already feeling cold and wondered what would happen tonight. The Rourkela Riderds left before me, so I had to catch up with them on this route. I caught them after the half way mark and went past them. I could feel the weather changing now, but I was well prepared with all the winter clothing so there was nothing to worry about. Atleast that’s what I thought. Barnard Castle arrived and there was the time station in a beautiful castle like school building. Here I finally met Raghvendrasinh who was ready to leave for Brampton. We chatted for a while and allowed him to proceed. I liked the food here, so did a little overeating. The Rourkela Riders came soon after. Till this point of time I was not looking at the time in hand I had, but when they emphasized on it I saw that I had some 4-5 hours in hand. That meant, I needed to keep going tonight, atleast till Brampton. I never knew that this situation would come. The sun had set and it had become really chilly at this time and the famed Yad Moss was yet to be climbed, which was the biggest climb of LEL.

Day 2: Barnard Castle to Alston - 52 km

We all wore as many clothes as we could. I was well covered and wasn’t feeling much cold and after a couple of kilometers the body became warmer and it became better. But tragedy struck me at this time. My headlight was not working properly as it was switching on and off on its own, even though the batteries were new. It must have happened because of all the rains that it has been withstanding. After some 15 km, 3 riders went past me who were riding steadily and most importantly they were well lit. Their headlights were super strong. I knew I had to catch them and stick with them and that’s what I did. They were going at a good pace and that helped me keep myself warm as well. As we kept climbing Yad Moss it started to become colder and colder. The minimum temperature I saw was 5 degrees. On top of the chilly weather the cross winds were there as well. My hands were freezing and I was somehow holding on to the handle. The whole Yad Moss Climb looks very easy on paper as it’s just 16 km with an average of 2% grad, but in real the extreme weather conditions make it a real challenge. The descent was equally difficult as the body was no longer warm and the fingers were all numb. Somehow we reached Alston and decided to crash there itself, which was a time station, but not a compulsory one. We were given comfortable beds and blankets and I just removed all my clothes and went inside.

Day 3: Alston to Brampton - 31 km

The volunteers there woke me up at 4 am and I was all set to leave. I was feeling hungry so they prepared some toast for me, after which I left, while it was still raining. It was a chilly ride to Brampton, but the good thing was that Yad Moss was now behind me. I now started crossing riders who were returning from Edinburgh. These were some insanely fast riders and had started in the morning slots. I met a couple of riders whom I joined for a short stint and we soon reached Brampton. Here I again met Raghvendra who had woken up from last night and also the Rourkela Riders who were getting ready to leave. I quickly did my breakfast and was ready to leave for Moffat.

Day 3: Brampton to Moffat - 75 km

As soon as I started a fierce rain storm that started. For the first 10-12 km it rained cats and dogs. This was the most violent of the rains till now. I somehow endured it and kept pedaling. I was feeling fresh from last night’s sleep, so there was nothing to worry about. I soon caught up with the Rourkela riders and crossed them. I was going at a good pace in this stretch, but it was a very boring and long stretch of road. The scenery was just not changing. The monotony sucked out the patience in me and it was becoming difficult to focus. By this time we had also entered Scotland. Moffat came finally and I parked my bike and just lied flat on the floor for sometime. I went inside the time station and had some food. Again the food was very good here, but without wasting much time, I ate as much as I could and left for Edinburgh.

Day 3: Moffat to Edinburgh - 80 km

Just after leaving for Edinburgh there was another 11 km climb which was quite steep. It took me almost an hour to do that. After that was a slow descent which was quite fun and then two more little climbs and descents following them. The worst part now was the fabric of the roads here. This I had noticed the moment I entered Scotland. Here the roads are not of Charcoal but are made up of small stones glued by cement and riding a bicycle on them meant constant vibrations in all the contact points of your body with the bike. This became so much frustrating and I was reluctant to go fast as there was a fear of a flat tire. I had to deliberately slow down and ride on that dreadful road and endure those vibrations that made my body go numb. Just before reaching Edinburgh it started to rain and I again became wet to add to the misery. I had my drop bag here so I took a bath and changed my clothes. The little finger again needed a change of dressing. The food here was sumptuous and I had lots of them to fill my tummy. I also replenished my stock of energy bars and gels and batteries. Here I met Aashish and other Pune riders as well and decided to tag along with them.

Day 3: Edinburgh to Innerleithen - 44 km

It again started to rain as we left Edinburgh and there were steep climbs as well. The rain stopped and we had good sunshine as we entered the mountains once again. Till now we had completed half of the ride and were returning to London, but the return route was slightly different till Brampton. This was an even more scenic route and the grasslands were looking really beautiful, which were grazed by cattle sheep and cows. Till the time we reached Innerleithen there were either uphills or downhills, no flats. I had decided to not waste time there and just check in and check out. Innerleithen was a small Scottish village and within 5 minutes I was in and out of it as I wanted to reach Brampton before I sleep.

Day 3: Innerleithen to Eskdalemuir - 49 km

The terrain was similar here as well. No flats. Either I was climbing a mountain or I was descending. It kept on and on. I had the company of 2 riders here and it had started to become dark now. I was unable to up my speed because of the terrain and by the time I reached the next control it was dark and cold. I was also starting to feel sleepy now, so decided to sleep at Eskdalemuir only. My lights were also not working properly so it would have been risky to go like that.

I was still in Scotland and the accent was a little different here. I quickly had dinner and found a spot in the corner on the floor itself and decided to doze off. I was so sleepy that I didn’t even use the emergency blanket that I had.

Day 4: Eskdalemuir to Brampton - 58 km

The next morning I was again fresh, but my right eye was swollen because of fatigue maybe. I was looking like a zombie on a bicycle. The little toe finger was paining as well, but I had to move as I was barely making it in time. I had no time in hand and had to make it up the whole day ahead of me. Initial few kilometers were really difficult as it was cold and raining as usual and I was kind of crying silently and tears were getting mixed with the rain. I had to stop it as my visibility was getting affected, so I stopped for a couple of minutes, wiped my face, took some deep breaths and went on. I soon found some Pune riders and rode with them for a while, without speaking much. Time went by and so did miles and I reached Brampton. There I met some more Indian riders who were all in bad shape in their own ways. I also caught up with Siddarth who wasn’t allowed to proceed further, as he was still going Northbound and Moffat control was going to be closed soon. Starting late really has some disadvantages and I felt bad for him. Again without wasting much time I had some food and was ready to leave for Barnard Castle.

Day 4: Brampton to Barnard Castle - 83 km

By now I was just having a few minutes in hand and the toughest section of LEL was going to come. I had to face Yad Moss yet again and was mentally prepared for it. The initial 30 kilometers were rolling terrain and was really beautiful. Before Yad Moss started the weather was looking fine but I was unaware of the storm which was brewing up there. I took a quick break before entering the hell and took some pictures.

In no time I was into the hell and the conditions worsened like anything. These were the most difficult conditions in which I’ve ever ridden. I was shouting and encouraging myself to keep doing it without stopping. I knew if I stop it would be really difficult for me to mount back and start again. Also pushing hard made me warmer so I was able to hold up somehow. I was continuously overtaking riders on the climb and was getting kudos from them. The rain droplets were very thin and were slapping on my face vigorously. My whole face went numb, including the fingers, my foot and as usual my bum. The descent was painful again and I was determined to finish this as soon as possible. It kept raining till I reached Barnard Castle and I still had more than an hour in hand. From here I knew the terrain is going to be easy as the most difficult part of LEL was behind me now. I met the Rourkela riders yet again who were ready to leave for Thirsk. I had a good rewarding meal and met Kaviarasu here as well.

Day 4: Barnard Castle to Thirsk - 67 km

After leaving for Thirsk, the temperature went up and I started to feel warm, so I decided to remove my jacket and keep it in my handlebar bag once again. It was pleasant and sunny now. My speed was back and I was cruising towards Thirsk. I met a quick rider who overtook me and immediately I started following him in his slipstream. I knew time would be the least of my concerns now and it was now about finishing faster. I was targeting a sub 100 hour finish now.

We were all going fine until we took a diversion from the older route. This was the last minute change proposed by the organizers. There was a right bend in front of me and I was stomping towards it. I was unable to see what’s there on the other side and was not expecting anything to come from the opposite side. Without slowing down I went on at 40+ km/h and to my horror found a car right at the corner. I collided with it head on and the moment it happened I knew LEL was over for me. I fell on the windshield of the car and dropped down on the road. I saw the bike and it had broken into two pieces. Both my legs were bruised and were paining. I was not able to get up. The riders behind me stopped immediately to help me and the car driver called the ambulance and police. I realized that the helmet had cracked as well, but my head was fine and I was in my senses completely. The ambulance came and took me to the nearest Darlington Hospital. I later came to know that it took almost 30 minutes for the police to find my front wheel which had broken from the fork and flown into some farm field.

A police officer escorted me throughout and the LEL authorities were informed of the incident. LEL was officially over for me at the 980 km mark and it was a big setback. I had prepared for this event for so long and after the little finger injury it was a second accident in quick succession. It totally crushed my morale. Later in the hospital I learnt that there is a PCL injury in my left knee and this meant no more cycling for the next 6 months.

After reaching Pocklington, Rachel, who was the controller of the time station made arrangements for me to sleep in one of the rooms at the school and brought some food for me. The next morning her father dropped me to the nearest train station and I was sent to London, where Siddarth and Amol received me and dropped me to my place where I was staying.

I would like to thank all the volunteers and organizers of LEL who were able to put up such a wonderful show. I was really humbled by all the hospitality, the food, the beds, the blankets, everything. The volunteers worked tirelessly and each and every rider was taken care of in the best possible way. Also the riders who I met and rode with them, it was a supreme pleasure for me.

I would also like to thank Sheriyar and the Track n Trail team for believing in me and supporting me with the bike, but I’m really sorry for the disappointment, I hope I’ll be able to build it back soon.

Also, I would like to congratulate all the riders who were able to finish this monstrous ride. You guys deserve much respect and only we know how difficult of a task it was. With 35% DNF rate it was the toughest LEL till date. Kudos!! For the ones who could not complete because of some or the other reason I’m sure we will bounce back and come back strongly, as by now we must have had an idea of how to crack it.

The whole experience was although enriching and I had almost cracked LEL in terms of time planning, clothing and nutrition, but because of a little carelessness, I made a total mess of it. A good lesson learnt and I hope to come back in 2021 to finally conquer it and settle the unfinished business.

Link to my Strava Activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/1116532940

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