LEL LEL London Edinburgh London DIY competition winners The DIY competition is now closed, and we’ve picked a winner and two runners up. They are: Winner - Stephen Poulton Runner up - Ben Harris Runner up - Peter Lewis Stephen wins free entry to London Edinburgh London, and Ben and Peter each win a London Edinburgh London jersey. Please contact us at info@londonedinburghlondon.com to claim your prize. Many thanks to everyone who took part. Your feedback has been really helpful. London Edinburgh London jersey As you’d expect, we’ve produced a commemorative jersey for the event, available only for people entering. Made in Britain by forceGB of Dewsbury, this is a cut above your typical event jersey. Nifty features include a water-resistant back pocket that’s big enough for your route card, and extra hi-viz trim to the reverse of the jersey. Sizing will be typically British; not too slim (Italian-style) or too casual (US style). Full details will be available on the website when entries open. The jerseys will cost £39.99, and will be available in short-sleeve only.
Lizard Loop
Another call for volunteers London Edinburgh London would not be possible without the tremendous input from volunteers throughout the year. This includes the LEL directors, committee members and controllers, who all work for free. Now that we are getting close to the event, we’d like to ask you to consider volunteering during London Edinburgh London 2013, either before the event to help us check the route, or during the event itself. Route checking Our routemeister will need people to check the route before we publish the routesheet. He’ll also need people to check sections of the route right up until the event itself. Even checking just 50km could be tremendously useful. Controls All of the controls will need a team of volunteers to make the event a success. As well as cooking, cleaning, registering riders and repairing bikes, there will be 1,001 other things to do, not to mention the little emergencies that crop up. The controls are at the heart of the action, and our volunteers are what makes London Edinburgh London so special. Bag drops and deliveries We’ll need a team of people to transport beds, food, bags, blankets and other equipment along the route. If you’d like to help, go to londonedinburghlondon.com to register your interest.
Sunday 29th July 2012
Leaving home just before 7.00 for the two hour drive down to Carnon Downs, near Truro to ride the Lizard Loop Audax in the west of Cornwall. Joined by Miles Barrington-Ward who was down in Devon from Oxford for a few days and liked the idea of a ride in that part of Cornwall which he hadn’t visited for many years. Uneventful drive down, fine sunny morning, that is as far as Plymouth when dark clouds began to fill the skies and before too long rain showers were making a regular appearance. Haven’t brought too much in the way of waterproof gear as it’s been dry in Devon for the past 10/14 days, well, it might not be raining in Carnon Downs, but it was. Getting away from the start about 15 minutes late and at the back of a field of about 60 rides we’ve got some catching up to do. It had stopped raining by then but within a few miles what started as a few drops turned a bit heavy so it’s coats on, although it cleared up after 10 minutes or so and in fact that was all the rain we encountered all day. Riding through what was very much the Tin Mining area of Cornwall, old ruins of engine houses with their chimneys dotted around the countryside, now all listed buildings and in some cases World Heritage sites. Cycling down very rural lanes, Miles has got his GPS on the bike and I’m using the organiser’s route sheet so between us we should stay on course as we pass through delightful villages with quaint Cornish names like Nancegollan and Trenwheal to get to the first control at 32k in the Little Pengelly Farm Tearoom and join up with several other riders. Andy Keast and Rob Scoble who I often ride with have come down from Plymouth, but they appear to be the only ones and ourselves from out of Cornwall, there’s a large contingent from Falmouth Wheelers which seems to make up half the entry.
packed with some event to do with the Lifeboat. After several tours around the park we located an Audax sign and a chap waving his arms at us and a few other cyclists having the same problem as us. Free cake and drink then we’re riding up the A3083 towards Helston with a not so friendly wind for company but make a turn before the town for a long decent into Gweek, (only in Cornwall would you get a place named Gweek). The long decent was followed by a long ascent to leave the village to take to more of the Cornish rural lanes. Poldark Mine, the name of a television series some years ago was encountered on a right turn off a main road as we past through Porkellis, Carnkie and Stithians on our way back to the finish with the events sting in the tail. The finish is up a long hill, rather steep in places. The organisers are to be congratulated on a well organised event with a very good choice of roads, not too many steep hills and a well detailed route sheet with all the distances between junctions. Hope more Audax members can make the trip down to Cornwall for next year’s event. Ribble Blue
Out of the control after the usual cake and cuppas to take us the 30 odd k to the next control at the Lizard. Now on B class roads to Helston and to climb the hill going around the town and out to Caldrose Navel Air Station before going left to go over Goonhilly Downs with its enormous satellite dishes dotted around. Making good progress along here with a tail wind to get the speed up but we will suffer form this later when we turn back from the Lizard. Had some difficulty in locating the control at the Lizard. The route sheet stated that it’s opposite the Regent Cafe where there’s a large car park
Arrivée November 2012
Lizard Loop - Gweek photo: Geoff Sharpe
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