RAT RACE London to Edinburgh 2013
ronnierocket
Posts: 172
Not sure if it's a post LeJog feeling of invincibility but feel a little tempted by the following which I spotted
http://www.ratraceroadtrip.com/ - but doing the 2 day one - 200 miles a day.
Did LeJog in 8.5 days average 110 most days and up to 140 and wasnt overly hard so feel 200 miles a day is doable. Anyone have experience of this company and this sort of event or even know of any others.
http://www.ratraceroadtrip.com/ - but doing the 2 day one - 200 miles a day.
Did LeJog in 8.5 days average 110 most days and up to 140 and wasnt overly hard so feel 200 miles a day is doable. Anyone have experience of this company and this sort of event or even know of any others.
0
Comments
-
I have to say the masochist in me is also tempted.... like you, we did LEJOG in nine days last year, and I'd like to do something "mental" every other year :twisted: (I have a reputation to keep up in the office you know)
I think it's do-able as long as the weather's not too bad. Riding for 14 hours a day at an average of 14-15mph doesn't seem unreasonable. Not sure about the camping pit-stop mind you - I need my beauty sleep. And after a day like that more carbs than real ale will be required!
Price wise £200 looks all right, considering some sportives are £50-plus. Only issue is getting the bike to London, train ain't that cheap, though I can save by staying with a pal in the Big Smoke.
Wonder how many other psychos are up for this......"Get a bicycle. You won't regret it if you live"
Mark Twain0 -
0
-
London-edinburgh-london!!!! Now you've put that in my head!!
Have you done it before? How do you know the price which has to be confirmed? Is it a well organised event? Average hours cycling per stint??? Sounds tempting....................0 -
Whilst I have not ridden LEL before, I may be able to answer some of the questions. I am certainly intending LEL to be one of my goals next season.
The price will be confirmed early next year, but the organisers have indicated it will be around the £200 mark. Includes all food at controls.
The vast majority of audax rides are supremely well organised and I expect this will be even better than most, with a control every 80 or so km to feed and shelter you. There is no route marking or anything like that (audax does require a good degree of self-sufficiency, so you are expected to be able to read a route sheet or follow your GPS unit).
Average hours per stint? Well, depends on how fast you are! Typical stints are about 80km.0 -
In 2005uphillstruggle wrote:London-edinburgh-london!!!! Now you've put that in my head!!
Have you done it before?
It's as marcusjb saysHow do you know the price which has to be confirmed?
Yes, I'd say so. It's been running every 4 years since um, 1989.Is it a well organised event?
As much as you like. 116 hour to do 1400km is based on an average speed of 12kph - but that includes stopsAverage hours cycling per stint???
To allow enough time to sleep and eat during the event, you need to do 350km per day(ish)
I'm not doing LEL this time but if I did I would follow a schedule like this
day 1, start 10am. Get to Pocklington (336km) or Thirsk (401km) in 15 hours. Sleep until 5am
day 2, start 6am. Have a 15m nap somewhere at 3pm-ish. Get to Traquair(747km) by 2am. Sleep until 5am.
day 3, start 6am. Have a 15m nap somewhere at 3pm-ish. Get to Market Rasen(1153km) by 2am. Sleep until 6am
day 4, start 8am. Ride the last 265km, aim to finish before midnight which would be 110 hours with approx 10 hours sleep
If you "get lucky" and have a tailwind across the flat stuff (Cambs/Lincs/Yorks) and no headwinds and/or come across a good group for a tow on several occasions then you'd use the extra time for sleep.
If the conditions are as bad as I hear they were in 2009 any schedule goes out of the window as riders try and beat the time limit. On the plus side, if this happens, rain does keep you awake
0 -
It's possible my maths might be ropey, but I'd say that's 71 hours plus approx 10 hours sleep. There's only 96 hrs in 4 days.....
The news this only runs every 4 years makes it seem more urgent to do it next year. Hmm.0 -
ajh18 wrote:The news this only runs every 4 years makes it seem more urgent to do it next year. Hmm.
Plenty of time to decide yet. Assuming you're coming from a non-audax background - what's your longest ride so far?
I came from being reasonably fit (but not massively) to riding my first 200km event in October 2010 to Paris-Brest-Paris 1200km in the August of 2011. So it's totally possibly to build up to a long ride in the sort of timescale we have until LEL.
Get out and ride some 200s over the autumn/winter - if nothing else, it will help you hone your kit (lights etc.) and night-riding experience ready to jump up to the longer distances in spring (300s start in March, 400s in April and 600s in May is about the usual run of things). You'll also be able to work on one of the most important things - comfort - get your position right on the bike or you're in for some real troubles as the distances go up. Even if things don't hurt on 200s, the more time you spend on your bike, the more even a small bit of bad positioning will aggravate you.
There's quite a bit to learn - mainly about how to look after yourself on longer rides in terms of food and drink - you'll make mistakes along the way (you may well spend some time throwing up by the roadside as you work out what foods do and don't work for you!). Most of distance riding has nothing to do with fitness or comfort - it's the mental side of things that really makes a difference to being able to ride for multiple days with little sleep. If you can overcome challenges and keep your finger on the positive button then you'll be fine. You'll learn that you're not riding a 1400km event - it's just a series of little 80km rides broken up by a stop to eat and rest (the minute you start to think 'I have been riding all day and I still am only 20% of the way' is when things will start to wear you down!).
Finally - http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?board=17.0 - it's where the audaxers tend to hang out (and has a specific LEL board).0 -
Thanks - very useful advice.
Longest ride so far - done Lejog once and a trip from the south to Edinburgh once again. Longest distance covered in a day would be about 170kms, though carrying quite a lot more stuff than I would be carrying in this sort of endeavour. I feel the distance itself isn't necessarily the threatening bit - the tough bit would be keeping the speed up high enough the whole time, and for 5 days on the trot. The other tough bit would be bad weather - I'm particularly rubbish in a strong wind.
Reasonably, but not massively, fit would be a fair description. My main experience of riding long-ish distances is the lesson of eating more or less continually. It's as easy to break up the ride by stops to acquire further flapjacks as by control points...0 -
Your speed doesn't need to be particularly high to be honest. Obviously the faster you are, the more opportunity to rest you have (or if you are simply 'going for a time' then you want to be fast and not resting much!). There are 116 hours and 40 minutes to finish the ride - it doesn't matter if you finish with 10 minutes to spare - you've accomplished the same thing as someone who finishes in 60 hours. The times are not published for LEL (or indeed any audax in the UK, Paris-Brest-Paris is one of the few exceptions where your time is public). So use that time to it's fullness if required - you will not find anyone 'looking down on you' if you scrape in just in time, you will find you've earned just as much respect from the other riders.
It's consistency that really counts - to be able to ride at a reasonable pace for 2-3 hours.
Bad weather - nothing you can do about it - certainly riding over the winter 'toughens you up' and ensures that your kit is the right kit for bad conditions. The weather on the last running of LEL was very very bad and did cause some issues. Headwinds - I'm a 60kg little lad and if there's a headwind, I am in trouble - best solution, find the biggest chap you can and hang on their back wheel! When riding audax, you're obviously going to be heading in a certain direction for (possibly) many hundreds of kilometres so I am sure we all have tales of riding into headwinds for 100+ km. Besides, the bad weather events are the ones you always talk about when you're sat around with other riders - it's never chatting about that event where temperatures were in the low 20s with a gentle cooling breeze - we like to brag about riding the Old Scrote 600 where there was hail the size of golf balls and a headwind strong enough to tear the clothes off your back.
If you've done 170km with quite a load, then you shouldn't struggle on a 200km event (given good conditions etc.). Get some 200s under your belt before spring and you'll be in a good place to step up to 300 and then beyond.
What region are you from? There will be 200s virtually everywhere over winter - they do become a bit less frequent and with less facilities than in summer, but there's still likely to be some great events somewhere near you. Check the audax website: http://aukweb.net/events/0 -
ajh18 wrote:It's possible my maths might be ropey, but I'd say that's 71 hours plus approx 10 hours sleep. There's only 96 hrs in 4 days.....
The news this only runs every 4 years makes it seem more urgent to do it next year. Hmm.
Yeah you are right, that is a bit more aggressive than I'd really want to do. I added up the final total wrong!
Let's try again
day 1 start 10am pocklington 336km at 2am (arrive with 16h elapsed), sleep until 6am
day 2 start 7am edinb 705km at midnight(38h), sleep until 6am
day 3 start 7am brampton 1000km at 10pm(60h), sleep until 5am
day 4 start 7am st Ives 1300km at 10pm(84h), sleep until 6am
day 5 start 7am do the last 113km in 6 hours, finish approx 1pm (99h) including 26h sleep0 -
So is anyone doing this particular event or do they know much about Rat Race as a company? I'm keen to sign up as my ultimate goal is Paris-Brest-Paris and this seems like a good part of my gradual build up!0
-
LEL for me. None of this sportive nonsense.0
-
English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg0
-
Paris- Brest - Paris is a wonderful event, go for it.rodgers73 wrote:So is anyone doing this particular event or do they know much about Rat Race as a company? I'm keen to sign up as my ultimate goal is Paris-Brest-Paris and this seems like a good part of my gradual build up!
London-Edinburgh-London is also wonderful. Fantastic scenery, willing volunteers and four and a half days of cycling. eat all you can for approx. £2000 -
Actually they do publish finishing times for LEL: see here.0
-
Anyone on here signed up then?0
-
LEL - yes, Rat Race - no.English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg0
