On 25 July 2013 my bike was finally set up ready to begin the 2013 LEL challenge. Did I mention that Dave Hinde had caused major upset by taking nearly a month to build and post out a wheel despite assuring a 7-10 day completion time?! Did I also mention that Dave Hinde have little respect for their customers, are rude and tell porkies?! Dave Hinde sucks! Anyways, without a day to spare my bike was finally built up and ready to go.
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| At last, my bike was ready to go! |
Before even contemplating the start of LEL, 2 little additional challenges had to be completed. The first challenge was to cycle from Battersea Travelodge to the start of the 2013 LEL prologue. My buddy Chris had stayed at the Travelodge with me the night before. At about 4 a.m. my alarm clock (mobile phone) rudely awoke us. We readied ourselves and cycled to Buckingham Palace for the start of the 2013 LEL prologue. Our short trek is presented below.
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| From Battersea, some hope and some despair 6.5k |
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| Reached the Palace OK and my dynamo worked fine! |
We reached Buckingham Palace in no time. Chris navigated the whole way. I was surprised he was so alive - he had completed a 200k night time audax the previous night! It was dark when we set out but soon the darkness faded and the sun came out.
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| An alive Chris |
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| Two randonneurs |
Just as we reached the Palace, we were greeted by royalty - well my sister Jane anyway! With Jane was her husband plus my Ma and Pa. It was real nice to see them all here.
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| L-R Jane, Chris (Mr Potato Head), Dad, Mum |
We all chatted for some time and looked at the growing mass of cyclists. These cyclists were from all over the world and some had very interesting bikes. I also bumped into my mate Jamie which was cool (though Andy was strangely elusive).
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| A look to the left |
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| A look to the right |
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| Oh heck, hope everything is gonna be alright! |
At just before 6 a.m. Chris and I took our place at the start line. Photo's were taken. Shouts were shouted and cheers were cheered. A nice start to any real adventure.
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| The start of the 2013 LEL prologue |
And then we were off! We were cycling a supposed 20k trek passing by some of London's greatest sights. It was great to cycle this with Chris, I was going to miss his company on the 2013 LEL challenge. Oh, and sure enough, we saw some lovely London sights.
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| This guy was responsible for me entering LEL! |
At the 10k mark we stopped for breakfast at McDonald's! That's what I call style. After we had eaten, we caught up with a cyclist who said he had taken another route and felt great now that he was at the front of the main bunch of riders. I've met some deluded folk in my time, but that took the biscuit - we were clearly the last folk to finish the prologue. It was a good 30k by the time we reached the start in Loughton. Our LEL prologue trip is presented below:
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| 2013 LEL prologue 30k |
Once we had reached Loughton, the official LEL start, I met up with more loved ones. That's right, SJ, Lunar and Lin were there to greet us. It was great to see more family before my official start!
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| L-R Chris, Lin, SJ and Lunar |
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| Nice to be with baby Lunar again |
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| My happy family |
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| My wife and daughter |
Cycled a total of 156k this week. My yearly total to date was now 7,139k. Now, I just had the LEL to complete....
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| A last kiss and LEL begins... |
Be sure to check out my next blog instalment '2013 LEL'.
That's why I didn't see you again, you went to McDonalds! I just assumed you were being super speedy - Andy was quiet that morning, think he was a bit nervous (as was I, but that never stops me talking!) Looking forward to the next instalment!
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