I had an interesting encounter while returning on the train late last night from a trip to Wales. An Indian lady got on the train around Maidenhead, with a bike box, saw my bike and said hello. She asked whether I'd ridden LEL. I was flattered but said no, definitely not! It turns out that she had ridden the event - to Richmond, N Yorkshire, where she had been stopped, held until morning, and then told to return south. Just like our hero Neil C. I didn't ask her whether she had met Neil, as I believe there were about a thousand people there, but perhaps I should have, because I expect Neil would have chatted to most of them!
It turns out that she had travelled from India for the event. She lives in Gujarat, to the west of India. It's very flat and very hot. If you ride 500 km you will ascend about 500 metres. So they practice by riding circuits up a local 50 metre hill. At night - because it's too hot in the day time (48 degrees) and also too dangerous to ride on the roads. Such dedication. She was typically modest about her achievement. By the time she returned to the finish, she had ridden 970 km, so she added on a bit more to make it up to 1,000 km. She was staying a few days to do some sight-seeing (including riding round the Isle of Wight) and travelling home next weekend.
Impressive.
PS. Nice little video here of what Richmond Control looked like when everyone was held there. I didn't spot Neil but you might.
Let’s hope Neil can add more to this event ?
ReplyDeleteThe woman you met was fortunate to get to the Richmond control! I was given a late (1:45 p.m.) start on Sunday, hence had only made it to the control in Malton by the time the event was suspended and then cancelled. Malton is where roughly half of the 2400 cyclists were being held at; the rest were at Richmond and (much earlier on the route) Hessle.
ReplyDeleteWhen I arrived back to the start/finish, I had ridden 773 km. That's quite a bit less than the woman you met, but it was still enough for me.
Recap is here, if you are interested:
https://felixwong.com/2025/08/london-malton-london-my-storm-altered-lel-adventure-in-the-english-countryside/