London to Edinburgh and back to London

legs_larry wrote: Bad news: Slash has broken his mech  Good news: He's been spotted in a field fitting a spare  Edit:Slash has just arrived in Pocklington

An epic ride and a challenging repair!  No end to the man's talent :)

fair play Yanto and Slash


I had to pack, binned it off a corner up to MR day1. Stuffed my shoulder.
Worst still it was off route so no one around, I'd been with a group and missed a jump across a road. there is no hanging round, your dropped your gone (whch is fine).
Rain came in VERY HARD!!! and I was just unclipping the front wheel stepped off the roar edge down a 4” drop bike went over. I saw the group at MR, they had not had rain HUMPH!!!

Did not feel too bad at the time the slight cut on my leg was more obvious. A futher 20km to MR,
Food, and go.
The ride to Pocklington was nice, got to see the bridge at dusk ish. Rode some time with a SA and two girls from Oregon.
At the bridge I took the main highway over nice fast road, with very fast traffic. Sadly by the time I reached 5-10km out my left shoulder had stiffed up, such I could not even lift off to indicate.

An hours sleep out of the 3 we were offered is all I got.
The morning was no much better, I planned a route vai York, on the basis ‘if the shoulder is not going to work no chance to carry on’.
The ride to York was nice legs felt good after the 333km ride the day before. It is only a 14 miles to York, and it was clear there was no chance the shoulder would survive………
I was back in Loughton by lunch time, food 2hrs sleeps and off up the road to pick up my bags drops.

I slept the night at Scotch corner, hopping to see the lads coming down the road, overslept and missed Yanto ;-/ on to BC and Brompton.

I had a tyre sent to Brompton by SJS cycles
Rolled over the hills the next control to see Slash thundering down the road, Very cool.
I’ve a photo somewhere of him coming back into England.

Back to Bram, and became a volunteer, seems riders where turning left out of control. My bike lights became guide lights.
Well not surprising really route sheet did say L @ T 0.3 and most of them seemed to think they’d ridden 0.3 from the school gate.

So I spent the night on gate duty, what a pleasure. The effort those guys and girls put in.

A few riders we had to help in to control, almost falling off their bikes at the gates. One rider disappeared off down a driveway, ran down the road to pull them in. The relief of arriving at control. Yet a few hrs later you could clock them out again. Some in the same wobble state other like they had just got on the bike for the first time that week. Positive and ready for the ride OVER to BC.

About 7am I was relieved when John came to take over the gate duty, not sure I could have stood till the control closed at 9. Bar 40mins of loo and food breaks I’d been on that gate since about 6pm.
I slept week till 12 ish then took a tour of Carlisle. Got home two minute to midnight…….


respects to Slash and Yanto and all tyhe other bent riders.... there is loads of them, and many from the UK!!!
big up to all the riders
and a big big up to all the Volunteers like LeeW!!! thenk Lee!!!

still not in, i'm a bit concerned, it isn't nice velomobile terrain but it is only 45km, mind you it is 31 C and very humid, he must be suffering terribly on the climbs!