lhbernhardt

I'm on the LEL email list, and I JUST NOW received the notification that registrations on the site are open! So I won't need to wake up early Saturday for the 5 am PST registration opening!

L.

LWaB

Sold out 950 places in under 12 hours.

paulkal

So, did you get in? I was waiting and refreshing my browser and got in. Now have to prepare myself for LEL.

lhbernhardt

Yes, it was really easy, no browser refreshing required. And quite a deal, 219 pounds (about $350) for an all-inclusive 4-day bike tour!

The only downside is I have already used up all my 2013 vacation (planned: two weeks in Abruzzo, ITA; a week in Maui, Wagner's Ring in Seattle, and the Furnace Creek 508), so I will have to take some unpaid leave from work. I have already been approved for it, so looks like this will be a heavy cycling year. But then, LEL only comes up every 4 years, so I might as well do it now!

Luis

paulkal

It is indeed a good deal, with all the food and sleeping.
See you in London.

unterhausen

had no idea the registrations filled up so fast. Noted for next time

lhbernhardt

Yeah, you need to get on their email list. They had posted that online registrations would be open for two hours on Jan 6, starting at 5 am PST (1 pm London time). Then out of the blue, they opened the registrations on Jan 5 at about 2 or 3 pm PST, and sent out a note to everybody on their email list!

Also, bear in mind that there are only 750 open slots. Well, maybe they upped it to 950 this year. But I figure that if you had 5,000 riders in PBP, ya think maybe 3,000 of them might want to do LEL the next year?

Luis

unterhausen

it's probably not 3000, but if there are 1500 that really, really want to ride then there is a problem. I heard someone talking about riding it at the 200k on Saturday, I don't know if he registered or not though.

I had pretty much decided not to ride because I want to ride Endless Mountains this year and they either conflict or are too close together for me.

joewein

I wonder how many other long distance rides are vastly oversubscribed. Of course PBP is very popular too...

A friend and I rode a local 200 km last weekend that had filled up before we could sign up. So we and three others simply started from the same train station at the same time and stopped at the same convenience stores that were PCs, without brevet card or official recognition (I arrived 20 minutes under the official time limit).

At the finish point we chatted to the organizers to learn that the signup had filled up within 3 1/2 minutes! Another ride on the same day had also filled up in under 10 minutes. The problem is that they can't simply raise the official participant limit (usually around 80 here) without getting into trouble with the local police, who would make it more difficult for them to get the event approved.

chasm54

Luis, well done for getting in.

I noticed an old post of yours in the UK forum saying you planned to do it fixed, and asking if there was any serious climbing? The answer is yes, there is. Most of the Northern half of the route (from about Thirsk northwards, as far as I can see from their small map) is what I would call lumpy. Nothing massive, but lots of undulating, sometimes quite steep stuff. In particular, my experience of the Scottish lowlands - you're going through Cumbria towards Moffat, I think - is that they may be low, but they aren't flat!

I'd recommend gearing down. My own FG is a 42/16. I'm sure you're stronger than me, but I might struggle with that at some points and need a 38/16 or thereabouts.