So what happened in 2022? Have I been cycling at all? According to my Strava profile I completed a distance of 6’370km and 59’863m of vertical ascent in 2022. The year has not yet ended but I’d be surprised if the numbers changed in the coming weeks. In fact, I haven’t been cycling a lot since August, the main reason being this:
LEL has been my absolute priority and highlight this year. It’s probably the greatest sporting achievement of my life. I completed almost 25% of my total cycling distance in 2022 within 120 hours in August. I’ve cycled 300km a day, 5 days (and nights) in a row, sleeping a total of 15 hours. It’s the most challenging and satisfying thing I’ve done all my life. And probably the most insane. Why did I do it? Because I can. Would I do it again? You bet I would. Did I feel alive? Hell yes! Am I a hero? No. Heroes are those brave men and women in Ukraine who fight for their soil, for their freedom, for democracy. I’m just a crazy cyclist who happens to live in the free world doing free world things.
I was meaning to write a detailed review of the whole experience back in August when memories were still fresh. However, I was a bit overwhelmed at that point and decided to let everything sink in first. Now looking back a couple of months later LEL already feels like a distant memory from the past. Out of 1550 starters from all over the world 890 managed to get back to Debden in time. This means less than 60% of participants were credited finishers. The fastest rider, Matt Page, completed LEL in a time of 67 hours and 10 minutes. Unbelievable. It took me a bit more than that but I managed to stay well below the limit of 128.5 hours, cycling at an average speed of 22.8 km/h (most of the time solo). While I had some troubles sleeping during the first night my body quickly adapted and I improved my sleep management significantly during the rest of the week. I haven’t encountered any digestive issues – this being one of my main concerns beforehand – neither did I have any technical problems apart from one flat tyre. I had no back pain at all and my leg muscles seemed to become stronger by the day allowing me to produce a high wattage till the very end. The weather has been perfect for the entire ride, the food was great at the official checkpoints and there was not one single thing I could complain about. LEL was the ride of my life 🙂
It all started with vintage cycling events and is now evolving more and more into ultra distance brevets. For preparation I did a BRM 400 and a BRM 600 with Audax Suisse. And there is more to come in 2023.