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Reflections on being a cycle commuter - Year 1

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      Reflections on year 1 of cycle commuting    Friends of mine have cycle commuted for years and when I first spoke to one in particular about it I had questions like:-   What if it’s raining?  Do you have to plan to shower when you get there and take a towel with you?  Is there somewhere to park ? How do you carry your stuff ? Did you have to buy a spare hairdryer for work. And a brush. And product. And make up?  What do you do if you puncture? How did you plan your route?     There seemed so many obstacles to cycling to work. Obstacles which as a leisure road cyclist I didn’t have to consider.   At the time I lived 1.8km from work and I walked. There was no point getting my bike out and having ‘all that faff’ to deal with. The quickest way to and from work, door to door, was to walk.  
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London Edinburgh London (LEL - 2021)

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London Edinburgh London (LEL - 2021) I'm looking for a new challenge after my disappointment in Italy at the Maratona.    Could this be the one?    Well it's a very different event to the Maratona. It happens only every 4 years and will next happen in 2021. I'll be 50 that year. So LEL could be the one.    It's around 1400kms of a ride with a 117 hour 5 minute cut off time (just under 5 days then) with  11128m of climbing. It leaves from London heading north and then north west before turning north east into Edinburgh. After turning south in Edinburgh it follows the same route back to London. Why would anyone want to put themselves through that? It's a challenge without a doubt. It will require every ounce of discipline in training long distances, with little sleep, overnight riding and I imagine much solitude because frankly, who is going to put their hand up to join me in a training regime for such an event?   Two of
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