Tag Archives: London Wales London

Training for London Edinburgh London 2025: lessons from LWL

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This is the second in a series of posts about my training and preparation for the 1530km London Edinburgh London audax event in August 2025. The series was inspired by LEL supremo Danial Webb asking if anyone was planning to post about their training and preparation for the event. Read part one here.

(London Edinburgh London is a cycle ride across Great Britain between the English and Scottish capitals. Held every four years, it is the premier British audax – a long-distance, non-competitive cycle ride. You have a maximum of 128 hours to ride to Edinburgh and back to London.)

Heading back into England over the Severn Bridge, LWL 2025

London Wales London 2025

I wrote a lengthy post a year ago about completing the annual London Wales London audax from Chalfont St Peter near London to Chepstow in Wales and back via the original Severn Bridge. If you’re interested in a detailed account of riding LWL, head there as this will be a much shorter account. Instead I’ll focus on how I plan to learn from this year’s LWL experience to help my preparations for London Edinburgh London in August. (Both what worked well and what didn’t.) I’ll look at organisational lessons – yes, including charging devices – and personal ones, such as keeping healthy and maintaining morale through the inevitable lows.

LWL riders close to Islip, the first control at 38km

I never thought we’d have a second year of fine weather for LWL, but conditions were similar to last year, with the exception of a light but noticeable headwind on the outward leg across the Cotswolds. We were lucky to miss the 28C temperatures two days before – as well as the far colder weather that arrived within 12 hours of the finish. Organiser Liam FitzPatrick is obviously on very good terms with the weather gods…

Just 600 metres to the finish line – 406km cycled!
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Training and top tips for London Edinburgh London 2025: part 1

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This is the first in a series of posts about my training and preparation for the 1530km London Edinburgh London audax event in August 2025. The series was inspired by LEL supremo Danial Webb asking if anyone was planning to post about their training and preparation for the event. For part 2, lessons from London Wales London, click here.

London Edinburgh London is a cycle ride across Great Britain between the English and Scottish capitals. Held every four years, it is the premier British audax – a long-distance, non-competitive cycle ride. You have a maximum of 128 hours to ride to Edinburgh and back to London.

I’ve been dreaming about taking part in LEL since the pandemic, and will be on the start line in August. I’ve followed LEL Facebook and Yet Another Cycling Forum (YACF) posts, and read several books by previous participants such as Andy Allsopp and Malcolm Dancy for inspiration and information. I also bought the film about the 2013 edition of LEL. (All of which, truth be told, sent shivers of fear down my spine about what I’ve signed up for!) I’ve also enjoyed the LEL podcasts, which you can find on all the usual podcast platforms, including Spotify.

In this post, I’ll explain my road to LEL 2025, talk about my training, and also share a few tips for fellow LEL riders – which may be useful for anyone taking part in other multi-day audax rides. These tips are based on my own cycling experiences and advice shared by previous LEL riders. In future editions, I’ll share any new lessons from my training and preparations.

So – what makes me think I can complete LEL?

My original inspiration for long distance cycling, 1994

I’ve been cycling for over 35 years, since buying my first proper bike in 1989, as I blogged last year. Back in 1994, I was inspired by this feature in the old Cycling Today magazine about cycling 100 miles, and successfully completed my first century the following year.

My LWL story – Arrivée, Autumn 2024

Last year, I completed my first audax ride, the 400km London Wales London, and my beginner’s story appeared in Audax UK’s Arrivée magazine. (The article was a shorter version of my LWL blogpost.) I knew that LWL was a good test of my ability to complete the far bigger LEL challenge, and early on my ride to Wales I had a brief crisis of confidence:

‘I was still in the Cotswolds when I decided such a challenge [LEL] was beyond me. The toll on body and spirit would be huge. Yet now, after the satisfaction of completing LWL successfully with something to spare, I’m not so sure. I have a guaranteed place for 2025, and that would have to be the year – it really would be too much by 2029, when I’d be approaching 66.’

I am feeling more confident now about LEL, and am fitter than I was on the eve of LWL 2024.

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Cycling into 2025

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Memories of 2024: cycling in Ireland

New year is the time I look back on the cycling year just passed, and anticipate adventures to come. This time last year, I shared my plans for 2024 with a hint of hesitation. Telling the world that I planned to cycle from London to Wales and back in a day seemed tempting fate. But that London Wales London challenge proved a happy one as I blogged in May. It remains to be seen how I cope with the far bigger ambition to complete London Edinburgh London this August.

2024: the year I became an endurance cyclist

Crossing the Severn Bridge, London Wales London 2024

At the start of 2024, I’d never cycled more than 103 miles in a day. Could I make the jump to riding over 250 miles in one go? I knew that this would be as much a mental challenge as a physical one. So I tested myself on a 157 mile shortened version of the London Wales London route, which I tackled three weeks before the real thing. My heart sank as I suffered a puncture after 49 miles, but the tubeless sealant plugged the hole, and I made it to the end. I was also tested by a pitiless headwind for much of the first 60 miles, which meant I had to pedal downhill as well as up. These hurdles tested my resilience but I came through with the confidence to tackle London Wales London.

The opening page of my Arrivée article on LWL

I’ve already written a comprehensive account of my debut London Wales London in Audax UK’s Arrivée magazine and on this blog, so I won’t repeat myself here. I’ll just say that I found it an almost spiritual experience, especially seeing a new day dawning as I pedalled across the unspoilt Berkshire countryside. I was also delighted to reach the final feedstop at Lambourn after 196 miles in buoyant shape and spirits. My LWL success isn’t proof that I will be able to complete London Edinburgh London (or indeed the 600km Bryan Chapman Memorial ride in June) but it suggests that I am not crazy to attempt them.

Cycling across Ireland

Climbing the Sheeffry pass, Co Mayo, Ireland

It was a joy to return to Ireland in June, for my third ‘end to end’ ride, from Mizen Head in Co Cork to Malin Head in Co Donegal with the excellent Peak Tours. It was no surprise that the weather wasn’t as benign as in Portugal in 2023, but we did have a surprising number of bright days. I’ve written a detailed day-by-day account starting here.

In my 2024 new year post previewing the trip, I looked forward to returning to the seaside town of Lahinch 50 years after my visit aged 10 with Mum and Dad. We didn’t stay there in 2024 as it turned out, but I stopped briefly and found it rather a sad place and not at all how I remembered it. But in an amazing coincidence we did stay in the same Galway hotel that Mum, Dad and I visited in 1974. The old Ryan Hotel was renamed the Connacht in 2013.

Conquering the Rapha Festive 500

My 2024 cycling year ended on a high as I completed the Rapha Festive 500 for the first – and most likely only – time. As one of my readers, Tempocyclist said, it’s a lot nicer cycling 500 festive kilometres in the southern hemisphere than in a British winter.

You can read my tips on tackling the Festive 500 here. I was delighted and relieved to finish the last ride. I have to be honest that it wasn’t my favourite cycling experience of the year, but it did mean I finished 2024 more healthily than if I’d stayed on the sofa, which gives me a head start in my training for 2025’s cycling challenges.

All smiles: Christmas Day ride

Here’s to 2025!

Cycling from London to Wales and back – in a day

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It’s a long way, cycling from London to Wales. Especially if you go via Tewkesbury, where Shakespeare’s Avon meets the Severn, and cycle all the way back, through the night.

That’s London Wales London, the 407km annual ride organised by Liam FitzPatrick, and a firm favourite in the audax (long distance cycling) calendar. Its current popularity was helped by a rebranding from the old Severn Across name to echo the likes of London Edinburgh London, and Paris Brest Paris.

On the road, London Wales London 2024

I’ve been dreaming of doing London Wales London for several years. It starts just down the road in Chalfont St Peter – not exactly London, but the M25 London orbital motorway goes through the parish. And being Welsh, the idea of cycling to Cymru and back in a day inspires a certain patriotic pride.

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