London - Land's End - London

Note: bloopers in the time stamps! The last two should read 'Saturday' not 'Friday'. Oops, sorry!
Cycling from London to Land's End and back, with Kingston Wheelers' 1,000km audax. This was pretty much a shakedown ride for me to try and get ready for Paris-Brest-Paris in August, the premier event in the long-distance cycling calendar. As it turned out, this was an absolute stunner of a ride: it's a shoestring event, with no support (but obviously you're free to get food and drink wherever you like along the route) and not many riders this year - maybe 25 of us started, and I gather that about half finished. Big thanks to the organisers!

[@mrichards55]

Only just discovered your channel and it’s great 👍 Love these adventures

[@londoncenturies]

Glad you like it! Thanks for watching. Hopefully next vid up will be a PBP, that's going to be a big one...

[@simonsaville9962]

Cornish north coast a full 600km in! Ooof! Chapeau sir.

[@londoncenturies]

That was a KILLER :)

[@johnaldred6864]

That was a crazy distance....its mind boggling of how you can do these adventures but they do make for good viewing ...hats off to you. I would struggle doing that in a car.

[@londoncenturies]

John, it's occurred to me more than once that there are probably laws against being behind the wheel of a car over these kinds of distances, and for good reason, too. Thank you for watching!

[@LakeDistrictcyclist]

Good effort that don’t think I could be on the saddle that long, well done

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks for watching and leaving the comment. I did a lot of riding last year including the famous Paris-Brest but you know, looking back it was this one, to Land’s End, that was far and away the hardest. I think they put it on every two years so there’s time to get the training in if you fancy a crack at it! 😀

[@carljc21]

You are a machine mate, not a lot of people could ride as far as you, good on you 👏

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks for watching!

[@odetocycling]

Another top-notch vlog of another epic ride. Thanks for taking us along on the journey - the route looked awesome, particularly along the Cornish coastlines.

[@londoncenturies]

Yep, that was a top route, and no mistake. Cornwall was great, obviously but I'd expected that. And Dartmoor, too. The bit that surprised me was the nice sections in the middle, around Salisbury etc. Much better than expected. Thank you for watching!

[@tomylee]

Great ride, thanks a lot for the vlog. Getting all motivated for Berlin Munich in August 🎉

[@londoncenturies]

Berlin-Munich? Fantastic! Hope the ride goes well for you, gute Straße! 😃

[@pauljones5066]

you mad bar steward!!! congratulations man crazy

[@londoncenturies]

😀cheers Paul!

[@riproaringblues]

This is an incredible feat, and this is the warm-up for another event coming soon. I wish I had your stamina to achieve half the distance you have here!

[@londoncenturies]

Hey thank you. I've built my way up to these distances pretty slowly and steadily. Funny thing is, it's really not about going fast, it's much more about just keeping going. Thank you for watching!

[@alfiefranklin7831]

Absolutely fantastic ride, thank you, I’m envious! Stick in! You see so much beauty when you’re on your bike……

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks Alfie, yes I think I’m very lucky to be able to get out there and be part of it. That’s a big reason behind the videos really, to show how much beauty is out there. Thank you for watching.

[@531c]

Great video. Thoroughly enjoyed that. I really wanted to dee your bike set up. 👍

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks for watching! Bike set up was basically same as in the recent video about choosing gear for long distance riding. Actually, that was kind of a rationale for doing the ride - I wanted to test stuff for another massive one I'm planning next week, Paris - Brest - Paris so in that sense it was a reliability trial. Still not too sure about pesky tubeless tyres...

[@iannelson6242]

Brilliant

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks Ian!

[@greghenderson6011]

Well done sir! Editing and sound are top notch.

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks for watching, Greg, and happy cycling to you. Hope you're out there in the (short lasting?) break in the rain we seem to be having.

[@martineales4603]

Brilliant, great video!

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks for watching, happy riding yourself!

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks for watching and happy riding yourself!

[@CovNoCenturies]

Wowzers, incredible. The sign-off about smelling bad made me guffaw - the stench of greatness and truly hard earned Sir! Amazing to watch. All the best for PBP! 👍Matt L.

[@londoncenturies]

Cheers Matt! Nice to hear from you and many thanks for the kind wishes. Yep, am taking it easy now for PBP later this month. Hope you’re getting some good rides in yourself,

[@kaffeemitcola6506]

😀That was awesome like you are. The refreshing rain in July, we had some too and I love it. I am glad you managed it because it's always hard to see people aging in 3 days which is no surprise doing crazy stuff like this. Liebe Grüße 🙋‍♀️

[@londoncenturies]

Thank you!! Yep, that was pretty crazy stuff. I hope you're getting some good rides in for yourself!

[@waterside13]

Super ride, you made it look easy. Devon and Cornwall both happy places great views and Dartmoor ponies. Tough route well done.

[@londoncenturies]

Hey thanks, I wouldn't say easy but you're dead right, Devon & Cornwall are fantastic to ride through. Thanks for watching and happy riding yourself!

[@Ballacks101]

Fabulous adventure. Congratulations. “I got hit in the face by a bat” made me laugh out loud.

[@londoncenturies]

It was a bit of a shock for me!!! 😀

[@PunjabiCyclist]

Another huge ride - massive achievement well done indeed!!

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks man! Happy riding! 😀

[@pjdeen]

Chapeau sir! Richard sent me the link to this vid when I enquired about number of finishers. Me & the wife started with you but bailed & rerouted on Thursday morning to do a much more sensible 510Km over 3 days down to Seaton near Lyme Regis & back. Good luck at PBP

[@londoncenturies]

Hey thank you, yes I remember seeing you two at the start. Hope you enjoyed the more sensible distance (yes I agree with you!), thanks for watching. Happy riding to you both,

[@MP-th4nx]

Well done LC ... brilliant effort. Thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and commentary. Thanks

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks for watching! Yes, that was a top route. Good to be reminded that southern UK has so much beautiful scenery, we're very lucky really. Happy riding!

[@SteveBrill]

Another great video and nice to see you smiling and laughing through the pain. One hell of an ride! Well done. 👏

[@londoncenturies]

Cheers Steve! You got to laugh sometimes....

[@TheLongstaffaudaxer]

Wow what a ride. Well done!! Am riding London to Illminster (Somerset) this Saturday-you’ve inspired me!! The Mendips are beautiful. Good luck for PBP- you’ll smash if 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@londoncenturies]

Hey, that'll be great (Ilminster, I mean). We went through there. Good luck for your ride, hope the weather's kind to you. Thanks for watching and enjoy your ride!

[@michaelfreeman5933]

Epic! Massive kudos 👏 Congratulations on that mad one. Yes Gunnislake has some killer hills around it 😂

[@londoncenturies]

Oh my gosh that hill out of Gunnislake. Ok, so it was at the end of a ridiculously long day but I reckon that even fresh, it would have felt hard. Thanks for watching!

[@jeffbanks8515]

AWESOME, LOVED IT ALL....

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks for watching!

[@alexcarter1079]

Another great ride, cracking effort. Good luck with PBP, looking forward to seeing the video!

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks Alex, appreciated. Yep, PBP will probably be the next one up. Happy riding yourself,

[@jasonhall669]

Thanks for the effort you put into sharing this!

[@londoncenturies]

Thank you for watching! Happy riding yourself!

[@jiji1946]

'epic' is the word that comes to mind. well,one of them. apart from the sheer impressiveness of your rides, it's your light and cheerful, almost playful, attitude that comes across, for me. your character, i suppose is what it is. even when it's hard going, you evidently enjoy it so. hell of a ride! looking forward to the PBP 'report'..... thank you!

[@londoncenturies]

Hey thanks, good to hear! Yep, that was one hell of a ride, and extremely enjoyable (well, most of it....!) Thanks for watching!

[@paulhoughton5266]

AMAZING

[@londoncenturies]

Thank you!

[@fuzzylogic1887]

Absolutely superb effort and great prep for PBP. I suspect the weather may be different for that event.

[@londoncenturies]

Yep I'm a bit worried about the temperatures rising, I'm a cold weather guy at heart. Thanks for the encouragement for PBP! Cheers for watching,

[@Robutube1]

Fantastically well done - I can only dream of doing such a ride in that time! Many thanks for adding location and time stamps as you go, that really helps visualise the route and what you're dealing with (couple of small errors at Longparish and at the finish in Wimbledon). We didn't get much of a look at your bike but you appeared to be travelling very light on this one. BTW, Your Padstow puncture hasn't helped to persuade me to take 'the tubeless gamble' yet :-).

[@londoncenturies]

Hey thanks v much Rob, and particularly for letting me know about those bloopers in the time stamps - put it down to 100% post-ride exhaustion! They should have read 'Saturday' instead of Friday if anyone else is reading this. Looks like I can't re-upload a fixed version of the vid without making a right mess of the YT stuff so I'm inclined to leave it. ps the tubeless gamble: yep!! :)

[@SaddleSore]

Looks like you're all set for PBP... I hope the sun shines for you!

[@londoncenturies]

Cheers Paul!

[@WanderingJay]

"i just got hit in the face by a bat"! i did chuckle, often wonder how much of a danger local wildlife is to an Audax rider, someone should do a survey. Always love it when i see you coming over dartmoor, thinking, yer, ive pushed my bike up that hill, lol, and St. Michaels mount, does that count as a pile of dirt? great vid as ever, loved it, yer, i reckon you got PBP in the bag, cant wait to see yr vid of it...ATB WJ

[@londoncenturies]

Whoa, I wouldn't say in the bag, that would be tempting fate. Wildlife: I see loads, and always try to get shots with the camera but by the time I'm close enough, I've scared it off. There were badgers and buzzards and deer on this ride, I sometimes see hares but not this time. But never been whacked in the face by a bat before!

[@ruthjames9278]

Chapeau

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks! And thanks for watching, too. Happy riding

[@kevinmcguire4537]

Bonkers but brilliant 👏 👏 👏

[@londoncenturies]

Love it! Thanks for watching!

[@sprog84]

Absolute beast! Would love do 1/2 the distances you manage, you make it look so damned easy :D

[@londoncenturies]

You're right about it being a beast! Kudos to the guys at Kingston Wheelers for planning out that route, it's a winner all round as far as I'm concerned. Happy riding and thanks for watching!

[@lewiswalker7803]

Kudos to you!! I have to disagree with your previous assessment of riding in Somerset, the mendips are stunning with all the towns and quintessentially English villages!! Top riding tho!! 👌🏽

[@londoncenturies]

I'd obviously missed out on all that. Future trips may be needed to explore further....

[@thomasbrown8566]

Good stuff! Really enjoying your videos, thank you👍. How you do this on so little sleep is really impressive.

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks Thomas, yes there was not much sleep on that one at all. It hit me when I got home! Thanks for watching

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks Thomas, yes there was not much sleep on that one at all. It hit me when I got home! Thanks for watching

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks Thomas, yes there was not much sleep on that one at all. It hit me when I got home! Thanks for watching

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks Thomas, yes there was not much sleep on that one at all. It hit me when I got home! Thanks for watching

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks Thomas, yes there was not much sleep on that one at all. It hit me when I got home! Thanks for watching

[@gordonwalker4909]

Another epic excursion which I thoroughly enjoyed. SO how many calories per hour (average) do you tend to burn on these longer jaunts, as you never seem to eat that much? Is there going to be another video between now and the PBP??

[@londoncenturies]

Hey, that's a good question about calorie requirements. Not sure. I'll have to check next time and report back. The Garmin is supposed to be accurately measuring that stuff because it's based on actual power output rather than an estimate. Having been home a few days I'm totally stuffing myself with cake now to make up for it though.

[@WheelersAtLarge]

Epic 💪👍

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks! 😀

[@simonleeofficial]

..and straight into audax folklore..

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks Simon, very kind! That was one hell of an event. VERY tough.

[@manwithnoname6580]

What a ride! What bike are you riding for this trip?

[@londoncenturies]

Thanks. It's basically the same set up as in this vid here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKmWZn2Ji5hgf7M

[@thomasbrown8566]

I was wondering, do you do much preparation diet-wise in the days leading up to a ride like this, or is it just a hearty meal the night before?!

[@londoncenturies]

Absolutely nothing at all in this case, it was a bit of rush from work mid-week. If I was better organised though, it would be a great idea because staying fuelled on a long one like that is a nightmare. Thanks for watching!

[@mallardzoom2890]

Amazing video (I love how you edit one conversation so that it flows into another) and amazing ride! I'd love to start riding some longer distances but was properly knackered after my first imperial century the other day so it's going to take some time to build the fitness. One thing I was wondering, how long does it take for you to recover from a ride like this? In fact I'm curious in general about how you train for long distance without just burning out what with the crazy mileage, petrol station nutrition and chronic lack of sleep!

[@londoncenturies]

Hey, thanks for the encouragement, glad you like the video. Yes, ok, recovery time: well, I'm still finding out but it's Wednesday today and I finished that LLEL on Saturday night, so to give you an idea, I was back at work on Monday (but not feeling great), a bit more normal by Tuesday but have been eating a LOT and sleeping very heavily all week so far. I think the training does NOT have to be at big distances. Yes obviously, you need to do them occasionally, but they take a lot out of the system so it's better to work on the regular aerobic stuff, FTP, hill climbs, etc. Nutrition is an entire subject in itself and is key, I reckon. Thanks for watching!

[@mallardzoom2890]

@@londoncenturies Thanks for the informative reply! I'm sure the Sunday evening/Monday blues must be a whole lot worse after a ride like that, I'm hoping you have understanding coworkers :D! Maybe you've talked more about this on some of your other rides (I haven't seen them all yet) but it would be very interesting to hear you talk more about how you train and eat etc in general.

[@petermast3947]

Epic. Paris Brest Paris should be easy by comparison.

[@londoncenturies]

Well, that's the plan! Can anything be as hard as those Cornish hills?? Hoping not...

[@petermast3947]

@londoncenturies Everything is laid at controls at PBP. Catering, toilets, beds, mechanical or medical help. Lots of inspiring local roadside support. As long as you aren't tempted to waste too much time 'enjoying yourself', and avoid crashes in the large fast starting peloton, you should be fine.

[@DIY-DaddyO]

Crazy man, crazy. I've got to get me a road bike and try this audax malarky, don't fancy this on my single speed mountain bike 😂 Could a 4 hours on 4 off sleep pattern work for this sort of trip?

[@londoncenturies]

Look, I'm still trying to work it out myself! You're dead right about a single speed mountain bike (but hey, there are guys out there that do this kind of distance on fixed gear, would you believe - is that just masochism or what?). 4 on/4 off - well, maybe. What's become blindingly obvious to me is that it's far less about the speed you ride, and far more about reducing the time you spend stopped. Might sound simple but it's not. Just looking at my file for LLEL, I was at St Austell for nearly 7 hours but only slept for 4 of them. That's appallingly inefficient. If I had eaten while moving, even very slowly, I could have carved chunks off my total elapsed time.

[@DIY-DaddyO]

​​​fixed gear 😮 That's even more crazy! I did find this video on audax time management interesting. He talks about having 25hours rest time on a 1,000 km audax. Food for thought, but then I guess you'd be sleeping in ditches if you get the timing wrong 😂. It's a fascinating subject. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJPMYYFpip2cpM0

[@londoncenturies]

@@DIY-DaddyO Thanks for that link - I've seen that guy before but not watched that particular video, thanks, I'll check it out later after work today. 25 sounds a bit high to me but I haven't totted up my stopped time yet from LLEL. The thing about sleeping in ditches is that I really doubt you get quality rest that way!! And as for fixed gear - well, what can I say? Hats off to them but it's bonkers!

[@drmajharrison]

Monumental achievement - well done! Is it time to re-brand the channel as LondonMillennia?

[@londoncenturies]

Whoa! 😀

[@paulbhoy1888]

Can you tell me what helmet you have. Thinking of getting a new one and like The look off the one you have bud

[@londoncenturies]

Hi Paul, I’m away right now (without that helmet) so not 100% sure but think it’s a Specialized but quite an old one - a good 10 years I reckon. Hope that helps.

[@draconianTL]

I’ve just discovered Audax and longer distance riding. My issues so far are nutritional and not eating as I go - I’m going to print a sticker for my handlebars to remind me to eat/drink certain things at {x}mile intervals. In terms of sleeping, would taking a hammock to negate hotel/hostel stopping help at all or would the extra weight grind you down more overall?

[@londoncenturies]

Hiya. You and me both! I still have exactly the same problem with eating (ie = not remembering to/not being able to) that I always did. I reckon a sticker for the handlebar is a great idea, IF you can stick to it. I set my Garmin to beep a reminder to me but I just ended up ignoring it... :( On camping gear: yep, I've tried this but at this time of year (when the nights are so warm) I'd much rather not carry the weight. A thermal top and a wooly hat will get me through most nights. Thanks for the comment and if you find a magic elixir to solve the nutrition problem, would you let me know please?!