London 2 Paris 24 2012

Was just looking through the page for this event, looks fairly interesting, read on to look at team entry, looks a bit more interesting, and I thought wouldnt it be good if we could get a lfgss team together for the ride? 280 miles in 24 hours.

http://www.london2paris24.com/index.php

Thought about it myself actually. You'd probably want to do it with a team but all riding the whole thing though.

yeah definately, especially to complete it within 24 hours

Hmm... L2P2L in 24hr.. pity about that wet bit in the middle..

i reckon you have a better chance of doing all 280 miles solo.
have done a few 200mile + overnighters and it's the needs of the group that add time - punctures, loo stops, food stops etc. basically multiply all the ride-stopping events you will experience by the number of people you are riding with.
pretty sure these outweigh the morale boosting benefits of having team mates.

I did this ride with a mate the summer before last.

It was set up then as a sort of tag-team style thing, ridden in pairs. Most of the time whilst one person was riding, the other was in a bus driving to the next piss/food/drink stop where you'd swap for the next leg. The legs ranged from 30 to 60 miles and none had more than a couple of respectable climbs. You were allowed to ride as many legs consecutively as you wanted but one of the two would have to be on the road at any one time.

Some people decided to do the whole thing without getting a rest (bar the ferry ride about 60-70 miles in) but by the last couple of legs they were lagging behind. Quite often they turned up at the checkpoints just as they were being packed away and subsequently missed the chance for 5-10 minutes rest here and there.

The route we used was really nice and for the most part avoided anything bigger than a very small town. Riding through the French countryside in the middle of the night was spectacular and an experience I won't soon forget.

Overall, the ride was very well organised. Plenty of food (good variety as well, nothing worse than eating the same thing over and over on a long ride) and water etc. The route map they provided was easy to follow and was reinforced by the occasional fluro pink way marker. Thankfully I didn't experience any mechanicals but they provided a few mechanics just in case and had a broom wagon type deal that could help you out if you got properly stuck.

To top it all off, we got to watch the final stage of le tour the day after before getting the eurostar home.

I can highly recommend taking part. It's a good experience and if they use the same route, a decent ride.

It's also quite costly to enter.

Some people decided to do the whole thing without getting a rest (bar the ferry ride about 60-70 miles in) but by the last couple of legs they were lagging behind

not surprised considering they would have ridden about twice as far as the relay riders they were chasing.

£99 for entry when I did it and you get quite a lot in return all things considered..

You need to get lots of sponsorship though.

not surprised considering they would have ridden about twice as far as the relay riders they were chasing.

Exactly. I was just mentioning the quick turnaround as something to consider if you wanted to do the whole thing.

£99 for entry when I did it and you get quite a lot in return all things considered..

You need to get lots of sponsorship though.

Exactly. £99 to get in and 1.5k sponsorship.

Exactly. I was just mentioning the quick turnaround as something to consider if you wanted to do the whole thing.

yeah, it is a pretty hardcore undertaking to ride the whole thing.

had my eye on the strykeproven for 2012 but this looks good too (and supported)

I had my heart set on doing this next year bit I've changed my mind and doing a solo fast tour instead.

The plan is 830mi between Vancouver and calgary, +50,000 -48000 feet in eight days.

I'm not sure which undertaking is more punishing but I have a feeling I will be dreaming of l2p24 after the first few mountain passes!

Have any forumengers paid the entrance fee yet?

L2p24 is a very controlled and well supported ride. The miles will be 'punishing' if you do the whole thing non-stop but at the very least you will not have to worry about carrying food/tools/clothes etc.

Depends what you want to experience really.

I 'd love to do a properly supported ride. Maybe 2013 although L2P24 always clashes with Glastonbury so maybe not.

Canada is going to be the opposite to fully supported. I'll have a saddle bag and that is it for the 8 days.

I attempted to ride a 24-hour ride through The Netherlands and Belgium, which was 260 miles. After 13 hours of relentless rain I caved in. Don't yet dare to attempt something like this again.

What they're offering does seem fair, and I do think you'd be able to get the sponsors for something like this.

I'm not a pro at something like this (heck I didn't even finish), but if there's something you'd like to ask, feel free to do so.