So I was on the fence about going back in 2021. On one hand, lots of positive memories. On the other a combination of "been there, done that" and "you can't go home again" i.e., I had good memories of the ride, all of the miserable parts (the saddle sores caused by my seatpost slipping, the torrential rain between Pocklington and Louth on the retour, etc) had faded and been replaced by that randonesia induced golden glow - so why screw it up?
For 2021, the LEL organizers had several opportunities to enter that I'd potentially qualify for:
- A guaranteed place if you've completed a 1200K in 2017-2018-2019-2020.
- A lottery drawing in early September for 500 places (later increased to 800)
- A lottery drawing for remaining places in early 2021.
I've finished a 1200K in 2017-2019 and have a few planned for 2020 but who knows what the future holds in terms of interest, injury, etc so 2020 wasn't necessarily a sure thing.
So, long story short, I decided to enter the Sept 2019 lottery.
One thing I realized last time was that teams seem to get preferential treatment. Every single person that I know of that was in a team got their requested start time. As a single entry, I was bumped 2:45 minutes. So based on that, I decided to ask my friend Eric Peterson if he was planning on doing the ride and if he wanted to be a "team". He replied that yes, he was planning on doing it with his brother Sven and that I could join "Team Peterson".
Note that teams at LEL are a bit different than at other rides (e.g., the TransContinental): they start at the same time but aren't required to finish together or even ride together.
So I submitted an entry as part of Team Peterson and waited a few days.
 |
| Uh oh! |
So I'm in!
