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Something I’ve realised about myself is that once I get a bee in my bonnet it’s almost impossible to get rid of. For those of you that don’t know, in 2007 I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. At 35 it was a shock to say the least. After 6 months of steroids, chemotherapy and literally 100’s of tablets I was given the all clear, 5 years later I was told that I was no more at risk of developing cancer again than anyone else.

At 40 I was seriously unfit with my only form of exercise coming from playing golf, I had more chins than chinny chin chin. I’d ballooned up to 14 stone and was ignoring the fact that I was in the worst shape I’d ever been in. Fast forward another 5 years and still not much had changed, that is until both my Mum and Stepdad died of cancer 7 months apart.

That’s when I had a reality check and knew I needed to look after myself health wise. I started running and dropped the weight down to around 12 stone and then quite by chance got into cycling when I aggravated an old knee injury.

Cycling was the release that I needed but I just didn’t know it was there, the sense of freedom and control of what you are doing I personally don’t think exists anywhere else. For me it’s where I’m able to block out all of the distractions of everyday life and reorganise my thoughts so I’m rational and feel more at ease. The time spent on the bike re-energises me to be better positioned to deal with life’s problems.

Shortly after I’d been given the all clear my Mum said to me that I should take it as a sign that you only live once! I thought about that comment for a very long time and then one day proffered an alternative - I said to her “You only die once, you live everyday so I’m gonna try doing something positive everyday, even if it’s just making someone laugh or smile!”

Anyway enough of the deep and meaningful shit, back to the bee in my bonnet. Cancer tested my resolve in ways I’ve never really fully understood until that is when I got on a bike. The will to want to live and fight a deadly disease taught me that the strength of the human mind is incredible! When harnessed properly it’s truly amazing what you can achieve. Now at 45 I found what I’d been looking for without previously being able to see it - Road cycling.

Straight away I felt a sense of freedom and the more I rode the greater that feeling became. Lost without being lost, free even if it’s just for a few hours, away from texts, email and calls. Precious time to balance the mind and test your physical well-being. The release of endorphins that sets you up to deal and cope with the rigours of life.

It dawned on me that what I was getting from cycling was the means of testing my mental strength, to see if I was able to reach down deep and unlock that part of me, which allowed me to beat my cancer, only now it was to go and do things that few would contemplate!

The bee I’ve previously spoken of, made an early appearance this year, March it was, when after a winter spent mostly on the turbo I started to think of the longer drier summer months and what to do, what decent challenge would come along to test me?

What happened next came about completely by chance when I got chatting to one of the guys who runs Audax UK and is the organiser of LEL, a single event that much like the football World Cup or the Olympics only occurs once every four years (in this case 5 years, 2017 being the last one due to covid.)

Why only once every 4 years you might ask, well there’s two school’s of thought firstly it’s so damn tough it takes 4 years to get over and secondly it takes so long to organise and make it the best event in the UK ride calendar that anything less would ruin it’s reputation as being the hardest UK multi day cycling challenge there is.

Participants of LEL set off on Sunday from Loughton and if all goes well return to Loughton via Edinburgh 5 days or 125 hours later. That in itself is no mean feat, so picture this, there’s another group of riders of which there aren’t too many (for 2022 just 68) who for some completely senseless reason will be doing LEL with just 100 hours to complete it!

So like Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory some lucky rider got offered the golden ticket - number 68 literally as the event closed its doors to would be competitors for 2022.

Yup yours truly scraped in just as the doors closed. Invited to take the last elite riders spot! So payment made I sat back all chuffed to bits with myself and then had one of those moments when after looking at the stats I thought this is gonna be tough, no actually tougher than tough, like having a wisdom tooth pulled out without anaesthetic and possibly as painful if not more!

Here’s some figures for you to digest to get a feel for what it’s all about:

London - Edinburgh - London 4 days or 100 hours.

Distance 945 miles self supported.

Elevation 14,000 Metres (yes that’s Metres not Feet.)

Start time 5.00am Sunday 7th August.

Cut off time 9:00am Thursday 11th August.

From Loughton Davenant School passing through 11 control points on the Northbound leg.

With 10 control points on the Southbound leg.

The ride requires you to carry a brevet card, which you must get stamped at every control point to verify your ride.

Daily mileage 236 miles approximately.

Ride speed average 16mph.

Total daily ride time 15 hours approximately.

As cyclists you’ll know that maintaining a 16mph average requires extensive periods over and above that speed and will obviously be impacted by elevation of which there’s 1 3/4 Everest’s thrown in to the mix!

14,000 metres or 46,600 odd feet. The equivalent of riding up Bird Lane 174 times!

Have a re-read of those numbers, for the average club rider that’s a months ride distance in 4 days, 4 days!

Not to mention that a weeks worth of climbing for most club riders is less than a sixth of the elevation I’ll do in 4 days.

So in terms of multi day rides it’s not as long as the 12 days I completed during the first ever virtual RAAM, but for the IRL riders that never counted anyway. This on the other hand does count, for 4 days I literally will be riding, eating, sleeping (all be it very briefly - 4 hrs max) and repeating it until it’s done and I’m back in the flatlands of Essex with a finishers medal hanging around my neck.

The alternative isn’t something I’ve thought about a great deal because it’s not in the script…

This time around the club has two nominated charities Havering Mind and St Francis Hospice. Please if you’ve enjoyed the write up and think it a worthy challenge, can you dig about in your sofas and empty the pound pots or the car parking ashtray and give as generously as you can in these austere times. Remember you all have bikes to help mend your mental health others sadly don’t. Also the hospice continue to provide fantastic end of life care to so many people and can’t survive without local support, so forget the takeaway or the ‘one for the road’ and do something positive and generous to help those more in need!

Thanks for your patience, see you on the road.

Lee Putnam.