CyclistRacing the storm: Inside the Storm Floris-hit 2025 London-Edinburgh-LondonFergus CoyleEverado J Barojas (Mexico)Believe it or not this was my first audax. Ive been eyeing PBP [Paris-Brest-Paris, 1,200km] for decades but you have to do a series of audaxes to qualify, and there arent any organised audaxes in Mexico, whereas LEL [London-Edinburgh-London] is done by ballot.I wanted to get in a couple of 400km days before LEL but in Mexico its not so easy because everything is so steep. Its hard to ride 400km without doing 15,000m altitude. Eventually I found a lake I could go around many times, which was pretty boring but each lap was 100km. By lap two I felt something in my knee go, which led to me having a lot of pain at LEL.Riders line up for the start in Writtle with no idea of whats in store.Fergus CoyleI started off pacing myself, and the first day youre full of hope, right? I was going quite slow and I had no pain. But by the second control I was getting a bit of pain, and by the last control on day one, Louth [248km], I was almost unable to pedal. I got there about midnight and managed to sleep, then set off at 9am the next day and immediately got a flat. I got to Hessle at 1pm about 300km in feeling really bad, and then the organisers sent word the event was going to be stopped [because of Storm Floris].Cycling shoes outside Richmond control. The organisers recommend that riders tie something to the laces to identify theirs.Fergus CoyleThat was a load off my shoulders, and after a bit of rest, even though we were supposed to be returning south, I cycled north until my odometer hit 350km because I felt like I wouldnt feel so disappointed if I did 700km.When I got back home I had an MRI and Id actually torn a tendon, so I really shouldnt have been riding. But even on a bad day there is a beauty in audax. Thats when you see the camaraderie, the courage of the riders, and its inspiring.Fergus CoyleAmy Leung (UK)We set off at about 10.30am and by nine oclock the next morning I was freezing and soggy and Id only had three hours sleep. I remember going towards my air mattress at this control and thinking to myself, Well, my kit is damp so if I keep it on when I sleep it will dry off, but I was just very uncomfortable, I didnt sleep properly and when I woke up my god, the smell. Then a friend who was working as a volunteer hinted they were going to pause the race and close the controls [due to the storm] so if I wanted to carry on riding I needed to go now, so I just went back out into it.Time to hit the road after a stop at the pop-up cafe in Rainton, North Yorkshire.Fergus CoyleWe made it to a pop-up cafe in Rainton [at 444km] and thats when they paused the event. We thought the storm would die off and wed be able to continue, so we got some sleep, but I woke up to my friend telling me theyd cancelled the whole thing. I actually felt really, really sad. Logically I knew they had to, but outright cancellation was quite upsetting. LEL only comes around every four years.Fergus CoyleIn the end I was glad to be stuck in Rainton. There were maybe 20 or 30 of us, whereas a friend volunteering up in Richmond [the next control] said there were a thousand people there. Cycling to Rainton felt quite dangerous, so beyond it would have been even worse there were stories of the wind pushing people across the road and lots of really close calls.Early morning at Louth control, and the final packing up with 253km to the finish in Writtle.Fergus CoyleIn the end I did around 900km, then three weeks after LEL I went back up to ride the northern part by myself. I booked hotels and did 200km days. It was absolutely stunning.Fergus CoyleIan McBride (UK/NZ)The Frenchman is riding like a madman, so I say, Look man, youre going to have to slow down, there could be sheep, shingle, a badger, and if you crash youre going to slow us down as we cant leave you.We get to Brampton [581km], my friend is buggered, the Frenchman says hes going to sleep, and the controller looks at me and says, Nick DeHaan [PBP record holder and LEL favourite] has arrived and just gone to bed. Hes crashed twice, hes knackered. Are you going to ride on? Well, yeah. So I leave and its hammering down, arrive at Hawick [654km] at 6.15am and the controller says the chasing group is 90 minutes behind. Ive never been in front Im an everyman rider so even though the weather is horrific I go back out. I get blown clean off the road twice, there are sticks flying about and I need to carry my bike over two fallen trees.Heading back south following the events cancellation.Fergus CoyleI get into Moffatt [725km] at dawn and sit down for some porridge. The controller says, I think theyre going to call it off, so I just put my bowl down and leave. Now Ive turned into a tail/side-wind and Im doing 55kmh and spinning out. I roll into Dalkeith [807km] and they say its been stopped, so I ask if I can go to the next two controls just to get my brevet card stamped. They say yes, so I have a 45-minute nap then set off at 10pm, but its so windy I cant put my jacket on, my main light fails and theres no phone reception.The Rainton pop-up cafe was one of many community halls serving food and drink along the route.Fergus CoyleIm thoroughly angry with myself but I get to Innerleithen and the volunteers come out to meet me. Its beautiful I have four hours sleep then back on the bike to Eskdalemuir [896km], then back to London. By the time I got to Brampton there was a TV crew waiting for me. I was the only person to ride the whole thing.Fergus CoyleLorraine Costa (India)I actually met one of Indias best ultra-cyclists, Galin Abraham, in a bar, and he told me he was looking for a partner to do a 200km tandem ride. Im from Kerala and no one really does this sort of thing there, so I dont know if it was the beer but I said yeah, fine. I used to do a fair bit of running in school, I have a sports background, so why not?The event was the week after, and the only practice we got was riding 50km from the place where we picked up the tandem to a friends house, then another 20km to the start of the audax on the day.Richmond control. A cacophony of snoring randonneurs waits out the storm.Fergus CoyleWe managed to finish in 12 hours not bad for a first-timer and Ive done audaxing ever since. Ive got multiple Super Randonneur titles [riding 200km, 300km, 400km and 600km audaxes in the same year]; I think I just love pushing the limits of what the mind and body can endure, plus its good for the soul.Heinrich Neumann, over from Germany in his iconic Velomobile.Fergus CoyleMe and Galin did LEL on the tandem and got all the way to Richmond [467km], then they cancelled. Everyone seemed really unhappy when they called it off, but Im like hey, its nature, you cannot do anything. Do you want to get thrown off your bike on Yad Moss or would you rather be alive? We rode back to London so we still did 940km, you know, which we were proud of especially as so many people took trains back.Even though it was cancelled we had so much fun. Everyone came out of the villages to cheer us on, people were really interested in the tandem, and then the climbs climbing on a tandem is quite a challenge, but we enjoyed it so much.Fergus CoyleImran Abdullah (Malaysia)I remember my friend saying, Im quite sleepy, I think we need to stop, but I just ignored him until the third or fourth time, when I finally said OK. I thought we could find a bus stop but there was nothing, so we just slept on the pavement. Or we tried to. All these passersby kept asking if we were OK. Were fine, just taking a power nap!I think we were nearly at Richmond when the storm started. It was windy and a bit rainy, but I said surely this cant be the storm. Its up north, this must be a baby storm, but then the wind got crazy and we were looking at these bent over trees and thinking, OK, can we make it to control or not?Many opted to sleep on the grass outside Richmond control while awaiting an update on whether they could continue.Fergus CoyleWe were down to riding at 15kmh and every time we passed a gap in the hedges the wind pushed us across the road. My 55mm wheels didnt help. Luckily there was a cafe before Richmond, so we stopped, had a nice soup, then carried on to Richmond. I was fighting the wind but thinking its OK as we could rest at the control, but when we arrived there were so many people that there was nowhere to lie down, so I ended up lying at the bottom of some stairs.Storm Floris brought some unusual weather and high winds on an otherwise warm day. The grass outside Richmond control was quite sheltered and perfect for sunbathing.Fergus CoyleThe announcement [cancelling the event] came and we had a long chat about continuing anyway even though we were told wed be disqualified but we decided everything would be closed, no controls, nowhere to sleep, we would be on our own, so we decided to rest then ride back.Maybe Ill come back for the next one. I do audax to explore my limits, to see how far I can go without hurting myself, but at the same time still enjoy it. But if you ask my wife, she says Im having a midlife crisis.The post Racing the storm: Inside the Storm Floris-hit 2025 London-Edinburgh-London appeared first on Cyclist.