London to Brighton?

bikeus mikeus

anyone in medway/ kent up for the London to Brighton?

BubblinSergeant

Hi,

I'm from St Mary's Island and completed the L2B last year, and have just got my priority entry form in for this year and will probably be up for it again.

I managed to complete the ride in 4.5 hours last year and I'm aiming for 3.5-4 hours this year.

If you up for it let me know, where abouts are you based?

I've recently moved to Medway so I don't know a single person around this way (yes I know a bit of a loner)

impished

is that the road L2B? or the off-road L2B?
Have a look at this thread. Looks like they're fishing for interest before launching it properly so if we all email sthamesevents@bhf.org.uk hopefully they should realise there's plenty of us muddy nutters up for 85 miles of off-road :shock:
A few details can be found here

bikeus mikeus

that would be the road ride, on my mtb. always fancied doing it so why not.
im in gillingham and not all that fit but no slacker, i dont know if 3.5 hrs is a fast pace or not?

Bmjboy

Yep, got my priority form also, 8 of us going from Sheppey - we did it last year, took fooking ages due to the loads of accidents and snarl-ups, we left on the 8:30 slot - Never again!

Wasnt helped by the major traffic jam a couple of miles in where the police stopped us crossing the road, thousands of us stood still or crawled along for a good 30mins!

Top tip is to start as early as possible to avoid the crashing numpties and have a clear road ahead.

Putting us down to start at 6am, we are not racing it as we do it on MTB's also.

It was my first time last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and kept me focussed to get fit. I only had to push my bike up "the beacon" which most would agree is allowed given its severity

I started the off-road L2B thread mentioned, we are entering that also, again, to keep my backside well and truly kicked to stay fit and lose weight. Im lead to believe its not majorly off road, but challenging nonetheless.

Wtih regards to the main L2B 3.5hrs is a fast pace imho for any fun rider, thats averaging approx 16mph along the 54ish miles.

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BubblinSergeant

Totally agree that the earlier you start the better, the worst part I came across when starting at 8:30 one year was at the bottom of Ditchling Beacon, after the long downhill into the town the traffic lights near to Brighton seafront caused the biggest jam, as far as you could see were stationary bikes.

I will recommend completing the ride on a road bike, the difference in effort required with that compared to a MTB is massive, even if you put slicks on.

The offer is still open if your up for it.

Bmjboy

BubblinSergeant wrote:

I will recommend completing the ride on a road bike, the difference in effort required with that compared to a MTB is massive, even if you put slicks on.

Yes and no, if you got some good slicks for your steed you'll be fine. Although if I was on a racer then Id blitz it much faster. The amound of people on the road determines how fast you can go!

Im sure you'll agree with me that some peoples bikes on that event where absolute dogs, I wouldnt trust to ride them to the local shops, let alone over 50 miles!

Its a fun event, so shouldnt be taken too seriously, just ensure you are physically fit enough to complete 50+ miles and your bike is in sound condition and you carry tools and repair kit incase of breakdowns. (We had 4 flats between us last year!!)

I would say getting out of London took the longest for us, then the various crashes we got stopped by en-route. Into Brighton wasnt too bad in our experience, but yes it was a big queue!

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bikeus mikeus

hi, do you get the train to london? or do you drive?

BubblinSergeant

Totally agree you see bikes from 5p to £5000 Carbon racing bikes (normally being pushed up the hills), my bike cost me £350.

I remember seeing a guy on a micro bike (the little things with wheels the size of a jaffa cake) I think he started two days previously.

It is good that various bike shops give free repairs (labour only) to your bikes if you happen to come across one, so if you really can't be bothered to change your 4th puncture as long as its near a pit stop they will usually do it for you.

Whatever you do just have fun and get lots of distance in before the day so you are prepared for the pain you'll suffer getting up Ditchlin Beacon, but, at least its 5-8 miles downhill to the finish line.

Bmjboy

You can't get the train, most operaters ban bikes on this weekend. Although talking to some riders last year, they did take the train(?) depends where you are coming from I expect.

We hired a minibus and trailer - worked out quite expensive in the end.

This year, I now own a van, so a friend is driving that with our bikes, and other friends are driving us to Clapham in cars and picking us up in Brighton after our 10th pint!

Ah, the downhill section after Ditchlin Beacon, scenic, downhill and fast - my kind of biking!!

We saw the microbike guy on that very stretch, there was also a group of roller bladers, and a cyclist with one leg! - Top effort.

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clarkson

i did it last year. make sure you get an early start or you'll be queing out of london and into brighton. also some people walk up the easiest of climbs which was annoying.

deadpool2e

Where do you get a application form from? And do you need sponsorship? I want to do this run. BTW where in london does it start from?

Cheers

BubblinSergeant

Just go to the British Heart Foundation Website, and apply for an entry form (places are allocated on a lottery basis unless you raised at least £100 the previous year)

It starts from Clapham Common, good luck.

breezer

I started at 7am last year and still had to walk on two early hills due to selfish slow people, Ditchling was ok as the walkers kept to the left so you just had room to ride. I did it in the pretty much the same time as the year before which was 3hrs 45 which was ok as on a mtb with slicks and had a dodgy leg. I think you would need to start at 6am to have any chance of avoiding the slow people but I expect to get that time slot you will need to enter about 2 months ago heh

impished

Ok, that's my L2B entry form in the post :shock:
Better get out and ride a bit more, I 'spose

breezer

nah riding on the road is easy. Just put some slicks on. If you can ride for 2 hours off road you will be fine.

I have the route in google earth format somewhere at home which I will upload as I rode with a GPS. Can even see a bit where I got sick of the queue so shot across the road and rode along the outside of a park heh

impished

BREEZER wrote:

I have the route in google earth format somewhere at home which I will upload as I rode with a GPS.

Any chance of mailing that to me Breezer? impished (@) impished . co. uk

Cheers

Bmjboy

I wouldnt rush to get your entry form in - they had tents at the start where you can just turn up, pay your fee and go. One of our group turned up without any of his details and re-regsitered no problem, hundreds where doing it.

I have a priority entry form anyway, so not too worried.

I also have GPS file if anyone's interested.

Top advice: Get Slicks for your bike, start as early as possible, take inner tubes/repair kit.

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breezer

Here they are

Pic thats where I got bored and went on the grass heh

http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~visa/temp/London%20to%20Brighton%20Bike%20Ride%2017th%20June%202007%20(Time).kmz

That is the Google Earth file, you will want to turn the points off once loaded else your PC might blow up!!

If you are really bored my friend (oap with the goatie) did a write up for the last 2 years on his site. Both years I had serious right hamstring issues but I still got up Ditchling. 2006 there was less wind on the steep hill the other side where I clocked the same max speed as him despite being about 2 minutes behind which was weird, 51.3mph! I was having to do mad slip streaming then swinging across the road to get a brief bit from someone else etc as I couldnt pedal that!

http://darkrepository.com/index2.html

STUPID useless forum! You will have to copy and paste the link to the google file manually![/url]

Bmjboy

Ha Ha Breezer!

I remember that exact spot, Policed by the cheeriest copper in the world! (not) One copper Vs 2000 Cyclists - Didnt fancy his job that day trying to stop the hoards of people coming along on the grass.

I think my top speed was about 35-40mph - that was enough for me!!

Will be trying to hammer it this year, as I dont think the missus is coming along, so get to stick with the lads a bit more.

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breezer

I know they are only doing their jobs but I get annoyed with some of the coppers and the marshalls heh. So what if I am on the wrong side of the road LOL, I get out of the way before the oncoming traffic hits me!

My friend had a right whinge at me for some of the overtakes I was doing on the downhills as I had my slick shod mtb sideways a few times at high speed with the rear wheel locked up on the dirt off the side of the road trying to avoid people

forgotrafe

Changing topic slightly... I did London to Paris for charity last year. Agree with everyone here - a really good focus on getting fitter. It wasn't a well organised, enormous event, but a fun event with really nice bunch of people. There was 30ish of us and we raised over £50,000 for two childrens charities.

Anyway, the same guy is organising another event for Sept this year - Cork to Galway in Ireland. About 180 miles split across two days. Then a whole day drinking Guiness before flying home.

PM me if you want details.

Rafe