London to Brighton - Travel Recommendations

malc101

Hi Guys

I have finally got a road bike and have been in training for the L2B. Very pleased with it so far but it is a shock to the system after years of mountain biking!

I am organising a team for my company and want to sort out a bus back for us. There are 18 of us and our bikes. Does anybody know of a hire company that will drive us back to London from the finish line? I am struggling to find a suitable vehicle for us to use.

Any help would be awesome.

Malc

CrookedCucumber

This probably isn't the answer you want, but when I did the London-to-Brighton we all traveled back by train. The railway company kindly put on extra trains to accommodate the huge amount of bike traffic. I don't know if they still do. It was relatively painless, I recall.

malc101

Cheers for the that, i thought the trains didnt allow you to use them on the day of the ride.

If worst comes to worst i can crash at my sisters and get a train home the following day...which is a monday!

Anybody else got any advice, the best i have so far is to hire a coach at cost of £500!! No thanks!!

CrookedCucumber

I wish I'd checked before suggesting the train Sorry, I've just looked and at least two major services are not carrying trains out of Brighton. When I last did the London-to-Brighton, trains were a public service. Not any more, I guess.

However, I've just looked on the Organizer's web site, and its seems there will be coach or lorry services back to london every half hour until 7.30 pm. Costs 21 qud, mind

Sorry about that.

option_click

I wouldn't trust the lorry services laid on by L2B - they aren't renowed for being particularly 'mechanically sympathetic'.

Trains are a complete no-go on the day in terms of bike transport.

I reckon your best bet is to hire a big luton van and get one person to drive back up to London whilst you jump on the train.

Or do what I'm planning - drive down on the Saturday, park up & get the train back. Then you'll have transport waiting for you on the Sunday.

CrookedCucumber

Perhaps driving down the day before might be a bit awkward if there are 18 people?

I think with 18 a luton van might be the way forward. I'm imagine it would cost less to hire one -- even for a whole weeked -- than the nearly £400 it would cost for 18 people to use the L2B lorry. You don't need anything beyond an ordinary car licence to drive a luton, but they often have upside-down gearboxes and take a bit of getting used to.

The Mechanic

You could always have some lunch when you get there, then ride back to London. Sortid

hisoka

Personally I am fortunate that my company is putting on a couple of vans and minibuses for the way down the day before.
Though my suggestion for the way back is do it in the saddle. I've taken the week off an am planning a cycle holiday tour back to my home afterwards.