London Freewheel

cjcp

Greg66 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Right. Just registered myself & the 66 family. However...

- do we have to head for one of the hubs, and then ride in, or can we make our own way to Central London?
- are there time slots or a cut off for arriving at a hub? How well policed/protected are the routes from the hub to Central London?

Think you can make your own way in. The hubs are intended as rest points or meet-up points I think.

Hubs open from 8.30 till 5.30.

There are led rides in. Think I might go by train though. 15 miles from Kingston is a bit much for the monster squad.

The attraction of an escort in is (a) we're not far from a hub and (b) having the nippers in the middle of a large pack would be preferable to me shepherding (and then deciding to abandon them in favour of some Gaming :twisted: ).

Think we'll probably aim to get into the car-free zone around 11.30.

Aiming to be there for 10-ish.

Gaming will be hard to resist, especially with the older one saying "let's catch them, daddy". That's my girl. :twisted:

OldSkoolKona

Registered but no info back as yet. You'd expect at least an automated email reply as acknowledgement of registration...

snooks pm'ed you about coming in from Richmond

Bassjunkieuk

cjcp wrote:

Gaming will be hard to resist, especially with the older one saying "let's catch them, daddy". That's my girl. :twisted:

Get her a basic cycle computer (look in Sainsbury's) that's how I'm encouraging my eldest. She hasn't got the hang of the decimal point on it yet tho and keeps saying she's doing "over 100!"

She has been upto around 13-14 on her older bike, not bad for 7 years old! Roll on 2016 and I might have a little VP on my hands :-)

snooks

So are we all going to meet up somewhere at say 2pm??

Have us a big bike radar posse?

biondino

If I go - and now that's looking doubtful again - it'll be early, so I think I'd better wish you all a great day cos meeting up's going to be tricky.

il_principe

snooks wrote:

So are we all going to meet up somewhere at say 2pm??

Have us a big bike radar posse?

Sadly this clashes with my other love - yep it's Chelsea V Manure on sunday afternoon, rules me out of any afternoon gaming shennanigans. Might pootle up earlier providing the LBS have managed to fix Il Principe...

Mr_Cellophane

Looking good for a nice sunny day on Sunday

Led rides in were anything from 30 - 70 last year. Don't know about the borough ones. I am going from Gidea Park to Victoria Park at 9:00. That should take about an hour depending on the route. The Ilford ride is going down Romford Road, not a route I would fancy taking a large group with varying abilities. I will take a group into the main route and then wander slowly to the Mall and get my freebies (anyone want some vouchers for lunch or free lights :twisted: )

Bassjunkieuk

snooks wrote:

So are we all going to meet up somewhere at say 2pm??

Have us a big bike radar posse?

Sounds good, should give people time to feed emselve's!
How about trying to meet round near Horseguards Parade? Not sure if the main route with be going past there but I'm just trying to think of somewhere easy to get to from the main area that hopefully shouldn't be manically busy!

Shouldn't be to difficult to spot each other, just look for a load of sweaty people trying to hide their heavy breathing

snooks

Having been out of the game for a while I'm going for the nobbly MTB approach....

Ahhhh comfy bike

How about somewhere in the rest area like the north east tip? as close to 2pm as possible...Now.....

As big ben strikes two...if everyone reading this starts hopping on one leg it will worry the hell out of the organisers :twisted:...and identify ourselves to each other!!!!

Then again maybe we could think of another code......

felgen

I've registered, but still not dead certain of going yet. I am coming from Raynes Park area. on old MTB (still not got the new spangly roady one yet) so I quite like the idea of a retro MTB meet with snooks et al somewhere like Chiswick or Hammersmith if thats going to happen?

p.s. anyone know what sort of freebies are on offer? If there is anything good then I might have to get there early to ensure I get some. Getting there early will of course be no problem as I am on a health kick at the moment and so will be giving the goon a miss on saturday.

Bassjunkieuk

snooks wrote:

Having been out of the game for a while I'm going for the nobbly MTB approach....

Ahhhh comfy bike

How about somewhere in the rest area like the north east tip? as close to 2pm as possible...Now.....

As big ben strikes two...if everyone reading this starts hopping on one leg it will worry the hell out of the organisers :twisted:...and identify ourselves to each other!!!!

Then again maybe we could think of another code......

Well rest area sounds good (if I can find it..........) quite like the idea of hopping up and down. Most of the SCR pep's should recognize each other as for the rest I guess we'll have to see!

What about near the north side of the bridge over the small lake in St Jame's Park @ 2pm?

spasypaddy

im coming down early with my mate, plan on being back in my area to watch the football. Anyone else coming from barnet want to tag along?

biondino

Hi all,

I had a fun couple of laps early this morning - it was quite quiet at 10am, and the hordes of bikers I'd expected to see on London's arteries, um, weren't there. But it had really picked up by the time I left, just after 11, and I'm sure it'll get even busier.

Really nice vibe - certainly no opportunities for racing as there are people riding on every stretch. Best you'll manage is to be at the front at a stopping point and able to blast away (as I did on the mall, and when I started slowing down, I noticed bassjunkieuk on my right and dondaddyd (as I was to learn on my left!*

I also made it to above 30mph in the tunnel under Blackfriars so I got my speed fix, but that was before most of the hordes.

Freebies - I only got a bidon, which is smaller than standard size so rattled around in my cage. Didn't pick up a neon bib but almost everyone had one. Didn't see any other obvious freebies apart from small green flags and red balloons...

The day is PERFECT for it - sunshine, cool, slight breeze (easterly, so westbound on the embankment on the way home was rather more fun than normal). If you're umming and aahing about going, go!


*DDD, I am sorry if it sounded like I was dissing your bike, especially after you complimented mine! For what it's worth both the Giants I was flanked by were much prettier than I'd expected - they have a good shape, even if the colour scheme isn't the most inspiring.

_Brun_

I was down there earlier too. Traffic was getting a bit silly by 11.30 so I called it quits after a couple of quick laps. Didn't bother taking a look at what was in St. James Park, got the impression there wasn't much going on.

One of these Giants you were or wern't dissing wasn't a white/blue/black TCR with Fulcrum wheels by any chance?

It is indeed a beautiful day (amazed at how many weirdos were riding in big coats), I'll be back out again after the football

NWLondoner

I was going to attend but decided to give it a miss.

The route they use I ride every Saturday morning and I usually time the lights right so I get the Blackfriars tunnel to myself anyway.

The thought of dodging and going around hoards of slow cyclists/children etc. was not too appealing either.

Anymore turn up wearing the full lycra kit??

alien

I got there just after 11, and - horribly busy from hyde park and the whole route.
Races from the stop/start people were possible till you hit the next group.

Lovely feeling tho with families (some very very well 'controlled' and superb range of bikes - tandems and some funky thing seating 4 little monsters!)
Saw a great recumbant that was pretty high - must look into that

I was on my Trek but after being rammed by a fully liveried CTC member I really began to wish I'd taken the Jack.

Yes - Lycra was out in force - I had mine on and noticed a lot of 'tour' jerseys and club jerseys. (they were talking about Lance on the PA and 'here comes a guy in yellow!' that was me. bleh)

overall, good slow speed practice, max'd it getting out of there post 2nd ramming from behind. Very good to go early in the morning, I think next year I'll do that...

spasypaddy

just got back, was ok. Saw one nasty accident between a MTB and Roadie. The MTB just went straight into the back of him and took this guy out who was riding an awesome bike and wearing very expensive kit.

Also saw a little girl being given oxygen on the road, hope she was ok.

LOTS OF HOT WOMEN!

If I go next year which im considering not doing, ill aim to be down there to be one of the first on to the roads.

andrewc3142

Saw the bike for 4. Ours was one of the tandems (silver, my oldest stoking in TdF jersey). His younger bro on his Scott MTB. Excellent fun. Lots of people, perfect weather, almost every conceivable bike and a few others besides and every type of clothing, from Superwoman to jeans to full lycra to Father Christmas.

We got there about 11.30 and left about 15.00 after listening to the steel band in the park.

Freebies not brilliant, although the kids are stocked up with dried fruit and juice.

This is what Central London could and should be like all the time IMHO.

snooks

Just back, what a great day...I even used some of the cycle network! Though I think I'll stick to the roads, they were all a bit confusing!! :0)

Hi points:
Being out in the sunshine
Cycling through the back streets of london with a rolla blader with a big orange stereo system listing to Pink Floyd the wall (where can I hire them from???)
Seeing my mates daughters friend come back with handfulls of bibs, only to be told to take them back (then hiding them in a box and picking them up later)
Meeting some fellow commuters from here.
Mrs Oldskoolkona eyeing up the fast cars TVR's and Lotuses et al they passed
Basjunkie almost breaking into a sprint when he thought he could see Victoia pendelton, only to find out is was some gurl from gladiators
The awesome trails riders, donald duck knows how they do it!
Having a good speed with DonDaddyD and Bassjunkie along the embankment, them roadies and me on knobblies...tee hee

Low point:
Driver impatience on the led ride FFS a line of bikes all with the right of way and some rick with a silent P trying to push out into them, mums and children in the line, not just chunky MTB's blokes like me
Oh and trying to get in from hyde park corner

All in all a good day, nice to meet the peeps I met. All in all a great day out

DonDaddyD

Met up with Bassjunkie, got there just after 10.00am (I think) not too busy and good first run around the course. Nice meeting everyone and putting faces to names like Bassjunkieuk, OldSkoolKona, Snooks and Biondino who has a real nice bike and no worries Biondino about 'dissing/speaking poorly of' my bike, I now strive to have one like yours or better, its all good. Being my first meet up from the internet (ever) it finally proves to me that the internet is in fact real! :shock:

I put the following all down to nerves of meeting people for the first time :oops: 2nd dates for me are few and far between but at least the first are never dull! My day goes as follows:

I was sh*tted on by a bird (yes the avian kind not the homo sapien kind :shock: )
Nearly lost part of the quick release for my front wheel in Sainsburys
Somehow lost my front light
Crashed into two unsupervised cyclist, I wasn't speeding or racing, as they decided to swerve across the road with no warning in the hope of getting to the other side (OK they were kids and I still feel terrible about it).

At one stage I was wondering where all my luck had gone!!?! :shock: But in all honesty it was a good day and I had lots of fun! Great being able to talk about bikes with people who clearly know more about them than myself. Definitely would do it again and definitely would meet up with 'peeps' from this site again.

All in all a good day.
:shock:

m0scs

I drove in to London from Hertfordshire early and parked the car on Regents Park loop around 8.30am.

There were a lot of riders doing the Regent Park circuit, so I had a quick warm up lap before riding down to Trafalgar Square where I joined the freewheel route.

It was really quiet when I got there and my best laps were done early on.

Soon after 11am it got really busy and I saw a nasty collision involving 2 riders both of whom were sitting in the road with bloody faces.

Trying to overtake became impossible so I called it a day around 1pm and went back to Regents Prk loop for a final blast round before coming home.

What a lovely day for it. I think they were estimating 45, 000 people to attend.

If you have not aready checked photos can be viewed on the Freewheel website.

I've found mine already, slightly blurred as I was going so fast!

helz

I had a lovely time... I did the course four times today. My sister was riding with me the first time, then the second time I got talking to another rider and we rode together for a while - we even swapped bikes for a bit so we could try out each other's (first time I'd tried a Brompton!). Then I hung around St. James' Park, picked up some freebies, met Ed Clancy (one of the Beijing Olympics gold medal winners) and got my photo taken with him, then went off and cycled some more, then went back later to meet Chris Hoy . He did an interview with someone from Sky Sports then took questions from the crowd. He was really interesting, and nice, and EXTREMELY hot in real life. It was great being in the presence of such an incredible athlete. My bike and I got our photo taken with him as well! I'm quite smitten now...

I saw quite a few collisions between cyclists today and had a couple of near misses myself (inexperienced cyclists suddenly changing direction in front of me with no warning, or just suddenly deciding to stop) but all in all it was a fantastic day, loads of fun and definitely one of the highlights of my year!

OldSkoolKona

Went along with Mrs OldSkoolKona (who rides a spesh, which isn't old, but anyway) and we both had a great day. Definitely on for next year.

Met up with snooks at the Richmond led ride which went in via Ravenscourt Park. Big credit to the Richmond LCC marshalls, who sheparded the group of around 40 cyclists, all abilties and all ages. As snooks has already stated, it begs belief the impatience of some drivers at that time on a Sunday morning. However in general, drivers gave way (on realising they had no option!)

Yes, it was slow and yes the route was twisty, but it was great to ride into London, in a big enough group that meant the other road users had to give us our space. The roller bladers with the big orange stereo system were awesome - I want those guys to skate alongside me with that on my commute to work!! 8)

Once in, it was great to get to cycle through the centre without any cars. Again, it wasn't top speed, but that wasn't what the day was about. Met up with some friends and had a picnic by Horse Guards Parade, saw some funky bikes and fancy dresses. Saw a few more of the forum members (in that weird, internet meets reality way - although I now know you by your real names as opposed to your BikeRadar names, opps) and the weather was excellent.

IMHO events like this are a positive thing for cycling; they get people out who are normally to afraid of the roads in London, they raise the profile of cycling for Joe Public in the media, and they also get drivers exposed to cyclists on the road and removes some of the negative perceptions.

ebenzo

I also went today with 4 mates of mine. Weather was perfect.
Arrived pretty late (around 3.30) due to several unfortunate occurrences (3 punctured tires, 1 valve problem, 1 brake failure).

Compared to the Alperton-Paddington journey I made to get there (along the Grand Union canal), the route was almost nothing! While I wait for my p7, I had to borrow my mates Apollo Excel .

It was great fun though, well-organized (although I couldn't get my hands on any free bibs...GUTTED)...or ocean spray cranberry juice ). I did pick up a coupla thames water bottles which are great for days out (capless valve system).

Got to see some an amazing range of bikes, from fixed-gear, bmx, to penny farthings and recumbants and tandems.

Did anyone see the drummer drumming on his bike? I thought he was wicked!

Blackfriars tunnel...once a year experience! Howling like a pack of wolves is something you don't get to do very often.

I have some videos and pictures that I will upload soon!

note-to-self for next year: GET THERE EARLY!

Bassjunkieuk

Might aswell as my lil' bit!

Excellent day out, couldn't have asked for better weather really (well maybe a bit warmer to get the legs working better!) but still once your flying you soon get warm!

I ended up losing a member of my planned meetup group due to a buckled wheel and then a visit from the PF on the way to the station to let me know he wasn't going (so I didn't hang around!)

DDD arrived shortly after and we set off for the Clapham hub. Sod all there, except a Addiscombe CC gent on a very nice Bianchi :-)
Route to the main area was a bit better then last year, going via Kennington and over Lambeth Bridge this time.

Did 3 laps in total, first run round was quite good as it was one of the quieter one's. Got a good stretch of the legs through the underpass each time :twisted:
Spent most of the day bike spotting, including spotting DDD's Eleanor - another Addiscombe CC member, this time of the female persuasion, on a rather sexy Bianchi I had to try my hardest to hold him back but in all honesty I think we both needed a cold shower after spotting her

As Snook's said overall it was a good day, saw a few accidents and had to give way to a couple of ambulances during the day and asides from the stuck tw4t on his recumbent who seemed to force his way between me and Mr S as we chatted on Pall Mall the other riders where great! I think they could have also done with some better signage for the crossing's as it was a bit of a shambles when it got busy.

Biondino - Good turn of speed from that marshal on the Mall, I suspected I was alongside you at the marshal stop (it was the facial hair that confused me!), but sorta went into a day dream when the marshal disappeared I realized you'd already flown off! Not that I wasn't going to argue with a good chase!

My inner bike geek was also quite satisfied, with the only brand being absent from my tally being a De Rosa!
Particular ones of note:
Pinarello FP - Spotted one or two of these beautys
Several Cervelo's - just LOVELY!
A bright yellow Spesh SS, yellow frame, bars, hubs, rims and tyres - TART!
A "track racer" looking SS, ridden by a paintball mask wearing photographer. Campag wheels, one piece carbon frame and massive gearing judging by the effort the guy put in to get it started!
Felt TT bike - Spotted primarily due the the wheel hugging seat post, again just a damn good looking bike!

Mr_Cellophane

I went on the led ride from Gidea Park. 23 of us went fairly strung out to Ilford where we met up with the Redbridge ride. A bit more organised from there. There were about 100 riders and 12 or so marshals and the luxury of a following van giving some protection from the rear. There was no problems from cars even though a lot of the route is only one lane each way.
We got to Tower Hill just after 12:00 where I saw what looked like a child being stretchered off from the east bound side. I ducked round Cannon Street and joined at Temple just as the flypast went over. Did one lap down to The Mall, stopped for lunch and then headed back. Saw a large group dressed as pirates having sword fights as they went along and most of the stuff everyone else has mentioned.
If was a little disorganised at the led rides and the hubs, but the main route seemed OK.
I thought it was too packed at times and was surprised I didn't see more accidents.
Next year ? I don't know, might marshal a borough ride again and skip the main route.

_Brun_

I found a picutre of some unfortunate ugly bugger who bears a passing resemblance to Brun. Same go-faster haircut at any rate



Think I spent most of the morning covering the brakes, tomorrow's commute should be quite relaxing by comparison.

spasypaddy

Think I spent most of the morning covering the brakes, tomorrow's commute should be quite relaxing by comparison.

i was actually looking forward to commuting today after yesterday, give me cars and HGVs over inexperienced riders any day, but unfortunately im ill so wont get to ride today

Bassjunkieuk

spasypaddy wrote:

Think I spent most of the morning covering the brakes, tomorrow's commute should be quite relaxing by comparison.

i was actually looking forward to commuting today after yesterday, give me cars and HGVs over inexperienced riders any day, but unfortunately im ill so wont get to ride today

It did take a few minutes to adjust to riding with cars again on the way home yesterday!
The best chances for riding yesterday always seemed to be on the wider stretches just after the marshal stops! I was actually contemplating waiting for the marshal stop on the return side from Tower Hill so I was at the front for the green :-)

biondino

Hey Brun, this dude looks a bit like you too.