Richmond Park Lap. Pathetic??

NWLondoner

Today i managed to get over to Richmond Park for the 1st time 8)

Having not rode as much i would have liked over the past few weeks i was not too great after my 15 mile journey just to get there.

I rode at a steady pace circa 16mph upto 20mph ish!!! ( i always obey the speed limit )

Although i was even struggling up Sawyers hill i thought i was doing not too bad. My heart almost collapsed when i went round Kingston Gate and saw Dark Hill. Mind you it would have left my body had i went clockwise and saw that bloody big hill that followed :shock:

Anyway i finally got back to Roehampton gate and did it in 28.03 :oops:

Totally disheartend i decided against doing another lap and limped home.

I will try again next week and hopefully arrive at the park in better shape.

biondino

Sawyer's Hill is horrible - much worse than it looks. And you'd already ridden 15 miles! For a first lap, while tired, while feeling your way and - ahem - sticking to the speed limit, it's a fine time. Bear in mind there's not a lot of incentive for the slower riders to post on the "how fast do you get round the park" thread.

Next time you go round, you'll have a better idea of what to expect, and you'll begin to understand where to pace yourself and where to get the power down. I reckon you'll probably go under 25 mins and wonder what all the fuss was about, and from there, the only way is up...

mwo

The steep one is Broomfield Hill, it's fun to go down, not so fun to go up. It's the reason why anti-clockwise is best.

It was pretty windy today, you're quite exposed so it makes a big difference. I left the computer at home this morning knowing I'd be slow.

And, it's winter anyway. You're allowed to go slow.

cjcp

I think my first attempt around RP would have been around the same time. As Biondino says, you get to know how to pace yourself around RP.

EasyTom

Aw - you guys should come and cycle round North Devon a bit - then you'll know what difficult hills are all about. Come and try Challacombe Hill out of Woolacombe: average gradient 14.5% :shock:

I cycled a couple of times around Richmond Park a couple of weeks ago. It is a nice ride, especially compared to general London cycling!

Rich158

Richmond Parks a great ride, either direction is great, they both have their merits. Just watch out for the London Dynamo's on a Sunday, every time I go I try to keep up with those guys and it nearly kills me.

Billios

Come and do Edge hill in South Warwickshire ...THATS a hill. I do miss flying round Richmond park though coming down the s bend with no cars coming up is so much fun then hoping and praying nothing is going round the roundabout at the bottom so you can power on to Roehampton game....aah happy times.

Keep going though it took me months to get to a fitness level where i could do 3 laps, then after 18 months got to the level of the sub hour 3 lapper.....when i first did it I let out such a shout that everyone at the Roehampton gate cafe turned to look. It felt like winning the tour ;-) Im sure.

NWLondoner

I will attempt to put the hammer down next week and aim for sub 25 minutes 8)

steve2021

how far round is it?

Billios

I think if you measure it on mapmyride.com it comes out at 6.9 miles. 3 times around is just under 21miles. I think.

Bonanza

As a 1 month novice I managed to pull four laps out of somewhere yesterday with a very light head heading up Broomfield Hill on the fourth round. It was bloody freezing and those London Dynamo's dudes are machines! Still average about 26 minutes though so lots of work to do.....

guinea

I was nearly an hour and a half for my first 3 lap timed run.

A few months and a lot of miles later I made it under the hour.

You just need to get used to putting in the effort, your body will catch up.

NWLondoner

To be honest i don't know what happened this week. Usually i can get about around 30/35 miles before my legs start to go. This time they went at the 15 mile mark!!!

beverick

I was staying in Kingston some years ago and ran round Richmond Park largely for something to do one evening.

I must admit I put it in the category of 'gently undulating' rather than hilly.

Bob

boybiker

I was looking for the hills on google maps but couldn't see any :? I saw a couple of slight bumps You London softies should come and try some real hills :roll: :roll:

Billios

Button Moon certainly doesnt have any hills so dunno what your on about?

NickInBath

The only thing I miss about cycling in London is Richmond Park! However, if it wasn't for the hills it would be very boring and not half as pretty. Before I moved away I always used to wonder why our local racers (at my level anyway) very rarely travelled up north, or to Wales or the West Country but I soon found out. Now I have very nostalgic memories of being able to click down a single gear, jump out of the saddle and a few seconds later you're over the top. (dissolves into misty-eyed reverie...........)

STEFANOS4784

I know nothing of Richmond park however my commute (10 miles) used to take about 1hr 20 mins when 1st got my 1st bike, now my best time has been 35 mins, and it's hilly so definately practice and knowing the route to help pace yourself is the key

NWLondoner

biondino wrote:

Sawyer's Hill is horrible - much worse than it looks. And you'd already ridden 15 miles! For a first lap, while tired, while feeling your way and - ahem - sticking to the speed limit, it's a fine time. Bear in mind there's not a lot of incentive for the slower riders to post on the "how fast do you get round the park" thread.

Next time you go round, you'll have a better idea of what to expect, and you'll begin to understand where to pace yourself and where to get the power down. I reckon you'll probably go under 25 mins and wonder what all the fuss was about, and from there, the only way is up...

Thanks for the encouragement.

I did it today in 24min 59 Seconds

I could have gone a bit quicker but got stuck behind another rider on Dark Hill.

He was on a "proper" road bike but i thought it may ruin his day if i overtook him on a hill with my flat bar :twisted:

snakehips

NWLondoner wrote:

I did it today in 24min 59 Seconds
I could have gone a bit quicker but got stuck behind another rider on Dark Hill.
He was on a "proper" road bike but i thought it may ruin his day if i overtook him on a hill with my flat bar :twisted:

I am impressed that you gave it another go today. I couldn't face the road today (flogging up Sawyers in the cold/wet/wind makes my ar$e drag) and the 'shared use path' is hopeless at the weekend.
I did 45 mins in my kitchen listening to a CD

Snake