London to Brighton advice

dadmcstuffins

Hello all, having badgered the better half into allowing me to get a road bike I have gone the whole nine yards and booked myself into the L to B ride. I've done this for many reasons, 1 to force myself to get fit and 2 I've always wanted to do something for charity.
I have been riding a week now and have started with an average of 14.5 mph over short distances which I know I can build upon.
The reason for my post is has anybody else done this and is it really challenging or a good place to start if I want to build upto sportives next year. I also chose this one as I feel I've have enough time to prepare for it.
What do you more experienced guys/girls say ?
My background is driving every where, fags and chocolate by the truck load, not much of a drinker though.
I started last week at 18.3st and hope to be 17.12st in a week. Where, what, can I do it. (Stopping smoking is on the agenda)
Advice, however critical would be appreciated

Pete

Jauncarlos67

Have a look at this,

http://www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/even ... edule.aspx

It's a good start

giant_man

Get rid of the fags and chocolate, and when booking L2B, get an early set off, believe me, you need to.

cookeeemonster

giant man wrote:

Get rid of the fags and chocolate, and when booking L2B, get an early set off, believe me, you need to.

This ^

It gets very crowded very quickly from 7.30am onwards, meaning large sections of the route are very slow with people stopping dead in front of you to walk up a slight incline and so on.

Depending on your fitness at this point this may help you (if you dont want to ride it fast) or it may be frustrating as you realise months of effort to get yourself fit has not been made by anybody around you, with many who have turned up having picked up their old bike for the first time in years the week before.

But remember - it's a charity ride, not a race, so this is to be expected. This was my first organised ride last year and like you, I did it as a target to help me lose weight/get fit and so on (which it did...and i'm still here )

I liked it enough to do it again this year...but with a 6am start

mpatts

I've done it once, on an MTB with nobbly tyres. The leave early advice is the best - I was overtaking a lot of people on the way out and up the climbs.

I enjoyed it all in all!

Just take your time. Its all pretty easy, bar Ditchling.

goonz

Had a go at it last year but not in the charity ride, me and a mate went at it alone. Pretty easy really, just stop to refuel and you shouldnt have any problems.

Hasilpuri

Im thinking of doing L to B as well, Just wanted to know hw u sign up for it and wat r the requirements?
thnx

dadmcstuffins

Thanks for all advice peeps, not seen 6am for god knows how many years !!!! I will do the early start, although I appreciate its not a race I would like to test myself a wee bit, hence why most of us have bikes.

As for signing up I personally went on http://www.doitforcharity.com and followed all the various links. £35 per entry with a minimum sponsorship of £100.

cookeeemonster

you can just sign up on the british heart foundation site and not commit yourself to a minimum sponsorship (unless you think you can achieve it).

You still need to tell them how much you hope to raise though

AntD365

I've also signed up for the do it for charity L2B ride in September.
I'm at a similar fitness level, currently weighing around 19st. (Although as a type 2 diabetic on insulin I have a few other challenges to go)
I need to get my distance up, a 12 mile ride leaves me shattered for days. Also working on climbing, got some small climbs pretty much sorted now, currently working on getting myself up Newlands Corner.

Good luck with the training.