London Ride 100

peat

Knock half a mph off for fatique (but no stopping for traffic etc) and include all 3 pit stops, i'd reckon you'd do it just under 7hrs.

I've got a late one, you're welcome to suck my wheel. Oooh eer.

Green Brompton

If you average 17mph, you'll get in in just under 6 hours.

peat

My main concern is the hills.

Hills are my 'thing'. Where i sometimes have a job keeping up on the flat, i can smoke alot of people on hills.

I'm worried that, because of my late (pretty much last) start time, the hills will be clogged with 'over ambitious' riders walking up and that i won't have enough time to pass them before we get there.

Will just have to take it as it comes i guess.

Green Brompton

I won't stop if I don't have to... I'd just rather get it over and done with.

I put a time of 5 hours 30 or something, but that's through experience from entering things like Race for Life etc... When I put down my estimated time (not that slow!), I just got held up by slower people, walkers etc etc as there was just not enough room to pass.

il_principe

Suspect 5:30 will be doable. I did a solo 100 miles in 5:20 moving (5:40 something all in) on Sunday, with more climbing than the Ride 100 and more narrow country lanes. Depending on congestion there should be opps to roll along at 20+ in a bunch for good chunks of it.

Green Brompton

Il Principe wrote:

Suspect 5:30 will be doable. I did a solo 100 miles in 5:20 moving (5:40 something all in) on Sunday, with more climbing than the Ride 100 and more narrow country lanes. Depending on congestion there should be opps to roll along at 20+ in a bunch for good chunks of it.

But you're rapid! I managed a solo 45 mile out to Box Hill last year just sub of 17mph. The other night just over 16 for a 40 miler, but the traffic heading out was pretty bad, and I'm overly cautious. I think loads of people will be looking to ride with people as it's quite flat, so could be pretty fast if you find the right people to draft.

warreng

That's what I'm hoping - I was more concerned about being stuck with a bunch of racing snakes and holding them up

Green Brompton

The roads are relatively wide to begin with, so everyone should be able to spread out and ride at their pace... hopefully.

cyclingprop

We'll see how it goes.. somewhere between 6 and 7 hours realistic if I go it alone I think.... so quicker will be a bonus

coopster_the_1st

Peat wrote:

My main concern is the hills.

Hills are my 'thing'. Where i sometimes have a job keeping up on the flat, i can smoke alot of people on hills.

I'm worried that, because of my late (pretty much last) start time, the hills will be clogged with 'over ambitious' riders walking up and that i won't have enough time to pass them before we get there.

Will just have to take it as it comes i guess.

Anyone who has to walk up Leith Hill will be way behind you by the time you get there and it is really not that tough a climb. I suspect there will be other bottle necks before you get there like the gates into Richmond Park.

I am more concerned about the potholes on the descent off Leith Hill and how other riders react to them. If they are not fixed there will be many punctures and probably a few accidents from them (particularly the long rut in the middle of the road about half way down).

il_principe

The thought of descending Leith with 100's of other riders makes me shudder.

rjsterry

The thought of descending Leith with 100's of other riders makes me shudder.

Indeed. Not been out there for a while, but I do remember needing to swerve/bounce around a lot of gravel and potholes, and the road is not very wide. Was going to add another PS to that route I posted for Jonny Trousers to warn of the atrocious road surfaces; 25s or even 28s would not be the daftest idea.

bigmat

That's it, all this talk of people walking on hills - I'm going to go off like a f***ing rocket with a view to overtaking as many people as possible before we even leave London. I may suffer for it later on...

Wrath Rob

My plan? Grab as many people in club kit in the starting pen and agree that as soon as we're out of the neutralised zone, we hammer it as a group for 2 miles, proper through/n/off style. Hopefully that will ditch anyone not used to riding in a group and I'll be left with a load of people who won't be scared of having another rider within 1 foot of them.

jonny_trousers

I'm just gonna enjoy the occasion, ride as hard as I can given what's around me, and try not treat it as though it's a race. I suspect the last part will go straight out the window as soon as I set off, though.

jonny_trousers

Double post.

Cubic

Hi, I asked this in the Road-Sportive section, but thought I'd ask here too as I've only got until Wed to decide:

I've just had an email from Garmin saying that I'm one of 100 people, who were unsuccessful in the ballot, who have been offered a place in the Ride 100 event!
I haven't paid to accept a place yet, but I would like to. I just need to check the logistics of getting to and from the event as I hadn't expected to be doing it.

I've looked on the official website and it says that there are several 'park and ride' locations and drop off points, but it doesn't have any maps of these locations or many other details at all. I guess they emailed or posted out more detailed info to you guys earlier? I emailed the organisers but I just received an auto-reply saying they can't respond to email enquiries.

I was hoping someone could give me some advice as to how I could get to the start. I live in Putney at the southern end of West Hill, about a 15 mile ride from the start. My options seem to be to ride there, which I don't really fancy as I'm worried I'll be too knackered. To drive to a designated car park, in which case are the car parks all by the start or are there some between Putney and the start, which would make coming home a bit easier? And do you think all the car parks will be full by now? Or are the organisers putting on a shuttle service to carry riders to the start from certain locations? Or is there something else I should consider?

Any help would be great, thanks!

keyser__soze

I'm coming in from Richmond and I'll be riding in/back home.

cambs

Can't remember all the car park options now as they were detailed in the 'transport survey' email which i filled out a few weeks ago. I have a space booked (£10) in Surrey quays shopping centre and the route to the QEOP is to be signposted, apparently. If the spaces are all pre-booked by now you could always street-park in Rotherhithe or Surrey Quays and follow the same bike route in through the tunnel.
You'll need to get on to the A3 on the morning from Putney, not sure if that's do-able with all the street closures but check the TFL website for details of which roads are to be shut.

Green Brompton

We're driving from Roehampton to E & C, and riding from there... you could park in Kennington, around Stannary Street, as I believe that's still free on Sundays (maybe do a reccie beforehand etc), and then ride from there? I'm sure there are other places, but that's the only area I know of as we used to live there. It's free, closer to the finish than the car parks, and they aren't exactly close to the start, either!

sketchley

My wife is dropping me off at a drop point near Rotherhithe tunnel about 6.30am. It's five mile route from there but according to TFL's website the tunnel isn't closed so good knows what the route will actually be! The other drop point south of the river was near the balckwall tunnel which is closed for "Event Preperation" until 9am so I guess the route goes through that tunnel..

il_principe

Can I draw Ride 100'ers to this thread re road surface, appears some of the route has been poorly resurfaced with dangerous consequences: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40013&t=12931692&start=20

Cubic

Thanks. Looking at the road closures I don't think it's going to be possible for me to use my car on the day.

That leaves about a 14 mile ride to the start line, which, realistically, I think is going to make the day too tough for me. As I hadn't expected to be riding, so haven't done much training. 100 miles would be very challenging for me at the moment, so adding 14 miles to the start and 6 miles from the finish, is going to push me too far I think!

I'm stuck in a tangle of indecision at the moment, but common sense is telling me to forget about this year and try to get into 2014....

il_principe

Cubic wrote:

Thanks. Looking at the road closures I don't think it's going to be possible for me to use my car on the day.

That leaves about a 14 mile ride to the start line, which, realistically, I think is going to make the day too tough for me. As I hadn't expected to be riding, so haven't done much training. 100 miles would be very challenging for me at the moment, so adding 14 miles to the start and 6 miles from the finish, is going to push me too far I think!

I'm stuck in a tangle of indecision at the moment, but common sense is telling me to forget about this year and try to get into 2014....

You appear to live in Putney, so why not just start there? You'll hardly be missing out on the best of the ride. I think to bail, when demand for places was so high, would be a little selfish.

sketchley

Il Principe wrote:

Can I draw Ride 100'ers to this thread re road surface, appears some of the route has been poorly resurfaced with dangerous consequences: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40013&t=12931692&start=20

Just tried to email helpdesk@ridelondon.co.uk about this. Got an automated replay saying they are not responding to emails! Doh!

Cubic

Il Principe wrote:

You appear to live in Putney, so why not just start there? You'll hardly be missing out on the best of the ride. I think to bail, when demand for places was so high, would be a little selfish.

I haven't paid for the place yet, as I said in my initial post, I have until tomorrow to decide whether to enter. After that, presumably, the place would be offered to another applicant by Garmin. So I'm not taking away anyone's chance to ride in the event.

I do live in Putney, so could hop over the barriers and start the ride there, but I'm not sure I'd feel happy about doing that. I doubt the organisers would appreciate it either...

sketchley

I shall be going out for a training ride saturday morning. Plan is to start at Worcester Park, head down to Newlands the follow the route via Lieth hill to top of Box Hill then head home via Epsom. Any one wanting to join me is welcome. Will alsmot certainly stop at Newlands Corner and top of Box hill for bit. Probably an early start at 7am so to avoid the silly hot stuff in the afternoon?

Let me know if interested.

essex-commuter

Mmmm lovely 100% polyester hi-viz vest arrived in the post yesterday. Who the hell would want to wear one of those for 100 miles?

I'm testing the melting point of polyester tonight in the chimnea. I reckon it's pretty low.

Thanks for nothing TFL.

jonny_trousers

essex-commuter wrote:

Mmmm lovely 100% polyester hi-viz vest arrived in the post yesterday. Who the hell would want to wear one of those for 100 miles?

I'm testing the melting point of polyester tonight in the chimnea. I reckon it's pretty low.

Thanks for nothing TFL.

It's a beauty, isn't it? I will, of course, be wearing mine with pride.

rjsterry

BTW, J_T, how was that route I suggested? In the unlikely event that I manage to get out on a weekend sometime soon, I might revisit it myself.

Also, did anyone see the BBC London news item on moany Surrey-dwellers complaining about cyclists holding them up for 3 WHOLE DAYS this year?