London Ride 100

ads2k

JZed wrote:

ads2k wrote:

What's in the pack then ??

I can't get there until late Sat afternoon so would be good to know if I need to carry anything back with me

instruction booklet with a pack with a body number, safety pins, handlebar number, rider card, other numbers, kit bag. Nothing more than an 14 envelope really

Cheers..

keyser__soze

New game for the next couple of rides, spot anyone riding with the numbers attached to their bike before Sunday. Obv the nodder hordes won't remove them from their bikes for months afterwards...

asprilla

JZed wrote:

ads2k wrote:

What's in the pack then ??

I can't get there until late Sat afternoon so would be good to know if I need to carry anything back with me

instruction booklet with a pack with a body number, safety pins, handlebar number, rider card, other numbers, kit bag. Nothing more than an 14 envelope really

They give you a bag as well. A bag not designed to be cycled with so you have to take another bag with you to put the bag in.

jonny_trousers

Wrath Rob wrote:

chilling wrote:

So my sister is riding on Sunday with some friends. They live around the Cotswold's and Welsh Borders so haven't had a chance to recce the route at all.

She asked me if I knew anyone who had local knowledge that could give them a few pointers about the route. What would the places they should be careful or wary of, poor roads, tricky descents, narrow lanes etc?

Cheers.

The route is flat and fairly open until Newlands corner, the first of the 3 hills. It not a long hill but when you hit it, what looks like the top is actually only 1/2 way up so don't go to hard. The descent is open and straight so nice and easy. You then follow a rolling road for several miles until you hit Abinger Hammer and the long drag towards Leith Hill. Its a consistent drag up to the actual climb itself, the roads here are narrower and less well surfaced but nothing too serious. Leith Hill itself is a reasonable climb with several ramps along the way. Take it easy and you'll be fine.

The descent off Leith is one of the two dangerous parts of the course. Its narrow, winding and very dark. I had some mid-strength sunglasses on and could barely see the centre line of the road. Take it easy until you hit the open road again. More rolling road follows to Dorking and then a brief section of dual carriage-way takes you to Box Hill. This is 2.2 miles from the roundabout at the bottom to the top, but the road then climbs again up to Box village itself. Its a rolling road that eventually hits a peak before sloping down gently, followed by a sharp turn back up to Headley Common. Once you come past the cricket ground you know that you've completed all of the hills and only have around 25 miles to the finish and its all flat or downhill from there.

The descent off Box will be steep and narrow in places so again take care. After that its a great run back through Cobham, Kingston, Wimbledon (mind the short, sharp hill up to Wimbledon Village), along Wimbledon Common, down the hill to Putney and then a few flat miles to the finish on the Mall.

Easy really!

Really useful, Rob! Thanks!

Wrath Rob

No problem guys and gals.

willy b

Keyser__Soze wrote:

New game for the next couple of rides, spot anyone riding with the numbers attached to their bike before Sunday. Obv the nodder hordes won't remove them from their bikes for months afterwards...

Yes!

cyclingprop

Going today to pick up my pack. Anyone else?

Wrath Rob

cyclingprop wrote:

Going today to pick up my pack. Anyone else?

See above. I'll be heading over but need to check with my boss for a suitable time. What time were you thinking?

hedleymiller

I got mine yesterday - I just mentioned this on the SCR thread, but will do again here - make sure you have a go at the hill climb on the turbo trainer. Yesterday if you did the 1.1km in less than 1:50 you won a Ride London jersey, and it wasn't too challenging at all. Free jersey!! Which I'm fairly sure is the one you could buy when you entered the ballot...so apologies if you've already paid out!

Wrath Rob

hedleymiller wrote:

I got mine yesterday - I just mentioned this on the SCR thread, but will do again here - make sure you have a go at the hill climb on the turbo trainer. Yesterday if you did the 1.1km in less than 1:50 you won a Ride London jersey, and it wasn't too challenging at all. Free jersey!! Which I'm fairly sure is the one you could buy when you entered the ballot...so apologies if you've already paid out!

I just saw your post there, I'll make sure I give it a go.

spasypaddy

wish id seen that yesterday

however the way my legs were feeling last night after my TT on Wednesday night (took 40 seconds off my PB!) i dont think id have got up in that time

vermin

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Just to warn anyone who wants warning, I'm going to be going nuts on the descents.

Me too, although my new mantra of decents are for recovery will be going round my head..... Still I did this on Sunday and still hit 44mph.....

Good man! I'll be riding sensibly, and won't be taking stupid risks, but I will be going for it. It's one of the few aspects of cycling I appear to be quite good at.

Have fun, but do be careful - it's not your descending ability you need to worry about. As I discovered to my cost at the Etape, the descending ability of the nodders around you can leave you with broken bones.

Wrath Rob

On the way over now as boss changed today's plans

keyser__soze

Descending in a pack is much more dangerous than descending on your own or with a small handful of riders - much more difficult to choose the exact line you want, braking for corners is often determined by the riders in front of you, not the corner itself, and things like potholes are impossible to spot. The road surfaces on the descents are pretty diabolical too. It's not a race and there'll be a wide range of abilities out on the road so be sensible.

cyclingprop

Wrath Rob wrote:

On the way over now as boss changed today's plans

Ah well. Won't be heading till later in the afternoon.

sketchley

Keyser__Soze wrote:

Descending in a pack is much more dangerous than descending on your own or with a small handful of riders - much more difficult to choose the exact line you want, braking for corners is often determined by the riders in front of you, not the corner itself, and things like potholes are impossible to spot. The road surfaces on the descents are pretty diabolical too. It's not a race and there'll be a wide range of abilities out on the road so be sensible.

Agreed but sensible doesn't mean slow. If you are going too slow those behind will catch up and be encouraged to pass and may take a wrong line doing so, which is just as dangerous or perhaps more so than speeding down and only worrying about the people in front that you can see. Or to put it another way I can see what the person in front is doing I can see what the one behind is doing.

Wrath Rob

I'm all signed up. I had fun too, I managed to get a Pearl Izumi top and shorts for £50 all in, did 1:27 in the hill climb in front of Laura Trott and got my picture with her too plus won a t shirt, had some alcohol free beer, watched some free running and BMXing, got some MucOff samples, chatted with loads of people and saw a some nice bikes.

Take some time to make the most of it and it's good.

vermin

Sketchley wrote:

Keyser__Soze wrote:

Descending in a pack is much more dangerous than descending on your own or with a small handful of riders - much more difficult to choose the exact line you want, braking for corners is often determined by the riders in front of you, not the corner itself, and things like potholes are impossible to spot. The road surfaces on the descents are pretty diabolical too. It's not a race and there'll be a wide range of abilities out on the road so be sensible.

Agreed but sensible doesn't mean slow. If you are going too slow those behind will catch up and be encouraged to pass and may take a wrong line doing so, which is just as dangerous or perhaps more so than speeding down and only worrying about the people in front that you can see. Or to put it another way I can see what the person in front is doing I can see what the one behind is doing.

My discovery was that you can't necessarily see/account for the sudden sideways movement of the guy alongside you (on the inside) when he loses his nerve mid-bend.

Anyway, have fun.

hedleymiller

Wrath Rob wrote:

did 1:27 in the hill climb in front of Laura Trott and got my picture with her too plus won a t shirt

1:27 is the same as me! I have literally no idea if that is fast or slow - any ideas? Did Laura Trott do it?

Was it a t-shirt or cycling jersey you won? I thought I had a t shirt but when I took it out of the bag it turned out to be a full on jersey, I was pretty pleased with that.

keyser__soze

Or when you're riding two or three abreast the guy two or three ahead who swerves to avoid a pothole or touches tyres. It's dodgy enough in a properly sanctioned road race where there's a pack of 80 max and everyone knows (or should know) what they're doing.

@Wrath_Rob, must've just missed you. Got there just before LT was on stage. Made the mistake of grabbing a sandwich en route which almost came back out on the hill-climb challenge :oops: 1:24 and only just cooled down now, glad I don't commute in jeans Full-on jersey for me, tempted to go back later and 'win' another one tonight, only this time with a proper warm-up and no pre-ride gorging

sketchley

That's my point really, if you go too slow you'll end up with bike on your inside of the bend or bikes two or three abreast. Personally I want to go into the corner without anyone on either side, with a clearly spotted line and enough speed to stop someone comming along side on the wrong line. If I'm approaching a bend with someone on the inside my instinct would be to speed up to get ahead of them and take the corner cleanly if at all possible. If I slow down the inside rider would go ahead but chances are another rider behind will simply go for the gap thinking I've bottled it. Of course if I'm catching a rider in front and we are going to meet on a bend I would already have adjusted my speed so we don't meet and to then make the pass on the exit of the corner (if I can see the exit is clear). If I find myself descending with an absolute nob, of the quick but dangerous kind, I'll simply let them take the lead and give them bit of distance into the corners then pass when it safe to do so. If they are descending baddly and taking wrong lines into corner or bottleing the line they will have slow exit speed on the bend so I'll be through and gone after a couple of bends. If they are decending well then it's wheel to follow, at safe distance, which cuts down the risk a little. Of course this plan goes out the window if I hit the top of Leith hill with 1,000 over people at the same time, can't see that happending though.....

All that being said I'm not going down Leith Hill at 40+mph on Sunday..... Downhills on Sunday are strictly for recovery...

keyser__soze

Oh and a quick note to expand on what someone said earlier, there is secure manned cloakroom-style bike parking inside the exhibition hall itself - no need to take a lock.

Wrath Rob

Keyser__Soze wrote:

@Wrath_Rob, must've just missed you. Got there just before LT was on stage. Made the mistake of grabbing a sandwich en route which almost came back out on the hill-climb challenge :oops: 1:24 and only just cooled down now, glad I don't commute in jeans Full-on jersey for me, tempted to go back later and 'win' another one tonight, only this time with a proper warm-up and no pre-ride gorging

I got her before she was on stage. I could definitely to the hill climb faster but in a suit with leather soled boots on my feet it wasn't going to happen. Full on black jersey for me too, a good addition to the commuting wardrobe

spasypaddy

what jerseys are they?

am i going to have to ride back down tonight to get one?

keyser__soze

They're no-name black jerseys with RideLondon printed on the front and random green/blue/purple stripes at collar/sleeve ends and one white horizontal stripe across the back. Would upload a pic but blocked at work. Not tried for fit yet. Full length zip and three rear pockets plus one zip pocket. Don't think it's worth a special trip - they may run out as the time required to win one is not particularly taxing - but as Rob says good commuter/rainy day wear.

spasypaddy

ah forget it then, thought it was the official jersey.

hedleymiller

The fit of the prize jerseys is pretty good, definitely for a freebie. They have rubber in the bottom hem to prevent it riding up and are pretty tight around the arms (makes you look bigger). Although I'm new to cycling so haven't withered fully - if you have cyclist arms they'd be fine.

I went past someone wearing one last night and asked if he'd won it - turns out he'd bought it after not getting through the ballot.

Kieran_Burns

Sketchley wrote:

.....stream of consciousness...

All that being said I'm not going down Leith Hill at 40+mph on Sunday..... Downhills on Sunday are strictly for recovery...

Have you lot considered you're rather over-analysing this?

willy b

I'll be heading down after work, might have to give this hill climb this a go. 8)

rubertoe

Good Luck to all those taking part,

I'll be thinking of you whilst sipping a cocktail at a Hawaiian themed BBQ