RLS100 Realistic Goals

Anonymous

So the training is done and fellow century virgins must have a better idea of their time target now.

Forgetting about traffic and weather and just enjoying the day, blah, blah, blah. What times are people looking to do it in (there is a cut off point after all) and whats that based on?

I have got my 65 mile (distance I normally ride) to 3.5 hours and longest ride up to 85 miles. This plus the boost given by an event should equal a sub 6 hour 100 miles I feel.
If not on 4th Aug, then later in the year

MattPillinger

Well I'm shooting for about 6:15 - 6:45

I put 6:10 - 6:20 on my form & think this is realistic for ride time, but expecting to lose a few minutes topping up my bottles at the rest stops

chrisaonabike

Well my longest ride to date was 83 miles, and the moving time was 5:55.

However, the total time was 7:17, which included a puncture stop - took me half an hour (was my first ever tube change out on the road :oops: - I've practised now, so I can do it a lot quicker than this now )

Given that the (admittedly unreliable, this far out) forecast for Sunday at the moment is for 25 degrees, so I'll probably be stopping at every drink station.

I reckon realistically, elapsed time will be about 8.5 hours. If I don't get any mechanicals, and I can keep the stop times as short as possible, I'll be over the moon to do it in under 8.

It annoys me a bit that the fast riders get 11 hours to complete, but the slow ones get only 9. :shock:

zardoz

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

It annoys me a bit that the fast riders get 11 hours to complete, but the slow ones get only 9. :shock:

That's done for safety to reduce the amount of overtaking and the number of accidents and the challenge was to complete in 9 hours. The fast riders may get 11 hours but they won't need it will they

Omar Little

Aiming for under 5 hours.

Btw if you are doing 65 milers in 3.5 hours then IMO you'll be looking at sub 5 hour too with the big groups, adrenalin and closed roads

Leesykoi

Target is 6.5hrs.

Ideally would like to do it quicker but i'm riding with a stage 3 tear of my Posterior Cruciate Ligament so to get round the course without experiencing a lot of pain will be a bonus.

I've experienced a lot of sportives but due to my injury (hospital is trying to rehab the injury rather than surgery) i'm a tad nervous about the ride :-(

chrisaonabike

zardoz wrote:

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

It annoys me a bit that the fast riders get 11 hours to complete, but the slow ones get only 9. :shock:

That's done for safety to reduce the amount of overtaking and the number of accidents and the challenge was to complete in 9 hours. The fast riders may get 11 hours but they won't need it will they

Yes I know all that

It would be nice just to have the buffer of an extra hour - one concern I have is that a lot of the numpties from the Boris Johnson "chiselled whippet" school of training will have claimed a six or seven hour completion time, got an early start, and then I catch them all up, walking up Newlands corner, and blocking the road completely.

peat

^That's been my worry too.

I have ended up with pretty much the last wave. Ergh.

Anyway, did a 95mile Sportive on Saturday in 5hrs40 (with pretty 'relaxed' food stops) over more ascent than the RL100 course. So, Anything under 6hrs will make me happy.

Slo Mo Jones

My start time is 7:50am and I'm just hoping for 7 hours. Started cycling in January, but only able to get out once a week. I've been doing a 110km loop that includes Newlands Corner, Leith Hill and Box Hill in 4:30 - 4:40, including a pee stop and a rest stop. That's typically having had a few beers the night before - I'm hoping for a big boost from having no alcohol in the system.

My big worry is a puncture.

thegreatdivide

I'd like a sub 5hr time - 4.59.59 would be ideal

You'll be amazed at the drafting effect on a closed road sportive so some of the times posted above will be more than achievable.

AchillesLeftKnee

Slo Mo Jones wrote:

My big worry is a puncture.

If it's something you've never dealt with before and you're concerned about handling it on the day, have a practice getting the tubes on and off this week. As a procedure, it's much like anything "simple" and mechanical - big faff first time, miles easier on subsequent occasions.

chrisaonabike

AchillesLeftKnee wrote:

Slo Mo Jones wrote:

My big worry is a puncture.

If it's something you've never dealt with before and you're concerned about handling it on the day, have a practice getting the tubes on and off this week. As a procedure, it's much like anything "simple" and mechanical - big faff first time, miles easier on subsequent occasions.

+1

Yesterday I spent 45 mins practising getting the wheel and tyre off, replacing the tube and replacing the wheel.

Got my time for the whole process down from over 30 mins to 13 mins.

Well worth the effort, much more confident now.

Stedman

thegreatdivide wrote:

I'd like a sub 5hr time - 4.59.59 would be ideal

+1

davep1

Peat - I'm in the same boat, starting at 7.58. I think the start and first 10-20 miles could be a nightmare but there is nothing that can be done about it, so am hoping not to get too stressed.

I hope to take it easy for the first hour or even two and then maybe get in a fast-moving gang and see what can be achieved.

I stopped drinking tea and coffee the weekend before last and will stop the booze tonight. Not had a great deal of effect from the lack of tea and coffee yet (apart from falling asleep at work!) so hopefully no beer for 6 days will see a huge improvement!

And a word of advice from punctures, I think it is much better to take your time and do it calmly. There isn't much worse than having to stop and fix a puncture to then have to stop again and fix it a second time because you cocked it up the first time due to clock watching. I've got really disciplined at looking and feeling round the tyre for those little thorns/stone shards that can mess you up.

zardoz

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

zardoz wrote:

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

It annoys me a bit that the fast riders get 11 hours to complete, but the slow ones get only 9. :shock:

That's done for safety to reduce the amount of overtaking and the number of accidents and the challenge was to complete in 9 hours. The fast riders may get 11 hours but they won't need it will they

Yes I know all that

So if you knew it was for safety and to avoid accidents, why does it annoy you? 9 hours to do 100 is plenty if people have done the training, it is after all only a tad above 11mph. Completing in 9 hours is the challenge. If it was made to be 11 hours there would still be some wanting 13 hours and if it was 13 hours some would want 15. I wouldn't want to see this event ending up like the London Marathon where people jog the first mile walk the remaining 25 take all day doing it and then claim to have "run" a Marathon.

chrisaonabike

zardoz wrote:

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

zardoz wrote:

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

It annoys me a bit that the fast riders get 11 hours to complete, but the slow ones get only 9. :shock:

That's done for safety to reduce the amount of overtaking and the number of accidents and the challenge was to complete in 9 hours. The fast riders may get 11 hours but they won't need it will they

Yes I know all that

So if you knew it was for safety and to avoid accidents, why does it annoy you?

Did you just stop reading after "yes I know all that?"

I was attempting, and obviously failing, to convey the idea that yes, I understand perfectly well why they've done it, and also that it's perfectly reasonable, but that just speaking personally as a newbie, I'm a bit nervous lest (after all my training to a level where on paper I should have no problems at all), something goes wrong on the day and I get held up.

My apologies for not making it clearer, and perhaps not using a word other than 'annoys' :roll:

However, if for instance, Newlands, Leith and Box are clogged up to buggery with people that claimed 6 hours, got away at 6am and then walk half the way, forcing me to as well, having started at 8am, then I shall end up close to being broom wagoned, and hence gutted - and right royally p1ssed off, not just 'a bit annoyed'.

Providing they have marshals on the hills getting the walkers over to one side, or preferably disqualifying them , I shall have no complaints

binkybike

my standard time for solo 100 miles is 6hrs 30 (including stops, and always over hillier routes than the RL100) i am hoping that with closed roads and an easier route I'll get close to 6 hours.

But I am going to try and not get too bothered by the time, as the most important thing is that I don't have an accident as I imagine there will a fair few collisions between the over-cautious and the reckless

chrisaonabike

Incidentally, I haven't done the math, but it might even be possible for the slower riders not to make it to the checkpoints in time, and be forced off down the shortcuts, thus clogging things up for slightly faster riders who had already overtaken them once.

So for instance, it may not be at all impossible for people that leave around the same time as me, get to Newlands and only just make it up... and then get diverted along the A25 missing out the Leith loop completely.

Thus ending up at the bottom of Box Hill before me, but clogging that up completely.

Hopefully I'm worrying unnecessarily - the checkpoint timings are quite generous

pashda

I am hoping for somewhere around 6:15 based on training and a recent 89 mile sportive. I am expecting the first 20 miles to be a bit slow and largely spent avoiding other riders who perhaps are not experienced at group riding. After that if it thins out a bit get into a group and share the load to boost speed. Overall I just want to enjoy the whole event and am not worried about the time it takes me. I think it will be largely like the london marathon in that it is a fairly fast course but too crowded to really go for a PB.

make mine a triple

Just did a solo 96 miles this weekend in 5hrs 56 but legs felt shocking all the way around with no strength up hills
I don't anticipate having a problem getting round but might not enjoy as much as I was hoping

Going to do nothing now till Sunday and hope my leg muscles stop aching. Hoping to have a chat with a few people on the way round, appreciate the closed roads experience and not get to precious about times. It looks like
a nice tail wind on the last 20 miles or so

Shackster

I'm hoping for under 6 hours but I haven't got much real evidence to base that on. :roll: I can manage well above the average required on shorter rides but for longer ones - say 70 miles or so, my average is about 1-1.5 mph too slow. I'm hoping/telling myself that closed roads, group effects and adrenaline will combine to make up the difference...and then stops etc will cancel them out...

I do really just want to enjoy it, I'm sure it will be like nothing I've ever experienced. But one of my sponsors has pledged an extra £100 if I do it in under 6 hours. No pressure then! :shock:

IanREmery

My biggest ride to date, 83 miles at 15.7mph (solo ride)

http://app.strava.com/activities/68690764

Initially I was thinking anything under 7 hours and I'm happy. However as I came down with mild vertigo over the weekend just gone and the world is still a little dizzy today I'm just aiming to finish it in one piece, enjoy the spectacle of the event and the day in general.

brettjmcc

I originally said sub-6 on the entry having posted just over 6 a few years back. My longest training ride has been 78 so far and had big family commitments this month with a mild bit of food poisoning thrown in so final weeks haven't been great preparation. I'll be happy/amazed if I do sub-6.

As long as it is cooler on Sunday I will be happy. It was deceptively hot on Saturday and I had a fail at 60 and had to stop in a bike hop and get water off them (I had been drinking) and stop as I had massively overheated! The 17.4 average is only for moving time though...

http://app.strava.com/activities/70169401#

chrisaonabike

Goddamn it, am I really the slowest rider on the whole forum ? :oops: :roll:

junglist_matty

Just out of interest, why are people quoting that a closed road sportive will make you ride faster!?

Doesn't make any sense to me, unless of course you're going to be hammering it down narrow descents... You can still draft as in a normal sportive and many ride 3 abreast.

rich_e

junglist_matty wrote:

Just out of interest, why are people quoting that a closed road sportive will make you ride faster!?

Doesn't make any sense to me, unless of course you're going to be hammering it down narrow descents... You can still draft as in a normal sportive and many ride 3 abreast.

I suppose thats a fair comment.

There is the fact though that you can use the entire road and perhaps some people will have more confidence knowing that there is not going to be any traffic coming the other direction, especially on descents. Works both ways though, if you end with lots of riders around you, it could become so congested that you end up going slower.

The real appeal of course of all this is central London being totally devoid of cars. I did the upper half of the route just over a week ago using the supplied Garmin training route. Stopping for traffic lights means it takes ages to get down to Surrey, I would think the time it took me will be cut by at least half on the day. Of course there are still going to be stops for pedestrian crossings though.

Wrath Rob

Closed roads = no traffic lights, pedestrians (hopefully), no waiting at junctions etc etc. It all helps.

I'm aiming for sub 5 hours based on doing 73 miles of the route on Sunday at 19.9mph average, 20 miles of that was solo and the missing 27 miles is the pan flat start and end sections. If I get in a decent group then I should be in with a shout. Even better if I'm averaging over 20mph on the way back into town when I can enjoy the atmosphere a bit more.

Slo Mo Jones

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

Goddamn it, am I really the slowest rider on the whole forum ? :oops: :roll:

I doubt you're as slow as me.

oneof1982

We're staying in rooms above a pub in Drayton. The pub has it's own brewery and usually around 13 different ales. My realsitic goal is to drink all of them on Sunday evening.

Anonymous

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

It annoys me a bit that the fast riders get 11 hours to complete, but the slow ones get only 9. :shock:

It's a bit like when the faster guys in a club ride get to the top of the hill. They are the ones who need a rest the least, but get the longest rest.
The guys that have struggled to the top get practically no time to catch their breath and have a drink ...... er, I mean

davep1

oneof1982 wrote:

We're staying in rooms above a pub in Drayton. The pub has it's own brewery and usually around 13 different ales. My realsitic goal is to drink all of them on Sunday evening.

Good plan!!!