RLS100 Realistic Goals
Comments
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I was intending to hit a certain time (6 hours) but now I'm contemplating just enjoying the ride, the closed roads and hopefully the weather. Just going to play it by ear on the day0
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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.
Because some of us have experience of both open and closed road events and know the difference it makes. Bigger (and just as importantly more) groups, quicker descending and cornering, no hold ups at junctions and lights etc. It all adds up.
I wouldnt ride 3 abreast on open roads and IME most others dont either.0 -
I think the contrast in the roads will be interesting - smooth wide dual carriageways in central London to to rough narrow bumpy steep lanes out of London. There is also a lot of loose gravel outside of Dorking where they have tried to improve the surface. Reckon it was over an inch deep in places so hope it gets swept!0
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As per the FAQ on the Ride London Facebook page they posted last week, it said that Surrey council intends to do a sweep of the roads in the Ride London that they have been doing summer resurfacing work on.
I know the road you mean though, the one that comes at the end of the Box Hill descent. I tried to avoid skidding on it and have a few chips on the bottom of my frame.0 -
DaveP1 wrote:I think the contrast in the roads will be interesting - smooth wide dual carriageways in central London to to rough narrow bumpy steep lanes out of London. There is also a lot of loose gravel outside of Dorking where they have tried to improve the surface. Reckon it was over an inch deep in places so hope it gets swept!
I cycled the bottom of the loop at the weekend and it's much better. Still some loose gravel at the sides of the roads but a metre from the edge of the road it's pretty clear.0 -
Whatever people's time goals are, can those who haven't ridden the route before (and those who have) be careful on the descent of Leith Hill. There are potholes everywhere, some pretty deep ones, they're difficult to see because the trees mean the road is speckled with light/shadow, you'll be going pretty fast, and by the side of the road you either have some firm looking trees or a a 3 or 4m rock face / compacted earth that's rock hard. You come a cropper there and it is going to hurt. And you're going to get some cyclists in the face.0
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thanks for the heads up Slo Mo0
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I did the same, and its a lot better than it was a week ago. I hope that they do a final sweep before the ride but its all starting to look a lot better than 2 weeks ago.Slo Mo Jones wrote:DaveP1 wrote:I think the contrast in the roads will be interesting - smooth wide dual carriageways in central London to to rough narrow bumpy steep lanes out of London. There is also a lot of loose gravel outside of Dorking where they have tried to improve the surface. Reckon it was over an inch deep in places so hope it gets swept!
I cycled the bottom of the loop at the weekend and it's much better. Still some loose gravel at the sides of the roads but a metre from the edge of the road it's pretty clear.FCN3: Titanium Qoroz.0 -
my main goal is just to enjoy myself. Am hoping that with no stopping for lights or junctoins that I am a bit quicker. Just aiming to finish within the 9 hour limit but am one of the last off.
At the end of the day you just have to deal with what happens on the day. Am going to get to the park early, doubt they will let anyone start before their time though as they stated they wouldn't0 -
I was on the roads around Ranmoor Common, which may not be on the actual route, but if they were like Box Hill, and it doesn't get swept...doesn't bear thinking about...
I said earlier I was going to take it easy for an hour or two, but seeing as I am starting at 7.58 there won't be many people left to come past me! I think we will all have to focus on the enjoyment side of it and if you get the chance for a PB then so much the better.0 -
i plumped for a predicted 7 hours, but I reckon I could probably now do the distance on this course in approx 6 hours, +resting/refuelling time, whithout mishap. So basically happy with approx 6:30. I am however, like others, concerned about the sheer volume of riders, particularly early on, and the likehood or some big group crashes- my start time is 7:47. I will try and tell myself not to try and be a hero and to keep my distance!
Hope you all have a great experience come sunday!0 -
The start times seem startlingly specific. My start time is 7:50, and I assumed people would be starting in 10 minute segments, but it seems not. What will it be, loading in 1 minute waves?0
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if you think about it, 10 minute waves would be crazy! that's 13 waves 1,539 riders a wave...
They are doing 2 parallel waves, i dont know how frequent but I guess every 2 minutes, and those parallel waves might alternate, rather than be simultaneous. that way you'd get 150/160 riders per wave, which sounds more manageable. O maybe every minute which would give 75/80 riders per wave. It's certainly an organisational challenge!!0 -
The second method is the tried and tested one used in the Etape Caledonia.johnny2names wrote:if you think about it, 10 minute waves would be crazy! that's 13 waves 1,539 riders a wave...
They are doing 2 parallel waves, i dont know how frequent but I guess every 2 minutes, and those parallel waves might alternate, rather than be simultaneous. that way you'd get 150/160 riders per wave, which sounds more manageable. O maybe every minute which would give 75/80 riders per wave. It's certainly an organisational challenge!!0 -
Road.cc have a few tips of the intricacies of a 100 miler some of you may find useful
http://road.cc/content/news/89592-video ... -100-miler
My tip would be eat and drink more than you think in the first 50, eat regularly and drink small sips every 10-20 mins dont get dragged along by people at a faster pace than you that you forget to fuel up, you should be eating to fuel the last 25 - 30 miles which psycologically are the easiest miles to tick offThe dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
My experience of events with this number of entrants is that it is best not to expect anything. There will be too many people on the roads for it to be safe to go fast in places and you might end up in some bottleneck up Leith hill or Box hill. There will be plenty of people walking up the climbs and the all ride can grind to a stand still. That's my experience of the Tour of Flanders, which is a similar size event over similarly narrow roads.
Just enjoy the day, there will be other occasions for going fastleft the forum March 20230 -
I'm aiming for within 5hr 30mins moving time and hopefully under 6 total time, only planning on stopping to fill up bottles at 2 points - Newlands Corner and Leatherhead. I should have enough food on me! I've done from Newlands Corner to the bottom of Box twice in the last month in rides between 70-85 miles from over in Kent and the average was about 17.5mph~ but was slightly held back on the first one by some slower club members in the group.
Planning on PBing Newlands Corner, Leith Hill and Box
hopefully the climbs are not too crowded, I have a 6 40 start and I'd like to think everyone starting before me is faster but I doubt that is the case, especially since I put in way more training than I planned to when I put down my time as 6 hours! Hopefully the field will be quite spread out by then. 0 -
ugo.santalucia wrote:My experience of events with this number of entrants is that it is best not to expect anything. There will be too many people on the roads for it to be safe to go fast in places and you might end up in some bottleneck up Leith hill or Box hill. There will be plenty of people walking up the climbs and the all ride can grind to a stand still. That's my experience of the Tour of Flanders, which is a similar size event over similarly narrow roads.
Just enjoy the day, there will be other occasions for going fast
None of that seemed to happen (at least not in the earlier waves) and I cannot imagine an occasion where I could have gone faster.
My realistic goal and my unrealistic goal were both smashed, as it seems were many others.
I will start saving for my RLS100 2014 charity place now. I raised the sponsorship this year but will just pay the £500 myself if I fail in the ballot again next year, thats how much I enjoyed myself ;-)0 -
Carbonator wrote:ugo.santalucia wrote:My experience of events with this number of entrants is that it is best not to expect anything. There will be too many people on the roads for it to be safe to go fast in places and you might end up in some bottleneck up Leith hill or Box hill. There will be plenty of people walking up the climbs and the all ride can grind to a stand still. That's my experience of the Tour of Flanders, which is a similar size event over similarly narrow roads.
Just enjoy the day, there will be other occasions for going fast
None of that seemed to happen (at least not in the earlier waves) and I cannot imagine an occasion where I could have gone faster.
My realistic goal and my unrealistic goal were both smashed, as it seems were many others.
I will start saving for my RLS100 2014 charity place now. I raised the sponsorship this year but will just pay the £500 myself if I fail in the ballot again next year, thats how much I enjoyed myself ;-)
^ This. Hardly any of the route was on skinny country roads and I never came across a bottle neck on the climbs. You could also descend like a rocket using all of the road. It was quite easy to get into a steam roller peloton while passing slower riders or to have a steam roller peloton pass by when riding solo.0 -
While i beat my target convincingly, i do feel i should have been quicker.
The bottlenecks DID occur i'm afraid. I started at 7:56, endlessly overtook people for 2 hours and still got caught in the congestion on Leith Hill. There were a fair few walkers who, bless them, spread themselves equally across left, middle and right hand sides of the road. (I suppose, if you get caught out and have to stop on the right, it's hard to get back going again and even harder to get across on foot).
One of my regular riding partners started very early and completed the course a full half-hour faster than me. I'm not saying i would have matched him, but certainly could have kept him honest.
That's my only grumble. Great event, amazing experience. Will definitely stick my hate in the ring for next year.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and to add to the excuses: There was a small hold-up on the Hammersmith Flyover as the matting they had put over the expansion joints had lifted and decked about 6 riders (who were being seen by medics). Then on the run back into London, i was held in a group at about 12mph for a mile or so by a Marshal-motorbike while they seemingly allowed some traffic through up ahead. Tbh, by then i was thankful for a breather.
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Peat wrote:While i beat my target convincingly, i do feel i should have been quicker.
The bottlenecks DID occur i'm afraid. I started at 7:56, endlessly overtook people for 2 hours and still got caught in the congestion on Leith Hill. There were a fair few walkers who, bless them, spread themselves equally across left, middle and right hand sides of the road. (I suppose, if you get caught out and have to stop on the right, it's hard to get back going again and even harder to get across on foot).
One of my regular riding partners started very early and completed the course a full half-hour faster than me. I'm not saying i would have matched him, but certainly could have kept him honest.
That's my only grumble. Great event, amazing experience. Will definitely stick my hate in the ring for next year.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and to add to the excuses: There was a small hold-up on the Hammersmith Flyover as the matting they had put over the expansion joints had lifted and decked about 6 riders (who were being seen by medics). Then on the run back into London, i was held in a group at about 12mph for a mile or so by a Marshal-motorbike while they seemingly allowed some traffic through up ahead. Tbh, by then i was thankful for a breather.
Amen to this. I was in the very last wave and I've calculated that I passed at least 8,000 other riders during the ride. There was a major bottleneck on Leith Hill as people walked, we were held up on Hammersmith Flyover to repair the matting and there was next-to-no organisation or pelotons to help the solo rider. It seems all the riders who 'destroyed' their predicted times were in the earlier waves, I beat mine by 3 minutes! Loved every second of it though, see you all next year hopefully.0 -
stenorbs wrote:Peat wrote:While i beat my target convincingly, i do feel i should have been quicker.
The bottlenecks DID occur i'm afraid. I started at 7:56, endlessly overtook people for 2 hours and still got caught in the congestion on Leith Hill. There were a fair few walkers who, bless them, spread themselves equally across left, middle and right hand sides of the road. (I suppose, if you get caught out and have to stop on the right, it's hard to get back going again and even harder to get across on foot).
One of my regular riding partners started very early and completed the course a full half-hour faster than me. I'm not saying i would have matched him, but certainly could have kept him honest.
That's my only grumble. Great event, amazing experience. Will definitely stick my hate in the ring for next year.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and to add to the excuses: There was a small hold-up on the Hammersmith Flyover as the matting they had put over the expansion joints had lifted and decked about 6 riders (who were being seen by medics). Then on the run back into London, i was held in a group at about 12mph for a mile or so by a Marshal-motorbike while they seemingly allowed some traffic through up ahead. Tbh, by then i was thankful for a breather.
Amen to this. I was in the very last wave and I've calculated that I passed at least 8,000 other riders during the ride. There was a major bottleneck on Leith Hill as people walked, we were held up on Hammersmith Flyover to repair the matting and there was next-to-no organisation or pelotons to help the solo rider. It seems all the riders who 'destroyed' their predicted times were in the earlier waves, I beat mine by 3 minutes! Loved every second of it though, see you all next year hopefully.
I went out at 7:50. I didn't think it was too bad. But maybe I was one of the people holding you up (went round in 5:56). I would choose to go out at the same time again next year - any earlier is too early to be getting out of bed.0 -
love it and was aiming for 6:30 riding time and came in at 6:32. Gutted to just miss out on time. Really good day out. Set off at 7:52 and just didn't seem to be any groups forming at that time but didn't get held up on the hills either. Passed loads of people who started early though and had no chance of getting a decent time so think that is something to look into for next year0
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Was not sure what time to expect, perhaps 16mph av as that's what I get on my usual hilly solo loop around Surrey
But averaged 18.1 mph so took 5hrs 30, My folks got to the Mall just in time to see me finish!
I was in one of the last waves and for the first 2 hours it was pretty much non stop weaving through people, and it was hard getting into a rhythm: People three abreast chatting to each other, some caught in the wrong gear on an incline, or slowing through tighter corners. Box and Leith Hill were bottlenecks, and I got no where near my normal solo Strava times. I didn't get into a good stable group until after Box Hill really.
But it was a fantastic day, amazing experience! Dorking was so loud!0
