Ride London Surrey 100 - No registration

rossonerro

Guys,

Quick and cheeky question. Do you think it would be possible to join the ride without having a registered place? I applied for the ballot and got quite excited about it - training and everything - but at the end didn't get a place and did not think I could hit the charity targets in time. I am thinking given c.20k people will start - it probably wouldn't be too difficult to join the masses and ride along. Anyway - just looking for people's thoughts.

Thanks v much.

chrisaonabike

Possible, maybe. They can't police the whole route. Although your absence of rider number on both bike and jersey might be a bit obvious at times, or are you going to fake those? I don't suppose it's escaped their notice that people will try and gate-crash.

Desirable? IMO, no.

I didn't get a ballot place either, so I got a charity place, got off my arse, created a Just Giving page, and I'm tapping up family and friends.

I've paid for the privilege of riding in a closed-road event (heaven knows how much that must cost to organise, with the road-closures and everything), and I've put a bit of effort into fundraising.

So give me a reason why I and thousands of other people that have paid their way should subsidise you?

Might sound harsh, but IMO if people can't do it legit, for whatever reason, they shouldn't take part.

rossonerro

Thanks for your view. Definitely not faking numbers Was just looking for a fun day out - you are right about charity - should have gone for that option but too late now. Still trying to make up my mind whether to go on Sunday or not.

Anonymous

Just pay the charity upfront yourself if you really want to do the ride.

If not buy a turbo trainer and watch it on TV ;-)

chrisaonabike

rossonerro wrote:

Still trying to make up my mind whether to go on Sunday or not.

No hard feelings, but if you go, I hope you get caught and ejected

(the roads are in fact closed to all non-participating vehicles, so technically you could probably be done for some bye-law or other )

izza

Not too late.

I know someone who has two places - charity and ballot.

Can contact him if you want to make the £500 charity donation.

Anonymous

There you go. Sorted ;-)
That's at least £250 less than any charity place that will be left I bet.

antfly

They won't even let us start if we are late so if you attempt it I suspect you will be dragged off never to be seen again so it won't be much fun for you. If I can raise the money anyone can. I am pretty sure that places are non-transferable, though.

rich_e

Pretty sure I already said this in another thread, but still...

If you intend to try and poach the course, you have to bare in mind that they will be setting up barriers and road blocks to be active from 5am with marshals then in place. In London I think you will probably find jumping over the barriers will get you in trouble, given they will have lots of Police and marshalling, not necessarily because of poaching, but because of pedestrians and cars being cheeky and going where they shouldn't.

When I was in Richmond Park last week there were tons of barriers waiting to be go in the Roehampton Cafe carpark, so clearly they are intending to heavily barrier London.

You likely would have an easier time of it if you jumped on the course in the Surrey area, but then those roads don't have the same appeal of being closed, as they are not as busy as inner London, which of course also has traffic lights every 200 yards which is the massive factor in slowing you down usually.

During the Olympics last year, they had a lot of marshals on motorbikes on the road race courses. I saw them chase down Cyclists would wanted to try and ride it. Of course this isn't the Olympics anymore, but I'd imagine they will still be taking it seriously with the Pro race happening and such a high volume of cyclists taking part.

I would think that as somebody poaching the course, you will also get quite a bit of distain from those of us who are riding officially. You are required to wear a body number and have a handlebar mounted number and frame mounted number, so its going to be plainly obvious to event staff who isn't an official rider.

You are missing out on half the fun by not being in it officially anyway, so maybe best just to try the ballot again for next year.

zardoz

rossonerro wrote:

Guys,

Quick and cheeky question. Do you think it would be possible to join the ride without having a registered place? I applied for the ballot and got quite excited about it - training and everything - but at the end didn't get a place and did not think I could hit the charity targets in time. I am thinking given c.20k people will start - it probably wouldn't be too difficult to join the masses and ride along. Anyway - just looking for people's thoughts.

Thanks v much.

And if all the people who didn't get a place had the same idea then it would be absolute chaos. So no, its not alright and I hope that any unofficial riders are pulled out. As others have said apply next year and either get in on the ballot or opt for a charity place but give yourself more time to raise the target amount.

wiggofan

I know it's not the same thing but many of the BHF London to Brighton participants are unregistered. I've never seen anyone stopped and ejected for not having a number.

kentphil

Not got a place... Don't ride. Simple.

rich_e

wiggofan wrote:

I know it's not the same thing but many of the BHF London to Brighton participants are unregistered. I've never seen anyone stopped and ejected for not having a number.

While that is certainly true, its not a closed roads event, so technically anyone still has the right to be on the roads, within reason as I believe they stop motorists in some areas. Neither does the London to Brighton have a time critical Pro race coming up behind it, which means they need to be able to manage and clear the course of official participants to ensure it moves through safely and as planned.

While a bicycle rider can sometimes access closed roads that motorists can't, I believe the organisers will take the view here that any person/vehicle that is not a participant is exactly the same.

The Rider Info magazine does highlight that there will be a good deal of motorbikes and other official vehicles on the course, so I'm sure they will be looking out for people without the clearly visible three numbers that are going to identify participants.

Stedman

Just remember that somebody got a prison sentence for just going for a cheeky swim last year in the Thames when the Boat Race was on!

I am also sure that TFL will want to protect the RL100 brand if anything significant happened and you are also unlikely to have any third party insurance.

oneof1982

Wasn't going to post on this, as the OP clearly knows it is wrong or else s/he wouldn't have asked. Without being too po-faced about it, it will actually be an offence to use the roads, which are closed to traffic, including bikes, other than those who are part of this sanctioned event.

Notwithstanding the fact that if 30,000 others who didn't get a place did the same thing the whole thing would be a shambles. So, it's a no from me I'm afraid.

rich_e

Stedman wrote:

Just remember that somebody got a prison sentence for just going for a cheeky swim last year in the Thames when the Boat Race was on!

I also am sure that TFL will want to protect the RL100 brand if anything significant happened and you are also unlikely to have any third party insurance.

That actually just reminded me that there is also a rather significant increase in security with mass participation events and big cities in the wake of the Boston marathon bombings. The London Marathon stepped up security measures and Ride London is the same organisers. Going past so many London landmarks, I'd agree that they will take a pretty dim view of anyone who is not supposed to be there.

simonhead

I beliece surrey police are issuing tazers to all of their officers on the day. They are going to give anyone not riding with a number 50,000 volts.

oneof1982

simonhead wrote:

I beliece surrey police are issuing tazers to all of their officers on the day. They are going to give anyone not riding with a number 50,000 volts.

And apparently this applies to anyone riding slower than 8mph up Box Hill.

Gazzaputt

rossonerro wrote:

Guys,

Quick and cheeky question. Do you think it would be possible to join the ride without having a registered place? I applied for the ballot and got quite excited about it - training and everything - but at the end didn't get a place and did not think I could hit the charity targets in time. I am thinking given c.20k people will start - it probably wouldn't be too difficult to join the masses and ride along. Anyway - just looking for people's thoughts.

Thanks v much.

20000 is plenty and the event doesn't need every tom, dick and harry thinking they can go pirate on this one.

Not acceptable imo.

thefilbertfox

Hope nobody minds, but I will be cycling part of the course on Sunday and I haven't registered.
PS. It will however be at 5am :shock: en-route to the Hampton Hub as a volunteer at the feed station.
Anybody want to pre-order a bacon roll?

chrisaonabike

thefilbertfox wrote:

Hope nobody minds, but I will be cycling part of the course on Sunday and I haven't registered.
PS. It will however be at 5am :shock: en-route to the Hampton Hub as a volunteer at the feed station.
Anybody want to pre-order a bacon roll?

I think that's allowed

Many thanks for your efforts and those of the other volunteers.

antfly

Please can I order a tuna sandwich on rye, with extra cheese, and a double espresso, no sugar. Thanks.

R.Hagell

izza wrote:

Not too late.

I know someone who has two places - charity and ballot.

Can contact him if you want to make the £500 charity donation.

Are these places still available? If so I'm interested!
RH - r.hagell@gmail.com

izza

R.Hagell wrote:

izza wrote:

Not too late.

I know someone who has two places - charity and ballot.

Can contact him if you want to make the £500 charity donation.

Are these places still available? If so I'm interested!
RH - r.hagell@gmail.com

Have emailed with a request

oneof1982

thefilbertfox wrote:

Hope nobody minds, but I will be cycling part of the course on Sunday and I haven't registered.
PS. It will however be at 5am :shock: en-route to the Hampton Hub as a volunteer at the feed station.
Anybody want to pre-order a bacon roll?

Save a banana for a member of the Blue army

Thanks to volunteers 8)

nolf

+1 on keen to do the route. I just want to hitch onto a group out to Surrey, don't care beyond that!

I had a look at the website and note it says
"For the events on Sunday 4 August, cycling on the event route is not recommended as the roads will be very busy before and after the events have passed, with preparations such as barriers and race infrastructure being put into place. Event stewards will be on hand to advise people."

On that basis, doesn't sound like they'll imprison you for using the closed roads. In my situation, I want too ride, but don't intend to use any of the benefits, except the closed roads. I'll buy food/water separately.

zardoz

nolf wrote:

+1 on keen to do the route. I just want to hitch onto a group out to Surrey, don't care beyond that!

So do it next weekend. There will be enough cyclists on the route without unregistered people joining in. Think about it for a minute, if everyone took your attitude it would be absolute chaos. Don't do it, ride the course if you want to next week and apply to do Ride London next year.

chrisaonabike

nolf wrote:

+1 on keen to do the route. I just want to hitch onto a group out to Surrey, don't care beyond that!
....
On that basis, doesn't sound like they'll imprison you for using the closed roads. In my situation, I want too ride, but don't intend to use any of the benefits, except the closed roads. I'll buy food/water separately.

Where is Captain Lip when we need him?

simonhead

The more I think about this the more annoyed I get, I am sorry people didnt get in on the ballot, I didnt either so had to take a charity place. 20k people have paid good money to ride the event and many will have raised a significant ammount of money for their charities.

If it was open roads there wouldnt be a lot that could be done to stop hangers on (like L2B) but it isnt, the participation fee has gone towards ensuring that the roads are closed for the people that have paid for the event. You wouldnt climb over the fence at thorpe park and go on all the rides or sit in a costa for 4 hours, use the loos, free wifi and eat your own food and drink would you? Well maybe you would.

antfly

I am also getting annoyed, some people have no shame, or pride..

chrisaonabike

IMO the freeloading scroungers should be instantly grassed up to the marshals, police, anyone in authority. It would give me pleasure to watch them being escorted swiftly off the course.