RideLondon Registration

Wrath Rob

I'm surprised there's no thread on this!

I went to register this morning and it was a painless experience and I actually enjoyed the show there too. There's secure, manned "cloak room" style bike parking, loads of people on hand to register you and then the show. You go through a combined dhb/Wiggle shop with a few special offers on and then come out into the main area. My highlights were doing the hill climb challenge (1:27 for 1.1km in case anyone asks) along side Laura Trott, yes the Laura Trott, so no pressure there. I got her photo but not her number and a free full zip jersey for getting a sub 1:50 time on the hill.

I tried the Erdinger alcohol beer, surprisingly tasty, got some free MucOff stuff, bagged a bargain jersey and shorts from the Madison shop, watched some BMXing and free running, chatted to loads of people and was a little disappointed when I had to leave to get back to work.

When you go, take some time to make the most of it as I'm sure there are a load of other things that I've missed, like the Continental stand which was doing some cut price jerseys and shorts as well as tubes.

pashda

I went last night after work. Set up is similar to the london marathon which was no surprise. Some of it was good but I was amazed there wasn't a better presence from manufacturers. No bike company had a stand promoting their latest models or offering discounted bikes. Aside from Wiggle who had plenty of stuff to buy there wasn't much from bike shops either. I would have thought this would be a perfect opportunity for them to sell a lot of stuff. Continental were doing a lot of business but I think that was because they had little competition. I know its the first year but having seen the marathon expo which is so full of trade stands you can hardly move it felt a bit empty there.

MattPillinger

Good to know Rob, I'm going tomorrow so will look our for the hill climb challenge - presumably Laura beat you?

Do you have to pay for the bike parking?

chrisaonabike

I went last night too. Registration was painless, had a bit of wander round but nothing stood out. The DHB gear was more expensive than Wiggle are selling it so I didn't bother there.

I quite like the Erdinger alcohol-free beer too - surprisingly drinkable, and I would probably even buy it.

I sat through the presentation by the "sports nutritionist" from High-5, and listened to a lot of rather dull statements of the bleedin' obvious, coupled with what boiled down to the assertion that using sports nutrition products is far superior to eating proper food.

No surprises there, but I was quite narked when, after all that, he encouraged people to visit the High-5 stand, so I went over, wanting to see if I liked the taste of their carb/electrolyte drink, they had no cups to sample the drink they had in their cooler, but would be happy to sell me a plastic bottle full of their stuff. Thought that was a bit shite, tbh, given that they're the drinks provider for the event.

Smirf

Going to cycle across tonight? Do you know if you needed your own lock for the "cloakroom"

RedGirl

This may sound like a stupid question but when you say secure bike parking does that mean we don't need a lock? I'm cycling straight to the Excel from Euston Station with my rucksack for the weekend. I was thinking I would need to bring my lock but if I don't need it for the Excel or for when we finish the ride (I believe that also has secure bike parking), then I don't think I'll need to bring it at all. Which will be great because it's really really heavy.

Wrath Rob

I didn't leave a bike there so can't comment on that. However, it was billed as secure parking and was manned so I expect that its pretty secure.

snakedoc

No locks required - you drop your bike off as you enter the bike hall (after you've already entered Excel) and then you check it into the secure area (they put a cable tie on your bike with a number and give you a receipt with the number on) - only the staff have access to the secure area so it's completely safe
As you leave the hall you hand in your receipt and get your bike back - it really is a good system that works well

rich_e

I got there a bit later than I had aimed to, so just missed Laura Trott, which was annoying as I'd taken a print out of a photo I took of her winning the Omnium last year which I wanted to get signed.

I also found registration pretty quick, aside from the fact that when I went to my number station, they didn't have my pack and I had to go to a help desk. I think perhaps though that's because I didn't get through in the original ballot and then got through in a secondary ballot that wiggle ran as a competition. I suppose it may be busier tomorrow with it being a weekend, but it seems like they give out the packs quickly and you can go to the help desk to ask questions.

I agree that the Continental stand is good, three tubes for a tenner, which is a better deal than what they were being sold for in the Wiggle shop.

I bought some things from the High5 stand, but didn't ask them much about nutrition as it seems like they were hired promo people rather than 'experts'. ChrisOnABike, I guess what you saw was a presentation on the stage? I didn't see any timings for what they were doing with the stage. I did want to try the new Mojito flavour gel that Wiggle are now selling as an exclusive in large boxes. The High5 twitter feed said they would have some samples at the stand, but it turns out they don't as Wiggle has all of them, apparently it is going to be the flavour supplied at the feed stations on route though... and its supposed to be very nice!

The majority of the stands are for the various charities, I would imagine they are probably there to give out items to their charity riders. A lot of these stands also have turbo trainer challenges, which I think if you went around and did every one, you would be pretty tired afterwards!

The Animal stunt show is fun, but I'd actually already seen the tour at Silverstone last month.

Inregards to the other bike shops, there was only a tiny Evans stand, a Tri shop and Madison. I wonder though if perhaps this is not in some way related to Wiggle being the official partner, as even some of the other stands were still being run by Wiggle staff, like the Garmin stand. Perhaps they don't think they will shift many bikes, especially when you consider that the majority of people attending you would think have a bike. There were though some very nice bikes to look at in the middle area, which I think were provided by one of the magazine publishers. Some very expensive and lightweight bits of kit in there. I'm sure I saw one bike with a £19,999 price tag on it.

Its only the first year though, so perhaps its a show that will get bigger and they might rent more show floor space to do so.

Not too many freebies though, I got some Muc-Off samples, Pistachio Nuts, Team Sky recipe cards and then tried a few of the drink samples they had, many of them were weird products claiming to be amazing recovery products though.

I think the funniest thing there is a stand selling sticks that are supposed to be great for massage and recovery. Its like a plastic rod with prices starting from around £45.

chrisaonabike

Rich_E wrote:

I think the funniest thing there is a stand selling sticks that are supposed to be great for massage and recovery. Its like a plastic rod with prices starting from around £45.

I asked the bloke for a demo (it did feel quite good, but not £45 good), and then he looked a bit miffed when I didn't want to shell out the cash straight away.

Imaginatively named "The Stick". The stick has plastic rings round it that massaged as they rolled over you.

peat

I can only really get there tomorrow afternoon as travelling in during the morning. Expect it to be carnage with the rest of the folk from outside the M25.

chrisaonabike

Peat wrote:

I can only really get there tomorrow afternoon as travelling in during the morning. Expect it to be carnage with the rest of the folk from outside the M25.

Don't leave it till you get to the front of the queue to fill in the back of the form - it will hold things up needlessly. It's only the signature on the front that you have to do in the presence of the person at the booth that gets your pack.

The man walking up and down the queue is just reminding people to fill in the back. Wave it at him all filled in and he'll go away.

Calpol

Yes it was very slick today. I guess that if this event is a success the show will grow next year. I think Boris wants to make this another London Marathon type event so I can see a lot more sponsors keen to get involved once this years is done. Given the level of TV coverage I should imagine Prudential are pretty happy to be lead sponsor. I went for a 15 minute massage which was ok, the lass doing me was a little lightweight, would have been better with one of the bruisers! The Mrs got a photo and autograph from Laura Trott so it wasnt a bad way to spend an hour or so. Getting to excel by car was pretty painfree today.

peat

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

Don't leave it till you get to the front of the queue to fill in the back of the form

Thanks for the heads-up. Done.

mbthegreat

Won myself a jersey

chrisaonabike

Just did a recce of the Blue Start area, was just talking to one of the security guys - apparently as late as 4.30 there were still people turning up asking where to register - and looking rather shocked and horrified to discover that the Excel Centre is not at the start line.

FFS, just how stupid are some people?

Simon-R7

Walked straight up to my booth at 12.00 today, a fairly painless experience, didnt think much of the bike show. Looking forward to the alarm call at 04.00 in the morning :shock: :shock:

speshsteve

good luck all, a 4.00am start for me too (the family are really happy they have to get up too to drive me there )

I've started the pre-ride ritual.......1st beer consumed, bottle of red to follow.....well is it as saturday night