Post Ride London 100 - time, thoughts & experience?

simona75

Mikey1976 wrote:

On a negative note we all couldn't be bothered to cycle back to Stratford to get the car, so we had an amazing idea....

I would look after the bikes while my mate jumps in a black cab back to stratford only to return back to the mall to pick me and the bikes up, simple huh....

Black cab was £49 because of the delays and road closures and once he picked up the car up it took a further 2 hours for him to drive back to the mall, a total waiting time of 3.5 hours.

I thought as soon as the pros went passed the roads were supposed to be re-opened?

I was going to get the boat back to Stratford and was riding down the Embankment trying to find it. Couldnt find it so just rode back to Stratford along the still closed roads (the Pro's had just gone past so I guess I got lucky with a window between that and them being reopened)

RichardKingston

Carbonator wrote:

Did you stop much?
I did 5.03 with a 4-5 min water stop so counting that as sub 5 hours lol

Was a bit worried about the bike making it as it was making some odd noises at around 80 miles and my freehub pretty much stopped clicking (its normally very loud) so I did not want to push it.
To be honest I was knackered and not sure I could have pushed that much more anyway.

I had 5 minutes between my moving time on Strava (4hrs 51mins) and my overall time from the Official website (4hrs 56mins), I stopped just before Leith at a drinks stop and another drink stop just before the 90 mile mark I believe. Didn't feel like stopping to be honest!

drlodge

Carbonator wrote:

Did you stop much?
I did 5.03 with a 4-5 min water stop so counting that as sub 5 hours lol

Was a bit worried about the bike making it as it was making some odd noises at around 80 miles and my freehub pretty much stopped clicking (its normally very loud) so I did not want to push it.
To be honest I was knackered and not sure I could have pushed that much more anyway.

No I didn't stop at all, except to relocate my saddle bag in Richmond Park. I have 2 x 1 litre bottles filled with isotonic which was just enough, and food/gels etc to keep me going.

My bike start making clicking sounds from the BB area just after the start, its done it before and true to form the clicking went away, I think its a bit of grit in the BB bearings.

Talking of punctures, I passed one chap on the way into QE Park who had both wheels punctured before he'd even arrived! I shouted I felt for him, poor unlucky sod.

AllanES

It's great hearing everyone's experience and reading all the reports makes me even more gutted that I missed out on a ballot place
:-(
And even more keen to do it next year!
:-)
It's good to hear most (everyone?) were under their expected time. I guess a large part of that must be down to the closed roads? No slowing down/speeding up at junctions and traffic lights. That must make a big difference. As I know to my cost - a friend did it well under the target time I'd set him for doubling my donation to his charity! lol

drlodge

I put the fast time time down to the peleton effect, adrenalin, and the cheering crowds. With so many bikes on the roads, you simply get swept along.

Slo Mo Jones

No alcohol the night before - makes a massive, massive difference.

MattFT

drlodge wrote:

I put the fast time time down to the peloton effect, adrenalin, and the cheering crowds. With so many bikes on the roads, you simply get swept along.

+1 the atmosphere really made you push harder. I've never sprinted like I did coming down the Mall with everyone cheering and banging on the hordings.

Leesykoi

Quite experienced in Sportives but since i'm currently rehab'ing a completely detached PCL decided to set myself a target of 6hrs 30mins (my rehab has resulted in me not entering any events this year). TBH at the start i just wanted to get round the course in one piece !!!

Started off really well and was averaging much quicker than i expected but started getting knee pain so had to stop to take some painkillers, also since i was off in a later group i experienced a lot of walkers on Leith which slowed things up. Descent of Leith was scary with a guy in front of me pfaff on with his btles and lock up into a skid and nearly spoiling my whole day and a few others.

Ended up rolling in on 6hrs 35mins but i think i can knock at least 45mins off for my real moving time due to painkiller stops and water refill stops - i always go self sufficient aside from water (only real gripe aside from the dropped gel wrappers were that some of the drink stations were a bit crazy - the one at Box Hill wasn't great and i lost a boat load of time there).

Overall an awesome experience and i'm glad to say i got round in one piece, seen a few crashes and i hope everyone got home in one piece ?

Roll on next year where i'll get some water off the friendly locals rather than queue up for 20+mins !!! Wasn't the support great ???

Thanks Prudential :-)

Slo Mo Jones

When does the ballot open for next year? I thought I heard the chap on the loudspeaker in the Olympic Park say it opened in X days, i.e. very soon. Can't see anything online.

drlodge

12 or 14 August I think.

rickyrider

drlodge wrote:

I put the fast time time down to the peloton effect, adrenalin, and the cheering crowds. With so many bikes on the roads, you simply get swept along.

And apparently there was a good tailwind for the return half to London - so a really winning combo of weather, adrenalin, closed roads (that must make quite a difference over 100 miles) and peloton effect. I imagine there will be plenty of century PBs that'll take some beating now!

binkybike

MattFT wrote:

drlodge wrote:

I put the fast time time down to the peloton effect, adrenalin, and the cheering crowds. With so many bikes on the roads, you simply get swept along.

+1 the atmosphere really made you push harder. I've never sprinted like I did coming down the Mall with everyone cheering and banging on the hordings.

the atmosphere was great after about 9pm, many thanks to all those people who came out to clap and cheer us on.

But mainly I think it was closed roads and the course. It was a very very flat route. I averaged 22mph for the first 45 miles while actively avoiding groups (I feel drafting is cheating if I am trying for a good time, not that I begrudge anyone else doing it), I have never ever got anywhere close to that, my average is normally about 16mph.

kentphil

My first 100 miles and my first sportive event. An amazing day. I did 7hrs 15mins which I was really pleased with for my first 100. Although I spent about 15 mins at each of the three hubs due to the amount of people there. Really well organised event and I hope to ride again next year.

paul2718

drlodge wrote:

I put the fast time time down to the peloton effect, adrenalin, and the cheering crowds. With so many bikes on the roads, you simply get swept along.

Also I think the generally good road surfaces make a surprising difference. And not having to stop and start for lights and junctions both improve the average and reduce the energy expenditure.

5h11 with a puncture. 4h45-4h50 was clearly possible, so unfinished business. Will be endeavouring to try again.

Paul

kentphil

After reading previous posts: The ballot opens on Monday 12th for next year. A Marshall said some idiot threw down tacks on the way to start and some were thown on Leith Hill which might account for some of the punctures.

Are peoples times their "official" times or their "moving" times? As my official time was 7hrs 15mins but my actual time on the bike was probably 6hrs 15mins.

Mr Will

Leesykoi wrote:

...some of the drink stations were a bit crazy - the one at Box Hill wasn't great and i lost a boat load of time there)...

...Roll on next year where i'll get some water off the friendly locals rather than queue up for 20+mins...

I think it very much depended on the drinks station - the one at the top of box hill was always going to be one of the busiest. Lots of people thirsty after the climb plus lots of people waiting until after the last climb to refill plus lots of people wanting to fill up for the fast run in to London plus lots of people wanting an excuse to catch their breath equals queues unfortunately.

I stopped at the one on the corner of Guildford Rd (shortly after Leith Hill) and was instantly served by two very helpful volunteers (simultaneously). One did powder, the other did water, I took a quick trip to the loo (no queue) and then was on my way again in under two minutes!

MattFT

Slo Mo Jones wrote:

When does the ballot open for next year? I thought I heard the chap on the loudspeaker in the Olympic Park say it opened in X days, i.e. very soon. Can't see anything online.

Next Monday, August 12th

peat

rickyrider wrote:

And apparently there was a good tailwind for the return half to London

You'd think, wouldn't you. Always seemed to be a headwind whichever bearing i was heading in.

Mr Will

KentPhil wrote:

Are peoples times their "official" times or their "moving" times? As my official time was 7hrs 15mins but my actual time on the bike was probably 6hrs 15mins.

I think the official one is the one that matters. By all means quote moving time as well if you had hold-ups (and recorded it accurately!) but bear in mind that it won't really be comparable to anyone else's result.

charlie_potatoes

Mr Will wrote:

Leesykoi wrote:

...some of the drink stations were a bit crazy - the one at Box Hill wasn't great and i lost a boat load of time there)...

...Roll on next year where i'll get some water off the friendly locals rather than queue up for 20+mins...

I think it very much depended on the drinks station - the one at the top of box hill was always going to be one of the busiest. Lots of people thirsty after the climb plus lots of people waiting until after the last climb to refill plus lots of people wanting to fill up for the fast run in to London plus lots of people wanting an excuse to catch their breath equals queues unfortunately.

I stopped at the one on the corner of Guildford Rd (shortly after Leith Hill) and was instantly served by two very helpful volunteers (simultaneously). One did powder, the other did water, I took a quick trip to the loo (no queue) and then was on my way again in under two minutes!

I planned to stop at Box Hill but I ran low so decided to stop at the one on the corner of Guildford Rd (shortly after Leith Hill). Have to agree with the excellent service by two volunteers (one powder, one water). According to Strava my total stoppage time was 53 seconds 8)

peat

My 'Official' time was 5hr31. But, i mean, i did stop for a 3 course lunch in Surrey, so..... I win?

peat

Re:- Hubs/Feed stops

I saw the first couple were mobbed, then tried to get a drink at the top of one of the gentle climbs and waited a good minute only to get queue jumped by someone else, so i rode onwards.

I decided to stop at Box Hill cafe instead of the drink station. Filled up my bottles, had a flapjack and banana and was on my way again. Total stoppage = 9mins (1x slash, 1x abortive drink refill & Box Hill cafe)

Mr Will

Peat wrote:

My 'Official' time was 5hr31. But, i mean, i did stop for a 3 course lunch in Surrey, so..... I win?

An two energy gels and a flap-jack doesn't count!

Slo Mo Jones

Mr Will wrote:

KentPhil wrote:

Are peoples times their "official" times or their "moving" times? As my official time was 7hrs 15mins but my actual time on the bike was probably 6hrs 15mins.

I think the official one is the one that matters. By all means quote moving time as well if you had hold-ups (and recorded it accurately!) but bear in mind that it won't really be comparable to anyone else's result.

Weird, isn't it? If you stopped for half an hour at each hub, loading up on fluids, food and what have you, you're going to ride quicker. What relevance does "moving time" have?

Mr Will

Slo Mo Jones wrote:

Mr Will wrote:

KentPhil wrote:

Are peoples times their "official" times or their "moving" times? As my official time was 7hrs 15mins but my actual time on the bike was probably 6hrs 15mins.

I think the official one is the one that matters. By all means quote moving time as well if you had hold-ups (and recorded it accurately!) but bear in mind that it won't really be comparable to anyone else's result.

Weird, isn't it? If you stopped for half an hour at each hub, loading up on fluids, food and what have you, you're going to ride quicker. What relevance does "moving time" have?

I understand the reasoning, especially if the hold ups have been bad luck rather than generous stops. I did the London to Brighton in (iirc) 3:32 once but had a puncture about two miles from the start line which took more than 2 minutes to fix. I claimed that as a "moral" sub-3:30. Wouldn't of done the same if I'd stopped for a bacon roll and a pint though!

DrKJM

I was another one of the ones in Boris's release wave. 6:02 with a twenty minute stop to get my gears sorted at Newlands Corner. Note to self: make sure you really tighten the bars when you reassemble the bike out of the bag. I think it was their slipping forward that pulled the cables tight.

It was as everyone has said a fantastically well organised event. Only saw one dissenter: a bloke in blue overalls shouting at us from the roadside to go home. He was met with nothing but good wishes which I think did his blood pressure no good whatsoever.

And top marks to Premier Inn for putting on breakfast from 4am.

antfly

I agree about sticking to official times, I only stopped for a pee in the woods but i'm not taking that off. I could have stopped for water but managed on 1.1 litres, partly because I was desperate for a pee for the first 35 miles so didn't drink..official time 4hrs 56 mins 55 seconds.

adydow

Anyone now why we had salad cream in the goodie bag at the end :!:

martinperry

adydow wrote:

Anyone now why we had salad cream in the goodie bag at the end :!:

Been perplexed by that myself

Finally got it - someone said "put some chamois cream in" and the trainee did just what they thought they heard :?:

rich_e

This was my first century sportive and my wave was one of the last with a 7.46am start. It sounds like most of you guys who posted quick times started much earlier. I also found that the majority of people I saw in and around my starting wave letter seemed to be representing a charity. Was this also the case for the earlier start times? Or was that more fast ballot riders than charity places? Otherwise it does show how heavily weighted the event is to fundraising.

As it was my first 100, I had no reference, so could only follow all the training advice I had been reading up on, so I deliberately took the advice of not getting carried away at the start so that you end up bonking early. There were some quick club/friend groups coming through, which I think were mostly people who had been waiting for each other in the neutralised zone (there seemed to be a lot of that). I thought that trying to hang onto them might go totally against what I had read up on, so pretty much stuck to riding alone and occasionally riding on the back of small groups, especially at the start when it was quite bunched.

I had originally planned to fuel myself to the Newlands Hub, however I got to the Olympic Park just as my wave was being called to load, so I didn't have chance to get to the toilet, the ones that were on the final loading zone were the other side from where I was stood and I simply didn't have time as I didn't realise how big the wave was with us going next. So I made the stop at Hampton Court so I could take a pee, but it was really busy and I had to spend quite a long time queuing for the toilets. I'd agree that this is an area they could work on, get some urinal type setup for the guys and you always have to feel for the girls when you have some portaloo which has been urinated all over.

After that I stopped at Holmbury St Mary to grab some more fluids, which was a quick stop. Glad I didn't bother with Newlands, as that looked as busy as Hampton Court had been. Tried to stop for water at the top of Leith Hill, but couldn't get across the road as there were too many people, so instead I stopped at the water stop after Box Hill, which I agree with earlier comments about being very poorly located. Everyone wanted to stop there as it was after all the climbs, so there was a massive queue and very little room given that you had people trying to get out and whatever the locals were doing with their little seating area and drink/food sale. They kept running to have to go and fetch water and were eventually pouring it into bottles from buckets, the wind was also blowing the drink mix packets all over the shop.

After that, I briefly pulled in at the Leatherhead Hub, just because my spoke magnet had shifted from hitting a pot hole or something, so my Garmin wasn't reporting speed properly. So also topped the bottle back up before leaving.

My official time was 7:12, the time on my Garmin which I started & stopped at each feed station was 6:30, which also included the neutralised zone. So not knowing what to expect on my first century and basically riding by myself, I was quite happy with that really.


The gel wrappers being thrown about was quite a poor show, I'm sure that will be something people who are anti to the event will pick up on. Its perhaps not so bad within London, as they will get cleared away, infact on the coverage of the Pro race, the section I went through after Putney where they were handing them out was littered when I went through, but they were all gone by the time they arrived. Its in Surrey on the lesser roads where those packets will likely not get picked up. On the subject of gels though, I'm sure the material beforehand said that each rider would get one at the stations. I only saw them available at Hampton Court and after that the only place I saw them again was the one section where they were handing them out after Putney. Perhaps this is because earlier people had most of the supplies?

Didn't see many poachers, as I know thats something we talked about on this forum a good bit before the event. There were a few guys in central london I saw, but a number of them were just commuting to work. I actually thought the more problematic ones were those who were cycling on the road against the oncoming riders, seemed to be a few people doing that on the run in back to London.

Starting further back, I found the hills to be quite congested. Climbing is hardly my strength, but that was certainly one of my slower rides up Sawyer's Hill due to the sheer number of people. Newlands was fine, but Leith was a bit of an annoyance. There was a stream of people pushing, but most weren't staying far enough to the left, a couple were even in the middle of the road. That was further worsened by the fact that I was climbing when the ambulance and medic bikes came through for the crash up ahead, so there was even less room. So I think people could have been a lot smarter with that, but overall the general standard of riding was pretty good I felt, it certainly wasn't anything near London to Brighton style. There were a good number of people though on inappropriate bikes for the event, those unnecessarily encumbering themselves with panniers and large backpacks, hope they all managed to finish, I even saw one guy on a folding brompton!

Box Hill was actually enjoyable and I had a chat with people while spinning up it. Though it was also slightly amusing that two guys on full downhill rigs were cycling up faster than most as they had just arrived and got out their cars.

Overall though it was a brilliant event and I really hope I can do it again next year. The closed roads were fantastic, I think the start really highlighted that the most with the huge empty carriageways heading towards the city with riders on both sides and not a car in sight.

The support from the crowds and kids wanting high-fives was fantastic and really did give you that feeling of what it must be like to be a Pro. Really spurred me on at the end and I couldn't resist doing a full on sprint along the Mall.

Other amusing/highlights about the day were:

- I ran over a £20 note, ordinarily you might stop and pick it up, but I didn't want to waste time!
- Couple of Police Officers were stationed at some traffic lights and I shouted to them as I came through the corner that I was going to run the red lights!
- The medal is pretty impressive, certainly didn't expect something so heavy weight.
- On my way home, I followed behind the Team Sky car along Shaftesbury Avenue.