Post Ride London 100 - time, thoughts & experience?
Comments
-
urban_winter wrote:I had one of my best cycling days ever. Not because it was fast but because my previously non-cycling wife has fallen in love with cycling and it's the first event we've done together.
It's a good story - she was taken out by a jaywalker in Kingston at mile 20 and trashed her front tyre. I gave her my wheel so she could continue but eventually managed to borrow a replacement wheel from an electric bike shop just off the route. Caught her up at Newlands Corner and we finished together.
Full story on her blog: http://www.zest.co.uk/zest-blog/ridelondon-100-the-big-event/6486.html
U.
I read that! It was on the Huffington Post I think. Brilliant story and you, sir are a hero and a gentleman. Chapeau!0 -
That's just superburban_winter wrote:It's a good story - she was taken out by a jaywalker in Kingston at mile 20 and trashed her front tyre. I gave her my wheel so she could continue but eventually managed to borrow a replacement wheel from an electric bike shop just off the route. Caught her up at Newlands Corner and we finished together.
Top bit of Mr. n' Mrs. team-work. Love it. Mangeur0 -
I have ridden most of the big sportives in the UK and many on the continent and this has to be one of the best organised events I have ever entered.
I parked at the O2 and rode in through the Blackwall Tunnel, after that the signs to the start seemed to disappear, so I followed some other riders along the closed North Circular until we came to the roundabout that was obviously the right turn to get to the start.
Thought the start procedure was very slick, not enough toilets but there never is when 16500 riders need to sort themselves out before they set off!
Thought the standard of riding (considering how many riders were on the road) was very good, a few idiots on the climbs and decents but nothing new there, and I did not see any accidents.
I went round in 5.35 (not sure why some on here are quoting their moving time, it is irrevalent, your time includes any stops, if you stop you incur a time penalty, simple as), which as i started in wave T (I predicted 6 hours so not sure why I ended up there?) I was quite pleased with. To be honest though, I was never really held up anywhere, including Leith Hill, which was busy, but not to the extent that it held me up for any significant amount of time.
I only stopped twice for water and once for food, and compared to other events the hubs were great. I stopped at the Boxhill water stop and did not have a problem because I went and filled my bottles up myself at the taps that had been laid on but no one seemed to be using. Most riders seemed to be happy to wait for someone to fill their bottle for them, odd?
I counted at least ten riders I passed who had bunked onto the course, which I thought was a bit naughty for a closed road event, but for total brazen cheekiness the award goes to a guy who had no numbers showing anywhere on himself or his bike, but finished close to me and collected a medal!
I had planned to ride back to the O2 but the que for the free clipper was not too bad when I got to Blackfriers, so a nice cruise on the Thames back to my van was a great way to finish the day, chatting to fellow tired but happy riders.
For the first one I cannot commend the organises high enough, would love to do it again next yeat but I fear that the ballot will be even bigger with all the positive press the event has rightfully attracted.
Oh, and the BBC coverage of the actual Ride 100 was woeful, the usual banal celebrity interviews and that was about it, very disappointing.0 -
Boleynboy wrote:I have ridden most of the big sportives in the UK and many on the continent and this has to be one of the best organised events I have ever entered.
I parked at the O2 and rode in through the Blackwall Tunnel, after that the signs to the start seemed to disappear, so I followed some other riders along the closed North Circular until we came to the roundabout that was obviously the right turn to get to the start.
Thought the start procedure was very slick, not enough toilets but there never is when 16500 riders need to sort themselves out before they set off!
Thought the standard of riding (considering how many riders were on the road) was very good, a few idiots on the climbs and decents but nothing new there, and I did not see any accidents.
I went round in 5.35 (not sure why some on here are quoting their moving time, it is irrevalent, your time includes any stops, if you stop you incur a time penalty, simple as), which as i started in wave T (I predicted 6 hours so not sure why I ended up there?) I was quite pleased with. To be honest though, I was never really held up anywhere, including Leith Hill, which was busy, but not to the extent that it held me up for any significant amount of time.
I only stopped twice for water and once for food, and compared to other events the hubs were great. I stopped at the Boxhill water stop and did not have a problem because I went and filled my bottles up myself at the taps that had been laid on but no one seemed to be using. Most riders seemed to be happy to wait for someone to fill their bottle for them, odd?
I counted at least ten riders I passed who had bunked onto the course, which I thought was a bit naughty for a closed road event, but for total brazen cheekiness the award goes to a guy who had no numbers showing anywhere on himself or his bike, but finished close to me and collected a medal!
I had planned to ride back to the O2 but the que for the free clipper was not too bad when I got to Blackfriers, so a nice cruise on the Thames back to my van was a great way to finish the day, chatting to fellow tired but happy riders.
For the first one I cannot commend the organises high enough, would love to do it again next yeat but I fear that the ballot will be even bigger with all the positive press the event has rightfully attracted.
Oh, and the BBC coverage of the actual Ride 100 was woeful, the usual banal celebrity interviews and that was about it, very disappointing.
Ah! You were one of those we encountered riding up the A102 into us. Very clever. People doing this nearly caused 2 big wipeouts.
I rode through the Blackwall tunnel and found the signs to the start easy enough to see and so did 100s of others even at 4.30am.0 -
I'm very disappointed with the media coverage of "our" part of it too. The London Marathon coverage is on for hours and hours, and you see actual participants running (!)
Not sure why everyone is lambasting people looking at moving time. I got bogged down at Newlands like a lot of folk, and was trying to hook up there with a mate. There are plenty of other reasons why you need to stop, mechanicals amongst them. My back feet and hands need a break.
I'll definitely refine what I carry and what I don't. I think the smaller drinks stops probably cause less delays.
I'd like them to move the bigger stops from the tops of hills, it isn't good to stop in your tracks when you've just climbed at max effort; I understand the logistics of the car parks and they can't do much about that, but if they could move just one of them on a flat open stretch it would help.0 -
Full list of ordered results here http://cigari.co.uk/2013/08/05/prudenti ... d-results/
I came 202nd (out of the men). Identical to marmotte position from last year0 -
mistakes in that one Dave (e.g. 64th and 65th)
This one is better
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... Wa3c#gid=0
You were 201st0 -
ju5t1n wrote:mistakes in that one Dave (e.g. 64th and 65th)
This one is better
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... Wa3c#gid=0
You were 201st
thanks for creating and posting. I was 3,493 out of 12,150 guys, pretty happy with that.
Incidentally, I am definitely in the 'total time' not moving time camp. If you stop for a drink/food etc you start again refreshed and so should be able to ride quicker than if you hadn't stopped. Also, if you carry less water etc then you have a weight advantage over those who carry everything they need for the route.
If you have a puncture/mechanical then I can see an argument for adjusting your time for this, but think you should also include the total time and highlight that you've knocked 10 minutes (or whatever) off for a puncture.
Maybe that's because I was pretty much self sufficient, had a 30 second stop after about 35 miles for toilet and 1 minute at top of Box Hill to get phone out of saddle bag to call wife & tell her it was a quicker course than I had anticipated. My time was 5:21:02 and I certainly wouldn't claim it was under 5:20 (which my moving time probably was) because those small stops, unintentionally gave my legs a brief restbite.0 -
"not sure why some on here are quoting their moving time, it is irrevalent, your time includes any stops, if you stop you incur a time penalty, simple as"
This is something I get but see as counter productive to what a sportive is. I lost 40 minutes at a hub as I had to take an emergency phone call from our duty team at work. Then as we passed the town before Kingston I pulled over to offer help to a woman who was in a very bad way and ended up needing ambulance assistance (I thought it would have been a 5 minute stop to give her my banana!!!!)
Add in a puncture and a couple of chats at the foodstops and my time looks woefully slow. However my ride time was perfectly acceptable to me. Im happy with that and knowing I sacrificed a top time to enioy the ride and offer the assistance I would hope for if I got in to trouble.
Each to their own I guess.0 -
Yes, its got to be official finish times quoted. There is no point in mentioning 'ride time'.
Kind of ok to say what happened re punctures and stops etc. but just not try to create a fake time out of it.
I did 5:03 with a 4-5 min stop and a mechanical worry towards the end but I cannot really calculate how this all affected me.
If I had stopped at all the hubs for half an hour and all the drink stops for 10 min I am sure my 'ride time' would have been about 4:30.
I was knackered at around 90 miles lol and it's no good thinking it was any different now.
With hindsight and without the mechanical concern I am sure I could have eek'ed out an extra few minutes in the last 20 miles, but it is what it is and there is always next year ;-)0 -
That's exceptional circumstances {helping others, emergency call e.t.c} but stopping for a rest and a stretch and food and water isn't good reason to quote moving time. Those that queued for a pee should have gone behind a tree, if you needed a dump that's bad planning. Not that it matters, of course, it's not a race after all..is it ?Smarter than the average bear.0
-
Hurrah having my time amended due to the detour into the Blackwall tunnel.
5.03 was my time but worked out taking out the detour drops this 4.48.
Please as i did break the 5 hour barrier which was my goal.0 -
ju5t1n wrote:mistakes in that one Dave (e.g. 64th and 65th)
This one is better
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... Wa3c#gid=0
You were 201st
Thanks for creating the spreadsheet, fascinating! 5282 myself...I know it wasn't a race but it is great to see where you came etc.
As for the total v moving time debate, both times are useful. My ambition was to get in under 6 hrs, I did 5 hrs 43. Moving time was 5.15 which is inspiring me to a time starting with a 4 for next year...0 -
Carbonator wrote:nick300zx wrote:I was quite surprised at the number of people walking up the hills considering everyone ahead of me was meant to be faster! By Leith Hill, which I ground up slowly, I'd gone by quite a few B's and also some A's, so I'm guessing that there were some very optimistic estimated finishing times quoted.
I bet they did not count on having their start time and estimated finish time printed on their back (denoted by letter) lol
I think you both have the above wrong for the majority of people.
While I'm sure the earlier waves were skewed to the faster riders and the latter waves to the slower riders, they would have mixed it up so that the waves split over the road otherwise most of the earlier waves would have been a 300+ rider group all the way to mile 40 and been a lot more dangerous
Hence why some 6 hour riders started near the back and vice-versa.
Very well thought out organisation IMO!0 -
DaveP1 wrote:As for the total v moving time debate, both times are useful. My ambition was to get in under 6 hrs, I did 5 hrs 43. Moving time was 5.15 which is inspiring me to a time starting with a 4 for next year...
Total or moving?
The word 'total' makes it sound like its normal to break the 'finish' time into bits and conveniently knock some off lol
If you want a fast moving time just carry no water/food and stop off a lot for big breaks.
Doing that is not much better than doing a 10 mile sprint/tt every day for 10 days or once a week for 10 weeks and adding them all together.
That would be about 4:16 for me but my RLS100 certificate still says 5:03
If you do a running event, you start, run/walk/wee/drink/rest, finish and get a time.
Have not heard of people stopping off for a massage and iced tea, then talking about their 'running time' lol
Should be viewed in the same way for cycling IMO0 -
Carbonator wrote:I had three tubes and Co2 in case of tacks on the road.
Think I may have a similar plan next year although will be dumping them (at hubs/stops) as I get near to the finish.
Also taking a tiny phone and generally being better prepared. I was too weighed down.
Downhills will be much faster/better used and riding slicker/more methodical.
Three tubes and CO2?! You're doing it wrong.
1 tube, 1 (decent) pump and a pack of self adhesive patches. Job done.2010 Cannondale CAAD9 Tiagra0 -
Boleynboy wrote:I went round in 5.35 (not sure why some on here are quoting their moving time, it is irrevalent, your time includes any stops, if you stop you incur a time penalty, simple as)
Only reason I personally mentioned it is because it took up a lot of time that I hadn't expected. Had I been able to 'pit stop' as the organisers' plan had said we would be able to, then I could have got what I needed and be on my way, instead I had to queue for ages. I'm not arguing that my official event time isn't my official time, I'm simply pointing out where I lost it.I only stopped twice for water and once for food, and compared to other events the hubs were great. I stopped at the Boxhill water stop and did not have a problem because I went and filled my bottles up myself at the taps that had been laid on but no one seemed to be using. Most riders seemed to be happy to wait for someone to fill their bottle for them, odd?
All well and good saying that, but when I was there, it was a queue to get in, with marshals strictly telling you were to go. It was very busy and you could only hold onto your bikes as there was nowhere to leave them. It was not made clear to me or anyone else I was stood waiting with that there were taps, we had to wait in the 'pit stop' queue to go around to the corner to where the tables were.
I noticed while riding that it seemed unlikely there was going to be much TV coverage as I didn't see cameras anywhere on the course. So I wasn't really surprised when I watched back the coverage, unless the red button showed the finish line? Otherwise I assume it was showing the Pro race while BBC1 cut to other things for a few hours.
While they do show hours of coverage of the Marathon participants, I guess that logistically is easier to shoot, plus people are far easier to identify compared to people in cycling kit, even celebs were hard to spot on this one. The Marathon is also quite wacky with costumes and stuff which make it a spectacle and easy to stop people for interviews, where as Ride London didn't really have either.
Maybe as the event grows they will show more, but ultimately I think most would probably like to watch the Pro race, as aside from those who took part and their friends & families trying to spot them, I would think watching the London-Surrey 100 would be a bit boring.0 -
Mr Will wrote:Carbonator wrote:I had three tubes and Co2 in case of tacks on the road.
Think I may have a similar plan next year although will be dumping them (at hubs/stops) as I get near to the finish.
Also taking a tiny phone and generally being better prepared. I was too weighed down.
Downhills will be much faster/better used and riding slicker/more methodical.
Three tubes and CO2?! You're doing it wrong.
1 tube, 1 (decent) pump and a pack of self adhesive patches. Job done.
Yep, was definitely wrong lol
Think you are right. If I get a puncture my time will be shot anyway so no real need for all the weight or time/energy saving of Co20 -
Mr Will wrote:Carbonator wrote:I had three tubes and Co2 in case of tacks on the road.
Think I may have a similar plan next year although will be dumping them (at hubs/stops) as I get near to the finish.
Also taking a tiny phone and generally being better prepared. I was too weighed down.
Downhills will be much faster/better used and riding slicker/more methodical.
Three tubes and CO2?! You're doing it wrong.
1 tube, 1 (decent) pump and a pack of self adhesive patches. Job done.
Nothing wrong with 3 tubes on a long ride. I normally carry 1 tube + 1 CO2, but on longer rides ala century and up, I carry 2 tubes +2 CO2 (and always a pump of course). I also always carry patches.
I once went on a shortish 40 odd mile cycle, and punctured about 8 miles in due to hitting a pot hole and pinch flatting. That reminded me that punctures can happen early on and with only 1 tubes you're a bit stuff if the other wheel punctures (OK I have patches but that's if I really have a bad time).
I saw one guy walking into the start area with both tyres flat. Its rare, but it does happen. Best to be prepared!WyndyMilla Massive Attack | Rourke 953 | Condor Italia 531 Pro | Boardman CX Pro | DT Swiss RR440 Tubeless Wheels
Find me on Strava0 -
I am not sure why some people feel the need to use the hubs to load up on provisions, Apart from water (which could be very quickly accessed from any of the smaller
water stops) at only 4000ft gain, it wasn't that long a ride that you couldn't carry your own food. I had bag of mini cheddars 8 flapjack 'bites' a few jelly babies and 2 gels Clearly slower riders need more food, due to the time in the saddle and less ability to metabolise fat so the hubs were / are important to have. I am not saying I didn't enjoy some pretzels someone had dropped though
. 0 -
My reading of the almost complete lack of coverage from this year was more a case of the organisers not really knowing if it was going to go off okay or not. There were an awful lot of things that could have gone very wrong indeed, so deciding not to cover it was probably a very sensible move - a load of negative publicity on the first year could have killed it dead before the organisers had a chance to deal with problems for subsequent years. I suspect things will be rather different next time around as it certainly deserves some decent coverage.Rich_E wrote:While they do show hours of coverage of the Marathon participants, I guess that logistically is easier to shoot, plus people are far easier to identify compared to people in cycling kit, even celebs were hard to spot on this one. The Marathon is also quite wacky with costumes and stuff which make it a spectacle and easy to stop people for interviews, where as Ride London didn't really have either.Mangeur0 -
On the odd occassion I play golf, we play pro rules with balls going in the rough, basically there would have been a spectator there, they would have found it, no lost ball, and no penalty. Its akin to the ride. If we were all pros we would have all had support cars, and possibly riders, stocking us up with drinks and gels through the ride. As we aren't, and didn't, we had to stop to fill up (or empty out as the case may be). On the basis that we could all pretend to be pros for the day last Sunday, I am sticking by my moving 6.15 time, rather than by 6.31 official time, and anyway that's my strava time so it must be right.0
-
5h 22m official time; I was really proud of that until I worked out I'd come 3,918th. I thought it was well organised on the day. I think asking people to come to the Excel at another time to register was completely insane - and probably explains why 3,500 of the registered 20,000 didn't make the start. The show at the Excel was OK, and I came away with some excellent Pearl Izumi kit at give-away prices, but I live and work in London, so it was hardly a big deal for me to get there.
Riding standards seemed pretty good. I started in Black Wave L, so spent a good deal of time overtaking, and only had one 'moment' on a descent when an elderly spectator was fannying about on the side of the road facing the wrong way as I came towards him boxed in on the left at about 70kph.
No punctures, although I got home to find a nasty cut in my rear tyre, so perhaps I got lucky. I do wonder if people run overly low pressures, though - I run 125psi front and rear in Ultremo ZXs and haven't punctured on a long ride yet. Interestingly the Schwalbe rep at the show suggested that 120psi was the minimum acceptable pressure for these tyres.
I stopped at one hub and one drinks station; next time I think I'll aim for one quick refill stop only. I can't do 100 miles on 1.5 litres - I assume those who can have camel DNA.
All in all, a brilliant day. Well done to BoJo et al for organising it, and as others have said, the volunteer and spectator support was fabulous.0 -
AchillesLeftKnee wrote:
My reading of the almost complete lack of coverage from this year was more a case of the organisers not really knowing if it was going to go off okay or not. There were an awful lot of things that could have gone very wrong indeed, so deciding not to cover it was probably a very sensible move - a load of negative publicity on the first year could have killed it dead before the organisers had a chance to deal with problems for subsequent years. I suspect things will be rather different next time around as it certainly deserves some decent coverage.Rich_E wrote:While they do show hours of coverage of the Marathon participants, I guess that logistically is easier to shoot, plus people are far easier to identify compared to people in cycling kit, even celebs were hard to spot on this one. The Marathon is also quite wacky with costumes and stuff which make it a spectacle and easy to stop people for interviews, where as Ride London didn't really have either.
Certainly good points.
I think the other factor is that there likely was never any TV coverage factored into the original plans, perhaps the Pro race recorded and shown later, but for the BBC to cover it live for hours on their main channel is massive. I think Prudential really lucked out on that one as its given them huge coverage for their sponsorship deal. I've heard Prudential are covering the event for 5 years, not sure how true that is, but with the TV coverage, I would imagine if the headline sponsor was up for renewal this year that there would be a significant bidding war of companies trying to be the sponsor.0 -
Trying to work out where some of my photos were taken - is there any way of telling from the codes?0
-
morley wrote:On the odd occassion I play golf, we play pro rules with balls going in the rough, basically there would have been a spectator there, they would have found it, no lost ball, and no penalty. Its akin to the ride. If we were all pros we would have all had support cars, and possibly riders, stocking us up with drinks and gels through the ride. As we aren't, and didn't, we had to stop to fill up (or empty out as the case may be). On the basis that we could all pretend to be pros for the day last Sunday, I am sticking by my moving 6.15 time, rather than by 6.31 official time, and anyway that's my strava time so it must be right.
That is a very good point and I was thinking along similar lines while watching a bit of the pro ride.
I was 3 min over 5 hours after a 4-5 min stop for water. I would not have stopped except to get the water so that probably robbed me of a sub 5 hour ride.
At the end of the day the only place I want it to say 4:59:59 is on my certificate, and that is the main reason that 'ride times' are irrelevant.0 -
great day out and can't wait to do it next year.
Only things I would change is why did we have to get to the park an hour before hand with no one there to ask about anything. I think they will change that next year.
Maybe have the women's and men's races on the Saturday and then us on Sunday so we can start a bit later and have all day. After standing about for an hour I started to cool off and if next year temps are cooler this could be worse.
Other than that a great day, started near the back so no groups formed which was a shame but not a lot you can do about that0 -
sherer wrote:Maybe have the women's and men's races on the Saturday and then us on Sunday so we can start a bit later and have all day. After standing about for an hour I started to cool off and if next year temps are cooler this could be worse.
Organiser Hugh Brasher's comments to the media suggest things will be a little different next year, as follows:
The event organiser, Hugh Brasher, also race director of the London Marathon, said the aim was to have more cycling newcomers take part next year, when the entry intake will be increased by about 6,000.
For the inaugural year, Brasher said, it was seen as useful from an organisational point of view to make sure most of the field would finish the 100 miles within the nine-hour time limit.
"We will absolutely broaden the appeal," he said. "But we had to be quite selective in the first year in terms of the number of riders we could take who had never done this type of event before."
It suggests that they clearly weighted this years ballot towards people who were experienced sportive riders. Given that they intend to open it up more to less experienced riders, that does indeed suggest that the time cut off will be less of an issue in future, meaning people can take all day over it.
However, I still can't quite see that they are going to be able to shut road for two days. So presumably it means some changes to the Pro race schedule.0 -
drlodge wrote:Mr Will wrote:Carbonator wrote:I had three tubes and Co2 in case of tacks on the road.
Think I may have a similar plan next year although will be dumping them (at hubs/stops) as I get near to the finish.
Also taking a tiny phone and generally being better prepared. I was too weighed down.
Downhills will be much faster/better used and riding slicker/more methodical.
Three tubes and CO2?! You're doing it wrong.
1 tube, 1 (decent) pump and a pack of self adhesive patches. Job done.
Nothing wrong with 3 tubes on a long ride. I normally carry 1 tube + 1 CO2, but on longer rides ala century and up, I carry 2 tubes +2 CO2 (and always a pump of course). I also always carry patches.
I once went on a shortish 40 odd mile cycle, and punctured about 8 miles in due to hitting a pot hole and pinch flatting. That reminded me that punctures can happen early on and with only 1 tubes you're a bit stuff if the other wheel punctures (OK I have patches but that's if I really have a bad time).
I saw one guy walking into the start area with both tyres flat. Its rare, but it does happen. Best to be prepared!
That's why I said self-adhesive patches - they are my first resort these days. As quick, if not quicker than changing the tube and dead simple to carry enough for 10+ punctures. Tube is there in event of a blowout/failed valve which obviously can't be patched.
I feel similar about CO2 - great on a club run where speed matters and you can get away without a pump but if you are going to start carrying several then it's heavier and less convenient than a good pump. If you are going to carry a pump anyway then you might as well get a decent one and then the need for multiple (or indeed any) CO2 is greatly reduced.2010 Cannondale CAAD9 Tiagra0 -
I sincerley hope they do not extend the finishing time, otherwise it ends up like the London Marathon where people jog the first mile and then walk the remaining 25 and take 8 hours over it. Not exactly running a marathon is it? It is supposed to be a challenge and the challenge of 9 hours is a reasonable one but it does mean that most people will have to get up off their backsides do some training for it to be sure of completing it within the time limit. I'm all for widening the appeal of cycling and the Saturday Freecycle does in spades that but the 100 should be left for those who are going to do some preparation for it.Rich_E wrote:Given that they intend to open it up more to less experienced riders, that does indeed suggest that the time cut off will be less of an issue in future, meaning people can take all day over it.0
