Ride London 2014
Comments
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Wallace and Gromit wrote:Rich_E wrote:Laura told the BBC that she had been pacing her Dad around, but she pretty much gunned it towards the end and he was telling her to slow down!
I wonder how much of a windshadow Laura throws down. Not much, I suspect!
I remember now that in the announcement for the start wave just before mine, in the "Celebs" section was "Laura Trott's Dad". They didn't bother with his first name in the announcement, which made me chuckle.
I'm surprised he was slower than me. I'm often slower than him on Wednesday night club chaingang.
I also heard the announcer promise a Ferrari if you could beat Laura Trott. I'll have to get in touch about mine!
Rule No.10 // It never gets easier, you just go faster0 -
Peat wrote:Logistically a tough weekend for me due to other commitments, I got a full 2, yes 2 hours sleep prior to my 6am start time and was pretty down heartened to see it raining already when i woke up. luckily the early birds got some dry running for an hour or so before the heavens truly opened but due to my pessimism, i rather overdressed and suffered with heat in the early going having to stop several times to adjust my layers.DHA987S wrote:The ride itself was good if not a bit wet. But some of the london based clubs riding trains later in the event need to consider the inexpereinced cyclist who might not be comfortable with being passed so close with such pace. Even myself as a relatively expereinced club rider I felt that you had to keep looking on both sides both in front and behind just to be aware of different speeds and experience levels.
I saw alot of this. I got my elbow's brushed by big trains when I was as far left as i could be on a fully open double-wide section of road. What's the flippin point?? Also, while being over on the left as far as i thought I could be, some hero came barreling down the inside of me without so much as a "on your left". By that point, my goal had become survival rather than a decent time.
Firstly gutting to hear about fatality - don't know full details but agree completely with above:
Plenty of idiots going full pelt inside - outside - wherever they could fit. These people should just stick to proper races than put the safety of mostly novice cyclists completing in a mass charity event at risk. For me it was the worst weather I have ever cycled in (for that period of time) so I was just concentrating on getting to the end.
For the record I fitted new conti gators day before and no punctures and they are still in great condition this morning...Sunny Days - De Rosa - King RS Action Azzurro lumina
Rain - Winter - Wilier - xp izoard "petacchi"
Classic - 1999 De Rosa - Planet - Aluminio0 -
rodgers73 wrote:I was surprised how often the left side of the road was jam packed while the right hand lane was virtually empty. Seems people were still in the mindset of riding on normal roads!
It took me around 40 minutes to convince myself that I didn't need to worry about traffic lights being red!0 -
Sorry to hear about your mate. Hope he's OK.Wallace and Gromit wrote:Savagestorm wrote:Mikey23 wrote:anyone else get stuck behind the accident close to the exit at richmond park? i think this only affected the late starters but was there for 25 minutes doing an average 1mph... and guess when the worst of the rain came through!!
Yes, I was there. Any idea what became of the individual who was hurt and taken away by the ambulance?
Unless there were two such incidents, this was a workmate of mine who "faceplanted" into the barriers. I was a row or two behind so didn't see the actual cause, but it was apparently a "speed wobble" of the type that we all have, but unfortunately just in the wrong plack. He's OK, though required some surgery on his nose last night. There was also a risk of hypothermia, I'd say. It took an age to get the ambulance through due to the sheer volume of riders that were already backed up behind the "sweep" wagons that had already stopped alongside and each paramedic seemed to want to ask the same lengthy set of questions.
It must have looked bad to passers, as even a hour of increasingly strong rain failed to wash away the pool of blood. :shock:
Having been involved in that, riding the remaining 105k as a solo time trial doesn't seem worth moaning about, though it was chuffing hard work!
As an aside, it was interesting to note that the Trott sisters got round in just under 4:25, which seems like a gentle stroll for them, whereas Marianne Vos rode it the only way you'd expect, getting round in 3:30! I feel honoured to have been allowed in the same event as her and am still annoyed that she was introduced at the start as a "Celebrity". She's not a celebrity - she's an awesomely awesome machine and should be recongised as such!
I got caught up in the logjam at RP. No one knew the cause of the hold-up because we were so far back, so I assumed it was due to the flooding in Kingston.0 -
There was a definite element of "rubbernecking" at the RP site. By the time I rode past it the guy was off the road and had clearly been receiving attention for a while, yet everyone was slowing down to have a look, hence the logjam effect. Bit stupid I thought.0
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Some good photos of Newlands Corner on the Sportive Photo facebook page. They've captured the conditions pretty well.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sportive ... 17943055900 -
One other thing to add, litter. Loads of it - gel wrappers and inner tubes seemed to be the most common. Doesn't help with the local anti-cycling brigade. Perhaps a few designated litter zones might be a better idea for next time?0
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This was me too, same situation, same start time, but actually didn't get across the start line till about 8 I think.DHA987S wrote:
As for the event itself I had both good and bad experiences. I had pre-booked London Bridge NCP parking and arrived at 5.40 but didn't actually get to park until 6.45 the queue was so slow to get in. My start wave closed at 7.00 so I was worried that I might not be able to start. Then there was no signage directly from the car park so it was a bunch of us who just headed in what we thought was the right direction, we did eventually find some signs though and got to the start. In the end they were just waving riders who were "late" through which was good however I finally started about 25 minutes after what I had expected to.
I got to the queue at 5.20 and didn't get in till about 5.35. Got the bike out to find I had a puncture (that wasn't there the night before).0 -
Do you seriously think that anyone that is such an inconsiderate arse that thinks it's perfectly Ok to chuck his shite in the road is going to give a damn about a designated litter zone?DHA987S wrote:One other thing to add, litter. Loads of it - gel wrappers and inner tubes seemed to be the most common. Doesn't help with the local anti-cycling brigade. Perhaps a few designated litter zones might be a better idea for next time?Is the gorilla tired yet?0 -
ChrisAOnABike wrote:
Do you seriously think that anyone that is such an inconsiderate ars* that thinks it's perfectly Ok to chuck his shite in the road is going to give a damn about a designated litter zone?DHA987S wrote:One other thing to add, litter. Loads of it - gel wrappers and inner tubes seemed to be the most common. Doesn't help with the local anti-cycling brigade. Perhaps a few designated litter zones might be a better idea for next time?
The thing is, it's really easy to stuff a used wrapper up your short leg for disposing later. It doesn't make the other supplies in your back pocket dirty that way.
Rule No.10 // It never gets easier, you just go faster0 -
Grantmk wrote:Some good photos of Newlands Corner on the Sportive Photo facebook page. They've captured the conditions pretty well.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sportive ... 1794305590
That's me on the left on photo 4 - got caught behind a guy who had punctured just before Newlands and ended up off the back of the lead bunch, had to sprint up the hill then power it down the other side to regain contact.
Awful news about the deceased - RIP.
As for those chucking gel wrappers etc, quite literally tossers. I even saw one guy lobbing an empty bidon. Oh so pro.0 -
ContrelaMontre wrote:ChrisAOnABike wrote:
Do you seriously think that anyone that is such an inconsiderate ars* that thinks it's perfectly Ok to chuck his shite in the road is going to give a damn about a designated litter zone?DHA987S wrote:One other thing to add, litter. Loads of it - gel wrappers and inner tubes seemed to be the most common. Doesn't help with the local anti-cycling brigade. Perhaps a few designated litter zones might be a better idea for next time?
The thing is, it's really easy to stuff a used wrapper up your short leg for disposing later. It doesn't make the other supplies in your back pocket dirty that way.
Not all the arses would observe it, but some of them might!0 -
jonathan2 wrote:Good communication was important. A few calls of 'hold your line' and 'passing on your right' informed those concerned. It is possible that some may have interrupted these calls as 'bossy' / scary etc...? But such calls were only made if the space was there in the first place. Not ' you are in my way, move' but, 'just letting you know I am here'.
I was calling these kind of things out a lot more than normal just to make sure people knew I was around them. Everyone I came near took it the right way, we'd both say thanks as I passed and that was that.2012 Cube Agree GTC0 -
Completely agree, you may not have seen it as I should think you were a long way ahead of me but there were a lot of thin rain jackets that had been thrown in the road on the run through town. I probably saw at least 20. Oh how I laughed when the rain really started shortly after I left Kingston.BigMat wrote:As for those chucking gel wrappers etc, quite literally tossers. I even saw one guy lobbing an empty bidon. Oh so pro.0 -
Surely no one would actually throw away a rain jacket? That's got to be things bouncing out of stuffed pockets.0
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njee20 wrote:I changed a lot of Specialized tyres, which surprised me. Quite a few Schwalbes - Duranos and Ultremos, a couple of sets of Gatorskins. A couple of Michelins, and various non descript ones! No 4Seasons or GP4000s! My thumbs are bloody sore today.
Several people bought new tyres just because they were so sick of repeated punctures, mainly because they'd not actually checked their tyres I suspect. I was pulling loads of grit and glass out of tyres.
I was on a set of GP4000s that have been on since December, so maybe 2200miles on them. Never punctured with them and had plenty of grip. Felt the back wiggle just the once on a manhole cover I hadn't seen.2012 Cube Agree GTC0 -
Yes, I much prefer it if I hear a warning like that. Happened several times to me yesterday, and it was far more pleasant than just getting a whoosh as someone came past too close. Which also happened several times. :roll:birdie23 wrote:I was calling these kind of things out a lot more than normal just to make sure people knew I was around them. Everyone I came near took it the right way, we'd both say thanks as I passed and that was that.
I tried very hard to hold my line at all times yesterday, but once I was trying to sort out my fogged glasses and I did drift out a bit. A "on your right" and I was able to just drift in again, no drama at all.
A definitely contribution to safety IMO.Is the gorilla tired yet?0 -
I was on a set of GP4000s that have been on since December, so maybe 2200miles on them. Never punctured with them and had plenty of grip. Felt the back wiggle just the once on a manhole cover I hadn't seen.
I'm not sure you can really read anything into tyre choice/puncture likelihood, huge amounts of luck involved. The sharpness of the flints that were coming out it would've been entirely irrelevant if you had a Spesh Armadillo or a GP Supersonic. I guess not riding in the gutter and what not would help, but unless your tyres were worn to the carcass I'd say it's in part a lottery whether you flatted or not. Multiple times is likely inexperience of course, or just changing tyres with cold, wet hands and trying to get done quickly.
I've done at least 100 incredibly wet miles on my Fusions without a puncture in recent weeks, that's not to say that I'd have deemed them appropriate to use yesterday!0 -
Three punctures then hit a massive pothole completely invisible in the surface water/pouring rain at about 27mph just before parliament sq and went down hard. Limped to the finish all cut up in the monumental rain and after a quick trip to first aid to get patched up I found they'd lost my bag with all my dry kit. Baggage organiser had me traipse up and down each lorry to try to see if it'd ended up getting sent somewhere else, and after about 40 minutes of searching and no-one giving a crap I'd got totally soaked to the skin and was turning blue so got taken back in to first aid with mild hypothermia. Three hours later, still no bag, but I'd warmed up, kit had dried enough and rain had stopped so I was able to ride home. Bag still hasn't showed up. Called organisers who said they were going to go through remaining bags today/tomorrow.
If anyone picked up the wrong bag or has found a bag containing amongst other things a black Nike drawstring bag, black Mavic jacket, red shorts and a blue Pearson jersey please let me know."Mummy Mummy, when will I grow up?"
"Don't be silly son, you're a bloke, you'll never grow up"0 -
FWIW I normally ride Continental GP4000S. I put a new set on in March and had done maybe 2,000 to 2,500 miles on them. I bought some of the GP4000S II to replace them with, but only got around to doing the rear tyre (because that punctured last month) before yesterday. I got through virtually the whole thing OK, but then with less than 1.5 miles to go (near Lambeth Bridge) when I was giving it the big push to the end, I realised my rear wheel was punctured and going down quite quickly. I stoped twice in the last mile to pump it up rather than spend ages changing the tube (I was literally 200 metres from Trafalgar Square the second time) then got the Mavic guy to put my spare tube in just after I crossed the line. So the new tyre punctured, but the old one was OK. Until today. When I set off for a short local ride without a pump as it had mysteriously disappeared and then punctured after less than two miles and had to walk all the way home in cycling shoes, then change the tyre and tube, then ride to bike shop in the rain to get new spares and a new pump, then come home and instantly find the missing pump.0
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It is extremely hard to get your head around the fact that you have the whole road to ride in and you dont have to obey the red lights. And that you can whizz through junctions without stopping for traffic. Just isnt natural!0
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BigMat wrote:Grantmk wrote:Some good photos of Newlands Corner on the Sportive Photo facebook page. They've captured the conditions pretty well.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sportive ... 1794305590
That's me on the left on photo 4 - got caught behind a guy who had punctured just before Newlands and ended up off the back of the lead bunch, had to sprint up the hill then power it down the other side to regain contact.
Awful news about the deceased - RIP.
As for those chucking gel wrappers etc, quite literally tossers. I even saw one guy lobbing an empty bidon. Oh so pro.
Some of those made me laugh! Special mention to the guy wearing a snorkel oh and...
'Whats that coming past me'
https://www.facebook.com/52386179430559 ... =3&theater
wtf!!!11! noooooooooooooooo
https://www.facebook.com/52386179430559 ... =1&theater
and muggins here in the KW kit in the middle
https://www.facebook.com/52386179430559 ... =3&theater0 -
Great fun again and the thrill of riding on closed central London roads is simply unbeatable and surreal. Especially the sections which are normally cycle-free like the A12 and Hammersmith flyover. Loved it. Rode GP4000s II's for the first time. 25's. That's me done with 23's. Fast, comfy and so stable it never felt the bike was going to slide out despite the torrents of water. My only whinge was with the bag reclaim. It was a DIY shambles on the truck for yellow numbers with some guys waiting 30 mins and others climbing in to get their own bags unchallenged. What a contrast with the London marathon where it's always so slick. I saw that Martin Johnson rode 3 hours 53. What a beast. Especially given his was the only bike with a giant lock on it too..0
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njee20 wrote:I'm not sure you can really read anything into tyre choice/puncture likelihood, huge amounts of luck involved. The sharpness of the flints that were coming out it would've been entirely irrelevant if you had a Spesh Armadillo or a GP Supersonic. I guess not riding in the gutter and what not would help, but unless your tyres were worn to the carcass I'd say it's in part a lottery whether you flatted or not. Multiple times is likely inexperience of course, or just changing tyres with cold, wet hands and trying to get done quickly.
I've done at least 100 incredibly wet miles on my Fusions without a puncture in recent weeks, that's not to say that I'd have deemed them appropriate to use yesterday!
Fair comment. I ride the same bike in all weathers so I felt the GP4000s were as well equipped to survive as anything else I'd want to buy and put on.
I did check every now and then giving them a glance though. Particularly in the spots where you'd see 4 or 5 people changing tubes.
There were a lot of flats not long after the start as well, saw a few in Blackwall Tunnel and I think a lot of that was to do with the horrific 'pavement' around the Olympic Park.2012 Cube Agree GTC0 -
Loved the day and the experience, despite the weather. I was running Gatorskins. I didn't have any punctures but I almost came off before even getting to the Olympic Park, so took i very easy during the ride!
I wish they had timing mats at each hub, to stop the clock as you go in and start again as you go out - I had to queue about 15 minutes for the toilet at one stop, whereas I could have just gone at the side of the road and saved 14 minutes. I saw many doing that, which was pretty disgusting, especially for the people who live on the route.
Agree about the comments about the discarded wrappers. If I lived in Surrey I wouldn't want the ride to come near where I lived.0 -
Introducing: punctures are history
Unless you pick up an m6 screw that is... :?left the forum March 20230 -
terry2708 wrote:I echo some of the posts that say it was too dangerous to ride down Leith and Box hills. It would have been carnage!
Highlight of my day was a big bloke apologising for coming up too fast onto some cobbled high street after I was signalling for everyone to slow down. It was Martin Johnson!!! I tried to hang onto him but he got away.
Never ridden in such hard rain but loved it none the less. 4 hours 13 for a grandad was very pleasing. Will be trying to get under 5 hours for the real thing next year but father time is starting to catch up on me.
Hope everyone involved in the crashes (i saw a big pile up at a very quick roundabout, so glad I went left and not right there) is ok, and a big thank you for every volunteer / supporter who helped me get round.
where did the pile up happen? my mate went down at a roundabout with about 6 others in an early group. road rash down his left side. continued to ripley but was hurting too bad and his mate couldnt change gear so they withdrew.0 -
Anyone know the sketch with the Mavic Cars/bikes ?
Were they just fixing punctures helping with a better pump etc for people , or were they supplying people with tubes/tyres if needed as well ?
Great service it seemed for those in need.
Couldn't workout the protocol , as I was lucky enough not to get a puncture.0 -
i really really enjoyed the day, despite the weather conditions. i was fortunate enough not to puncture. I found the quality of riding ok and im no pro myself, and tried to do the decent thing on any ascents to move to the side to allow the faster guys through. i called some moves but some of the riders you had no choice but to go through the middle of. also saw some people calling the wrong call, resulting in sketchy moments.
Found it disgusting the amount of gel wrappers being thrown away, especially at one of the later drinks stations at about 70 miles. and people peeing by the side of the road. i understand the call of nature but i was able to hold out for one of the many toilet stops, why couldnt anyone else.
All in all a great day, with some amazing experiences including being in a cable car above the thames with gale force winds rocking me. not something i would like to repeat.0 -
Another vote for GP 4 seasons, all the way without a flat, which given the sheer number of punctures i saw was unbelievable.
Still it all pales into insignificance when you think about the poor guy who didn't make it - so sad0
