Ride London 2014

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  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Excel can also be a real pain to drive to, it often seems to get very congested when there's a lot on there, probably best to take the toy train instead.
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • davep1
    davep1 Posts: 837
    arran77 wrote:
    Excel can also be a real pain to drive to, it often seems to get very congested when there's a lot on there, probably best to take the toy train instead.
    Done both recently would definitely advise train thing even without the 15 quid flat rate car park!
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    I assume everyone has now paid their entry fee.
    Think its the deadline to pay tomorrow.

    Then get a training plan together ;-)
  • Mikey23
    Mikey23 Posts: 5,306
    Sounds as though it might be a bit more civilised than the London marathon then. The sight of thousands of totally knackered runners milling around on the tube in their space blankets looking remarkably like a zombie apocalypse would have been amusing if I wasn't one of them ....
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,871
    I didn't get in on the ballot, but have applied for a charity spot with Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. Fingers crossed. Nice way to get to Excel is the boat from Waterloo to the O2 then get the cable car over the river.
    Kinesis Pro6
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  • cat_with_no_tail
    cat_with_no_tail Posts: 12,980
    Got the Ballot & paid up.
    Still not received my congratulations mag though (neither have any of the other 3 guys I'm doing it with, they seem to have missed the IOM off their mailers).

    We're staying at the premier inn jobby at Stratford so was wondering how the ride back was going to be after. Does the route back to the start not cross over the route at any point? Coming from my tiny little island I can see myself getting VERY lost in the big smoke. Very much a country mouse.
    "Avan-TT"
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    Do you not have a Garmin or something?

    Would be good if someone in London could create a GPS route of the ride from The Mall back to Stratford that people could then upload as a course for their Edge 500 and similar devices.

    Surprised the organisers have not done that.

    Or can you just create a route to use as a course from your PC?
  • dun247
    dun247 Posts: 31
    Cat With No Tail wrote:
    Got the Ballot & paid up.
    Still not received my congratulations mag though (neither have any of the other 3 guys I'm doing it with, they seem to have missed the IOM off their mailers).

    We're staying at the premier inn jobby at Stratford so was wondering how the ride back was going to be after. Does the route back to the start not cross over the route at any point? Coming from my tiny little island I can see myself getting VERY lost in the big smoke. Very much a country mouse.

    I didnt receive mine but when I checked online I was in. I fired a quick email over and couple of days later I get the Mag.
    Carbonator wrote:
    Do you not have a Garmin or something?

    Would be good if someone in London could create a GPS route of the ride from The Mall back to Stratford that people could then upload as a course for their Edge 500 and similar devices.

    Surprised the organisers have not done that.

    Or can you just create a route to use as a course from your PC?

    Good idea. I don't know what road closures there will be but to give people an idea I have created 2 routes.

    http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/364911417 Goes via Waterloo and London Bridge

    http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/364911853 Goes via Bank
  • martinperry
    martinperry Posts: 127
    Last year, After the finish, I rode back to Excel where my hotel was - I got down to the Embakment Pier and didnt fancy the look of the queue for the clipper.
    It was very easy really - Dont have a GPX, but for those with an A to Z!!
    Out of top of Green Park turn right onto Picadilly - Traffic, but slow and no great issue
    Turn down Haymarket - Trafalgar SQ - Northumberland Ave
    Left onto embankment (closed to traffic, as was northumberland ave)
    At Tower hill, onto the Highway east (light traffic - no issue at all)
    At Limehouse Tunnel, DO NOT ENTER - turn left then right to Commercial Road
    From there, follow a logical route to your start point. I used W India dock road / Aspen way, but that is a little hairy with fast traffic!!
    I found the 7 mile ride useful to unwind tight muscles!!
    This year is my Wifes turn - reckon I will be driving into the west end and wheeling the bike to the car afterwards, but thats a different story!!
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,871
    Cat With No Tail wrote:
    We're staying at the premier inn jobby at Stratford so was wondering how the ride back was going to be after. Does the route back to the start not cross over the route at any point? Coming from my tiny little island I can see myself getting VERY lost in the big smoke. Very much a country mouse.
    Don't worry. I live in London but have never been to Stratford so I'm sure I can get equally lost. Should be able to find my way home at least.
    Kinesis Pro6
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  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Veronese68 wrote:
    Cat With No Tail wrote:
    We're staying at the premier inn jobby at Stratford so was wondering how the ride back was going to be after. Does the route back to the start not cross over the route at any point? Coming from my tiny little island I can see myself getting VERY lost in the big smoke. Very much a country mouse.
    Don't worry. I live in London but have never been to Stratford so I'm sure I can get equally lost. Should be able to find my way home at least.

    I used to have to travel to Royal Albert every day on the toy train and can confirm that there was no decent reason to be heading out that way :wink:
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • timothyw
    timothyw Posts: 2,482
    dun247 wrote:
    - Bikes are not allowed on Tube and buses.

    Happily this isn't true - you can take your bike on some sections of the tube (not during rush hour in some sections) as per this map here:

    http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/ ... be-map.pdf

    St James Park will probably be closest to the finish, from which you can get the tube into East London or change to the DLR.
  • dun247
    dun247 Posts: 31
    TimothyW wrote:
    dun247 wrote:
    - Bikes are not allowed on Tube and buses.

    Happily this isn't true - you can take your bike on some sections of the tube (not during rush hour in some sections) as per this map here:

    http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/ ... be-map.pdf

    St James Park will probably be closest to the finish, from which you can get the tube into East London or change to the DLR.

    Correct. As it is a Sunday and will be silly busy with people with and without bikes I didn't want to confuse anyone with the TFL rules. Thanks for the link.
  • timothyw
    timothyw Posts: 2,482
    Yeah, to be fair I certainly wouldn't count on being able to get on a tube that day, what with weekend engineering works and the likely hordes of people/well wishers crowding the place up - make sure you have route notes/gps to fall back on.
  • carbonclem
    carbonclem Posts: 1,798
    Im getting my worrying in early ;)

    We are staying at a Premier Inn at Tower Bridge, the idea being I get up and go and family meet me later on at the end. Im guessing i'll be riding out to the start point , my only concern is finding a way with road closures etc for the day ... is this going to be a big problem? I don't really have a clue what I'm doing :lol:
    2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner
  • Slo Mo Jones
    Slo Mo Jones Posts: 272
    CarbonClem wrote:
    Im getting my worrying in early ;)

    We are staying at a Premier Inn at Tower Bridge, the idea being I get up and go and family meet me later on at the end. Im guessing i'll be riding out to the start point , my only concern is finding a way with road closures etc for the day ... is this going to be a big problem? I don't really have a clue what I'm doing :lol:

    It's easy to find your way to the start from there.

    Just follow everyone else.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Am I ok preparing for RideLondon2015 .... ?

    I've deferred my place ... :)
  • davep1
    davep1 Posts: 837
    CarbonClem wrote:
    Im getting my worrying in early ;)

    We are staying at a Premier Inn at Tower Bridge, the idea being I get up and go and family meet me later on at the end. Im guessing i'll be riding out to the start point , my only concern is finding a way with road closures etc for the day ... is this going to be a big problem? I don't really have a clue what I'm doing :lol:

    I went in from Surrey Quays last year and as someone else said finding the way in to the start was easy there were so many other bikes on the road. I also went back via Tower Bridge from the finish at Green Park and that wasn't hard to find. I did go through Piccadilly Circus, which was busy but slow.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,834
    arran77 wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    I'm doing it this year. Will probably pedal to the start and pedal home again, just to finish myself off good and proper.

    Gonna ride your proper bike Stevo :wink:
    Nope, the road bike :)
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    arran77 wrote:
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    I'm doing it this year. Will probably pedal to the start and pedal home again, just to finish myself off good and proper.

    Gonna ride your proper bike Stevo :wink:
    Nope, the road bike :)

    Ya big wuss :P
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,834
    arran77 wrote:
    Ya big wuss :P
    So what are you riding it on? :wink:
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • e17blade
    e17blade Posts: 215
    As an alternative if you are completely exhausted (as I was last year), you can get a black cab. I walked out of Green Park and got a cab back to Walthamstow within two minutes - the cabbie had no problem about having a bike in there at all. Not sure if you could get two bikes in, it might be a bit too tight.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    Oye you lot, get out and do some training! (Before you say anything, I am going right now) :shock:

    Prepare for the start, not the finish :wink:

    Have not had a drink all year, giving up cr4p food from today, going Strava crazy, and been wearing a RideLondon t-shirt everyday (not the same one) since I got in.............

    .......... now thats what I call prep :lol:
  • cat_with_no_tail
    cat_with_no_tail Posts: 12,980
    Granfondo 3 on Strava is a 160k ride this month.

    Pretty good training I'd say.

    I'll be aiming to do mine tomorrow over a much hillier route.

    http://www.strava.com/challenges/gran-fondo-03
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  • davep1
    davep1 Posts: 837
    Carbonator wrote:
    Oye you lot, get out and do some training! (Before you say anything, I am going right now) :shock:

    Prepare for the start, not the finish :wink:

    Have not had a drink all year, giving up cr4p food from today, going Strava crazy, and been wearing a RideLondon t-shirt everyday (not the same one) since I got in.............

    .......... now thats what I call prep :lol:

    You need to change your signature line!
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    Good point ;-)
  • marcusjb
    marcusjb Posts: 2,412
    Cat With No Tail wrote:
    Granfondo 3 on Strava is a 160k ride this month.

    Pretty good training I'd say.

    I'll be aiming to do mine tomorrow over a much hillier route.

    http://www.strava.com/challenges/gran-fondo-03

    Yep - if you can do a reasonably quick 160km this early in the year, without too much discomfort, then it's a good sign that winter training is paying off nicely.
    Stuff about riding a bike a long way
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,834
    Cat With No Tail wrote:
    Granfondo 3 on Strava is a 160k ride this month.

    Pretty good training I'd say.

    I'll be aiming to do mine tomorrow over a much hillier route.

    http://www.strava.com/challenges/gran-fondo-03
    Cat, you are a proper roadie now - what sort of time are you trying for on the Ride 100?
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    arran77 wrote:
    Ya big wuss :P
    So what are you riding it on? :wink:

    No place for me :cry:
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • davep1
    davep1 Posts: 837
    Carbonator wrote:
    Good point ;-)
    Like it!

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