Travelling to the London to Brighton

rogerv1978

Hi I am riding the l2b for the 3rd time this year and have managed to get the 6am start time, the issue I have is getting there as I live in fleet in Hampshire around 45min drive away, there are no trains running at that time in the morning and last year the mrs drove me there for a 7am start which was ok but we have 2 small children so had to get someone to stay over so she could get up with me early and take me there, then drive all the way back to then later on drive all the way to brighton with the kids to pick me up !!

As this year will be even earlier I am trying to find another way of getting there ? I have asked some friends but no one can help, I just wondered if anyone had any ideas or if anyone on here or knows of anyone who is doing the same trip at the same time from the same area ? Sorry for the long message, just trying to think of a plan ?

Thanks in advance !

rubertoe

Novel Idea.

Ride your bike?

monkimark

Is it too late to book one of the coaches from brighton-clapham common?
http://www.bhf.org.uk/default.aspx?page=14091

Then you just need to drive over early & find somewhere to park within a short ride of the start line. At the end of the day, get the coach back to Clapham and ride back to your car.

EKE_38BPM

I don't understand.
The OP has done L2B twice before and wants to do it again? Its so crowded that is more like the London to Brighton bike walk. I'd happily ride L2B but not on that day. If you want to charitable, just make a donation to BHF.

rogerv1978

rubertoe wrote:

Novel Idea.

Ride your bike?

Yeah as I said its a 45 min drive away and as I plan to get there for 5:30am to ride there would take at least 2 hrs and then have to ride the l2b not exactly feasible, thanks for the reply though !

rogerv1978

EKE_38BPM wrote:

I don't understand.
The OP has done L2B twice before and wants to do it again? Its so crowded that is more like the London to Brighton bike walk. I'd happily ride L2B but not on that day. If you want to charitable, just make a donation to BHF.

Yeah I did say that as I have enjoyed it both years and not had any problems with crowds apart from the first 5 miles last year as I had a 7am start so with the 6am start am hoping for a really good run, I was just asking for ideas on how to get there for the early start apart from getting the mrs to do it as explained in the original post, thanks for the reply for what it was worth ?

rogerv1978

monkimark wrote:

Is it too late to book one of the coaches from brighton-clapham common?
http://www.bhf.org.uk/default.aspx?page=14091

Then you just need to drive over early & find somewhere to park within a short ride of the start line. At the end of the day, get the coach back to Clapham and ride back to your car.

Yeah did think of that but we only have the one car so couldn't leave it in clapham for the day ? And we find it quite nice for the missus to drive down to brighton with the kids and meet me at the finish line and then chill out for a bit have lunch before driving back, thanks for the reply anyway !

dulwichiron

Stay in hotel on the night before, loads of cheap rooms in london to choose from.

BigLights

Hotel is a good idea...a Holiday Inn or similar somewhere not exactly in the centre should be dead cheap. You can ride the few miles to the start from there.

tgotb

rogerv1978 wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

Novel Idea.

Ride your bike?

Yeah as I said its a 45 min drive away and as I plan to get there for 5:30am to ride there would take at least 2 hrs and then have to ride the l2b not exactly feasible, thanks for the reply though !

Why isn't it feasible? Riding into London at that sort of time should be really nice (probably nicer than the L2B itself); it gets light super-early at that time of year, so you'll have to do very little of it in the dark, and there'll be no traffic to speak of...

EKE - if you set off in the very first bunch at 6am, it's not at all crowded; when I did it a few years ago it was a totally clear run all the way. Finished around 8.30, fish and chips for breakfast, gentle ride back and home in time for lunch. You do miss out on some of the atmosphere though; most of the rest stops were still setting up when I went past...

monkimark

Taxi to the start line or hotel in south London on Saturday night - probably similar prices unless you find some dive hotel, Saturday night in summer in London won't be cheap. Taxi has the advantage of getting you right where you want to go and saving the need for overnight stuff
You just need to wrap the bike up so that it can go in the boot of a car without getting oil all over it. Old sheet or something that you can bin at the other end should do it.

rogerv1978

TGOTB wrote:

rogerv1978 wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

Novel Idea.

Ride your bike?

Yeah as I said its a 45 min drive away and as I plan to get there for 5:30am to ride there would take at least 2 hrs and then have to ride the l2b not exactly feasible, thanks for the reply though !

Why isn't it feasible? Riding into London at that sort of time should be really nice (probably nicer than the L2B itself); it gets light super-early at that time of year, so you'll have to do very little of it in the dark, and there'll be no traffic to speak of...

EKE - if you set off in the very first bunch at 6am, it's not at all crowded; when I did it a few years ago it was a totally clear run all the way. Finished around 8.30, fish and chips for breakfast, gentle ride back and home in time for lunch. You do miss out on some of the atmosphere though; most of the rest stops were still setting up when I went past...

yeah although I enjoy riding, I'm not exactly a pro and I dont fancy leaving at 2:30-3:30am to do a 2-3 hour ride to clapham to then have to ride the l2b itself, it would kill me ! yeah have done the 630 start and that was a good run that's why I was really pleased to get the 6am start !

rogerv1978

monkimark wrote:

Taxi to the start line or hotel in south London on Saturday night - probably similar prices unless you find some dive hotel, Saturday night in summer in London won't be cheap. Taxi has the advantage of getting you right where you want to go and saving the need for overnight stuff
You just need to wrap the bike up so that it can go in the boot of a car without getting oil all over it. Old sheet or something that you can bin at the other end should do it.

yeah did look at b&bs but they were quite pricey ! also got a quote from a taxi firm and it was £150 !!
I was hoping to find someone that was travelling from the same area at the same time ? bit of a long shot I know but was hoping !

EKE_38BPM

Premier Inn Croydon (Purley A23), single room Friday 13th June: £35
If I can find that with 5 minutes of googling, you can probably do better.

rogerv1978

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Premier Inn Croydon (Purley A23), single room Friday 13th June: £35
If I can find that with 5 minutes of googling, you can probably do better.

haha yeah thanks for that !! I did do some googling and couldnt get anywhere near that price, maybe I'm doing something wrong ?

Cheers for the info !

tgotb

Albeit that Premier Inn availibility is Friday night. For Saturday night there's Ibis Budget City airport for £50.

dhope

Airbnb?
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/s/Clapham--Uni ... ice_max=50