Ride London 2015
Comments
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It's not the start, it's the lanes. Two walkers on Leith Hill next to one another takes up half the road in places.Dippydog2 wrote:
Of course. And as I just edited this picture is only half.ChrisAOnABike wrote:Have you noticed the relative widths of the roads in the two events?
And no sodding gravel either.
We have a wonderful city. I am sure we can find a suitable start place.Is the gorilla tired yet?0 -
ChrisAOnABike wrote:On the subject of organisation, I'd make one change - enforce the no aero bar rule. It's possibly the one potential safety measure that would make a real difference, and be really simple to enforce.
There are at least 3 opportunities to spot them - at the bag drop, at wave loading, and at the start line. You only need someone looking out for them and saying "you ain't riding with those, chum".
Sure, some would get missed, but hoiking a few tw4ts publicly out of the start arena would solve the problem overnight.
Very much agree with this. There was some pillock near me a few times in the first 20 or so miles on a look TT bike; I'd guess he was a triathelete as no tester would have brought their TT steed, I certainly wouldn't. Any opportunity and he was down on the aero bars, no matter whether he was just in front of people, side by side with others or trying to hang on to other's wheels - this last one of course being the biggest issue.
As you say, it wouldn't be that hard to police to a level that would get the majority of them out and doing so would discourage others. As well as the start I'd have some policing at the drinks stations / hubs. I even saw a couple of people collecting bikes at the show from the courier service with aero bars attached.0 -
I started in Black R - due off at 07.50hrs - actually away at approx 07.57hrs.
Narrow roads were a real problem - on several occasions I found most of the road width taken up by pairs of women jarring with each other - totally obvious to the jam they were causing - just like they were pushing barrows up the aisles of Waitrose. (I know it's a cliché, but I must have seen this half a dozen times!)
If you have constructive comments about the event, why not e-mail the organisers? (Assuming you 'do' e-mails)0 -
Black H here. due away at 7.57 but started at 8.05... not bad considering. Not too many issues for me but a high level of concentration needed to stay safe and avoid other people doing unpredictable things. The roads with traffic is way safer IMO. Shame about Richmond Park, didnt really enjoy standing around in the pouring rain for 25 minutes. But the poor guy had to be attended and it was the only way the medics could get access ... sh*t happens. Oh and the two punctures...
Regards the EdExcel thing, Ive done enough London Marathons to know thats the way its always done so got to play by the rules. Have start finish and registration in different parts of a large busy city is always going to cause logistical problems but throw a bike into the mix and it becomes a flipping nightmare. Which is why i didnt apply in the ballot because i didnt need a weekend of stress. But my company had charity places so thought i would give it a go...
So drove up from cornwall early saturday thinking naively that roads in the centre would be relatively quiet and all we needed to do was get into central london and then out towards the east end and stratford, find hotel and then DLR to edexcel. Now realise that roads in london are never quiet and everything was gridlocked because some nutters had decided to put on a bike event. My fault completely
Hopefully i will be back next year with a better plan...0 -
anyone know what the split is next year between free entrants and those going via a charity ?
Not sure they need to change much to be honest. Would be nice to get some more decent considerate riding but with so many people out there not sure they can do much about that.
Maybe look at changing a few of the narrow lanes to something more suitable for the number of riders out there0 -
Bearing in mind there were plenty of charities that didnt fill all of their allocated places i would like to hope there will be more ballot places.
But with the vision of becoming like the London Marathon i wouldnt be surprised if the extra are purely charity places0 -
Tjgoodhew wrote:Bearing in mind there were plenty of charities that didnt fill all of their allocated places i would like to hope there will be more ballot places.
But with the vision of becoming like the London Marathon i wouldnt be surprised if the extra are purely charity places
will be interesting to see if the charities will drop their prices with more places. Did it for charity the first year and also this year but ended up paying myself this year for most of the money.
Although it isn't too tough a route to a lot of people who could probably do it 100 miles sounds far worse than a 26 mile marathon.0 -
I cycled home through Richmond Park into a strong headwind so had a lot of time to ponder the barriers down towards Kingston Gate. They were taking up half the road width and I can see no reason whey they weren't placed on the grass. That early in the route they need roads as wide as possible to avoid creating choke points.0
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Re OP's pt 2. If there was a late change in route, having a GPX file would have people diving off down roads that were no longer being used. Could lead to chaos.0
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sherer wrote:Tjgoodhew wrote:Bearing in mind there were plenty of charities that didnt fill all of their allocated places i would like to hope there will be more ballot places.
But with the vision of becoming like the London Marathon i wouldnt be surprised if the extra are purely charity places
will be interesting to see if the charities will drop their prices with more places. Did it for charity the first year and also this year but ended up paying myself this year for most of the money.
Although it isn't too tough a route to a lot of people who could probably do it 100 miles sounds far worse than a 26 mile marathon.
Really? If they'd ever done any running and riding, they would know otherwise. Running a marathon is a lot tougher than riding 100 mils.0 -
The issue with fund raising for this against the marathon is that the majority of people have no perception of what riding a 100 miles is like.
Most people have an idea of running - i would say most have at some point ran a couple of miles in the gym or got inspired by the marathon and did 2/3 runs before realising its hard.
A LOT of peoples memories of riding a bike are riding to their mates house on a mountain bike as a 12 year old. I too remember how easy that was and felt i could ride anywhere - in reality i probably covered no more than 15 miles in a day at about 5mph !!!!
Both are tough but people can relate to the toughness of a marathon more so than cycling which is why i think people struggle to raise money for cycling against the marathon0 -
Tjgoodhew wrote:Bearing in mind there were plenty of charities that didnt fill all of their allocated places i would like to hope there will be more ballot places.
But with the vision of becoming like the London Marathon i wouldnt be surprised if the extra are purely charity places
I think this year there were 2000 places for team entries from BC-affiliated clubs, a small number of celebs, some overseas entrants who presumably weren't via the main ballot, some from sponsors and organisers, and the ballot/charity places were roughly equal at around 10,000 each. That's just based on a quick scan of the results sheet - I may be completely wrong.
Given how oversubscribed the ballot was and the fact that charities were advertising places up until the last minute, I too hope there will be more places in the ballot next year or failing that, more club teams. But I doubt it will happen. Maybe more charities will be offered fewer places each. The fact is, the fundraising angle is important for the organisers when justifying the huge disruption the whole event causes to a large part of London and Surrey - and they probably have a goal to make it the biggest bike-related charity event in the world, to match the Marathon.0 -
I am considering whether to enter the ballot for 2015. Failed to get in the last 2 years. Doubt I am the right demographic (Not Female) to get in.
It's a lot of money to pay to enter before you consider hotel, travel etc and I could do something far more interesting for the money.
The Charity route is a big ask for fundraising.
Am I right in thinking that some charities struggled fill their places?
Good luck to anyone who does do it next year. Great to see so many people on bikes.0 -
Der Kaiser wrote:I am considering whether to enter the ballot for 2015. Failed to get in the last 2 years. Doubt I am the right demographic (Not Female) to get in.
Hmm...
Did you just stumble across an easy way in?
Register as female, then when you go to the registration and they check your ID, just say you are undergoing gender reassignment therapy.
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There wee ads running right up until the last moment. Bliss ended up with 240 riders though some of them will have been ballot winners who opted to ride for them (me) as they were charity of the year. They had a number of benefits so if chosing a charity you may want to go for Scope in 2015.0
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It is a brilliant brilliant event, I understand your reservations about costs of the whole thing and/or having to raise money for charity - both big concerns for me. Entering the ballot costs nowt though so stick your name down and go from there. I'm trying not to let it take over my life I've enjoyed my two (charity) entries that much!Der Kaiser wrote:I am considering whether to enter the ballot for 2015. Failed to get in the last 2 years. Doubt I am the right demographic (Not Female) to get in.
It's a lot of money to pay to enter before you consider hotel, travel etc and I could do something far more interesting for the money.
The Charity route is a big ask for fundraising.
Am I right in thinking that some charities struggled fill their places?
Good luck to anyone who does do it next year. Great to see so many people on bikes.0 -
Good idea to have a 'feedback' thread for improvements.
I was impressed with the organisation, it was my first year. Bag drop was great, toilets seemed sufficient, directions and loading all went well. Marshalling pretty good. Handing up gels on Come Hill was a really appreciated by my cramp!
What would I suggest are changed though is:
1: Having to register at Excel. Although I appreciated the Expo, it is a difficult place to get to. I work in Oxford Circus and live in Putney and think this!
2: The route. it seems overly disruptive to too many people. Cycling home from the finish I saw the road chaos, and got two lots of abuse from car drivers. There are a lot of people in Surrey who have had enough of cyclist disruption (not just this event). Too many Thames bridges closed. Too many people encircled by the route. Starting on the opposite side of London to the countryside seems to make it worse.
Maybe vary the direction each year for some respite for areas. Try to finds routes where over/underpasses enable others to continue their lives. For example. Tibbetts corner is over the A3 so that major artery was unaffected by the event. Perhaps look into a bit more of an "out and back" route. Say if you used Putney Bridge half is enough for each direction. I found the loop out to Chiswick Bridge and back to Richmond Park a bit odd as there are no major landmarks to go past, yet took out Hammersmith and Chiswick bridges for locals.
3: The route 2: Kingston was the only point where you got to see other riders as they were on the way out. It was impressive so perhaps and out and back type route would make more of an atmosphere as you see the sheer numbers of bikes on the road. Alpine events are amazing when you see the snake of bikes up a mountain!
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Wonder what colour the medal will be next year?
Silver and bronze kind of colours so far. Hope its different again next year.
Was infinitely wetter and markedly faster for me this year.
I predict 2015 will be dry and faster still over the full distance :-)0 -
I live in Twickenham and think that it's perfectly easy to get to. Seriously, man up !!!alan sherman wrote:What would I suggest are changed though is:
1: Having to register at Excel. Although I appreciated the Expo, it is a difficult place to get to. I work in Oxford Circus and live in Putney and think this!
Is the gorilla tired yet?0 -
sherer wrote:
Although it isn't too tough a route to a lot of people who could probably do it 100 miles sounds far worse than a 26 mile marathon.
I don't think anyone thinks its easier to run 1 mile than it is to cycle 4.
Most newbies will stop loads during a 100 mile ride, but thats not such a great idea when running.
100 miles (without stopping) is about equivalent to a half marathon IMO.0 -
I think Prudential have the sponsorship rights for 3 years, so next year may be the last Prudential RideLondon.
Wondering who would be a good company to take the baton from them if it is, and what they may change going forward.
Definitely want to do it next year now. Wife has quickly done a complete u-turn and wants in again too.0 -
Carbonator wrote:sherer wrote:
Although it isn't too tough a route to a lot of people who could probably do it 100 miles sounds far worse than a 26 mile marathon.
I don't think anyone thinks its easier to run 1 mile than it is to cycle 4.
Most newbies will stop loads during a 100 mile ride, but thats not such a great idea when running.
100 miles (without stopping) is about equivalent to a half marathon IMO.
I think it depends entirely on the effort you are putting in. I've done 50-60 mile road races on rolling courses that left me as tired as doing a marathon - what you don't get from the bike is the impact damage but the mental strength to keep following accelerations in a bike race is probably harder than that needed to keep running at a constant pace in a marathon. I only did 3 marathons but none of them left me in the state I was at the end of the Fred Whitton Challenge last year or the Marmotte when I was sat there for about 40 minutes afterwards unable to eat the food in front of me let alone get up and ride back down the Alpe.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
I agree about effort. 10 Mile time trial is as hard as running IMO.
That would be the case with anything though wouldn't it? If you did it hard enough, it would hurt.
Running a marathon requires a higher minimum effort than riding a flat 100 mile course with stops in under 8.5 hours though, and its a flat 100 mile course in about 7-8 hours we are talking about.0 -
Has anyone tried registering for next years event yet? I'm coming unstuck when entering my British Cycling Club membership number - mine is 7 digits long and it will on accept 6 digits :roll:0
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I just registered Ok, but mine is only 6 digits long.Grantmk wrote:Has anyone tried registering for next years event yet? I'm coming unstuck when entering my British Cycling Club membership number - mine is 7 digits long and it will on accept 6 digits :roll:
It's not a mandatory field is it?Is the gorilla tired yet?0 -
Grantmk wrote:Has anyone tried registering for next years event yet? I'm coming unstuck when entering my British Cycling Club membership number - mine is 7 digits long and it will on accept 6 digits :roll:
Mine is 7 digits and it accepted mine with no problems. I registered using an iPad, don't know if that makes a difference.
Pretty simple to register.0 -
The system definitely will not accept 7 digit membership numbers from my iPad. Didn't try it on the mac though.Kingstonian wrote:Grantmk wrote:Has anyone tried registering for next years event yet? I'm coming unstuck when entering my British Cycling Club membership number - mine is 7 digits long and it will on accept 6 digits :roll:
Mine is 7 digits and it accepted mine with no problems. I registered using an iPad, don't know if that makes a difference.
Pretty simple to register.
Anyway, it's not a mandatory field.
I have emailed their help desk and told them about the problem.0 -
I went to register, then immediately had a personal crisis about it.
Do I really need to do it again? (I've done both so far) It's a massive hassle and I've been poorly since the drenching I got last Sunday. Can I really be bothered? £58 is alot of money jkust to p!ss away into the wind.
2013 was rather brilliant though....0 -
Der Kaiser wrote:I am considering whether to enter the ballot for 2015. Failed to get in the last 2 years. Doubt I am the right demographic (Not Female) to get in.
It's a lot of money to pay to enter before you consider hotel, travel etc and I could do something far more interesting for the money.
The Charity route is a big ask for fundraising.
Am I right in thinking that some charities struggled fill their places?
Good luck to anyone who does do it next year. Great to see so many people on bikes.
Similar thoughts to me...did 2013 but didn't get a place this year and next year its the day after I return from holiday so will need someone to register for me. I've entered the ballot since its free, so *if* I get a place I can then decide whether I can be ar$sed to do it with all the logistics hassle. I'm not going down the charity route...simply no way am I asking people for money so I can ride my bike.WyndyMilla Massive Attack | Rourke 953 | Condor Italia 531 Pro | Boardman CX Pro | DT Swiss RR440 Tubeless Wheels
Find me on Strava0 -
Well, after saying I wasn't going to bother, I've entered the ballot for 2015.
If I get in, I'll decide what to do with my place. I might actually do it on the Downhill bike, or a fat bike or something. Maybe I could upset the Londoners by coming down on one of the Liverpool boris bikes and flogging round on that .
Either way, it'll most likely be done at a very sedate pace. One thing I noticed from this year, was that (partly due to the weather) you were having to concentrate so hard on the road right in front of you and what everyone else was doing, you could technically have been riding in any city, anywhere. I don't think that was helped much by the fact I don't know the roads around the capital at ALL, coming from the country, they all tend to look alike.
Next year will be a very different animal, lots of selfies at various points, wheelies for the photographers, stops for beers mid-way through etc.0
