Ride London 2016

mattsaw

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

PS: I have nothing against RL100, just struggle to understand why those who know they can ride 100 miles no problem keep insisting doing this thing.

The simple answer is closed roads in conjunction with being accessible to the South East

I'd rather contend with a handful of cars in a 100 miles in Wales, than riding 100 miles on closed roads with another 25,000 bikes.

That's true, but then getting to North Wales from London is more challenging logistically

As I said, it's a combination of closed roads and accessibility.

I don't have to faff around with hotels, transport, parking etc. Roll out of bed, ride to the start and then home for lunch.

ugo.santalucia

Slowbike wrote:

- some people just like big events - we're all different.

We are... I tend to think that if you like cycling, it's because you want to get away from cities, people, crowds, hassle... but clearly I am not right, am I?

ugo.santalucia

Mattsaw wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

PS: I have nothing against RL100, just struggle to understand why those who know they can ride 100 miles no problem keep insisting doing this thing.

The simple answer is closed roads in conjunction with being accessible to the South East

I'd rather contend with a handful of cars in a 100 miles in Wales, than riding 100 miles on closed roads with another 25,000 bikes.

That's true, but then getting to North Wales from London is more challenging logistically

As I said, it's a combination of closed roads and accessibility.

I don't have to faff around with hotels, transport, parking etc. Roll out of bed, ride to the start and then home for lunch.

yet this thread has 33 pages of mostly logistics... I would say it is the most logistically challenging ride in the country

slowbike

ugo.santalucia wrote:

BigMat wrote:

For sure Fred's a better ride, but then I can't go to sleep in my usual bed, get up, do the ride and be home in time for brunch. That's one of the big draws with Ride London.

It's called a sunday ride, it doesn't cost 60 quid...

Of course the Fred is a better ride, despite what Boris said, Surrey is really nothing special and London, seeing you live there, is nothing out of the ordinary too

It's 4 years that I bang on the same drum and I still don't get you guys... 2013 was the novelty, but then?

The novelty is it being closed roads - 65 miles without putting a foot down - it would've been more if my mate hadn't needed to stop ...
The novelty is being able to ride unhindered through central London - previous times I've done that has been spent dodging vehicles going everywhich way - at least all the riders were going the same way as me!
4 years - 20k-25k riders - that's not even 100 thousand riders who've done it.

This BC report from 2015:

Over the last 12 months, British Cycling’s work to increase participation in the sport has delivered the following results:

2,069,200 adults in England now cycling at least once every week
3,628,400 adults in England now cycling at least monthly
Over half a million regular cyclists are women, an increase of 2% in the last 12 months.
385,600 young people now ride bikes frequently
Frequent cycling among people with an impairment is now at 184,000

Additionally, British Cycling’s programmes have delivered the following participation results in the last 12 months:

Over 100,000 people have taken part in Sky Ride Big Bike events – traffic-free family cycling events that British Cycling staged in partnership with 14 cities.
2,200 Sky Ride Local rides took place. These are free, local rides led by one of 1,600 specially trained Ride Leaders.
Nearly 5,000 Breeze bike rides – free guided rides for women – took place in 2014, attended by over 17,500 women and children.
Ride Social – Britain’s biggest social cycling community - now has over 50,000 buddies.
Membership of British Cycling surpassing 100,000 for the first time in the organisation’s history.
Over 4,000 competitive and sportive events delivered by our clubs, members, and volunteers.
British Cycling’s youth cycling programme - Go-Ride - together with coaches and club volunteers, has delivered around 500,000 opportunities for young people to get into cycling in the last year.


Read more at https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/about ... RJYPEBQ.99

let's just guess that 1/2 of those regular riders (2 million) want to do RL - that forgets those who've come from overseas - so 1 million riders and only 25k per year can do it ... that'll take 40 years to do - and that assumes each one only does it once and nobody else joins the list ...

I know you don't want to do it - but I can't see why you have to be so "down" on it ...

slowbike

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

- some people just like big events - we're all different.

We are... I tend to think that if you like cycling, it's because you want to get away from cities, people, crowds, hassle... but clearly I am not right, am I?

nope!

I like getting away from cities - for some rides - but being able to do this one (once) is nice - it's different as it's not like riding through a city normally.
If it was a week long event I'd think again - but it's a weekend - 3 days at most (for those further afield)

rich_e

Carbonator wrote:

umop3pisdn wrote:

Prime cockwomble. Someone should have told him that his bumbag was killing his aeros.

Everyone around him was a cockwomble too though if they don't give a fcuk about him enough to point him out.
The organizers are the ultimate cockwombles for not enforcing their own rules and not having an enviouroment/event where people would feel that worthwhile though.

Its a modern thing to have rules that are not enforced lol
Does not bode well for the future :roll:

It's probably a difficult thing to actually enforce though, we are talking about a course that is 100 miles in length and only has barriers for busy sections.

The majority of marshals are volunteers and while I'm sure most of them are concerned about rider safety, I don't think they have much power beyond telling somebody they should get off the course if they see somebody. They aren't licensed security staff and nor are they Police. It's one thing to be poaching, but this guy was riding a kind of bike that was deliberately banned to avoid serious injuries in the result of crashes. The health and safety aspect would probably also say that trying to chase people down who shouldn't be on the course is probably a risk to everyone, so not worth the trouble.

Ultimately, while there are those who take the self-entitled approach, most would feel a bit of a tit for poaching a course that people have either paid to ride in or are doing for a charity.

Speaking of marshals, I watched the women's Classique race on Saturday, which has obviously now been extended to a much larger area, taking in heavy tourist areas like Trafalgar Square. There were a lot of people jumping barriers or running across the road, which demonstrates just how easy it would be for a pedestrian to be involved in an incident during the race.

There was one more senior marshal with a radio stood by Admiralty Arch who was going absolutely ballistic shouting at people. But he just looked an idiot because he was shouting at support staff who were on the course with spare wheels, bikes and hydration! At one stage, a rider retired and was trying to make her way back to the start and he started shouting at her, I couldn't believe it!

mattsaw

ugo.santalucia wrote:

yet this thread has 33 pages of mostly logistics... I would say it is the most logistically challenging ride in the country

Also, that raises the point, that's only by token of it's size, would anywhere else in the country be able to support an event of this size in terms of infrastructure, accommodation, travel, parking etc?

milemuncher1

ugo.santalucia wrote:

PS: I have nothing against RL100, just struggle to understand why those who know they can ride 100 miles no problem keep insisting doing this thing.

I see your point, and 100 miles is no biggie for me, I do lots of 100+ mile rides, but this event has a profile, which means it's easier to raise money for charity on this one.

ugo.santalucia

Mattsaw wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

yet this thread has 33 pages of mostly logistics... I would say it is the most logistically challenging ride in the country

Also, that raises the point, that's only by token of it's size, would anywhere else in the country be able to support an event of this size in terms of infrastructure, accommodation, travel, parking etc?

No, yes, maybe... another city could... in Belgium the RVV revolves around the hamlet of Oudenaarde, which is probably the size of Cambridge at a push

slowbike

ugo.santalucia wrote:

yet this thread has 33 pages of mostly logistics... I would say it is the most logistically challenging ride in the country

Don't disagree with you there.

I've not ridden that many sportives - but the ones I have done have been easy to get to or stay near - the New Forest one was my first - easy drive down, places to park included and didn't cost the earth.
French one (UK organised) was a bit more expensive as we included an overnight near Dover
Scotland one was a weekend away - still drivable and no huge parking fees despite the hotel was 100 yards from the start
Belgium was our most expensive because it involved a weekend stay at a nice hotel - but still easy to get to, parking wasn't hugely expensive although if I did it again I'd stay outside a town (wasn't my choice but did make life easier for my wife)

I had expected London to be quiet at 5am on a sunday morning - it was chaos - traffic jams everywhere - probably tame by London standards though!

slowbike

ugo.santalucia wrote:

No, yes, maybe... another city could... in Belgium the RVV revolves around the hamlet of Oudenaarde, which is probably the size of Cambridge at a push

I couldn't believe the town square when we got back ... it was heaving!
But the difference there - RVV isn't closed roads and it seems all the locals support it - which makes it rather easier to shut the whole place down for a few (thousand) riders...

mattsaw

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

yet this thread has 33 pages of mostly logistics... I would say it is the most logistically challenging ride in the country

Also, that raises the point, that's only by token of it's size, would anywhere else in the country be able to support an event of this size in terms of infrastructure, accommodation, travel, parking etc?

No, yes, maybe... another city could... in Belgium the RVV revolves around the hamlet of Oudenaarde, which is probably the size of Cambridge at a push

How many riders? I wasn't aware it was anything close to 30k?

ugo.santalucia

Milemuncher1 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

PS: I have nothing against RL100, just struggle to understand why those who know they can ride 100 miles no problem keep insisting doing this thing.

I see your point, and 100 miles is no biggie for me, I do lots of 100+ mile rides, but this event has a profile, which means it's easier to raise money for charity on this one.

Don't people run a mile from you when you harrass them for cash to ride the London 100?

ugo.santalucia

Mattsaw wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

yet this thread has 33 pages of mostly logistics... I would say it is the most logistically challenging ride in the country

Also, that raises the point, that's only by token of it's size, would anywhere else in the country be able to support an event of this size in terms of infrastructure, accommodation, travel, parking etc?

No, yes, maybe... another city could... in Belgium the RVV revolves around the hamlet of Oudenaarde, which is probably the size of Cambridge at a push

How many riders? I wasn't aware it was anything close to 30k?

20K give or take

DeVlaeminck

Slowbike wrote:

[
The novelty is being able
Read more at https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/about ... RJYPEBQ.99

let's just guess that 1/2 of those regular riders (2 million) want to do RL - that forgets those who've come from overseas - so 1 million riders and only 25k per year can do it ... that'll take 40 years to do - and that assumes each one only does it once and nobody else joins the list ...

I know you don't want to do it - but I can't see why you have to be so "down" on it ...[/quote]


I'm not sure there are anything like a million people wanting to do any cycling event. I've no doubt this will remain popular but it does seem a shame that this is the biggest 'sportive" in the UK offers relatively little for the enthusiast. Don't get me wrong I'm all for people entering this event if that is their bag but it would be good to have a 20k rider event over 100 miles of the Yorkshire Dales or similar.

I guess what some feel is that Ride London is insufficiently challenging to be something to train for, a target if you like. I had an entry via Wiggle in year 1 but in the end I didn't take it up just because it seemed a lot of faff dor a 4 hour chaingang.

itboffin

I can definitely see the appeal of closed roads in fact down here in Windshire the traffic levels on the single track country lanes is so bad its the main topic of every post ride refreshment stop.

Satnav and general poor driving or road awareness, perhaps what we need is less traffic all round, more car free days in towns?

ajkerr73

itboffin wrote:

Mallorca 312 has changed its route now otherwise i'd have said save your money and give that ago, that said you do still get an incredible route with excellent organisation, almost all traffic free roads and sunshine

I may be wrong, but I believe 312 weather was crap this year.

ugo.santalucia

Slowbike wrote:

The novelty is it being closed roads - 65 miles without putting a foot down - it would've been more if my mate hadn't needed to stop ... .

But that's most decent sportives.

Etape du Dales 2015... had to put the foot down when the wind threw me against the side of Fleet Moss... otherwise only at the feed zones... possibly 3-4 T junctions along the way

Fred Whitton 2016... didn't have to put the foot down until I needed a wee just before Honister, so that's over 40 miles... then only at the two feed zones and another wee or two...

I did ride the closed Roads Etape Cymru in 2014... yes, coming down a descent using the all road is fun, but descents are so short that you can't really say it's a big deal... it would be different coming down the Galibier using the all road... but coming down Leith hill is hardly a hit... besides as above, you are surrounded by idiots all over the place and/or people going down at 20 mph with the brakes slammed, where's the fun?

ugo.santalucia

DeVlaeminck wrote:

I guess what some feel is that Ride London is insufficiently challenging to be something to train for, a target if you like. I had an entry via Wiggle in year 1 but in the end I didn't take it up just because it seemed a lot of faff dor a 4 hour chaingang.

this

itboffin

Was it? That'll be because I wasn't there ;-)

ajkerr73

Rich_E wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

umop3pisdn wrote:

Prime cockwomble. Someone should have told him that his bumbag was killing his aeros.

Everyone around him was a cockwomble too though if they don't give a fcuk about him enough to point him out.
The organizers are the ultimate cockwombles for not enforcing their own rules and not having an enviouroment/event where people would feel that worthwhile though.

Its a modern thing to have rules that are not enforced lol
Does not bode well for the future :roll:

It's probably a difficult thing to actually enforce though, we are talking about a course that is 100 miles in length and only has barriers for busy sections.

The majority of marshals are volunteers and while I'm sure most of them are concerned about rider safety, I don't think they have much power beyond telling somebody they should get off the course if they see somebody. They aren't licensed security staff and nor are they Police. It's one thing to be poaching, but this guy was riding a kind of bike that was deliberately banned to avoid serious injuries in the result of crashes. The health and safety aspect would probably also say that trying to chase people down who shouldn't be on the course is probably a risk to everyone, so not worth the trouble.

Ultimately, while there are those who take the self-entitled approach, most would feel a bit of a tit for poaching a course that people have either paid to ride in or are doing for a charity.

Speaking of marshals, I watched the women's Classique race on Saturday, which has obviously now been extended to a much larger area, taking in heavy tourist areas like Trafalgar Square. There were a lot of people jumping barriers or running across the road, which demonstrates just how easy it would be for a pedestrian to be involved in an incident during the race.

There was one more senior marshal with a radio stood by Admiralty Arch who was going absolutely ballistic shouting at people. But he just looked an idiot because he was shouting at support staff who were on the course with spare wheels, bikes and hydration! At one stage, a rider retired and was trying to make her way back to the start and he started shouting at her, I couldn't believe it!

He shouldn't be on that bike, that's for sure.

But to be honest, on a dry day, as long as he stays of the tri bars he's not causing too much of a problem in my book.

drlodge

Ugo, you should see a Doctor about that bladder of yours. Too many wee wees.

Brakeless

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

The novelty is it being closed roads - 65 miles without putting a foot down - it would've been more if my mate hadn't needed to stop ... .

But that's most decent sportives.

Etape du Dales 2015... had to put the foot down when the wind threw me against the side of Fleet Moss... otherwise only at the feed zones... possibly 3-4 T junctions along the way

Fred Whitton 2016... didn't have to put the foot down until I needed a wee just before Honister, so that's over 40 miles... then only at the two feed zones and another wee or two...

I did ride the closed Roads Etape Cymru in 2014... yes, coming down a descent using the all road is fun, but descents are so short that you can't really say it's a big deal... it would be different coming down the Galibier using the all road... but coming down Leith hill is hardly a hit... besides as above, you are surrounded by idiots all over the place and/or people going down at 20 mph with the brakes slammed, where's the fun?

Have you actually ridden any of the Ride Londons?

ugo.santalucia

Brakeless wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

The novelty is it being closed roads - 65 miles without putting a foot down - it would've been more if my mate hadn't needed to stop ... .

But that's most decent sportives.

Etape du Dales 2015... had to put the foot down when the wind threw me against the side of Fleet Moss... otherwise only at the feed zones... possibly 3-4 T junctions along the way

Fred Whitton 2016... didn't have to put the foot down until I needed a wee just before Honister, so that's over 40 miles... then only at the two feed zones and another wee or two...

I did ride the closed Roads Etape Cymru in 2014... yes, coming down a descent using the all road is fun, but descents are so short that you can't really say it's a big deal... it would be different coming down the Galibier using the all road... but coming down Leith hill is hardly a hit... besides as above, you are surrounded by idiots all over the place and/or people going down at 20 mph with the brakes slammed, where's the fun?

Have you actually ridden any of the Ride Londons?

Off course not, why would I? I used to live in Surrey up to last year... it did seem pretty pointless from day one to pay a fortune, queue here and there to ride the same roads I was riding every other weekend.

I profited from RL 100, as I was hired as a guide to show some folks the roads they would be riding on in RL 100...

ugo.santalucia

drlodge wrote:

Ugo, you should see a Doctor about that bladder of yours. Too many wee wees.

Is it a lot? Once every couple of hours or so... I don't drink much either... generally I do 3 hours with a 750 ml bottle

slowbike

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

The novelty is it being closed roads - 65 miles without putting a foot down - it would've been more if my mate hadn't needed to stop ... .

But that's most decent sportives.

Not really - not many sportives on closed roads - iirc the french one we did was quite good - but you're still forced to navigate junctions safely - which often involves being prepared to stop - I didn't unclip for 65 miles let alone being prepared to stop. Ok - you have to stop if you want to refill (or empty) - but I'd decided I didn't really want to - so didn't.
The only other sportive I've done like that was Etap Loch Ness - again - closed roads - so no requirement to put your foot down ... unless you want to... I loved that ride and would happily do that one again.

drlodge

ugo.santalucia wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Ugo, you should see a Doctor about that bladder of yours. Too many wee wees.

Is it a lot? Once every couple of hours or so... I don't drink much either... generally I do 3 hours with a 750 ml bottle

We're all built differently, and it only get worse as we get older!! Not much can be done I think. Think I stopped once on the Dragon, once yesterday doing 117 miles. I drink about the same as you. YMMV, or is that YWWMV.

Anonymous

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It seems more dangerous to ride surrounded by another 25 K bikes

I have never been surrounded by 25,000 bikes.

ugo.santalucia

Slowbike wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

The novelty is it being closed roads - 65 miles without putting a foot down - it would've been more if my mate hadn't needed to stop ... .

But that's most decent sportives.

Not really - not many sportives on closed roads - iirc the french one we did was quite good - but you're still forced to navigate junctions safely - which often involves being prepared to stop - I didn't unclip for 65 miles let alone being prepared to stop. Ok - you have to stop if you want to refill (or empty) - but I'd decided I didn't really want to - so didn't.
The only other sportive I've done like that was Etap Loch Ness - again - closed roads - so no requirement to put your foot down ... unless you want to... I loved that ride and would happily do that one again.

Closed roads fills the mouth and sounds like a big deal but is not a necessity everywhere... it is in Surrey, but if you head north you just need the main junctions to be marshalled, often you bomb through with the marshal's approval... the other minor junctions are deserted, a quick look and you are on the pedals again... you need to be really unlucky to have to stop.

As I said, I did Etape Cymru on closed roads, I didn't think much of it... oh wait, I could ride the Horseshoe pass on the right end side of the bend, big deal!

Thigh_burn

Maybe not the purist's view of cycling, but one of the most enjoyable things yesterday was the theatre of it. Simply having the roads shut, the crowds worked up, the parties along the street. It was quite fun. It may not be the hardest 100 miles, it might be there are bottle necks, it might be there were lots of cockwombles: the ones going too fast, or too slow. But it was lots of fun.

As an aside, what the buggery can I use to get the remnants of the sticky crap from my rider number sticker off my frame? Soap doesn't seem to do the job.

ETA: Interesting to see what the take-up of ICAP's L'etape London is going to be following RL.