Ride London 2017

okgo

Der Kaiser wrote:

okgo wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

okgo wrote:

lol.

Some seriously choppy riding in the front group. Was quite fun riding in from Box as a 2 up though managing to keep the useless ex rower types at bay

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

People treating it like a time trial pi$$ed me off in 2016 so I chose not to do the event again because of this.

I don't enter Road Races and Time Trials and ride them like a sportive so please don't enter sportives and ride them like a road race chopper!

lol, get over yourself.

If you want to ride round slowly then ride round slowly, nobody is forcing you to ride with the very first group of people on the road.

We rode up box hill hard and the upshot was that there were 3 people left, then two, then we were back in London. A fairly solid but enjoyable ride was had on my home roads sans cars.

Happy to ride at my own pace but when you teams of 4 flashing past 10 miles in weaving in and out of riders takes a lot of the fun out of events such as this.

I appreciate that there are riders in early waves who are at liberty to ride it harder but it's the "All the gear with no idea" that start later with the slower riders like me.

There are a significant number of riders who need to learn how to ride with other people before they take on an event like this.

I see what you mean. I didn't see any of that as we were in the first wave, where the standard in theory was better (it was still poor, but you know).

And yes, you are correct in that many riders are fit, but awful on a bike, many of them are ex rowers ;-)

I only entered for a bit of fun, and don't do sportives, and I agree that many of these clowns should enter a road race and see just how much more difficult it is than tearing through people on hybrids.

Der Kaiser

okgo wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

okgo wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

okgo wrote:

lol.

Some seriously choppy riding in the front group. Was quite fun riding in from Box as a 2 up though managing to keep the useless ex rower types at bay

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

People treating it like a time trial pi$$ed me off in 2016 so I chose not to do the event again because of this.

I don't enter Road Races and Time Trials and ride them like a sportive so please don't enter sportives and ride them like a road race chopper!

lol, get over yourself.

If you want to ride round slowly then ride round slowly, nobody is forcing you to ride with the very first group of people on the road.

We rode up box hill hard and the upshot was that there were 3 people left, then two, then we were back in London. A fairly solid but enjoyable ride was had on my home roads sans cars.

Happy to ride at my own pace but when you teams of 4 flashing past 10 miles in weaving in and out of riders takes a lot of the fun out of events such as this.

I appreciate that there are riders in early waves who are at liberty to ride it harder but it's the "All the gear with no idea" that start later with the slower riders like me.

There are a significant number of riders who need to learn how to ride with other people before they take on an event like this.

I see what you mean. I didn't see any of that as we were in the first wave, where the standard in theory was better (it was still poor, but you know).

And yes, you are correct in that many riders are fit, but awful on a bike, many of them are ex rowers ;-)

I only entered for a bit of fun, and don't do sportives, and I agree that many of these clowns should enter a road race and see just how much more difficult it is than tearing through people on hybrids.

It's not just cycling. I have just started doing Triathlon and I spent weeks getting used to open water swimming. I get to my first event and the amount of people rolling up having never done an open water swim was astounding. Thankfully the newbies can stay at the back in a group swim.

And they were probably rowers

ugo.santalucia

okgo wrote:

lol.

Some seriously choppy riding in the front group. Was quite fun riding in from Box as a 2 up though managing to keep the useless ex rower types at bay

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

You lost the sprint... I can't believe you lost the damn sprint!

pollys_bott

Der Kaiser wrote:

I appreciate that there are riders in early waves who are at liberty to ride it harder but it's the "All the gear with no idea" that start later with the slower riders like me.

Anyone else notice the number of top-end bikes (Canyon, Pinarello, Argon 18, S-Works) that were crying out for a bit of chain lube and a properly indexed rear mech? Baffles me how people can spend thousands on a bike but not three quid on a bottle of oil...

ryan_w-2

ugo.santalucia wrote:

okgo wrote:

lol.

Some seriously choppy riding in the front group. Was quite fun riding in from Box as a 2 up though managing to keep the useless ex rower types at bay

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

You lost the sprint... I can't believe you lost the damn sprint!

To a 49 year old......

okgo

Mine was in dire need after riding through that shite in Surrey!

slowbike

Der Kaiser wrote:

okgo wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

okgo wrote:

lol.

Some seriously choppy riding in the front group. Was quite fun riding in from Box as a 2 up though managing to keep the useless ex rower types at bay

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

People treating it like a time trial pi$$ed me off in 2016 so I chose not to do the event again because of this.

I don't enter Road Races and Time Trials and ride them like a sportive so please don't enter sportives and ride them like a road race chopper!

lol, get over yourself.

If you want to ride round slowly then ride round slowly, nobody is forcing you to ride with the very first group of people on the road.

We rode up box hill hard and the upshot was that there were 3 people left, then two, then we were back in London. A fairly solid but enjoyable ride was had on my home roads sans cars.

Happy to ride at my own pace but when you teams of 4 flashing past 10 miles in weaving in and out of riders takes a lot of the fun out of events such as this.

I appreciate that there are riders in early waves who are at liberty to ride it harder but it's the "All the gear with no idea" that start later with the slower riders like me.

There are a significant number of riders who need to learn how to ride with other people before they take on an event like this.

I deliberately made sure we started a few waves back to avoid getting in the way of the "fast boys" - we were quick, but not that quick - had a couple of choppers, but nothing major - mostly down to comms, looking and mostly riding sensibly.

I'm pleased to say that of the riders I saw - only a few rode what I would describe as dangerously - most rode sensibly - slowing down when marshals, ride leaders suggested (ie at tight corners & 2 crashes we saw). Had a couple of near misses in our group - but all amicablly sorted and no harm intended - or done.
Only one pr1ck - shouting "Get Over" at the top of boxhill - not to me - to the guy next to me - despite there being plenty of room - meh ... it's only a hill ... get over it yourself!

harry-s

It was a bit of a mixed day I decided. The rain stopped as I left the house, and started just as I returned, which is very un-British, but nice. 15 minutes slower than last year, but I think I made the top 5 in my AG, so I guess the wet descents and blustery weather hurt everyone.
Saw a Dulwich rider come off on the turn into Newlands, but he looked ok. On the ride back home along Cromwell Road I saw a guy being attended to, and he didn't look good. Hope he pulled through.
It's a right old faff though, and I can't say I enjoyed it that much, so probably the last time for me. Apart from the faff, I thought the organisation on the day was spot on though, almost closing a major capital is no mean feat.

philbar72

Good day but my lack of top end climbing power and relative bulk saw me dropped up all the non 1 minute hills, as well as on the flat by the early pain trains... the way out was significantly slower than last year, and really I should have upped my effort, as it wasn't as bad conditions wise as you'd think. had a better second half though but still slow.

saw 2 accidents of note. 1 guy in light blue stacked it horrendously on the entry to Newlands. the other was a pair of triathletes bombing past at dorking and one of them didn't make the turn onto the A24.... he hit it at about 20mph after completely messing up...

rick_chasey

Gave a couple people sh!t for chucking gels over their shoulder.

Only accident I saw was as I was rolling in on my flat tire, a guy ahead of me maybe 5 metres from the finish properly face planted.

Looked out for the count, though hopefully it was just embarrassment.

Anonymous

I did not think the atmosphere was as good this year.
Premiere Inn Stratford seemed to have a lot less cyclists.

They did not do early breakfast this year which was a real disappointment.

Thought they upped their prices because of the event, yet are no longer supporting the riders.

Breakfast is the main reason I would stay a couple of nights and spend money locally, so going to give it a miss next year.

surrey_commuter

Rick Chasey wrote:

Gave a couple people sh!t for chucking gels over their shoulder.

Only accident I saw was as I was rolling in on my flat tire, a guy ahead of me maybe 5 metres from the finish properly face planted.

Looked out for the count, though hopefully it was just embarrassment.

I trust you paused his Strava

Anonymous

I saw a lot of injuries.

Quite a few broken bones and I suspect there are lots we never hear about.

rick_chasey

Surrey Commuter wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Gave a couple people sh!t for chucking gels over their shoulder.

Only accident I saw was as I was rolling in on my flat tire, a guy ahead of me maybe 5 metres from the finish properly face planted.

Looked out for the count, though hopefully it was just embarrassment.

I trust you paused his Strava

I had flashes of that geezer in the marathon who helped that guy who'd bonked like mad, but he was already being attended to, so I thought I'd leave him to it.

dinyull

First fatality this year confirmed:

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/lates ... ive-344617

Off the top of my head at least 1 death each year since 2014. Do they require a medical as part of your entry? How many deaths does the London Marathon suffer?

capt_slog

I finished. I think my time was around 8:06, which includes waiting for son to start, a stop at Trafalgar Square to say hello to Mrs Slog, several pees, and a nice spot of lunch at the top of Newlands.

I saw LOTS of punctures, a chap rolled to a stop as i was waiting for son, 200m out, "****" he said "I've used two tubes on the way to the start". He then got off and wheeled his bike back to the start. Makes me think he wasn't checking the tyre before putting in a new tube perhaps?

Saw a couple of falls: One nearly took me out on Lieth as a chap hit the barrier on the right (when he should have been a bit more to the left :roll: ) , I managed to stay on the bike. Another was on a dip which I think is after Box Hill, lady on the floor and not moving, happened seconds before I got there.

I'm happy to have got round and not have to get off for hills. I've done Box and Newlands before, but Leith was a first for me, and was worrying me a bit (the sort of hill that causes deaths in my age group). I see there was no reason to worry now, it's just a hill.

Newlands was fun, I got boxed in and when a gap appeared I pushed really hard and popped a wheely, that's never happened, it made me laugh.

The worst bit was the start. I had a wait of 1.5 hours in the gate and was bloody frozen.

Edit: 8:03 official time.

bigmat

okgo wrote:

lol.

Some seriously choppy riding in the front group. Was quite fun riding in from Box as a 2 up though managing to keep the useless ex rower types at bay

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

Wow, slow conditions this year? Times seem a bit down on last year, windy?

okgo

BigMat wrote:

okgo wrote:

lol.

Some seriously choppy riding in the front group. Was quite fun riding in from Box as a 2 up though managing to keep the useless ex rower types at bay

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

Wow, slow conditions this year? Times seem a bit down on last year, windy?

Dunno, didn't look at last year.

But the fact myself and Arlen rode from the top of Box to the end as a two up probably meant it was slower than had we been with the rest, dunno.

london-red

Some great times recorded - congrats Okgo, getting round in 3.58 is a solid effort!!

I found it bloody hard work, harder than I found the Etape du Dales earlier this year, which is as likely down to my current fitness as much as anything. My strategy for the day was to go pretty much full on for the first third, survive the middle third and then hurtle home in true Spartacus style for the final third.

First two went okay, then totally hit the wall. Could have been fuel, could have been general fitness, but that last 25-30 miles were some of my least enjoyable on a bike (and that was mostly downhill with a fricking tailwind...)

Came in at 4.51, was hoping for 4.30.

Saw about half a dozen crashes - either as they happened, or the pretty immediate aftermath, and what seemed like someone mending a puncture every 50 yards...

Until next year

Madness33

My first go at Ride 100 and really enjoyed 99% of it. Thought it was really well organised for such a large event and seemed to go really smoothly for me at least.

Got round in 5.50 total time with a couple of stops, about 5.25 on strava.

First half was a bit too quick in hindsight, got to Newlands in 2.23. Hills were ok, Box Hill easier than I expected helped by such a smooth surface.

Starting getting twinges of cramp in my right leg at 80 miles and couldn't stand for the rest of the course. Finally managed to get cramp in my right hamstring and then as I moved it, it moved to my right quad so had to pull over for a bit! Lovely old lady on the 46 mile pulled over to see if I was ok.

2 bad incidents, ambulance and screens in last 10 miles and the copper said it was a heart attack as we all filtered past and the only bit of idiocy I saw was in Richmond Park when one of the riders pulled over to the left to stop and then without looking starting walking across the path with loads of us bearing down on him at speed. I missed him by inches but bloke next to me hit him and fell taking out another 3 riders!

asprilla

Pollys Bott wrote:

Chapeau for that okgo, seriously rapid.

I went off at 0624, had to wait ten minutes for my two mates from work to start and once we joined up it was just mental: on the rivet straight away, I can remember wondering when I'd go past Hampton Court then the next thing I knew I was at the 40 mile marker. I'd dropped off our group exiting Richmond Park as being at near-threshold so early wasn't sustainable, hopped from group to group to get back on and then Pat punctured. Was glad of the rest . Stayed together over Newlands but they went off again on the last couple of miles to the bottom of Leith and I found them waiting at the top. Stopped at Westcott to top up drinks and a bit of grub and found my legs again: Rich & I flew up Box (approx 260th out of 12500 on the day!) and then it was hammer down again. Formed a few good little groups over the last 20 miles or so and we were absolutely flying: I went into a poor man's Tony Martin TT mode from about Kingston & did the six mile segment from Putney to the finish at a smidge under 25mph which was pretty pleasing to say the least. Sweetspot sessions on TR & 50 mg of caffeine in the Clif mocha gel a good combination . Our aim was sub 5 hrs so was really chuffed to finish in 4:46, especially as I thought I'd shot my bolt with the furious pace early on. The ride back to the Premier Inn at Waltham Abbey was leisurely to say the least. Best of all we've raised over £1600 for our local hospice 8)

Only trouble now is that my mates want to go back next year and aim for 4:30...

Blue G?

If so you went off in the same wave as me and finished 1 minute ahead. We must have been together for most of it.

ugo.santalucia

Dinyull wrote:

First fatality this year confirmed:

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/lates ... ive-344617

Off the top of my head at least 1 death each year since 2014. Do they require a medical as part of your entry? How many deaths does the London Marathon suffer?

IN most of continental Europe you need a medical and in some circumstances even an ECG. Britain works differently, it is based on "self-certification" basically you are responsible for you own health and safety instead of delegating it to the state. There are PROs and CONs in both methods... personally I prefer the UK system, because it's less hassle, but of course it is (marginally) more prone to casualties.

In the grand scheme of things, if you ask 24k people to do a given high intensity cardio activity, you are bound to have a small number of cardiac arrests as a matter of simple statistics

fenix

When I've done races abroad I had to have a note from the doctor - just to say I was well enough to do it. No ECG or anything - that would be expensive and probably not that useful.

As has been said - in any mass event there's a chance that someone might have a cardiac arrest. I'd rather go like that than fade away. RIP fellow cyclist.

ugo.santalucia

Fenix wrote:

When I've done races abroad I had to have a note from the doctor - just to say I was well enough to do it. No ECG or anything - that would be expensive and probably not that useful.

In Italy now (since 2015) you need an ECG even for non competitive events... say for the Eroica... it is a royal PITA, but if you look at it in a different way, it's nice that the state cares about your health

pastryboy

Thanks for the finish list posted above. As I thought was the case, I finished inside the top 30. I knew a small group had moved off on Box Hill but wasn't sure how many had got away. I was in the group of what appears to be 20 that made it just inside the 4 hour mark.

Never done it before but if times were slower than last year I assume it was down to the rain in the first hour - some of the corners were being taken painfully slow.

Didn't witness any accidents but probably due to being in a relatively small bunch for a lot of it. I did see a chain snapped on Box Hill and someone's crank come off though.

It was a good event insofar as I'm happy with how quick I finished but part of me wishes I'd not been sitting on wheels the whole time and had taken in some of the sights.

mustgettaller

okgo wrote:

lol.

Some seriously choppy riding in the front group. Was quite fun riding in from Box as a 2 up though managing to keep the useless ex rower types at bay

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

Where did you get the spreadsheet from? I can't find a download link for all results, only the individual search page.

itboffin

Pollys Bott wrote:

Der Kaiser wrote:

I appreciate that there are riders in early waves who are at liberty to ride it harder but it's the "All the gear with no idea" that start later with the slower riders like me.

Anyone else notice the number of top-end bikes (Canyon, Pinarello, Argon 18, S-Works) that were crying out for a bit of chain lube and a properly indexed rear mech? Baffles me how people can spend thousands on a bike but not three quid on a bottle of oil...

i used to think that until i'd been in the same situ myself (not RL) and developed a horrible noise a few miles into a ride, you just get on with it :roll:

its still annoying as hell

pollys_bott

Asprilla wrote:

Blue G?

If so you went off in the same wave as me and finished 1 minute ahead. We must have been together for most of it.

Indeed I was, though my 4:46 is Strava ride time rather than official chip time which was 5:16. So was I a minute ahead or 29 behind?

I started off in a yellow rain jacket which came off once in Richmond Park & had a blue Giro d'Italia mountains jersey (yeah yeah, I know...) on, riding my CR1. Was with a chap in Rapha on a Canyon and another in a Colmans Mustard jersey on a white Verenti...

itboffin

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Fenix wrote:

When I've done races abroad I had to have a note from the doctor - just to say I was well enough to do it. No ECG or anything - that would be expensive and probably not that useful.

In Italy now (since 2015) you need an ECG even for non competitive events... say for the Eroica... it is a royal PITA, but if you look at it in a different way, it's nice that the state cares about your health

because of my age now and family history my local doctor wont just sign my event waiver forms now he tests me all the same, I guess i'm lucky to have a doctor that cares about my well being and has the time to provide that extra attention, small villages sometimes have their advantages.

I agree with Ugo its a PITA but why wouldnt you get checked before an event, especially as you get older or like me have family history.

-Dash

Rick Chasey wrote:

Gave a couple people sh!t for chucking gels over their shoulder.

Only accident I saw was as I was rolling in on my flat tire, a guy ahead of me maybe 5 metres from the finish properly face planted.

Looked out for the count, though hopefully it was just embarrassment.

https://www.facebook.com/BBCSport/video ... 091360752/

This guy at 4:00?

Not too sure what happened there!