Ride London 2018

buckmulligan

cougie wrote:

If you gather 30000 people together then the statistics of someone having a heart attack are pretty good I guess. Not sure what you could do about it.

I hear this argument a lot and I don't think it's valid. That would be an average of two heart attacks in the crowd at every Premier League football ground on every Saturday afternoon; that just doesn't add up!

Obviously the physical exertion of the event is a factor in these incidents and the route chosen is an integral and (as discussed above regarding Leith Hill) likely a determining factor in that; as such, the organisers have to bear some portion of the responsibility.

mrfpb

cougie wrote:

If you gather 30000 people together then the statistics of someone having a heart attack are pretty good I guess. Not sure what you could do about it.

If it happens in the same spot every time it becomes a predictable risk, and you would expect risk assessments and RCA to result in changes to the course, review of access routes and availability of emergency services at high risk points of the course, review of the sheer number of participants on narrow rural roads with limited alternative access for vehicles.


London Marathion is a multi-million pound organisation benefitting from lots of TV coverage not some little charity. It has a responsibility to address this.

rank_amateur

I’ve never seen anything like the number of punctures today - unbelievable. I had three within two hours and it just made me paranoid for the rest of the ride. I assume that the long dry spell has meant none of the usual bits of glass, flint, metal has been washed away so it was all there today.

BikerGroveish

Rank_amateur wrote:

I’ve never seen anything like the number of punctures today - unbelievable. I had three within two hours and it just made me paranoid for the rest of the ride. I assume that the long dry spell has meant none of the usual bits of glass, flint, metal has been washed away so it was all there today.

A lot of the issues were caused by people riding in a position that they would if the road was open almost like being in autopilot. Because the roads were closed they could ride on a bit of the road where the debris tends not to collect quite so much but they seemed to automatically stick to the left of the left hand side of the road.

BikerGroveish

mrfpb wrote:

cougie wrote:

If you gather 30000 people together then the statistics of someone having a heart attack are pretty good I guess. Not sure what you could do about it.

If it happens in the same spot every time it becomes a predictable risk, and you would expect risk assessments and RCA to result in changes to the course, review of access routes and availability of emergency services at high risk points of the course, review of the sheer number of participants on narrow rural roads with limited alternative access for vehicles.


London Marathion is a multi-million pound organisation benefitting from lots of TV coverage not some little charity. It has a responsibility to address this.

Exactly right. There are often floral tributes attached to the trees where the previous 2 cardiac arrests occurred on Leith Hill. They are literally yards apart and this latest one is at the same spot give or take a couple of yards.

cougie

French events require a doctor's note. You could ask for that but it's pointless unless you have s full ECG test.

They do get heart attacks in the marathon too but I really don't know what you can do about it. You can't make sure people are fit. The marathon does let you defer if you're ill so that's a good thing.

Maybe take all the hills out and reduce it to ten miles. That'll be safe.

Thigh_burn

It was my second time yesterday and it was about enduring it, not enjoying it. The wind and rain meant it was about as unpleasant as could be - unless it had been snowing. I kicked myself for not buying that swanky new Gore jacket they had on at a big discount at the registration show.

When I did it a couple of years ago, I got stuck in a few very long jams, but had an awesome day. Yesterday not so much. I realised that actually it's not a great course - the countryside isn't so pretty and lots of it is on wide dual carriageways. I understand why and yesterday I was very grateful for all of that. Made it more bearable.

I agree with those upthread about the number of flats, it was crazy. It was also annoying seeing the amount of gel wrappers on the road. I'd been admiring the jersey of a bloke in a London Underground top when the b*stard dropped his wrapper. Stick it in your pocket.

It would be interesting to know how many DNFs there were. If there was congestion further back and people standing around it must have been very miserable indeed with the wind and rain.

ugo.santalucia

I am not sure an ECG would be able to predict heart attacks, but it might be able to pick on other issues. Certainly better than nothing.

It's the kind of ride that appeals to a certain demographic: typically overweight, middle aged men with high blood pressure and cholesterol and at risk of heart attack regardless

vpnikolov

J_MCD wrote:

I set off pretty early but the conditions got very bad very quickly. Driving rain for hours and the wind was terrible.

The overall standard of the riding was very good this year, perhaps people were being more careful in the wet or perhaps I just didn't see any douchebaggery but it was a refreshing change.

Only saw one accident, in a relatively benign place, the A4 flyover. Ambulance in attendance.

Lots of punctures everywhere due to carp on the roads. Coming down leith wasnt great, lots of debris.

One of my last favourite rides I think and was tempted to just ditch and head for home when we came down Newlands but still managed it in just over 5 and a half hours so disappointing but not terrible.

You have summed it up quite well.

I was quite surprised how careful people were, especially on Leith. Tbh, I couldn't see shit, bloody awful conditions.

Ah yeh, that crash on the flyover, I still can't understand how has it happened... slight incline and VERY wide road.

veronese68

vpnikolov wrote:

Ah yeh, that crash on the flyover, I still can't understand how has it happened... slight incline and VERY wide road.

I did the ride in 2014 and most of the crashes I saw were on fairly straight and innocuous looking stretches of road, people seemed to just ride into each other. Someone even managed to ride into the back of a van along Whitehall, straight road and you could see it from way back. I stopped to help until qualified help arrived and several people almost rode into us. Froome style looking at stems is the only thing I can think of.
Having ridden that in truly horrific conditions I would say it was the standard of some of the riding that put me off doing it again rather than the weather.

BikerGroveish

Veronese68 wrote:

vpnikolov wrote:

Ah yeh, that crash on the flyover, I still can't understand how has it happened... slight incline and VERY wide road.

I did the ride in 2014 and most of the crashes I saw were on fairly straight and innocuous looking stretches of road, people seemed to just ride into each other. Someone even managed to ride into the back of a van along Whitehall, straight road and you could see it from way back. I stopped to help until qualified help arrived and several people almost rode into us. Froome style looking at stems is the only thing I can think of.
Having ridden that in truly horrific conditions I would say it was the standard of some of the riding that put me off doing it again rather than the weather.

This is why I never ride in these types of events unless it’s on a charity ticket and even then I need a really good reason to do so. Some of the riding needs to be seen to be believed.

BikerGroveish

vpnikolov wrote:

J_MCD wrote:

I set off pretty early but the conditions got very bad very quickly. Driving rain for hours and the wind was terrible.

The overall standard of the riding was very good this year, perhaps people were being more careful in the wet or perhaps I just didn't see any douchebaggery but it was a refreshing change.

Only saw one accident, in a relatively benign place, the A4 flyover. Ambulance in attendance.

Lots of punctures everywhere due to carp on the roads. Coming down leith wasnt great, lots of debris.

One of my last favourite rides I think and was tempted to just ditch and head for home when we came down Newlands but still managed it in just over 5 and a half hours so disappointing but not terrible.

You have summed it up quite well.

I was quite surprised how careful people were, especially on Leith. Tbh, I couldn't see shoot, bloody awful conditions.

Ah yeh, that crash on the flyover, I still can't understand how has it happened... slight incline and VERY wide road.

I was chatting to someone who did the event and was on that stretch when the crash happened. He said it looked like the guy sat up and turned round then his bars twitched and he went straight over the top whilst still facing away.

Thigh_burn

vpnikolov wrote:

Ah yeh, that crash on the flyover, I still can't understand how has it happened... slight incline and VERY wide road.

The competition for weird crashes was one I saw in Richmond Park, up that hill that bends to right. Almost at the very top and a guy not looking where he's going, literally rides up the back wheel and saddle of bike in front. Both seemed ok and neither tumbled.

mroli

mrfpb wrote:

London Marathion is a multi-million pound organisation benefitting from lots of TV coverage not some little charity. It has a responsibility to address this.

After 4 years of nagging, at least they moved the first feed stop just short of kew bridge to the left hand side rather than the right. That used to be chaos....

I know it will be difficult for them, but every time I ride, I think that there are a number of things that I would do to make things safer...

vpnikolov

Thigh_burn wrote:

vpnikolov wrote:

Ah yeh, that crash on the flyover, I still can't understand how has it happened... slight incline and VERY wide road.

The competition for weird crashes was one I saw in Richmond Park, up that hill that bends to right. Almost at the very top and a guy not looking where he's going, literally rides up the back wheel and saddle of bike in front. Both seemed ok and neither tumbled.

Ha, this almost happened to me yesterday, but not in RP. Shortly before arriving back in Kingston, I soft pedal up a short incline so that my mate can catch up, but the guy behind me was still carrying speed, hard braked to miss me by a whisker.

veronese68

So it seems like the crashes in innocuous places are because of people relaxing and not paying attention, with that many people around you really do need to pay attention.

vpnikolov

Agree, the guy confessed he got distracted for a second. :roll:

On another note, I don't think I will be doing it again. Not really worth the money and hassle (in my humble opinion).

Yes, you get the opportunity to ride closed roads, but it is not like the route is something very special.

fenix

It's not surprising there's crashes - look at the number of crashes they have at the Tour. Even in the neutralised zone riders come off.

On the mall it did seem a bit silly with some riders trying to bunch sprint through riders pootling down the mall - oh and one handed as they were filming it too.

godders9

There's a crowdfunding page to support the family of the guy who collapsed and passed away on Leith Hill yesterday, I found this via the Ride100 Facebook Group.

It was my first Sportive (first ride of any kind when I wasn't on my own). I did it for charity so was pleased with what I raised but gutted personally not to get to complete the 100 due to diversions (did 91). I've trained in nothing but warm/dry weather so it took a while to adjust to the rain and just had to be super careful and observant at all times. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience though - my wait to become a centurion goes on.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/charlotte-henderson-1?utm_term=zavermqwv

Thigh_burn

Veronese68 wrote:

So it seems like the crashes in innocuous places are because of people relaxing and not paying attention, with that many people around you really do need to pay attention.

I'm sure to some extent this is right. One of the times I was most concerned was the last couple of miles coming along the Embankment. There were lots of people doing the 46 and possibly another ride who were pootling along and all over the road. Plus you had all those on the 100, who were either going fairly fast or tired, or both. Seemed ripe for a meeting of handlebars.

essexian

I did the 46 and found it to be quite unpleasant at times. Not the distance: that was okay, but the long wait at the start: I got there at 7.40am for my 9.16 start and thus, stood around getting colder and colder in the wind and rain. What got me was that our wave was full of people which had different wave letters. There was no checking that people were in the right place so if I ever do it again, I will get in an early group rather than simply waiting about.

Then when the ride started it was clear that at least half of the people had no experience in riding in groups (I don’t have much but I know to keep my line and shoulder check before moving out while don’t get me started on overtaking on the left) while there were loads of people who got punctures within yards of the start. I put this down to poor bike prep before the ride…. Until I got three myself and indeed, cycled the last three miles on a flat rear tyre! I wouldn’t have been surprised if at least half of the 46 riders missed the cut off time half way around. Despite the punctures, I made it by 40 mins.

The route itself was okay: I was surprised at the number of people walking up out of the tunnel down by the docks while further into the West End there were loads of peds just wandering out trying to cross roads in the face of oncoming cyclists. I did see a number of cars trying to join the route. Indeed there was one black BMW in Richmond where the driver had moved the cones to get out, only for the Marshall to move them back in place while the bloke was moving forward. A couple of cyclists stopped to block the car but the moron was not best pleased.

Also, while I am ranting…did anyone see a “Ride Marshall” or Support Van? I didn’t. I could have done with one towards the end of the ride rather than ride home with a puncture.

As to Richmond Park…. I thought it was supposed to have a hill or something although I thought the “Do not pee” signs were funny, unlike the first puncture I got there. The second came a few miles later which pleased me not a lot. Wimbledon hill was rather draggy, while it was nice to get back into Westminster and back to the finish line. I did get ridden into just as I turned under the Arch by a bloke who was too busy talking to someone else. Berk.

A little bit irritated however that I was given the wrong medal: I was given the 100 mile one rather than the 46 mile version (if there is such a thing) and that my tracker stopped working after 19 miles. My Garmin showed just over 3 hours 10 which for me is good.

Would I do it again…. Not sure: perhaps if the weather was better. Perhaps I’ll do the 100 for my 60th? Pleased however, that there was no problems getting my bike on a Circle Line train, which was nice.

dombo6

Conditions were brutal, and stupidly I left my rain jacket at home. By Richmond Park I was soaked and cold enough to want to bale and do the 46 route so spent an hour huddled in a St Johns Ambulance van with a couple of other riders, wrapped in foil at Hampton Court. I felt a bit of a fraud being cheered by the crowds in Kingston and Wimbledon on the way back as I'd only done about 30 miles at that point, but accepted their applause with good grace.

Ben6899

I saw one crash and that was just after the finish line as two mates tried to high five or similar - man and machine hit the red tarmac pretty hard. I had to brake and swerve around the carnage rather than doing a Pidcock.

alanp23

I did the 100, starting off at 7.30am. I've done a couple of spring sportives in the past where the weather conditions have been worse, but I did stick the rear mudguard on and put on my overshoes.

I thought the organisation was good, it was a wait in the pen, but once we started shuffling to the start, time seemed to move ok. We were lucky that it wasn't raining at that point though it did start pretty soon after the start. I had my rain jacket, but after I had started I decided not to bother. Although I was wet, I didn't feel cold. The only time I did feel cold was when I stopped.

I didn't see any crazy behaviour. I did see a couple of nasty looking accidents and going down one hill, a guy a couple ahead of me nearly lost it, before showing amazing skills to recover. I think if he had gone down so would I.

Hills were ok. I didn't really see many people walking and there was no danger of being brought to a standstill by the crowd ahead. I did wonder if people were put off by the weather and took the shortcuts instead.

I agree about the finish. There was a mass of people who had done the 46 mile mixed with people doing the 100 who just wanted to get finished. But again, everyone seemed to be behaving and it was just a case of assuming unpredictable behaviour when you got near.

I did see a lot of the ride leaders and I saw masses of people fixing punctures. I was lucky enough to just get a slow puncture which I pumped up at Leatherhead and which got me safely home.

It was a good(ish) day out. It was wet and I never quite worked out the direction the wind was coming in and the Marshals didn't look quite as miserable as I am sure they felt.

j_mcd

alanp23 wrote:

I never quite worked out the direction the wind was coming in

This! I don't think I experienced a tail wind once, which is strange as it's essentially a circular route!

Korhag

Had an absolute disaster yesterday. Started at 7am and made good progress to around Mile 25 where I had Puncture No1. Took longer to fix out the inner tube due to cold/rain/sore hands and then the inner tube would not hold pressure, so was forced to use my second inner tube, so two dead inner tubes at one stop. Made good progress again until just after box-hill when I had puncture number two, but lack of inner tubes meant I was forced to walk to a safer spot on the descent 4 miles out from Leatherhead. A rider very kindly gave me a third inner tube which also did not hold pressure (leading me to suspect that the rim/tyre somehow ruptured it once again or it pinched somewhere.

The plan was to wait for a sweeper vehicle to take stranded riders to the final hub for mechanical assistance, but unfortunately did not get collected until 4pm? As the sweeper vehicles were held up on the route miles back, meaning that was well-behind the cut-off for the final leg of the trip. DNF.

Frustrating, but worse things happen at sea!

shazzz

My experience was pretty much the same as J_MCD's. Lucky to have a 6am start and I was back before mid-day. Standard of riding seemed pretty good although I imagine I was back before the worst of the mingling of slower riders on the short course and faster people. It was very odd riding back in to Westminster with the whole of the road available and everyone sticking to the blue cycle path.

There were at least two early crashes on the A4 flyover - at least one of them partly caused by the mats over the expansion joins having shifted.

I was really impressed by the organisation - very slick at the Olympic park, lots of marshalls, well stocked and numerous pit-stops, etc. And the crowds cheering us on as we came back in to London were superb. Will definitely enter the ballot again to try and experience the ride in decent weather.

If anyone finds a download of the results database could they post here? Ta

rich_e

essexian wrote:

I did the 46 and found it to be quite unpleasant at times. Not the distance: that was okay, but the long wait at the start: I got there at 7.40am for my 9.16 start and thus, stood around getting colder and colder in the wind and rain. What got me was that our wave was full of people which had different wave letters. There was no checking that people were in the right place so if I ever do it again, I will get in an early group rather than simply waiting about.

That doesn't seem to have changed from the first year when I did it, despite there being even more colours and waves now. Most of the organisation is made up of volunteers, so I suspect most aren't really checking, or going to cause a fuss about it if they do spot it. I think the majority just stick to the time they are given, as otherwise it would be total chaos.

As to Richmond Park…. I thought it was supposed to have a hill or something although I thought the “Do not pee” signs were funny, unlike the first puncture I got there.

The challenge I find comes from trying to get up it at a reasonable pace given the sheer number of riders on the road! I guess it depends on your start wave, but it's about the slowest I've gone through the Park when doing the event, as you really can't get up too much speed.

I wasn't riding this year, but saw a park warden taking down all those signs in a 4x4 after the Classic race went through.

The first year, when I went through Richmond Park, most of the tree's up Sawyer's Hill had somebody with their shorts pulled aside!

Chastise1943

Amazing how many people opted for no rain gear when a cursory look at the forecast made it quite clear how wet and windy it would be. Dress properly or prepare to get soaked and frozen quickly.

godders9

I don't think you can be too harsh on people because they haven't ridden in a group before.

It's not a race and people are riding for charities so you're going to get a lot of cyclists who've trained on their own (as I did) and then are in and amongst 30000 other riders.

I do think they could do more to get important information to non-club cyclists though, perhaps a video with more advice in it pushed via email more than once prior to the event. I tried to keep left unless I was overtaking but there were people dawdling in the middle (they probably do on motorways as well) which meant the only option was to undertake.

On the other hand I also think there are a lot of club-cyclists who took it too seriously as I heard numerous expletives being thrown in the way of others from the outside lane as it were. Swearing at people who're putting themselves through a lot to raise money for charity? c'mon...