Ride London 2018

fenix

Its a bit of a different comparison there though - 1000km vs 100 miles ? Obviously you'd pack more kit if you're doing those kind of distances. I

ugo.santalucia

Fenix wrote:

Its a bit of a different comparison there though - 1000km vs 100 miles ? Obviously you'd pack more kit if you're doing those kind of distances. I

Personally I don't mind too much what people do or don't do... it's down to the organisers to deal with folks being unprepared if they wish to do so... I just think they should have the common sense to realise that their ordeal is entirely their fault and there was nothing, absolutely nothing extreme in the weather to justify it.
I wish they stopped this narrative of "polar expedition-like" conditions in Surrey and accepted that it was an average July day in England for which they failed to prepare.

The post should be along the lines of:

"I was a bit of an idiot and decided not to carry any waterproof despite the chance of rain... as a result, I made a fool of myself by having to take shelter in an ambulance for hypothermia in July at sea level... but hey ho, live and learn!"

bigmat

Ryan_W wrote:

Ugo: Not trying to be a pro at all you knob.

I removed my baselayer and left my gilet in my bag at the start since it was warming up and forecast said 7% chance of rain at 10am when I’d be pretty much finished.


Fenix: I had been training hard and eating well. Wasn’t down to conditioning at all. Even during the ride I was eating / drinking to a schedule to avoid any bonking.

I’d felt a little ropey the day before and had an early night. May have had something to do with it, but before the cold set in, something wasn’t right. Maybe could have even over done it leading up to the event, I dunno.

Sounds nasty Ryan. I'm blaming you and your Paceline mates for my suffering! I was in the 5:48 wave looking across at what must have been about half a dozen Paceline guys, some of whom appeared to be in skinsuits, thinking I would have my work cut out to make up 4 minutes! My wave turned out to be pretty slow so I spent the first 20 miles or so mainly on the front with only a handful of other riders helping out and eventually just me and an Islington rider taking turns. I said to him we'd end up paying, and I certainly did. Felt good on the climbs and spent a lot of time pushing on the front until things started to go wrong. Basically I didn't eat enough (I'm diabetic, blood sugars had been a bit messed up beforehand so it gets tricky) and ran out of energy somewhere after Box Hill (had been going pretty well until then and was in a group of maybe 20 with only a few 0544 riders ahead. I gradually started losing the wheel, kept pushing until somewhere past Kingston where I ended up struggling on a "hill" that hadn't even registered in previous years, then suffered like a dog for the last 12 miles or so. Maybe I'm carrying some extra insulation these days, but I didn't find it that cold. Sleeveless base layer and a jersey was enough, plus arm warmers that I had worn for the ride to the start and forgot to take off before dropping off my bag - probably for the best as they stayed on all ride. I did feel a bit chilly after the finish but I think my body was in shock as blood sugars were down at 2.6! Fortunately I had a race cape in my bag and a bag of jelly babies... Managed a long 4:20 in the end - a bit disappointed to have ballsed up my nutrition as I reckon I lost maybe 10 minutes in the final 12 miles. Will be interesting to see the overall results at some point.

cruff

Yeah, it's a bit bad form to criticise someone for not planning on getting hypothermia in summer. In the lakes, maybe, or halfway up a Welsh mountain, but generally you've got to be extremely unlucky to get it in the middle of London in July. I did the Dynamo instead after getting a ludicrously late start time, and whilst we missed the rain on the ride back to Ipswich, the headwind was not pleasant

slowbike

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Fenix wrote:

Bit harsh Ugo. I think we've had about two months of fantastic sun and heat in the UK - doesn't take long to lull us into a false sense of security.

Look, I was helping out at the Mille Cymru last week... riders started with 30 degrees on thursday and finished saturday and sunday with 12 degrees and torrential rain in Snowdonia and then Shropshire... nobody needed treatment for hypothermia and nobody really complained about the conditions... somebody even made his way home on a bike (fixed gear for what that matters) after the event

https://www.strava.com/activities/1736497095

I think some folks who have been cycling for years should really know better than gambling with a forecast

I packed naff all for my 20 mile commute this morning. Roads were wet and in the hour I was riding I got wet legs and a damp back - as expected. It's drying up nicely and I'll go home in the same kit - shorts & short sleeved jersey - totally reliant on the weather forecast for a whole day. If it snows this afternoon I may just leave the bike at work and get the bus home - although I'll still probably freeze as I don't have a jumper here. I doubt it will though - it probably won't even rain - but if it does I'll probably just take my chances in the wet - it's only 30 minutes home (shorter route) so I'm unlikely to freeze.

Ok - tbf - if I was doing the RL100 I would've packed a rain jacket - possibly arm warmers too - although I'd overheat in those at this time of year - you're only riding for ~5hrs - so it's not some great expedition where you need to pack changes of clothes - you take what you think you're going to need and that's it - otherwise we could just pack whole panniers worth of kit and ride slowly round the course - what's the point in that?! It's not as though there's much to see....

We (as a family) are planning on doing some cycle trips - multiday and therefore potentially different weather to the forecast - we will then pack accordingly - I'll probably leave out the winter kit though (especially the studded tyres) - little chance of needing them ...

veronese68

vpnikolov wrote:

My next purchase is a lightweight rain jacket.

I don't like waterproofs as they feel like a plastic bag and you still get wet eventually on a long ride. The only upside is they do pack up small.
For the 2014 with the big storm I had an Altura Transformer, windproof with removable sleeves, and wound up wearing that most of the way round. I was wet through as it's only showerproof, but I didn't get cold and was comfortable throughout. Nothing would have kept me dry other than a full on deep sea diver's outfit so wet and warm was fine. On that occasion there were sections of road that were completely flooded, the tunnel as you approach Kingston was probably 6" deep as I went through. Overshoes were wet through but again my feet were warm, there were places where my feet were going through deep water at the bottom of the pedal stroke.
That reminds me, not long after the off that year there were loads of discarded rain capes at the side of the road as the rain stopped for a short while. I suspect many would have regretted that decision as it was torrential for the rest of the ride.

ugo.santalucia

Veronese68 wrote:

That reminds me, not long after the off that year there were loads of discarded rain capes at the side of the road as the rain stopped for a short while. I suspect many would have regretted that decision as it was torrential for the rest of the ride.

Those were clearly the "wanna be a PRO" types

They probably went on to propagate the tale of polar conditions in Surrey

cruff

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

That reminds me, not long after the off that year there were loads of discarded rain capes at the side of the road as the rain stopped for a short while. I suspect many would have regretted that decision as it was torrential for the rest of the ride.

Those were clearly the "wanna be a PRO" types

They probably went on to propagate the tale of polar conditions in Surrey

Has anybody ever told you that you come across as a bit of a supercilious d1ck quite often?

Or just randomly banged you out?

fenix

Who throws away a rain cape ? OK those people are idiots.

My Gore Shakedry jacket is a great piece of kit. It would definitely have been in action on Sunday - I saw a few finishers wearing them.

kingstonian

Honestly Ugo, we know you turn your nose up at RL100, that's fair enough as it clearly isn't your cup of tea but everyone is allowed to make a mistake or two in their life. I don't see anyone asking for sympathy, they're just saying it how it was.

ugo.santalucia

Cruff wrote:

Has anybody ever told you that you come across as a bit of a supercilious d1ck quite often?

I tend to, on forums... I am lovely in person, I am just one of those repressed people who turn nasty online

As for your previous:

Hard and unprepared might work
Weak and prepared might work

Weak and unpreprared typically doesn't work... it's just down to knowing yourself

I am feeble and therefore tend to be prepared...

dombo6

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Personally I don't mind too much what people do or don't do... it's down to the organisers to deal with folks being unprepared if they wish to do so... I just think they should have the common sense to realise that their ordeal is entirely their fault and there was nothing, absolutely nothing extreme in the weather to justify it.
I wish they stopped this narrative of "polar expedition-like" conditions in Surrey and accepted that it was an average July day in England for which they failed to prepare.

The post should be along the lines of:


"I was a bit of an idiot and decided not to carry any waterproof despite the chance of rain... as a result, I made a fool of myself by having to take shelter in an ambulance for hypothermia in July at sea level... but hey ho, live and learn!"[/quote]

And that sums up exactly my decisions and consequences. Lesson duly learned. (Duly corrected )

ugo.santalucia

Dombo6 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

"I was a bit of an idiot and decided not to carry any waterproof despite the chance of rain... as a result, I made a fool of myself by having to take shelter in an ambulance for hypothermia in July at sea level... but hey ho, live and learn!"

And that sums up exactly my decisions and consequences. Lesson duly learned.

Good!

I wish you quoted the all message, as it is it looks like I am talking about myself...

dombo6

Veronese68 wrote:

That reminds me, not long after the off that year there were loads of discarded rain capes at the side of the road as the rain stopped for a short while. I suspect many would have regretted that decision as it was torrential for the rest of the ride.

I saw one of those at the start line, just out of reach. Wish I'd picked it up.

shazzz

Ryan_W wrote:

Set off at 0544.

Stayed with the bunch to Newlands.
Started to feel strange. Out the back I went.
No power / energy by Leith and crawled up it.
Started to lose my vision and use of hands.
Freewheeled down Leith to medical point and stumbled into ambulance with mild hypothermia and shock.
I was frozen with a body temp of 34.1, in complete agony.

Strange since I’m a big guy and always run hot.

Spent two hours defrosting and then went solo to the finish in my homemade poncho made from my medical blanket.

4h23m moving, 6h29m total.

Note to self: Take a rain jacket if forecast even slightly suggest there may be rain.

Were you on a black Colnago with deep rims, wearing a huge flappy see through plastic cape? I wondered what was going on there. I thought the rider in question was going for a spinnaker effect...

fenix

Loads of riders on nice bikes with hugely puffy rainjackets.

And I saw a bloke on a TT machine - they weren't allowed ? Guess he skipped the start and joined later ?

ugo.santalucia

Fenix wrote:

Loads of riders on nice bikes with hugely puffy rainjackets.

And I saw a bloke on a TT machine - they weren't allowed ? Guess he skipped the start and joined later ?

Maybe he had a change of bike from the Admiral car?

I've seen Quintana doing just that in a TT at the Vuelta...

veronese68

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I am feeble and therefore tend to be prepared...

What does that make me?

Completely agree, people chucking rain capes is stupid. They were only the thin translucent types not sure how much they'd cost. But they take little room in a jersey pocket, if you have a mechanical in wind and rain you will get cold very quickly, littering just underlines what a dick you are.

ugo.santalucia

Veronese68 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I am feeble and therefore tend to be prepared...

What does that make me?

Completely agree, people chucking rain capes is stupid. They were only the thin translucent types not sure how much they'd cost. But they take little room in a jersey pocket, if you have a mechanical in wind and rain you will get cold very quickly, littering just underlines what a dick you are.

People seem to forget that being a PRO means having secured a professional contract, rather than being able to discard stuff at the side of the road

ryan_w-2

shazzz wrote:

Ryan_W wrote:

Set off at 0544.

Stayed with the bunch to Newlands.
Started to feel strange. Out the back I went.
No power / energy by Leith and crawled up it.
Started to lose my vision and use of hands.
Freewheeled down Leith to medical point and stumbled into ambulance with mild hypothermia and shock.
I was frozen with a body temp of 34.1, in complete agony.

Strange since I’m a big guy and always run hot.

Spent two hours defrosting and then went solo to the finish in my homemade poncho made from my medical blanket.

4h23m moving, 6h29m total.

Note to self: Take a rain jacket if forecast even slightly suggest there may be rain.

Were you on a black Colnago with deep rims, wearing a huge flappy see through plastic cape? I wondered what was going on there. I thought the rider in question was going for a spinnaker effect...

No, I was on a black S5 wearing a mint green therma blanket, flapping around like a full blown sail, but it kept the wind off my core which was the goal in just making it home.

Ugo, again being a full on bellend (no change there).

I commute everyday of the year, rain, snow, sleet, you’ll find me on CS8.

I have no idea why I at 86kg got hypothermia and my team mates of 60kg in the same kit didn’t. Something underlying, overtraining, I’m not sure, but it happened.

It’s not the end of the world. I was very thankful for the great care and assistance form the St Johns Ambulance staff.

I’ve complete 1,658km doing LEJOG over 8 days in April, and I didn’t get hypothermia then. Maybe I’ve just turned soft.

Now packing my kit for 4 weeks cycling in Maui. I’ll be sure to pack my thermals.

Ben6899

Ryan_W wrote:

I have no idea why I at 86kg got hypothermia and my team mates of 60kg in the same kit didn’t. Something underlying, overtraining, I’m not sure, but it happened.

Sounds like you might have been a bit under the weather beforehand (which I think you alluded to). I'm 72kg and only layered up (base, jersey, gilet) rather than wearing/packing a proper rain jacket... because at the end of the day it was ~20degC. I felt the chill when stopped at the Hubs, but nothing too bad, a rain jacket would have been excessive IMO.

RossoCorso34

Ryan_W wrote:

shazzz wrote:

Ryan_W wrote:

Set off at 0544.

Stayed with the bunch to Newlands.
Started to feel strange. Out the back I went.
No power / energy by Leith and crawled up it.
Started to lose my vision and use of hands.
Freewheeled down Leith to medical point and stumbled into ambulance with mild hypothermia and shock.
I was frozen with a body temp of 34.1, in complete agony.

Strange since I’m a big guy and always run hot.

Spent two hours defrosting and then went solo to the finish in my homemade poncho made from my medical blanket.

4h23m moving, 6h29m total.

Note to self: Take a rain jacket if forecast even slightly suggest there may be rain.

Were you on a black Colnago with deep rims, wearing a huge flappy see through plastic cape? I wondered what was going on there. I thought the rider in question was going for a spinnaker effect...

No, I was on a black S5 wearing a mint green therma blanket, flapping around like a full blown sail, but it kept the wind off my core which was the goal in just making it home.

Ugo, again being a full on bellend (no change there).

I commute everyday of the year, rain, snow, sleet, you’ll find me on CS8.

I have no idea why I at 86kg got hypothermia and my team mates of 60kg in the same kit didn’t. Something underlying, overtraining, I’m not sure, but it happened.

It’s not the end of the world. I was very thankful for the great care and assistance form the St Johns Ambulance staff.

I’ve complete 1,658km doing LEJOG over 8 days in April, and I didn’t get hypothermia then. Maybe I’ve just turned soft.

Now packing my kit for 4 weeks cycling in Maui. I’ll be sure to pack my thermals.

I'm the same weight as you, and was 'only' wearing my charity jersey and a Sportful No Rain light top / jersey / jacket. I was warm enough and dry enough when moving, after my first loo break it took me a while to get warm again. Chucked on a gillet that I had until mile 90.

I too, like you, run hot and struggled after a stop with getting enough heat into me. I think having the Sportful top was a perfect solution as it's not like a boil in bag packaway and would strongly recommend them if you are looking for something for those wet(ish) warm(ish) windy(ish) sort of days.

I checked the forecast and it was a very humid 20 or so degrees with a 40% chance of rain, so I packed for that and would have done something very different had I know it was going to be 5 hours of heavy rain and a biting headwind.

ugo.santalucia

Ryan_W wrote:

I’ve complete 1,658km doing LEJOG over 8 days in April, and I didn’t get hypothermia then. Maybe I’ve just turned soft.

Maybe you have...

On the subject, I drafted Jasmyn Muller's wheel for an hour or so at LWL... she is going for the LEJoG female record in September... 52 hours or so... a locomotive, I tell ya... :shock:

https://www.lejogrecord.co.uk/

BikerGroveish

Fenix wrote:

Loads of riders on nice bikes with hugely puffy rainjackets.

And I saw a bloke on a TT machine - they weren't allowed ? Guess he skipped the start and joined later ?

It’s only the superman bars that aren’t allowed. A TT Bike with standard bars is allowed.

BikerGroveish

Capt Slog wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Capt Slog wrote:

So I was boggled to read on Sunday morning that a rider had joined a group of riders and only 8 miles further on, realised that they weren't heading for the start as he'd originally thought, they were on the course and he was going in the opposite direction!

I'd be interested to hear where he joined the course...

I doubt that he knew!

BTW I've also read of tacks and nails being on the course, near Leatherhead, anyone else had any news of this?

Someone I know who rode this event spotted something odd in the road on the approach to Leatherhead and picked it up. I haven’t got a picture of it but it looked like 2 nails that had been bent and soldered or brazed together in a 3D swastika kind of fashion if that makes sense and left on the road. So that looks completely deliberate to me.

BikerGroveish

Ryan_W wrote:

Set off at 0544.

Stayed with the bunch to Newlands.
Started to feel strange. Out the back I went.
No power / energy by Leith and crawled up it.
Started to lose my vision and use of hands.
Freewheeled down Leith to medical point and stumbled into ambulance with mild hypothermia and shock.
I was frozen with a body temp of 34.1, in complete agony.

Strange since I’m a big guy and always run hot.

Spent two hours defrosting and then went solo to the finish in my homemade poncho made from my medical blanket.

4h23m moving, 6h29m total.

Note to self: Take a rain jacket if forecast even slightly suggest there may be rain.

I’m glad you’re okay. You did exactly the right thing in swallowing your pride and getting into the ambulance. It’s the people who don’t do this and struggle on regardless who end up in the news for the wrong reasons normally.

stueys

Rain and wind chill is hard to be exact about. I’ve ridden for hours in the rain in a gabba and been fine, then a descent with wind chill and been completely unable to get warm again. If there’s rain potential I normally take an extra layer now, even just if it’s just a gillet or rain jacket just in case. It’s nice to have if needed. But given the weather we’ve had recently I completely get why people didn’t.

As an aside the goretec shakedry material is fairly epic. I’ve the 7mesh jacket and it’s the first thing I’ve had that just about lives up to the promise of waterproof, windproof and breathable. So far it seems to fit in between my gabba type jerseys and full on rain jackets. I can see me slowly phasing the gabba type stuff out now.

awavey

Ben6899 wrote:

Ryan_W wrote:

I have no idea why I at 86kg got hypothermia and my team mates of 60kg in the same kit didn’t. Something underlying, overtraining, I’m not sure, but it happened.

Sounds like you might have been a bit under the weather beforehand (which I think you alluded to). I'm 72kg and only layered up (base, jersey, gilet) rather than wearing/packing a proper rain jacket... because at the end of the day it was ~20degC. I felt the chill when stopped at the Hubs, but nothing too bad, a rain jacket would have been excessive IMO.

it neednt necessarily be solely the weather conditions though,by that I mean its a factor for sure, but not the whole cause, dehydration and lack of food intake can contribute greatly to the increased risk of hypothermia taking hold, because your body regulates your temperature burning the energy left in your tank, if the tank is already emptying quickly because of the effort you are making anyway on this 100mile ride, and then its an increased effort to overcome the miserable windier/rainy conditions and then also trying to boost you temperature because you are feeling the cold more, you have to fill the tank quicker and keep filling it.

but the thing is in the rain, drinking water or eating snacks, no-one ever feels really like having a soggy banana, or to keep drinking as if it were a normal summers day when you are surrounded by and covered in water and you probably focus more on just riding as you want to get it over and done with, and youll probably feel ok till the tank starts to empty and then it hits like a bonk.

so yeah more layers would keep you warmer which would help, but youve got to think how often are you drinking, how much carb refuelling are you doing, is it enough still, those long waits at the start take more out of you than you think as you lose body warmth, but because you are standing around you dont feel like you are doing anything

kingstonian

Ryan_W wrote:

shazzz wrote:

Ryan_W wrote:

Set off at 0544.

Stayed with the bunch to Newlands.
Started to feel strange. Out the back I went.
No power / energy by Leith and crawled up it.
Started to lose my vision and use of hands.
Freewheeled down Leith to medical point and stumbled into ambulance with mild hypothermia and shock.
I was frozen with a body temp of 34.1, in complete agony.

Strange since I’m a big guy and always run hot.

Spent two hours defrosting and then went solo to the finish in my homemade poncho made from my medical blanket.

4h23m moving, 6h29m total.

Note to self: Take a rain jacket if forecast even slightly suggest there may be rain.

Were you on a black Colnago with deep rims, wearing a huge flappy see through plastic cape? I wondered what was going on there. I thought the rider in question was going for a spinnaker effect...

No, I was on a black S5 wearing a mint green therma blanket, flapping around like a full blown sail, but it kept the wind off my core which was the goal in just making it home.

Ugo, again being a full on bellend (no change there).

I commute everyday of the year, rain, snow, sleet, you’ll find me on CS8.

I have no idea why I at 86kg got hypothermia and my team mates of 60kg in the same kit didn’t. Something underlying, overtraining, I’m not sure, but it happened.

It’s not the end of the world. I was very thankful for the great care and assistance form the St Johns Ambulance staff.

I’ve complete 1,658km doing LEJOG over 8 days in April, and I didn’t get hypothermia then. Maybe I’ve just turned soft.

Now packing my kit for 4 weeks cycling in Maui. I’ll be sure to pack my thermals.

You prob had an underlying virus or something similar that ran you down. Years ago I knew someone that died of hypothermia, I can’t go into much detail but he was stronger, fitter and more resilient than I’d expect any of us are but he got caught out by circumstances and it was suspected that an underlying but undetected illness made him more susceptible

timothyw

Many years of scrutinising the weather forecast for the commute and trial and error therein meant that I was bang on with my outfit choices - shorts, short sleeved base layer and jersey, aero lid with minimal vents (I'm naturally well insulated....)

Only time I got cold was descending Leith hill, having had to wait for my ride buddy for a couple of minutes at the top (he'd been struggling to get the training rides in!)

Was taking it easy this year - done it enough times chasing the clock, wanted to actually enjoy the scenery as I doubt I'll be back again soon. The stress of worrying what other riders might do is pretty hard work.