Ride London 2019 anyone?

CptKernow

I'm in the 6.04 wave. I just spoke with a friend who has pulled out because he's in the 6.16 wave saying he couldn't be doing with having 3,000+ riders to get around.

Personally I wouldn't have thought this would be that much of a problem after 20 minutes. So how much traffic is there ahead on something like the 6th wave?

cruff

CptKernow wrote:

I'm in the 6.04 wave. I just spoke with a friend who has pulled out because he's in the 6.16 wave saying he couldn't be doing with having 3,000+ riders to get around.

Personally I wouldn't have thought this would be that much of a problem after 20 minutes. So how much traffic is there ahead on something like the 6th wave?

I did the 6:21 a few years back and it was a nightmare. Grouos of blokes who were reasonably fast on the flat but had clearly never ridden in a bunch before, especially not at speed. Saw two get-downs before we even left the Olympic Park, then an almighty crash which I avoided by the skin of my teeth just entering the Limehouse Link tunnel. Nobody working together, so soloed through group after group until Newlands, saw someone nearly kill themselves on the descent into Gomshall and then there were people walking up Leith at half eight in the morning.

CptKernow

Cruff wrote:

I did the 6:21 a few years back and it was a nightmare. Grouos of blokes who were reasonably fast on the flat but had clearly never ridden in a bunch before, especially not at speed. Saw two get-downs before we even left the Olympic Park, then an almighty crash which I avoided by the skin of my teeth just entering the Limehouse Link tunnel. Nobody working together, so soloed through group after group until Newlands, saw someone nearly kill themselves on the descent into Gomshall and then there were people walking up Leith at half eight in the morning.

Ha ha! Sounds feckin awful! Can't wait...

Will try and get on the fastest wheel I can hold and hopefully lose a few on the first climb. Should make for an interesting initial 25 miles!

Pretty shocking anyone who could get to Leith Hill by 8.30 would have to walk it - they obviously ain't from down my way!

CptKernow

Cruff wrote:

I did the 6:21 a few years back and it was a nightmare. Grouos of blokes who were reasonably fast on the flat but had clearly never ridden in a bunch before, especially not at speed. Saw two get-downs before we even left the Olympic Park, then an almighty crash which I avoided by the skin of my teeth just entering the Limehouse Link tunnel. Nobody working together, so soloed through group after group until Newlands, saw someone nearly kill themselves on the descent into Gomshall and then there were people walking up Leith at half eight in the morning.

Ha ha! Sounds feckin awful! Can't wait...

Will try and get on the fastest wheel I can hold and hopefully lose a few on the first climb. Should make for an interesting initial 25 miles!

Pretty shocking anyone who could get to Leith Hill by 8.30 would have to walk it - they obviously ain't from down my way!

elbowloh

You're lucky you only saw walkers first at Leith Hill.

When i last did it, I had to walk for 20 mins in Richmond Park as there had been a crash up ahead and people were walking up Newlands Corner.

At the time I said it was the worst ride i'd ever taken part in.

Why am i doing it again?

cruff

CptKernow wrote:

Cruff wrote:

I did the 6:21 a few years back and it was a nightmare. Grouos of blokes who were reasonably fast on the flat but had clearly never ridden in a bunch before, especially not at speed. Saw two get-downs before we even left the Olympic Park, then an almighty crash which I avoided by the skin of my teeth just entering the Limehouse Link tunnel. Nobody working together, so soloed through group after group until Newlands, saw someone nearly kill themselves on the descent into Gomshall and then there were people walking up Leith at half eight in the morning.

Ha ha! Sounds feckin awful! Can't wait...

Will try and get on the fastest wheel I can hold and hopefully lose a few on the first climb. Should make for an interesting initial 25 miles!

Pretty shocking anyone who could get to Leith Hill by 8.30 would have to walk it - they obviously ain't from down my way!

That's one of the problems. There AREN'T any 'climbs' until Newlands, at 45 miles in. That means the pace is pretty quick, even for choppers. Setting aside the crashes by numpties, the very fact it's so flat means it doesn't get attritional early enough, and a lot people will be riding faster than they've ever done before in a group. When the adrenaline wears off and they get tired from riding at 25mph and constantly having to accelerate back to the wheel in front because they aren't comfortable following it closely, that's when accidents happen

joe_totale-2

I'd also add that a lot of these riders won't be used to riding constantly for 2-3 hours as it's tricky to train for that. Most rides we all go on we have little pauses at traffic lights or junctions. As a result these riders are a lot more fatigued then they realise and hence they struggle up the hills, even little humps like Newlands Corner.

daniel_b

Wowsas, ok I am going to wind down my expectations accordingly, and if it surpasses them all well and good.

Ben6899

Daniel B wrote:

Wowsas, ok I am going to wind down my expectations accordingly, and if it surpasses them all well and good.

We had a ball, last year, after eventually setting off (not overly impressed with the organization, tbh). If you manage your expectations (you'll see some horrendous road craft) and understand you won't always have a clear path to make the progress as you'd like then you'll find it okay.

Take it for what it is - a mass-participation event for all sorts of abilities. A morning out on the bike.

harry-s

Cruff wrote:

CptKernow wrote:

Cruff wrote:

I did the 6:21 a few years back and it was a nightmare. Grouos of blokes who were reasonably fast on the flat but had clearly never ridden in a bunch before, especially not at speed. Saw two get-downs before we even left the Olympic Park, then an almighty crash which I avoided by the skin of my teeth just entering the Limehouse Link tunnel. Nobody working together, so soloed through group after group until Newlands, saw someone nearly kill themselves on the descent into Gomshall and then there were people walking up Leith at half eight in the morning.

Ha ha! Sounds feckin awful! Can't wait...

Will try and get on the fastest wheel I can hold and hopefully lose a few on the first climb. Should make for an interesting initial 25 miles!

Pretty shocking anyone who could get to Leith Hill by 8.30 would have to walk it - they obviously ain't from down my way!

That's one of the problems. There AREN'T any 'climbs' until Newlands, at 45 miles in. That means the pace is pretty quick, even for choppers. Setting aside the crashes by numpties, the very fact it's so flat means it doesn't get attritional early enough, and a lot people will be riding faster than they've ever done before in a group. When the adrenaline wears off and they get tired from riding at 25mph and constantly having to accelerate back to the wheel in front because they aren't comfortable following it closely, that's when accidents happen

Agree 100% with that, and I'm still using a crutch to prove it. If you want to have a potter around London and the South Downs, see the sights and be part of an 'event', then great, you won't be disappointed. If you want to ride hard against the clock, then IMO it's totally unsuitable, and unnecessarily dangerous.

The crowd that Organise RL100 are London Marathon Events, and I get the impression they (misguidedly) want this to be a two wheeled version of the marathon, but it's a different ball game altogether. I'd never go near it again.

essexian

handful wrote:

I need to get from Chiswick to the start and i'm supposed to be in the Green area from 05:28-06:08 with an official start time of 06:56. I wanted to try and book the special overground train from Richmond (only 3 miles instead of 16 miles) but the early trains are booked up. I panic bought the last ticket on the 05:45 train which gets into Stratford at 06:35 which is clearly a bit late really! What is likely to happen, will I allowed to effectively filter to my start group and leave almost immediately, be shunted back to a later start time or will I be kicked out? What toher options could I look at if I sacrifice my £10 without cycling all the way to the start? Thanks!

Hi

If I was you, I wouldn't worry and just turn up as normal. When I did the 46 last year I dutifully turned up at the prearranged arrival time and simply stood around in the pouring rain for an hour. Frankly, if I had not travelled over 140 miles to get there, I wouldn't have gone home.

The only thing you might notice is that the lorry taking your kit back has packed up so my suggestion would be not to bring one unless you are willing to carry it around the course. You may also find your wave has moved along the start ramp meaning you will have to join another. While all starting groups are supposed to have the same colour on their numbers, our group was a sea of many colours meaning people basically ignored it. Also, I never saw a marshall at the starting area who gave a fig about what was going on....unlike the marshalls on the rest of the route who were wonderful, they looked bored and did little to help.

Enjoy the ride and don't worry, you'll be fine arriving late.....although I take no responsibility for you doing so and getting kicked off the ride for being late!

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Daniel B wrote:

Checking the hills via strava segments, am I correct in thinking newlands and leith are around a mile long?

Couldn"t quite work out box hill (several options), anyone know?

Dan, bit late seeing this, but why not download Zwift and use some of the 25Km free trial per month to get an idea of Leith Hill? "Surrey Hills" route to top of Leith (having climbed Box) is ~14Km.

Innsbruck is today's additional world to Wattopia, but London is the official supplemental world Saturday and Sunday. https://zwiftinsider.com/schedule/

However, you can use a great util to "hack" into non-official scheduled worlds to ride what you like. https://zwiftinsider.com/zwift-preferences-update/

Just be aware that unless things have changed, hacking into non-official worlds can cause chaos for you if you join races or training events. ~18 months ago I signed up for a race having non reverted the hack back to the default official world schedule, I ended up riding a longer course in a different world and saw no other riders!

Here's the Zwift cat3 version of Leith https://www.strava.com/segments/16750904 , IIRC ~15mins will get you up it with ~3.5W/Kg power, ~2.6W/Kg takes ~19min30secs.

j_mcd

Daniel B wrote:

Checking the hills via strava segments, am I correct in thinking newlands and leith are around a mile long?

Couldn"t quite work out box hill (several options), anyone know?

I'd rate the hills in the following order (from hardest to easiest)

1. Leith, it just gets a bit narrow in places and goes on a bit
2. Newlands, like others have said, it's just the first hill that you hit so it's a bit of shock
3. Wimbledon, 90 miles in and, a bit like the Spanish Inquisition, no one expects it. People shouting encouragement at you is nice though
4. Box, easy peasy, it's just a nice ride up with a great opportunity to get a flapjack and take a pee at the top

There will always be people walking up the hills but it's more noticeable on Leith as the road is so narrow.

What I would say is that Leith is the least pleasant to descend, the road surface is pretty bad, there's a lot of 'dappled sunshine' spots and the road narrows and widens a lot. Add into that people flying down it at serious speed and it can feel a little much. The little incline at the end before you hit the Dorking Road surprises a few people as well!

cruff

smithclarkson01 wrote:

If you want to do the full 100m ride then pay for it. It really takes the wee-wee to try to sneak on to the ride when people are out there raising money for charity and paying for the support the ride offers. If you do then don't be surprised if you get lots of foul looks and/or abuse..

Thanks for that - apropo of... Well, nothing really

pitcaig

Finally got a reply back from Ride London organisers saying that the Blackwall tunnel will not be open to cyclists this year. So looks like I’ll use the Woolwich foot tunnel.

dombo6

Captain_Kirk wrote:

Does anyone know where I can download a TCX or GPX of the route? I can't see one on the official page, and have come across some older routes which seem to be the same route as this year. But Wasn't sure if there was anything "official"

Thanks

There is no official TCX or GPX because some of the roads are only open to cyclists on the day. However if you go to ridewithgps there are quite a few TCXs and GPXs that people have loaded from riding it in previous years.

sherer

pitcaig wrote:

Finally got a reply back from Ride London organisers saying that the Blackwall tunnel will not be open to cyclists this year. So looks like I’ll use the Woolwich foot tunnel.

what idiot thought this would be a good idea.. seems they are making it harder and harder to get each year, but keep increasing the entrants.

Least if it's not closed might be able to drive to other side and cycle from there.

Least they could do is signposted routes in on normal roads..

daniel_b

Think I have plotted my route now, just under 4 miles, so planning to leave at about 05:00.

rick_chasey

The most enjoyable bits by far are the beginning and end, when you're tearing through London on shut-roads.

Make the most of that bit, it's really fun.

elbowloh

From the official site:

Participants who live, park or plan to be dropped off south of the river can use the Rotherhithe Tunnel to cross the river. The tunnel will be closed to traffic from 04:00-08:00.

Please note: the Blackwall Tunnel remains open to traffic in both directions and will not be open to cyclists. Participants, including those using the O2 Arena Car Park, will be able to cross the river via the Emirates Air Line to get to the Start.

RossoCorso34

Weather looks a bit all over the place for this weekend, warm with rain showers, but the time of the showers seems to be shifting all over the place.

es_vee

Like a lot of people I want to cycle with mates on Sunday but we're in different waves - I seem to recall from previous years that you can drop back waves but not forward (or maybe I'm mixing that up with another event) - does anyone know if this is ok? It's not on the FAQ which seems odd - or is it something you can probably get away but is an annoying thing to do as if everyone did it there'd be chaos?

dombo6

Rick Chasey wrote:

The most enjoyable bits by far are the beginning and end, when you're tearing through London on shut-roads.

Make the most of that bit, it's really fun.

The descent from Newlands Corner is good as well. Nice surface, not too steep and a good runout at the bottom.

rich_e

I failed in the ballot for the 100 again this year, but I notice they seem to have massively undersold the other events like the 19. The 19 was originally a ballot event when it launched too, but now they are selling half price guaranteed entries, the week of the event taking place. Further to that, if you enter, you also have chances to win a place in next year's 100.

I'm tempted to enter and just smash it out, but then I'm also annoyed that they don't just have more non-charity entries for the 100.

handful

essexian wrote:

handful wrote:

I need to get from Chiswick to the start and i'm supposed to be in the Green area from 05:28-06:08 with an official start time of 06:56. I wanted to try and book the special overground train from Richmond (only 3 miles instead of 16 miles) but the early trains are booked up. I panic bought the last ticket on the 05:45 train which gets into Stratford at 06:35 which is clearly a bit late really! What is likely to happen, will I allowed to effectively filter to my start group and leave almost immediately, be shunted back to a later start time or will I be kicked out? What toher options could I look at if I sacrifice my £10 without cycling all the way to the start? Thanks!

Hi

If I was you, I wouldn't worry and just turn up as normal. When I did the 46 last year I dutifully turned up at the prearranged arrival time and simply stood around in the pouring rain for an hour. Frankly, if I had not travelled over 140 miles to get there, I wouldn't have gone home.

The only thing you might notice is that the lorry taking your kit back has packed up so my suggestion would be not to bring one unless you are willing to carry it around the course. You may also find your wave has moved along the start ramp meaning you will have to join another. While all starting groups are supposed to have the same colour on their numbers, our group was a sea of many colours meaning people basically ignored it. Also, I never saw a marshall at the starting area who gave a fig about what was going on....unlike the marshalls on the rest of the route who were wonderful, they looked bored and did little to help.

Enjoy the ride and don't worry, you'll be fine arriving late.....although I take no responsibility for you doing so and getting kicked off the ride for being late!

Thanks Essexian

I've more or less decided to ride to the start with a couple of mates who missed the boat (or train) when it came to booking a place so another 16 miles to do now! I feel pretty good though, have got a decent amount of miles and hills . I think the stress of not knowing if I am ok being late wouldn't be worth it! Thanks for the advice though.

ugo.santalucia

Rich_E wrote:

I failed in the ballot for the 100 again this year, but I notice they seem to have massively undersold the other events like the 19.

I suppose people who are interested to ride 19 miles, are probably not willing to spend £ 30 to do so... at £ 1.50 a mile it would be the most expensive cycling event by a long stretch.
They can't expect people to be complete fools...

-Dash

Rich_E wrote:

I failed in the ballot for the 100 again this year, but I notice they seem to have massively undersold the other events like the 19. The 19 was originally a ballot event when it launched too, but now they are selling half price guaranteed entries, the week of the event taking place. Further to that, if you enter, you also have chances to win a place in next year's 100.

I'm tempted to enter and just smash it out, but then I'm also annoyed that they don't just have more non-charity entries for the 100.

I thought of doing that. 19 mile time trial effectively but I know at that time of the day there's no way it will be glorious closed roads, it will be full of cyclists all over the place

Tashman

Touch and go on deffering til next year at the minute. Still got knee and shoulder pain and would rather be fully fit when hauling my 98kg ass around the course. At least the bike is all back in one piece now!

sherer

elbowloh wrote:

From the official site:

Participants who live, park or plan to be dropped off south of the river can use the Rotherhithe Tunnel to cross the river. The tunnel will be closed to traffic from 04:00-08:00.

Please note: the Blackwall Tunnel remains open to traffic in both directions and will not be open to cyclists. Participants, including those using the O2 Arena Car Park, will be able to cross the river via the Emirates Air Line to get to the Start.

good to know... hopefully it will be signedposted all the way... the other year several signs seemed to be missing

dombo6

sherer wrote:

elbowloh wrote:

From the official site:

Participants who live, park or plan to be dropped off south of the river can use the Rotherhithe Tunnel to cross the river. The tunnel will be closed to traffic from 04:00-08:00.

Please note: the Blackwall Tunnel remains open to traffic in both directions and will not be open to cyclists. Participants, including those using the O2 Arena Car Park, will be able to cross the river via the Emirates Air Line to get to the Start.

good to know... hopefully it will be signedposted all the way... the other year several signs seemed to be missing

Alternatively, nip across London Bridge, bear right up Gracechurch St and turn right along Fenchurch St (big Marks & Spencer on corner), then just keep going as it becomes the A11 straight to Olympic Park.