Ride London 2019 anyone?

webboo

Tyresome wrote:

I got this today



So I decided to do the ride for Naomi House Hospice instead. They’ve got a 150 quid suggested minimum donation, so that’s very reasonable.

Maybe the offer of a place went to one of your other aliases I.e. Milemuncher, Killerclown.

pamplemoose

msmancunia wrote:

Pamplemoose - not staying there this year as I'm down for a few days so doing the serviced apartment thing, but have stayed at the Premier Inn on Haverstock Hill (Belsize Park) before - really handy for the motorway/north circular if you're heading that way home. Decent hotel, decent price for on-site parking, and a nice little warm up to the start - Camden Road/Holloway Road/ Highbury then up to the Olympic Park. Easy to get back too - just up to Euston Road, through Regents Park, and you're practically there. If you're travelling on the Saturday leave enough time to pick up your race pack from Excel - think they shut at five.

That looks a decent shout, cheers! I'm travelling down from Yorkshire so am making a long weekend of it. Dunno why they can't just post the rider packs out instead of making everyone have to go to London to get them the day before ffs!

rich_e

pamplemoose wrote:

msmancunia wrote:

Pamplemoose - not staying there this year as I'm down for a few days so doing the serviced apartment thing, but have stayed at the Premier Inn on Haverstock Hill (Belsize Park) before - really handy for the motorway/north circular if you're heading that way home. Decent hotel, decent price for on-site parking, and a nice little warm up to the start - Camden Road/Holloway Road/ Highbury then up to the Olympic Park. Easy to get back too - just up to Euston Road, through Regents Park, and you're practically there. If you're travelling on the Saturday leave enough time to pick up your race pack from Excel - think they shut at five.

That looks a decent shout, cheers! I'm travelling down from Yorkshire so am making a long weekend of it. Dunno why they can't just post the rider packs out instead of making everyone have to go to London to get them the day before ffs!

It's simply because of the fact that they want to funnel everyone into the exhibition at the ExCeL, getting you in front of the main sponsors and also all the other businesses that they will have sold stand space to, on the premise that it will be lucrative because you've got some 50,000 cyclists coming through.

Another L for me again this year.
It does seriously make me wonder whether it's time to start being less honest on the entry form, as it's been clear for sometime now that they have weighted criteria, rather than it being a straight up random ballot.

skinnygav

what part of https://hub.realbuzzregistrations.com/ tells you if you have a place or not (I have not received an e mail and do not live at my registered address)?

cougie

Pal and his wife have entered twice. Wife got in both times. Husband not. I got my second or third rejection too. Not that bothered to be honest. I can do the good bits on Zwift !

sniper68

skinnygav wrote:

what part of https://hub.realbuzzregistrations.com/ tells you if you have a place or not (I have not received an e mail and do not live at my registered address)?

Log in.
Click on "Entries"
If successful there's a payment option.

Rich_E wrote:

Another L for me again this year.
It does seriously make me wonder whether it's time to start being less honest on the entry form, as it's been clear for sometime now that they have weighted criteria, rather than it being a straight up random ballot.

Is there a weighted criteria though?What is the perceived criteria?
I'm male,50,live in Yorkshire.
I'm always totally honest,applied 4 times and got in on 4th attempt.My mate has got in previous 3 years(3 out of 3) and I know someone who has failed 4 years in a row.I also know a husband/wife who have had one in one not and that was the wife.

mbroady

70k apply for 25k spaces, they're going to have a certain amount of gender / age categories they need to fill, other than that I think it's just luck of the draw.

Probably 1 in 4 chance or so if you broke it down.

ti_yred

msmancunia wrote:

Ti yred wrote:

Am I in danger of setting a record for rejections in the ballot? Fifth year in a row now....I haven't run anyone's cat over. Ever!

I'm female, not based in London and have got in four times out of five. Make of that what you will.

My riding partner received her 'Congratulations' magazine today. Third attempt for her. Shame she doesn't want to do it without me though...We're both in Herefordshire so I guess its a sex change for me if I really want to do it.

Surely there should be a method by way of giving those who haven't been successful a priority over those who have ridden it? Or would that be expecting too much? :?

cougie

I suspect there is a huge chunk of the field that's charity places just the same as the marathon. So it's not a ballot for 25,000 places - it's a ballot for what's left after the complimentary places and charities have got their allocation.

And yes my pals wife is in but she's not bothering without her husband riding too. It's a lot of faff this ride.

joe_totale-2

My partner has got a place 3 out of 3 times she's entered the ballot.
I've tried twice and didn't get a place either time, I did ride it once for charity.
Didn't try this year as I couldn't be bothered.

TBF I don't mind if the ballot is weighted towards women. Not every sportive out there needs to be a MAMIL sausage-fest and if it helps get more women into road cycling by projecting an inclusive image then that can only be a good thing.

solstice21

What happens if you ride a charity place but don't hit the taeget? A lot asking for 500 pounds and say i only made it to 250¿

Tyresome

Solstice21 wrote:

What happens if you ride a charity place but don't hit the taeget? A lot asking for 500 pounds and say i only made it to 250¿

They generally write the difference off, once and once only. You’ll get blacklisted for subsequent efforts.

solstice21

Tyresome wrote:

Solstice21 wrote:

What happens if you ride a charity place but don't hit the taeget? A lot asking for 500 pounds and say i only made it to 250¿

They generally write the difference off, once and once only. You’ll get blacklisted for subsequent efforts.

Thanks.

handful

Both me and my daughter have got a place in the ballot after about 4 years of trying. trying to work out where to stay now!

Tyresome

handful wrote:

Both me and my daughter have got a place in the ballot after about 4 years of trying. trying to work out where to stay now!

Travelodge in Waterloo central has worked for me for the past three efforts. It’s easy to get to the start ( and about 15 minutes) and easy to get back after the ride. In my experience.

handful

Tyresome wrote:

handful wrote:

Both me and my daughter have got a place in the ballot after about 4 years of trying. trying to work out where to stay now!

Travelodge in Waterloo central has worked for me for the past three efforts. It’s easy to get to the start ( and about 15 minutes) and easy to get back after the ride. In my experience.

Thanks!

What's it like for parking and for somewhere to keep the bikes though? Will they let them into the rooms?

Tyresome

handful wrote:

Tyresome wrote:

handful wrote:

Both me and my daughter have got a place in the ballot after about 4 years of trying. trying to work out where to stay now!

Travelodge in Waterloo central has worked for me for the past three efforts. It’s easy to get to the start ( and about 15 minutes) and easy to get back after the ride. In my experience.

Thanks!

What's it like for parking and for somewhere to keep the bikes though? Will they let them into the rooms?

They Allow bikes into the rooms, and there’s an NCP car park right outside.

handful

That's great, thanks. Just looked and it's £190 a room :shock:

I may try a cheaper option first but thanks anyway!

CptKernow

Just got my place confirmed by email. First time I've applied and two other guys in my (small) club both got places.

Supposing I wanted to ride it at a decent pace - is there any way of getting fairly close to the front - i.e. first couple of thousand at the off?

handful

CptKernow wrote:

Just got my place confirmed by email. First time I've applied and two other guys in my (small) club both got places.

Supposing I wanted to ride it at a decent pace - is there any way of getting fairly close to the front - i.e. first couple of thousand at the off?

Don't think so. Unless you estimted a quick pace when you entered the ballot. My form states start times can't be changed under any circumstances.

Tyresome

CptKernow wrote:

Just got my place confirmed by email. First time I've applied and two other guys in my (small) club both got places.

Supposing I wanted to ride it at a decent pace - is there any way of getting fairly close to the front - i.e. first couple of thousand at the off?

Get to the start in time for the first wave and shove through to the front. No one will really take too much notice as long as you keep your head down and mingle in with the crowd. Be aware that the front waves take off at a pace you may not have experienced before, and if you can’t hold 400 Watts you’re going to get wasted off the line in the front waves.

ianlash

CptKernow wrote:

Just got my place confirmed by email. First time I've applied and two other guys in my (small) club both got places.

Supposing I wanted to ride it at a decent pace - is there any way of getting fairly close to the front - i.e. first couple of thousand at the off?

The three times I've done it there's been a complete mixture of rider colours (i.e. "waves") so they don't really care. Most people follow the rules, but they aren't strict about it.

davep1

CptKernow wrote:

Just got my place confirmed by email. First time I've applied and two other guys in my (small) club both got places.

Supposing I wanted to ride it at a decent pace - is there any way of getting fairly close to the front - i.e. first couple of thousand at the off?

I did the first two years, I don't think you have to worry about being in the first few waves. There are fast people spread throughout, you get trains of speed merchants coming past almost constantly.

skinnygav

Rich_E wrote:

Another L for me again this year.
It does seriously make me wonder whether it's time to start being less honest on the entry form, as it's been clear for sometime now that they have weighted criteria, rather than it being a straight up random ballot.

I did RL the first year after Wiggle signed up as a sponsor and sent out a link to just buy an entry - it hadn't sold out. I then got rejected in the ballot in 2014,15 and 16. After reading the post ride press release where they emphasise the amount of diversity amongst participants I decided to alter my ethnicity (on my entry). I rode in 2017 as a Black man, got rejected in the ballot in 2018 so upgraded myself to a black woman and got a place this year.

All anecdotal of course but worth a try.

Ben6899

Rejected for the 100% record since the ride opened (rode for UNICEF last year). It's clearly not a ballot - next time around I'll be registering as female and reckoning it'll take me all day to get round.

capt_slog

Ben6899 wrote:

Rejected for the 100% record since the ride opened (rode for UNICEF last year). It's clearly not a ballot - next time around I'll be registering as female and reckoning it'll take me all day to get round.

Just to add the counter argument...

My son (27) got in via the ballot in 2015, 16, and 17. He had his first rejection in 2018. This seems to belie the theory that males don't get a place.

davep1

Capt Slog wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Rejected for the 100% record since the ride opened (rode for UNICEF last year). It's clearly not a ballot - next time around I'll be registering as female and reckoning it'll take me all day to get round.

Just to add the counter argument...

My son (27) got in via the ballot in 2015, 16, and 17. He had his first rejection in 2018. This seems to belie the theory that males don't get a place.

Under 30 though. Males between 40 and 55? Forget it! They have 20,000 places in all, approx. How many go to charities and employees of the organisers and charities? 15,000? 17,000? So the ballot is realistically 2-3000 places.

They should say if you get a ballot place one year, you can't get one next year. It's supposed to be a legacy event, it's supposed to be inclusive.

cougie

skinnygav wrote:

Rich_E wrote:

Another L for me again this year.
It does seriously make me wonder whether it's time to start being less honest on the entry form, as it's been clear for sometime now that they have weighted criteria, rather than it being a straight up random ballot.

I did RL the first year after Wiggle signed up as a sponsor and sent out a link to just buy an entry - it hadn't sold out. I then got rejected in the ballot in 2014,15 and 16. After reading the post ride press release where they emphasise the amount of diversity amongst participants I decided to alter my ethnicity (on my entry). I rode in 2017 as a Black man, got rejected in the ballot in 2018 so upgraded myself to a black woman and got a place this year.

All anecdotal of course but worth a try.

Don't you need ID to collect your number ? Will you be going in drag to collect ?

capt_slog

DaveP1 wrote:

Capt Slog wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Rejected for the 100% record since the ride opened (rode for UNICEF last year). It's clearly not a ballot - next time around I'll be registering as female and reckoning it'll take me all day to get round.

Just to add the counter argument...

My son (27) got in via the ballot in 2015, 16, and 17. He had his first rejection in 2018. This seems to belie the theory that males don't get a place.

Under 30 though. Males between 40 and 55? Forget it! They have 20,000 places in all, approx. How many go to charities and employees of the organisers and charities? 15,000? 17,000? So the ballot is realistically 2-3000 places.

They should say if you get a ballot place one year, you can't get one next year. It's supposed to be a legacy event, it's supposed to be inclusive.

I agree


I'm not sure about your numbers though, there are supposed to be about 25,000 riders on the day. From the FAQs (and 2017) it says there were 23,000 finishers of the 100 (and another 4000 from the 46).

I got the impression from previous years that it was 25,000 PLUS charity entries, I can recall hearing on the 2017 that there were over 30,000 of us out there that day, but I can't find anything to confirm that either way.

Ben6899

cougie wrote:

skinnygav wrote:

Rich_E wrote:

Another L for me again this year.
It does seriously make me wonder whether it's time to start being less honest on the entry form, as it's been clear for sometime now that they have weighted criteria, rather than it being a straight up random ballot.

I did RL the first year after Wiggle signed up as a sponsor and sent out a link to just buy an entry - it hadn't sold out. I then got rejected in the ballot in 2014,15 and 16. After reading the post ride press release where they emphasise the amount of diversity amongst participants I decided to alter my ethnicity (on my entry). I rode in 2017 as a Black man, got rejected in the ballot in 2018 so upgraded myself to a black woman and got a place this year.

All anecdotal of course but worth a try.

Don't you need ID to collect your number ? Will you be going in drag to collect ?

It's how he identifies.