London to Brighton BHF ride

royalcbr
royalcbr Posts: 15
edited June 2015 in Road general
Hi there,

Not sure this is the right place to have this thread but I'm new to BikeRadar.

Basically I was hoping to see if anyone else is taking part in the London to Brighton ride for the British Heart Foundation this year in June and I traveling down from the Buckinghamshire/Bedfordshire area.

I'm having a nightmare trying to organise getting to the start in Clapham Common and then home again after the event, mainly because of the lack of trains allowing bikes on the day - does anyone have any suggestions or can help out that would be great.

Thanks in advance, Mark

Comments

  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    Drive down to birghton and park just outside where you can get free parking. Ride to the start from there, do the ride and ride back to your car after. Depending on your start time it will take you 5-6 hours to do the 52 miles as its ridiculously busy and impossible to maintain any pace. The ride from brighton to the start should be doable in 3ish hours or less even if you aren't that fast.

    If you aren't up for that do it the night before and get the train back.

    Alternatively do the 75 mile off road version - which is lots more fun, a nicer route and has about 80% less participants.
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  • royalcbr
    royalcbr Posts: 15
    Thanks for the advice diy. I have thought about doing the off-road version in the future.

    One issue is that the start is in London and the finish in Brighton, did you mean drive down to Brighton, park and catch the train back to London for the start?
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    You could get the coach/bike transport back to Clapham Common
  • sherer
    sherer Posts: 2,460
    point to point events are never easy with the logistics. They do offer a coach and bike service back to Clapham so you could do that.

    What I have done in the past is get family to ferry me to Clapham then meet them in Brighton after the event.

    Skipping it this year as it's too busy to ride properly and too many idiots or clueless people that just don't make it any fun. I'm going to ride it another weekend with friends and will be a much more enjoyable day
  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    Yeah - I meant drop a car off before. But the double is easily doable provided you go brighton - london - brighton. Unless you have a very early start riding back home after is a bit dull.
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  • Nick Cod
    Nick Cod Posts: 321
    I've done London to Brighton a couple of times, it's alright but there are far better rides to take part in as this one often gets too busy to get any real decent pace. I'd perhaps recommend looking at the UK Cycling events website and find something closer to home

    http://www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk/events ... -sportive/
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  • stueys
    stueys Posts: 1,332
    i did this 2 years ago with a mate, rode london to brighton and back starting from his place near dulwich. We set off at just before 6am and missed the first 5 or 6 miles, even with that early start it took us 15 miles to get clear of the masses and start to get a resonable pace up. In the early part of the ride any climb became a walk just due to the sheer volume.

    Its a nice ride but I wouldnt do it again unless I had a very early start. The coach return service is the easiest way back or do what we did and cycle back. An alternative would be to just cycle to an alternative train service that allows trains on to get the train into London.
  • MacRS4
    MacRS4 Posts: 47
    I'll be doing the L2b Night and day rides - on the 21st June for the day ride I'll have a spare slot on my bike rack to come back to London. If you can get to London and ride, and want a ride back to London I'm open to the idea.

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  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    Stueys wrote:
    An alternative would be to just cycle to an alternative train service that allows trains on to get the train into London.

    You are practically in London before you hit a station without a no cycle ban on the day.

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  • nick67
    nick67 Posts: 111
    Hi Mark

    Couple of us are doing it again this year with a 6:30am start

    Cannot help re transport, but have done it a number of years and the advice I would give is to get out of London quickly to avoid the crowds, makes cycling up the hills easier. Also watch all around you as there are a number of people who do stupid things.

    Enjoy the day and pub stops, really good atmosphere

    As an aside does anyone have a spare ticket 6:30am start as a mate left it too late to join our team
  • Allza
    Allza Posts: 31
    I have driven to brighton the day before, parked on a side road and got the train home. Then if you have a 6am start you can be in brighton about 9am and drive back home.
  • royalcbr
    royalcbr Posts: 15
    Thanks for the suggestions guys.

    Getting to the start would be difficult, but its the getting back that is painful. I can understand the trains not wanting 100s of cyclists with their bikes on there, but I do think the BHF shuttle service sites outside of London are rubbish for anyone coming down from north of London.

    As a result I've decided to do my own route, still on the same day and the same distance but from where I live to High Wycombe - I'm hoping the climb out of Wycombe town centre is going to be a suitable substitute for Ditchling Beacon :)
  • turbotommy
    turbotommy Posts: 493
    Depending on what time you arrive at Brighton it is possible to get a train back.

    I've only done the ride once (last year) and I left Clapham at the earliest start time. You'll get turned away from Brighton station but if you cycle to the station before Brighton they'll basically let you on at the guards discretion. Brighton station is heavily staffed but others are virtually unmanned. I guess as the day goes on you have less chance of getting the train this way so it probably won't suit you if you want to make a day of it, with pub stops etc.
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  • stueys
    stueys Posts: 1,332
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19623627#p19623627]royalcbr[/url] wrote:
    Thanks for the suggestions guys.

    Getting to the start would be difficult, but its the getting back that is painful. I can understand the trains not wanting 100s of cyclists with their bikes on there, but I do think the BHF shuttle service sites outside of London are rubbish for anyone coming down from north of London.

    As a result I've decided to do my own route, still on the same day and the same distance but from where I live to High Wycombe - I'm hoping the climb out of Wycombe town centre is going to be a suitable substitute for Ditchling Beacon :)

    Hit Kingston Blount, it feels broadly comparable :D

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