# London to Brighton 2010



## HeyWayne (1 Jun 2010)

Can't find another specific thread on this event, so thought I'd start one.

http://www.bhf.org.uk/events-and-volunteering/events/bike-rides/london-to-Brighton-2010.aspx

Registration's closed now, but surely there's a number of people from these fine pages taking part?

It's my first time - first time ever taking part in a charity/organised ride, so be gentle.

Anyone else taking part?


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## ianrauk (1 Jun 2010)

There is also the FNRttC to Brighton Wayne..


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## HeyWayne (1 Jun 2010)

ianrauk said:


> There is also the FNRttC to Brighton Wayne..



Wassat?


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## ianrauk (1 Jun 2010)

Here on the 23rd of July.


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## HeyWayne (1 Jun 2010)

Yeah, I Googled it.

I don't have lights...


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## HeyWayne (1 Jun 2010)

Plus, I haven't made it yet. I'll see how I get on losing my charity ride cherry on June 20th.


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## ianrauk (1 Jun 2010)

You will be fine Wayne. It's an easy ride.
Due to the sheer amount of cyclists taking part (registered and non registered) much of the route is at a slow pace with walking through the bottlenecks.



HeyWayne said:


> Plus, I haven't made it yet. I'll see how I get on losing my charity ride cherry on June 20th.


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## HeyWayne (1 Jun 2010)

My biggest concern is actually getting to Clapham Common on the day.


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## rich p (1 Jun 2010)

Are you a policeman perchance, Wayne?


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## HeyWayne (1 Jun 2010)

rich p said:


> Are you a policeman perchance, Wayne?



No, I have arches.


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## OliverAmoros (1 Jun 2010)

I'm doing the L2b this followed by the Suffolk Villages Charity ride the week after. Must be mad!


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## HeyWayne (1 Jun 2010)

OK, so what are the 'essentials'?

Bike
Padded shorts
Tyre levers
Spare tube
Fluids (2 bottles)
Helmet
Gloves
Phone
Wallet
Camera?
Food?


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## HeyWayne (2 Jun 2010)

Rider number arrived last night along with confirmed start time - nice and early!

Getting excited now!


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## OliverAmoros (2 Jun 2010)

Anyone know for sure what the train situation is after the ride. Will they allow 20000 bikes on the trains?


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## ianrauk (2 Jun 2010)

If I remember rightly, no bikes are allowed on trains from Brighton on that day. Others may be able to confirm.


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## OliverAmoros (2 Jun 2010)

HeyWayne said:


> OK, so what are the 'essentials'?
> 
> Bike
> Padded shorts
> ...



Chain tool / multitool
Sun Glasses (we're heading south!)


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## OliverAmoros (2 Jun 2010)

ianrauk said:


> If I remember rightly, no bikes are allowed on trains from Brighton on that day. Others may be able to confirm.



Yeh I keep hearing conflicting ideas on this!


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## Fab Foodie (2 Jun 2010)

HeyWayne said:


> OK, so what are the 'essentials'?
> 
> Bike
> Padded shorts
> ...



That's mostly it except...

A way to get home...
Suncream for hours out in the open?
Something wind-proof showerproof just in case? There was a big cloudburst one year just over Ditchling, 'twas hot and sunny leaving London, few had anything other than T-shirts.many many people got soaked to the bone and then endured a stiff sea Breeze in Brighton, people were starting to get hypothermia. Be equipped.

Food wise, there are more food stops than a monkey has fleas.

Just pack a good attitude, heed the marshalls and you'll have a good day.

BTW, where are you in Bedfordshire... used to live in Wilden... but I escaped


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## Fab Foodie (2 Jun 2010)

ianrauk said:


> If I remember rightly, no bikes are allowed on trains from Brighton on that day. Others may be able to confirm.



You are 100% Correct.


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## HeyWayne (2 Jun 2010)

Fab Foodie said:


> BTW, where are you in Bedfordshire... used to live in Wilden... but I escaped



I'm in Harlington.

By the way, I know Abingdon fairly well - my Grandad used to live there, in the grounds of St Helens in his latter years. Nice part of the world.

My brother lives in Brighton so my wife will meet me there. I hear it's horrendous getting out after the event.

I'm pretty sure I can get the train down to St Pancras in the morning, it's getting from there to Clapham Common I'm struggling with...


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## Fab Foodie (2 Jun 2010)

HeyWayne said:


> I'm pretty sure I can get the train down to St Pancras in the morning, it's getting from there to Clapham Common I'm struggling with...



Don't know Harlington I'm afraid, but I'll agree that Abingdon's not a bad place to be though 

Getting to Clapham common is pretty easy.
From St Pancras head southish 'till you hit the river, anywhere close to Parliment or The Eye then you can follow a route to Elephant and Castle and from there the A24 following the Northern Line to Clapham... the Common's pretty obvious!
The earlier you can make it the easier and less crowded the cycling.
Enjoy!


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## yoyo (3 Jun 2010)

I've just been given a start time of 8.30am. Is this one of the latest possible times and will it be very crowded then? I asked for 6.00am.


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## ianrauk (3 Jun 2010)

It will be crowded what ever time you leave. But the earlier the better.


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## HeyWayne (4 Jun 2010)

I just ran my the route from Ditchling to Brighton through mapmyride.com and compared it to the 'hill' I have real trouble with on my local ride.

I'm stuffed!!

I'll never make it up The Beacon!


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## ianrauk (4 Jun 2010)

You wont be cycling up the Beacon anyway. There will be far too many people walking up. It's a very narrow road so it makes cycling impossible on this ride.


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## OliverAmoros (4 Jun 2010)

ianrauk said:


> You wont be cycling up the Beacon anyway. There will be far too many people walking up. It's a very narrow road so it makes cycling impossible on this ride.



Can all walkers please keep to the left!


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## HeyWayne (4 Jun 2010)

OliverAmoros said:


> Can all walkers please keep to the left!



You did say walkers didn't you...


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## Mike! (5 Jun 2010)

I did it about 6 or 7 years ago and had a go up the beacon, made it about 3/4 of the way up but on my old MTB with knobblies 

Most are walking but i found the right side of the road to be fairly clear


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## HeyWayne (19 Jun 2010)

Well, good luck to all those taking part tomorrow. If I'm not ready now, I never will be.


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## richardj5 (20 Jun 2010)

How was it for you then?

I had a good day, first time, 4 hours 3 mins, I didn't do all of ditchling though, a mixture of tired legs and congestion put a stop to that.

I did get up to 43.5 on the way down though (according to the bike computer) which was fun, but people were overtakeing me, and I was scared enough 

A great day, at home with a beer as well (first in over 8 weeks).

Does anyone know the exact route, I'd love to add it to my training log on map my ride, but I have no idea what it was, just followed everyone else!

Cheers


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## Fab Foodie (20 Jun 2010)

richardj5 said:


> How was it for you then?
> 
> Cheers



Slow, very slow...

Hit the route at 0730 and it was hugely slow out of London... and flippin' cold.
Once out of London it was even slower. London to Brighton Bike walk. I've a knackered cleat from all the walking.
We were deep into surrey before any comfortable progress was made, never mind we chatted to people, shared some jokes, imparted wisdom.

Lunched at Ardingly, Cheesburger, Sultana cake and tea
from the scouts (fab job) and then had a pretty zippy run down to Ditchling village where apon reaching thecrossroads were stopped by the Marshalls. Apparently there had been 2 Heart-Attacks on the beacon in a very short space of time. We were held back to allow the emergency services access. Delayed about an hour, chatted to a lovely young lady and shared around the Jelly babies. All a bit subduesd due to the bad news.
Eventually we were underway as the Flying Ambulance departed.
We were let up the Beacon in dribs and drabs. This actually was quite good news as I found myself with way more space to ride in than usual, though it did get veruy tight at times. With more freedom, climbing the beacon was pretty straightforward, never even getting into my 30 x 25 bottom gear.
Lots of people made it up the hill. I noticed a lot of girls on city/hybrid bikes seemed to make it up with comfort... this it seems is diue to the 'Mega-range' cassette fitted to such bikes. It highlighted the benefit of good low gearing.
Ice-cream at the top, 45 mph on the drop into Brighton and a nice rumble into the finish. Average speed of 11 mph! Long slow day, more knackered than my Sunday morning 60 miler at an ave of 15mph!

Reception on the sea-front never fails to amaze me too.

There did seem to be waaay more people than ever before, the constant stopping and walking annoyed me for the first time ever today. There were also a lot of accidents (this is also quite normal).

This is possibly my last L2B for the forseable future, not because I don't like it, but because the key people I ride it with are moving for sunnier climes and it wouldn't be the same without them. We've done about 14 years consecutively and my personal tally must be getting closer to 20 since my first in about 1984. It's time we did another ride somewhere...

Hope you had a good day.


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## HeyWayne (21 Jun 2010)

Well, was my first ever and will definitely be doing it again next year. I'm far less sore or achy than I thought I was going to be - quads are a little tender when going up stairs, but other than that, not too shabby.

I was due a 6:30 start, but with 16 month old baby and wife in tow I ended up getting to the start just before 7. My team mates had managed to get there for the 6:30 start and somehow I passed them (I'd only met one of the 4 before yesterday, so I have an excuse). A little frustrating getting out of London, but once out on the lanes it was far more pleasant.

I ended up having to wait for them to catch up with set me back 20 mins or so. Then we had to wait for one of the other guys who had 'jelly legs'.

Then got caught behind an accident just after we'd passed under the M25 (I think) - had to wait around another 15 minutes before getting going again.

Started to get a bit frustrating waiting for the others - and I had my family waiting for me in Brighton so I sent the team a message saying I was going to plough on and may meet them in Brighton. 

So off, I set - alone.

Made it up the Beacon in one, then cruised on down into Brighton.

Nearly missed my wife and son on the finish straight, had it not been for my brother shouting I'd of never seen them.

Looking forward to next year!

I had one incident where a dude swerved into me (from my left) and bounced off. It was a bit of irresistible force, meets immovable object.

Just read the tragic news too. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/10362762.stm

So sad.


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## rb58 (21 Jun 2010)

I had a 6.00am start, much better than the later times I had in previous. Clear roads and closed roads for much of the way made it an excellent ride. Because I was in the first group I experienced no delays, no issues at all really. The hills were clear and I made it to Brighton in 3 hours and 12 minutes. After half an hour taking in the atmosphere - which was already building even at 9.00am, I turned for home and headed back into quite a stiff headwind. Which probably explained why I made good time heading south!

I too would love to know what Zoe's answer was!


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## ianrauk (21 Jun 2010)

Well done Wayne (and everyone else for that matter)...


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## Blackandblue (21 Jun 2010)

rb58 said:


> I too would love to know what Zoe's answer was!



http://www.metro.co.uk/news/831889-man-uses-banners-to-declare-love

It doesn't look too promising...


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## iZaP (21 Jun 2010)

rb58 said:


> I had a 6.00am start, much better than the later times I had in previous. Clear roads and closed roads for much of the way made it an excellent ride. Because I was in the first group I experienced no delays, no issues at all really. The hills were clear and I made it to Brighton in 3 hours and 12 minutes. After half an hour taking in the atmosphere - which was already building even at 9.00am, I turned for home and headed back into quite a stiff headwind. Which probably explained why I made good time heading south!
> 
> I too would love to know what Zoe's answer was!



Wondering if you have average speed for that trip?


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## nick67 (22 Jun 2010)

richardj5 said:


> How was it for you then?
> 
> Does anyone know the exact route, I'd love to add it to my training log on map my ride, but I have no idea what it was, just followed everyone else!
> 
> Cheers



http://sites.google.com/site/cyclingroutes/


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## OliverAmoros (28 Jun 2010)

Did anyone clock their speeds coming down the beacon? I clocked a pant wetting 49.3mph... >:]


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